At the end of last season, icenetwork released a series of picks and I decided to follow suit with a post. I like the format so much that I think I’ll repeat it again. So, without further ado, my picks for the 2012/2013 season.
Best program:
It’s a tie this year between Akiko Suzuki’s LP to “O” choreographed by Pasquerale Carmelengo and Kanako Murakami’s SP to “Prayer for Taylor” choreographed by Marina Zueva. Both of them were interesting and more than just the cookie-cutter Morozombie programs you see with the CoP system. I love the final step sequence in Akiko’s program and the unusual sequence of elements in Kanako’s SP.
Best Performance:
Yuzuru Hanyu at the NHK Trophy, skating his SP – honestly one of the most mesmerizing performances of the season. A great program and a great performer. I’m kind of sad that he’s not the record holder for the highest score for the SP but he’ll get that score again one day. He has the potential to do it.
Best Rivalry:
Just like last year, this one goes to: Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir vs. Meryl Davis & Charlie White
This year, the odds were tipped towards Meryl & Charlie who have skated brilliantly throughout the season. There are a few crazy fans out there who will bash against either team but I love both teams and how they push each other to be the best. *This* is what a skating rivalry should be about. Or skating in general. This element to the rivalry really brings back memories of the epicness of Plushenko vs. Yagudin. I think the level of epicness in this rivalry is pretty similar to that of the two Russian men. The Yags/Plushy rivalry was slightly more entertaining since the two men actually hated each other and would say it out loud on camera. LOL.
Biggest Upset:
Denis Ten at Worlds, especially in the LP where he won that portion of the competition. I don’t think anyone thought he had it in him to beat a whole slew of people for the silver medal. I also think that in a lot of people’s hearts, Denis won the gold at Worlds this year.
Favourite Breakthrough Performance:
Zijun Li at Worlds and 4CC. This girl can’t seem to skate a clean short but she’s just a little jumping bean in the long program! I’m keeping an eye out for this girl and her freshfaced look next season and I hope to see her improve more and more.
Best Comeback Story:
Yuna Kim. Duh. It’s pretty epic how she comes back to Worlds without competing at any major international competition and wins calmly and effortlessly. I just wish her programs were a little more compelling.
Best Moment:
Akiko Suzuki at the World Team Trophy – I wish there was a clip for this but right before she skated, Team Japan chanted her name and you could just see a look of surprise and a sudden glow of confidence light up her face. It was so sweet. She went on to do this:
Girl, at 28, you’re skating better than ever. She’s the female Plushenko – dauntless, awesome and timeless. Please keep skating.
Favourite Outfits:
I don’t care very much for their skating but I love the fun, quirky colours and patterns on Cathy & Chris Reed’s costume for their Beatles Medley FD. Super cute. Also, I feel as if someone needs to make a macro or meme using Chris’ face in this picture.
This season has been quite eventful. What are your picks for the season? Post them in the comments below or send me a link to your list!
The World Championships are over but hey, the season’s not over yet! We still have the World Team Trophy. I’ll put up predictions closer to the date, as well as some other end of season posts but for now, let’s think about the positive and put the spotlight on some amazing skates at Worlds this year. More
It’s the Lunar New Year and I don’t think it’s the time to dwell on the negatives even though there were huge negatives in this competition. In any case, here are a few highlights and we’ll think about the good things.
Mao Asada’s I’ve Got Rhythm
I’m so excited to see her triple axel back! She also did a triple-triple in the long program which was surprising. Mao is getting ready to face her biggest rival at Worlds.
Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir – The Waltz Goes On
I feel like I’m watching a fairy tale unfold here.
Kanako Murakami, Tango
I’m happy to see Kanako’s improved a ton. I hope she keeps this up.
Zijun Li
I saw glimpses of Yuna and Mao at their peak in her in this performance. I hope that puberty sits well with her because this girl has a lot of potential.
Han Yan
Despite the mistakes, this guy’s jumps are HUGE. I hope he improves fast. China may have a fleet of single skaters. I can smell the future nationalism already.
What were your favourite bits of the Four Continents competition?
Oh you aio;sfjsdifjadsl;kjf;asjfs. WordPress or my computer or the gremlins deleted the stuff I wrote just now. $%#@. Here we go again. Attempt #2 at writing this.
Also, this will be post #300 for the Rinkside Cafe! Woo!
This week will be busy again so I’m writing these predictions quickly.
