Europeans 2005
Pairs Short Program
We have Nicky and Chris in the commentary box, talking about the new scoring system… lack of the six, and the base mark, and the tech specialist and etc (and did you know? In ice dance – I’m assuming it’s just in ice dance) the assistant technical specialist is Maurizio Margaglio? I have to admit, I had a bit of a giggle when I heard that. Those of you who remember me on the subject of FP&M will know why!)
We have a full house for a pairs’ short program… stop the presses!
BESTANDIGOVA Olga - BESTANDIG Jozef SVK
Her hair is a normal colour…stop the
presses. She’s in a navy dress with a circular cut out on the back, and silver
accents around it… he’s all in navy… they split 3 years ago, got back together
last year… start face to face and stepping dancing… around they go to music
that sounds like god rest ye merry gentleman… nice entry into d/s where she
begins holding her foot, then goes into normal… s/s 3toes and he’s out of his
and down and she doubles hers… split 2twist… nice… and s/s ina bauer out of
it…s/s camels to sit change sit, nice timing but very far apart… and they come
out different times, Nicky says he was spinning on wrong edge on back sit
spin.. and he had mad travel. Spiral sequence is nicely done… throw 3sal over
rotated and she steps out… lots of height… not much speed across ice says
Nicky… lift kept two handed, lasso lift… into the pairs spin… music is very
jarring…pairs spin also with mad travel and seen from arena-roof-cam which I
don’t like! Christmas in
Marks, and this should be fun… they do not look happy. At all. She’s got a nose ring in. I’m just noting these things. 12 judges. Tech elements 24.59. Components 17.05. Can’t get the whole split down, but that’ll do, for a total of 41.64. No personal record for them.
BOGUSLAVSKA Olga - BROVENKO Andrei LAT
She’s in black, as is he… pink accents, and we have Carmen… netty sleeves for both… and check out those false nails. On her, not him. Steps to begin avec the waving of the arms… s/s 2ax and he over rotates his and steps out… she singled her… throw 3sal where she went down on it and they took half the rink to set it up…the long half! She let her head drop says Chris… split 2 twist and she looked like she nearly went out of his reach… crossover around and lasso lift.. he swings her under his arms after steps… s/s camel to sit upright change sit where he travels post change… good alignment from them, judges look for 5revs on each foot... spirals… not bad but I’ve seen better… into the d/s… b/o I think… nice and low from her… into the pairs spins and they’re still spinning when they music stops. Yep, she’s not a happy camper. She was leaning in the throw and it looks like she nearly caught an edge going into it? Chris says left the left arm go too early and too high… she should have tried to get it back, really forced it. Well, that’s told her! Yeah, this soft focus, blurry, white accent slo mo is killing me. I like my sharp edges goddamnit… split twist, she landed before he caught her…Chris says spiral seq nice but not ambitious, Nicky notes the lack of ice coverage…
Marks… TE 23.19, PC 14.63 – 36.82 total. 1.00 deductions.
PLA Marylin - BONHEUR Yannick FRA
Holy pink! She’s in a barely there top and skirt, bare midriff, and the only back to the dress is a line of pink material and flesh coloured net. He’s in crimson too… and men should not wear crimson velour body suits. I’m sorry, I don’t care who you are. With gold sash on the waist. As you do. Into the jumps, s/s 3toes where she takes off first and puts her hand down on landing, his is fine. I can just hear him thinking, maybe if I do all my elements clean they won’t talk about my outfit. Around they go to middle eastern music… throw 3 loop and that was huge! So high and really fast but she steps out of it…death spiral is really nice position from her… and stop and pose on the ice as we go into a pairs spin… music changes… dancing on centre ice… there are gold sequins on the back of the top for him and on skirt for her.. split 2twist is suffered from change of camera angle but it looks ok… spiral steps and Nicky likes the transitions in this…as do I…. she goes under his legs and then swings up into lift. And tumble down in steps out of it… that was nice! s/s spins lose the timing as we go and jesus do they ever… but they finish nicely on the music. A real shame Chris calls it… he thinks she let the fall on the first jump get to her… 3loop, she should have held it, hesitated at the end… Chris says it could have been faster in places… Nicky talks about the transitions component, he thought this was good. And he notes of the swing/pull through the legs before going into the lift… there is a stop before it, but it’s still more difficult… Stansilav Leonovich with them.