Men
Even though Patrick Chan got defeated by Javier Fernandez at Skate Canada (shock!), I still think he has enough skating cred with the judges to muster a win here. Some interesting contenders for the rest of the podium would be the Japanese men, Nobunari Oda and Takahiko Kozuka. This competition could be really important for them since it could help the JFSA decide who the #3 Japanese man is. Oh yes, and Johnny Weir will be back and we get to see how he stacks up against some tough international competition here.
Predictions:
Gold: Patrick Chan Silver: Takahiko Kozuka Bronze: Nobunari Oda
Ladies
The ladies competition could potentially be the contest of the young’ins. Adelina Sotnikova will have home ice advantage. In Russia. A year before the Olympics. In Russia. Alena Leonova had a really bad showing at her last grand prix but who knows what will happen. In Russia. That aside, Kiira Korpi is the only lady with a mature grace and may be able to medal here though she will face competition from some young ladies such as Kanako Murakami, who gave notice to not completely discounted when she won the bronze at Skate Canada. Gracie Gold is also on the roster but after her performance at Skate America, I’m not sure what to make of her anymore.
The two Russian teams have it to take the first two spots on the podium though the gold will undoubtedly go to Tatiana Volosozhar & Maxim Trankov. If Vera Bazarova manages to get her tiny, tiny frame off the ice and land her jumps, she and Yuri Larionov can take the silver. If this is the case, the bronze should go to Caydee Denney & John Coughlin.
Predictions:
Gold: Tatiana Volsosozhar & Maxim Trankov Silver: Vera Bazarova & Yuri Larionov Bronze: Caydee Denney & John Coughlin
Ice Dance
Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir will be back with their sexy Carmen which should propel them into gold. What will be interesting to see is the margin between them and Elena Ilinykh & Nikita Katsalapov. Rumour has it that Elena’s with Morozov now and we all know what happens when a girl dates Morozov… The Shibutanis will probably fall victim to politicking on the eve of the Sochi Olympics but it’ll be fun to see their polka since I think their bright and happy feel/style should make for a good interpretation in the SD. Their “Memoirs of a Geisha” FD on the other hand, I’m not so thrilled.
Predictions
Gold: Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir Silver: Elena Ilinykh & Nikita Katsalapov Bronze: Maia & Alex Shibutani
Ok. I totally should be doing something else right now but I suppose I do need to do these predictions before the competition starts tomorrow as well. I also have a few comments on Tessa and Scott’s Carmen FD but those will have to wait until the weekend.
Prediction time! A picture of Tessa and Scott in practice beckons you in…
Icenetwork.com posted an article with picks by some of their correspondents. I decided to do the same ’cause it seemed fun. Agree or disagree? Link to your blog in the comments or just comment!
Wahhhhhhh!!! It’s that time of year again! Euros has just passed and the rest of the figure skating world is testing the waters before the World Championships later on this season. Four Continents is here! It’s time for PChiddy to win another medal! Onwards to predictions!
Men
By now, I’m just expecting Patrick Chan to get ludicrous scores for everything he does. His recent 300+ score at Canadian Nationals indicates that Skate Canada is behind him full force. I have yet to watch those performances in fear of projectile vomiting onto my lovely laptop. Then again, I might be just a tad disappointed if Chan doesn’t get a crazy score just because the spectacle is somewhat amusing. There’s always a sense of excitement when you wonder many points can the judges award to a program that Chan bombed whether or not he’ll be in 1st place.
Daisuke Takahashi will probably take silver even if he skated two perfect mesmerizing programs. At this point, I’ll look at the positive and just hope that Daisuke will skate his best because those programs deserve perfection and I know he can achieve it. So in short, screw Chan and just skate your heart out, Daisuke.
Bronze, however, presents a bit of a conundrum for me in terms of predictions. There’s no clear cut competitor who’s evidently ahead of the rest but behind Chan and Daisuke. It seems that a lot of the major figure skating unions are opting to put some fresh faces out there to give the youngin’s a bit of experience in a competition that doesn’t have as many high stakes. Most the competitors are pretty much in the C/D/F-lists anyways. It’s a pity that Jeremy Abbott withdrew from injury but I guess my best guess for bronze would either be Adam Rippon, the young talent that the USFSA has been promoting for the last few years and Nan Song, a surprising young skater from China and first alternate at this year’s GPF. Adam has been known to be inconsistent but he also has the USFSA behind him. At the moment, it’s a bit of a tossup.
Predictions:
Gold: Patrick Chan (Prove me wrong, Daisuke. Or at least try to.) Silver: Daisuke Takahashi Bronze: Nan Song
Ladies
I expect some favouritism to be shown for Ashley Wagner as she will have some home ice advantage at Colorado Springs but in the end, I don’t think she can trump the survivor and legend that is Mao Asada. Mao has shown herself to be the most resilient and courageous of competitors. She doesn’t have the “instant win” fairytale story that Yuna Kim had but in that sense, I think I find her more endearing that way. Life will always be full of ups and downs and sometimes you don’t win but Mao shows us that with hard work, courage and the determination to never give up, you can achieve great things. Hopefully, her newfound consistency will be present at 4CC and I can’t wait for another dazzling performance of her Liebestraume LP.
As for the bronze, Cynthia Phaneuf could surprise us (or perhaps not bore us) with some consistency now that she’s being coached by Brian Orser. To tell you the truth though, I don’t know think even Brian Orser can give people ***STAR POWER*** I mean, he couldn’t do that with Christina Gao and that girl had potential. Phaneuf on the other hand… let’s just say that the Olympics aren’t in Vancouver anymore and she has a snowball’s chance in hell to win a medal at Worlds. She might be able to pull through with a medal here but I sincerely hope that Kanako Murakami has practiced the shit out of her LP so she can snatch the bronze.
Predictions
Gold: Mao Asada Silver: Ashley Wagner Bronze: Kanako Murakami (please, please, please Kana-chan, don’t let me down)
Pairs
Gosh, this pairs competition is going to be lame. The itty bitty Chinese pair (Wenjing Sui & Cong Han) are going to be there as will Narumi Takahashi & Mervin Tran. The latter and Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford are the only teams to have made it to the GPF. There’s also the possibility that the crowd will favour Caydee Denney & John Coughlin.
I have no clue how this competition is going to turn out (and this doesn’t even make the competition that exciting which shows how lame this competition is) so I’m just going to make a wild guess.
Predictions
Gold: Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford Silver: Narumi Takahashi & Mervin Tran Bronze: Caydee Denney & John Coughlin (prove me wrong, itty bitty Chinese pair!)
Ice Dance
Oh my… a rematch between Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir and Meryl Davis & Charlie White. I think the big question on everyone’s minds is – if Scott didn’t fall in the SD, would they have won the GPF? The fall gave them a 1 point deduction but it definitely affected the presentation of the program, the score on skating skills, choreography, etc, which would account for the huge margin of win. I’ve got a feeling that they might let Tessa and Scott win 4CC to save some of their dignity but ultimately give the World medal to Meryl and Charlie. Who knows, Tessa and Scott are always free to prove me wrong and I hope they do so. In any case, the highlight for me would definitely be Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje’s “Je Suis Malade” FD, though this team will have to give it their all if they want to beat the Shibutanis who are definitely being bogged down by this year’s sexy SD but bolstered by home ice advantage. This will be one tough call, I must say…
Predictions:
Gold: Meryl Davis & Charlie White (taking home ice advantage and the fact that the Americans probably won’t win a gold in any other discipline) Silver: Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir Bronze: Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje
These were difficult predictions to make. What are you predictions?
The Grand Prix series are over but that means that a slew of national competitions are a-coming. For the more avid figure skating fans, we know that national competitions are not created equal. Some of them are a lot more exciting to watch than others, while some national competitions are only worth watch because of one event. For Japan, they have one of the best national competitions because of their singles field. The top 3 contenders in ladies and men are competitors who have the potential to clinch a medal at Worlds – either this season or in a future season.
In terms of the podium, the rankings were pretty predictable once Papa Oda withdrew from injury. With that note, let’s start with the men.
Daisuke obviously won gold at Nationals but not without his fair share of mistakes. His SP was mesmerizing and complete with a lovely 4T-3T that was – finally – clean. His flow and expression are absolutely gorgeous and I think this is the best he’s ever skated this SP so far.
His LP, however, was not as great. From the outset, you could tell that this was not going to be his best skate. He was leaning too forward in the air in his 4T at the beginning of his program but at least he recovered well for his lovely 3A. What I love about Daisuke is that he always sells his program because of his wonderful musicality and expression. In comparison, I think the only time I’ve seen Chan really relate to his music was with Phantom of the Opera at 2011 Worlds and even then, he can’t quite compare to Daisuke. Then again, it’s the judges opinions (sadly) that matter. Unfortunately, this performance was also marred with a fall on the second 3A and a 3Lz. Not his best but we know that he can do better.