Marks. TE – her hand bandaged – 25.42… 19.01 for PC. 44.43, high on choreography notes Nicky. They lead at this stage.
SHAPIRO Julia - AKOLZIN Vadim ISR
Yellow dress for her, with black accents on the chest. He’s in matching top, but black trousers. She has sparkleys on her arms… and hair with more roots than a field of potatoes. Luna de Paris by Raul di Blasio the music… around they go and the lift to begin… nice change of position there and down she goes but not much speed in it… simple lasso lift Nicky calls it... throw 3sal where he leans all the way over and into it, and she lands it fine. Around the corner and down for the split…. Little heavy on landing… s/s 2ax are clean. And stop and posy dancing… s/s flying camels with perfect timing, lost it on the change to catch foot but got it back, change sit, to upright and out… steps where it looks like he nearly lost his footing and into spirals… again, I’m not seeing a lot of speed… nice entry into d/s, where she was holding her foot up and back… and out, not many revs in it. What’s the min for that? Pairs spins, nice positions, but again, so slow they could nearly begin rotating the other way… and they finish ahead of the music. She’s 20, he’s 22, Chris enjoyed it, but not as difficult… what they did, they did well he says… Nicky says it was very good… and I did like it, but they were slow, I thought. Nice presentation… Nicky says that she’s a picture… and there he mentions the speed! Again, he’s talking about the transitions… you just know that he’s going to be riding that hobby horse all week, don’t you? Chris raves about the side by side spins, which were nifty… and they’re beaming in the kiss and cry.
Marks TE 27.31 PC 17.31… total 44.62. they lead.
PETROVA Maria - TIKHONOV Alexei RUS
Very pretty lilac/light purple dress for her… I am impressed. He’s in black, with the deep v neck but put it this way, I’ve seen him in worse. I’ve seen them both in worse. This is good. Nice new hairdo since I’ve seen her last too… she’s looking well. < /shallow commentary… oh, who the hell am I kidding, the week is young! > Things hot up somewhat, says Chris… ok, shallowness alert? Alexei, he went heavy on the blusher. Aunt Sally heavy. Tango is the music… of course, Maria’s gone heavy on the blusher too. OK, serious now… start with beaty music, and nice movements to stet the tone… they’re flying into the s/s 3tows... and he doubles his… hers is fine… you can see the difference in speed from these two… split 2twist and gorgeous… throw 3loop with a lean but clean… steps and he dips her in a tango hold… down the ice and into the lift.. very confident and great changes of position with swing her all around the place dismount… s/s spins, flying camels not great timing and she goes into the sit before he foes and they’re all over the place on that… come out at diff times as well… not good… spirals… nice positions but the camera men need to know that they shouldn’t focus on feet so much in a spiral step… she goes under his legs, steps into d/s and lovely arch to her back in that – innovative out… pairs spins…more focus on the feet… and they stop dead on the music. Chris didn’t like the music… Nicky says he didn’t think they were on peak form… lots of innovation he would expect, but he doesn’t think he saw it… not the speed and flow and attack we’ve seen from them in the past… we see the lift again and it was lovely,… and we’re reminded that at 33, he’s the oldest man in the championships. We see the spins again… and youch they look worse on slo mo… and the coach gives them the look of death as she sees them do the jumps… they both doubled the toe loops says Nicky… missed that.
Marks… TE 33.5… 29.65 PC… 63.15 total.
OBERTAS Julia - SLAVNOV Sergei RUS
Dear lord… who in wardrobe did they piss
off??? Dark yellow top for him, with wine coloured trousers, and it’s a very
roomy top… She’s in dark yellow too with orange/wine flowers/accents on the
chest, and little straps to match, showing off the tan. Trim on the skirt, and
flowers on the left hand side of the skirt. No, I tell you a lie… those
trousers are red red red. Yeah…her dress doesn’t look so bad, but someone on
the team hates him. I can picture it now… you screwed up an element? *This* is
what I want you to wear next season There are red flowers on his collar… and
sparkles... and a red sash with bright yellow flowers around his waist. There
skates a patient, patient man. She’s 20, he’s 22… Russian gypsy music. Start
with arms open… and steps to begin… s/s triple toes and he has to work hard to
hang on to that… wide apart on the landing… throw 3flip, all over the place but
she worked hard and got it, and long wait for it… impressive.