On the bright side, this is the first time that I actually *got* the choreography. Maybe I’m just dense or I wasn’t watching closely enough but the movements are choreographed very precisely to the music. I’m very impressed that Daisuke managed to keep up with it with all those mistakes. In any case, ganbare Daisuke, even though you won’t win Worlds. Even if you skate clean and Chan falls. At least we’ll have another beautiful gem to add to the figure skating library.
In second was the shy and understated, Takahiko Kozuka.What was impressive about his SP was that there were interesting intricacies and his jumps were so fast and tight in the air. What did not impress me was 1) his penchant for skating to elevator music 2) the fact that the song is called “Inner Urge” but there was no sexiness to it and 3) he had just as much expression as PChan in his “Take 5” program which in other words, means not a lot. It’s such a pity because this kid has wonderful edges and great flow but I’m not quite feeling his pointing and head nodding and large arm movements. I think there was more expression in his face when he did that fist pump after his program ended. Sigh. Come on kid, take some acting classes. Anything. Please.
Takahiko’s long program went pretty smoothly even though he fell on his second 3A. However, I thought that the bigger problem was again his inability to emote. Joe Hisaishi is a genius and a lot of the Japanese crowd have watched Nausicaa and the Valley of Wind. It’s not a boring movie/manga. It’s actually quite deep and if you read the comic, the characters are absolutely fascinating. This program, however, is not. I can’t get over how boring it is to be able to appreciate the finer points of the choreography. It’s such a pity because I love the music (even though I don’t love the film – the comic was so much better) and I think the skater is talented but he’s just not working it.
My darling boy, Yuzuru Hanyu took the bronze without shoving Oda off the podium. Oda was off with injury and Yuzuru naturally took his place. The youngster did encounter problems in his SP, however, he tripled his quad and 2-footed it and ended up in 4th place. The good news? At least he knew how to count and understood the zayak rule and doubled his 3T at the end of his combination. In that respect, we can confirm that he’s better than Oda. His 3As are seriously impressive as well. He always makes the entrance into them difficult but he lands them beautifully. For a youngin, he sells his programs the way that Takahiko can’t and even though this wasn’t his best performance, I have to say that it was mesmerizing to watch. Like Daisuke, this kid has really good flow and expression.
Yuzuru did recover in the LP with my absolute most favourite program of the season. He singled the last salchow – there’s always some sort of problem with that salchow – and was clearly slower in the 2nd half but he gave that program his all. His passion clearly shone through and I think what makes this program so amazing is that Yuzuru really does portray Romeo. As much as I hate the play, I love the music and Yuzuru is that young, impulsive, passionate Romeo we see in the story. He’s convincing and sells the program like no one else. The music is overused but I think this kid has really made it his own. If Yuzuru improves his stamina, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him run past Takahiko on the podium next year. This kid already has a lot more fans.
Mao, our darling trooper, competed at Nationals despite her personal tragedy. She was second in both portions of the competition but managed to scrape a win. Her SP was clean but no 3A. The choreography wasn’t exactly the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen but Mao’s athleticism and speed shows through. Strangely enough, she was only second to Kanako by 0.16.
Mao skated a lovely program but lost steam in the last part of her program. She doubled a 3S and a 3Lp (she also stepped out of this) and didn’t do the 3A. Nonetheless, this is a good skate for her and the smile and the teary look she had said it all. This girl is so brave. She never gave up even when her career looked like it was in shambles after a successful Olympic season and now she’s skating through the hurt of her personal tragedy. You go, Mao-chan!
Akiko Suzuki came in second place – not unexpected but this girl is also a trooper but in a different way. Being perennially in second place is tough because let’s face it – the worst demon you ever have to face is yourself. The feeling of always being second place brings about thoughts of giving up. Then there was Akiko’s disastrous season last year when she was beaten by the young Kanako Murakami. Akiko’s return to the Japanese podium is definitely a triumphant one and she should be seeing it as an all-around victory, rather than another silver medal. Akiko still has a lot to work on but the way she’s holding herself with more confidence this season marks a change for the better.
You can actually see this so clearly in her short. Akiko started her program badly by singling the 3T at the end of her 3T-3T combination. However, from the outset, there was a commitment and passion in her. This girl wants to win and she’s not giving up. The best quality to Akiko’s skating is that she never lets any of her mistakes affect the rest of her performance. She seemed to skate with an even bigger determination after her botched combination. Don’t be upset with yourself, Akiko, you can do better next time!
There were quite a few mistakes in Akiko’s LP and she didn’t quite skate with as much gusto as she did her SP but she still managed to win that portion of the competition somehow.
Kanako Murakami had to settle with the bronze this year, though this is not unexpected since her season hasn’t been as successful this year as it was last year. Some of this could be attributed to boot problems. However, Kanako still managed to win the SP but placed 6th in the LP. Still, she managed to scrape a bronze medal. I’m not sure if I should be losing hope for Kanako at this point in her career. On one hand, she’s young but on the other, she’s always lacked consistency in her LP. I guess this is another one of these “time will tell” things.
From the results of Japanese Nationals, I think that public sympathy and clean skates should be able to propel Mao back to her World title while Akiko should definitely try her best to get on the World podium this year. Some of her competitors will have to make mistakes but she’s definitely within reach of the top 5. As for the men, I think that Daisuke will be able to give us some spectacular performances at Worlds but ultimately lose against Chan, who could fall numerous times and still win.
What are your thoughts on the strong Japanese singles field?
So, Skate Canada is over and the Cup of China is here! I didn’t notice until I really started writing these predictions but while Skate Canada had an impressive roster, CoC will prove to be an interesting competition because there’s either a promising up and coming competitor in each competition that can shakes things up a bit.
Men
So the big question for the men’s competition is will Nobunari Oda give us a beginning of the season jumped-packed program and win gold or will his PCS keep him away from gold? Right now, the Japanese Federation has to begin their decision process on who to back in the World team: the perennial bridesmaid Nobunari Oda, who’s really not that expressive but can do all these gorgeous jumps OR up-and-coming Yuzuru Hanyu, who could very well be the next Daisuke – as well loved and as good of an artist. For now, I think that the JFSA might play it safe and bet on Oda but Oda tends to lose steam near the end of the season. As for Yuzuru, he’s just showing a lot of promise. Artur Gachinski and Jeremy Abbott may be able to shake things up but none of them have been consistent competitors in the last few years. Artur may be Mother Russia’s next hope for an Olympic men’s medal. He did have an impressive finish at the Japan Open but I’ve got a feeling that no one was really trying all that hard in that competition. That and I can’t quite see past the gawky teenager who could end up in a boy band targeted towards pre-teen girls if he decides to quit figure skating.
Predictions
Gold: Nobunari Oda
Silver: Artur Gachinski
Bronze: Yuzuru Hanyu (prove me wrong, Yuzuru and get something better!)
Ladies
This ladies competition also marks the senior debut of Adelina Sotnikova, Liza Tuktamysheva’s rival and the second Russian diva who can be a big hit in Sochi. Many prefer her style over Liza’s (though I feel that she doesn’t have Liza’s charisma) but that’s not the point at this competition. Unlike Liza, Adelina has tougher competition: namely veteran Carolina Kostner and the charming Kanako Murakami. However, if she can do what she did last year, she should be packing her programs with a lot of technical content. At this point I’m really not sure how this competition will come out at all.
Of all of these competitions, the only victory I can safely and confidently declare is the Zhangs’ in the pairs competition. They may not have won Skate America but they far outstrip their competition here. Sui and Han should find themselves with silver with hometown advantage and tons of technical content, though I don’t think they’ll gain that much polish with only a week after Skate Canada. Pity though, ’cause I really want to see these two polished up. The bronze will be a battle between Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov and Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch. Kavaguti and Smirnov are clearly being shunted away in the Russian pairs scene and at this point, I’m not even sure if they have enough firepower to beat the top Canadian team, even if M-T/M are a bit bland.
Predictions:
Gold: The Zhangs
Silver: Wenjing Sui & Cong Han
Bronze: Yuki Kavaguti & Alexander Smirnov
Ice Dance
The field is a little open in ice dance with the only big names being Maia and Alex Shibutani, who may win this competition after being perennially outshined by their training mates and Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Sloviev, Mother Russia’s current #1 dance team. Maia and Alex are a lot more entertaining to watch and are technically proficient (and B/S have bad taste in music and/or costumes) so I’ll put them in the top spot for these predictions. As for bronze, who knows who will win. Maybe the new team of Emily Samuelson and Todd Gilles. At the moment, I really don’t see any clear contenders for top spot.
Predictions:
Gold: Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani
Silver: Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Sloviev
Bronze: Um… Emily Samuelson & Todd Gilles?
So does anyone else have predictions? Predictions they’re actually confident will happen because I’m totally unsure of all of these predictions.
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