Marks. TE 35.14… 28.45 PC, they’re in the lead… 63.59… happy people!
And in the ice resurface, we have a replay of the Skate America disaster… good lord… I’ve heard about it, I’ve seen pics of it, but oh my… oh my! Poor Max… see interview where he says Tatiana and Oleg never blamed him, which helped him to recover… she says she still trusts him, they’re a pair and they share 50-50 all mistakes and gold medals… she can’t tell him it’s his mistake 100%, it’s both their jobs… archive footage of her in press conference with the black eyes… oh my goodness.
Interview – with Gwendal! Viewers’
questions… do top level skaters share tips? He says yes, lots of
friendships…share more with younger skaters… lots of superstitions… next question,
does he have any plans to skate in any shows? He and Marina are planning shows,
did shows in
Gwendal, what conditioner do you use on your hair? Think that’d get on the air? Notice, I left out the smutty questions. See how I am growing and maturing as I write these things?
His impressions of pairs? Looks like it was
in old days in ice dancing…looks like Russian nationals… all top skaters are
Russian, possibility of sweep… good start for them he says… have seen O&S
coming with good new stuff, tech very interesting to watch, they can do well
here. Next groups, says
TOTMIANINA Tatiana - MARININ Maxim RUS
Light pea green blouse for him, navy
trousers. Pea green fluoride like colour dress for her (a colour I associate
with toothpaste for some reason) with sparkles abound, v on the back.
Cross/Star cut out on the chest, and cut outs on the sleeves too. She’s 23,
he’s 27… Ave Maria the music. Chris gives their CV… around they go… into the
d/s, start with her holding her foot… nice position. Spiral… and that is a nice
spiral from her. Lovely position, best of the night… and catch foot from her
and from him… and him in Y and her joining him… this is nice. And front glide
to finish it… round for the throw 3loop… right in front of the judges. Down for
the s/s triple toes... and clean as you like. Fantastic says Chris… and I have
to agree… steps around we go… down the diagonal for the split 2twist with her
arms over her head… lift … to one hand and put down from one hand… s/s camels
to sit change camel… to sit… nice nice nice and upright where they lose the
unison but get it back in change of position to the end… pairs spins… nice
speed, they get faster as they go. And done. Wow. Spine tingling Chris calls
it. Choreography by Lori Nichol and he calls it out of this world… and I’m not
a big fan of this pair but I have to agree with him. (Not that I hate them or
anything, they just usually don’t do it for
Marks TE 37.42… prev PB was 68.64.. PC 32.28 for a total of 69.7.
SAVCHENKO Aliona - SZOLKOWY Robin GER
Royal blue shirt for him with silver spidery like thing on the right hand side… slightly darker trousers. She’s in a lovely dusky blue/lilac dress. She’s 21, he’s 25. INGO!!! *ahem* Sorry. 2 time German national champs. Steps and turns on centre ice to begin… isole is the music… s/s triple toes… and they’re clean. Nice and fast into and out of from both… around the corner and down for the 2twist and lateral and wow… spirals… nice position from her… and throw and they get the throw 3sal… and into the d/s… throw was from nowhere… Chris nearly came through the TV to me! That wasn’t their spiral seq earlier…. Lift with change of position and down from one hand and this is impressive… pairs spin… change of position… damn I wish I’d not stopped the videotape. Stepping back other way on spin… s/s camel to sit to upright and out of synch when they change foot… all over the place on change but get it back for the sits… and around the corner now and spiral sequence here… lovely smile from her… catch foot spiral from her is great as he pulls her… she’s got great extension… and he pushes her away and they’re done and wow. Really enjoyed that. Music from the celebration soundtrack from holiday on ice… Chris loved it. As did Nicky. As did I. A lovefest it is. And there’s Ingo with a smile. And a dimple. And it’s Ingo. *sigh*
Interview with Tatiana and Maxim…
Marks TE 33.94… PE 25.51… 59.45… 4th. *nods* I’m ok with that.
BELOGLAZOVA Julia - BEKH Andrei UKR
He’s in dark grey pants and light grey shirt, with black ascot... She’s in orange mostly, with black accents… and very raggedy accents around the skirt. OK. His trousers now I see them closer are actually black and white pinstripes. Which bleed on the TV when up close. Lovely. Music is Vabanque … he’s got orange suspenders… and white inserts on his shoes… 20s look… there’s a name on them… very schmoozy music… around they go… s/s 3sals, and she went down and he nearly did…lots of hesitation going into it… speed to throw 3looop and out of it she goes, both hands down to catch her sprawling on the ice… never looked on… around the corner for the split which is fine. Spiral with him in spread and her with catch foot, into lift… spiral step sequence seems t have good speed… just not sure how it fits in with the music… yes, he can spread eagle. And he wants to show us. All the time. Into the spins, s/s camels with no unison, change to a sit they get it back… change sit to upright and they lose the timing again… steps into the death spiral… didn’t look confident going down to it, but got it… pairs spins… and they finish behind the music. Music is ragtime… and she leaves the ice ahead of him… not happy. Nicky also comments on the music and moves not fitting… she came out o the lift on a drop, very jolting…
Marks… TE 24.39 PC 18.02 for total of 41.41, ded of 1.00 and a rank of 8 of 9
HANDKE Rebecca - WENDE Daniel GER
He’s in a navy blue/black t-shirt and matching trousers. She’s in red satin top and skirt, bare midriff, and the top has a diagonal on it, top is red, bottom is black with silver sparkles… skirt is matching, but colour scheme in reverse. Little red flower in hair. She’s 18 he’s 20. Music is Jalousie Tango. Start with him behind her, hands on shoulders… lots of speed and flailing to begin with… down the ice for the split and that was ok, nice extension from her on the way out… s/s 3toes long way apart… but held the landings. Dynamic start says Chris… s/s camels to sit and nice position from her… upright change sit to upright spin , little bit of loss of timing… throw triple loop… excellent height and length… pairs spin… one position with her in splits standing up… change of position… and out of that… lift, struggle on that… loss of speed right the way though… spiral steps… again, really losing speed is she… he’s literally had to yank her around the ice… d/s looks ok, but I’m distracted by change of camera angle halfway through. Grrr… the camera operators need talking to! See the s/s jumps, and she had to work harder on her landing than he did… the roof cam really shows the drifting apart too… Nicky thinks it looked cautious, music quite demanding (I didn’t like it) she was well caught in the split. She has great sit spin position too. Dance of the Vampire is their free, Chris notes.
Marks TE 29.87 PC 19.37 total of 49.24 new PB for them. They’re 5th.
VOLOSOZHAR Tatiana - MOROZOV Stanislav UKR
Wine trousers for him, flesh coloured shirt with wine flames lapping up it. I’m not saying a thing! Slightly lighter version of the dress for her, actually much redder… also flamey effect on the chest. Sabre Dance the music. First time together at euros notes Chris. There’s also green in the colouring of the flames. She shimmies a little… and off they go. Into the s/s 3toes which are clean. No hesitation. Lots of speed into the split 2 twist and great height! Throw as music speeds… 3loop, double footed….badly so. Music is very fast… lift with difficult entry and change of rotation… Chris is having kittens. Entry into d/s and very very low…. Best we’ve seen they say, as was the twist… s/s camel to sit great timing change sit to upright…wow… this is impressive… look at that spiral! No much speed n the step seq but jeepers she can put that leg up… and charlotte spiral in the middle of it all....pairs spins… and that’s fast! Change of position… and they’re done. Well now. That was not what I was expecting. Chris says they didn’t use music at the end when it got going, kept pace cool calm and collected. Lift went up in one hand… agree with the choreography, they didn’t use the music a lot, but then it’s so fast, it’s hard to keep up with it. (Scott Hamilton is the best I’ve seen doing it) we see the split in slomo and it was amazing… he literally caught her with his hands on a level with his head… Nicky praises how quickly they build up speed, and there was a different entry into the d/s and look at how low she was… me, I am much with the impressed. He used to skate with Savchenko, that’s right… and I remember screwing up her name before… with Karchenko, that’s right!
Marks… as Chris says judges in quandary…Nicky says he could see them going third… talks of quality of elements… PB is 49.46… ok, TE are 31.78… 24.48… 56.26… they’re in 5th.
SPASSOVA Rumiana - TODOROV Stanimir BUL
White trousers with gold along the seams… and green and gold on the waistcoat with white sleeves… and she’s in a dress of similar colouring, with gold and white, and very Russian traditional outfit type of thing, with a bit of the stage Oirish thrown in for good measure. Music is renaissance music, she’s only 15… this is all about experience for them… it’s the blue peter theme music. Someone give them a badge! He kisses her hand as they step… crowd are clapping… split and down she goes on the landing… intake of breath. He missed her completely and nearly skated over her hand… and down she goes with a skid on the throw 2loop… she landed on her side… steps around… lift… I can hardly watch… and down… not hard, but safe. Steps along the ice into the s/s 2flips… clean, miles apart. Death spiral is nice and low, with good position on it, and on leg coming out of it…s/s camel to sit change sit to upright and they’re oceans apart… spiral step… he looks grim… back to blue peter we go… she’s trying to sell it, bless her… good extension on Y spiral… pairs spin and that’s nice and fast… change…. Bit of travel and Natalia death spin… and done. And she looks crushed. We see the fall on the twist from the roofcam… it went laterally and it wasn’t supposed to! See also from roofcam the fall on the throw… and she’s thinking, get me the hell off this ice… and she looks like she’s struggling coming off the ice. Ok, that was what do we do with the drunken sailor in the middle there! Ankle went right over on the throw, Chris says she did well to keep her chin off the ice… and they’re literally wincing,… I can’t even see them and I can hear them wincing! Nicky also was scared during the lift… so were we all! Finished on the button they say!
Marks 22.55 TE, PC 15.27 marks with 35.82, ded of 2.0. 12 of 12.
RENNIK Diana - SAKS Aleksei EST
Shiny teal blue dress for her, matching blouse for him, and black trousers. She’s 19 he’s 22, coached by her dad. Start facing one another… music is red hot symphony mix by Vanessa Mae… thank you for not being literal with costume….he doubles his flip, so does she… that was meant. I think. Throw 3sal and the expression on her face was priceless! Lift eeep looks like something wasn’t quite right going in… Nicky concurs but it went ok… d/s… nice position from her, nice arch of back and low… around the corner now and down the diagonal for the split and that was tiny! s/s camels to sit change sit ok timing… slightly fractionally off, I think… but they hide it well. Spiral steps… good extension from her for him not so much… wow, really high from her on the back spiral…. Into the pairs spins and slow slow slow going in… travel on the spins and even more once we change and they’re crawling in the end of the spin... and stop ahead of the music… just about kept the final spin going marks Chris. Throw sal we see again, and it was a beauty. No… I take it back about the flips, both of them had the height for a triple methinks… we see the lift again, and Nicky is again saying that his supporting arm doesn’t look like it’s locked out… death spiral is nice again and the twist, he didn’t really catch her, she’s almost landed…there was, literally, no height on it. None.
Marks PB 34.92… TE 25.45… PC 16.15… there are boos. Total 41.60. Ranking of 10th. 12th last year at Euros, 18th at worlds.
Russian 1,2,3, as we thought… the UKR split the GER for the 4-6. Not a bad night of skating I must say. Back tomorrow, Manchester United match notwithstanding!
Gwendal’s thoughts… what makes T&M
special? Consistency he says… a pair we can trust, they will skate well…every
time on the ice they do something good, apart from the accident! But that’s
really rare, they’re here to do their job, they’re relaxed, are here to do
their thing. Judging system, what does he think? Number of mistakes in the s/s
spins struck him. Something that comes from new system – pushes skaters to find
new elements, more difficulties, why more in the s/s spin because in the past
it was easier to use the same spin all the time, because it takes a lot of work
to be together. When you change the spin, new pos, change of edge, its’
difficult for singles, twice as hard for pairs. So judging system makes you push
yourself to find new positions etc. Moskvina told him the new system pushes
skaters plus judges to find new elements… he said we can see it tonight in the
new lifts and changes of rotations.