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Thursday, the 19th: OD and Ladies LP

Thursday, 19th January

Thursday was the only day where we got up very early this year (much unlike for example Worlds in Dortmund where we got up early on at least 4 days), because I wanted to catch C&S' Original Dance practice at 7:50am, after I had missed their OD practice on Monday due to the sightseeing. I have to say 7:50 was definitely bordering on my lower limit for attending anybody's practice, if it had been something like 7:30 I wouldn't have gone even for C&S, but it was still bearable here :) Apart from the group with Israel, we also got to see the groups with Towler-Green & Poole and the one with Russia and Armenia, which were the groups that interested me the most, so that was really nice. I have to say Galit's OD dress was distracting me seeing it live for about the first minute of watching them, but then I got used to it and since I've grown quite fond of it by now, I'm glad they haven't changed it and I hope they'll actually keep it for the rest of the season :D

After the dance practices we decided to just stay in the rink, cause we couldn't think of anything better to do, but we made sure to walk around a lot, in order to survive sitting in the seats at the rink for this whole long day (I'm sure I'll need 6 months of Yoga just to make up for the 1 week of sitting in those seats :scream: ). So since we stayed in the rink, we ended up watching all of the ladies practices, even though I didn't quite pay attention to all of it (and Stefka dozed off at least once :P ). The top group of ladies practice was very interesting though, it was interesting to follow all of them. Irina didn't do too much jumps wise, but had a good run-through, Caro's jump highlights were a 3z-3t and a 2axel–euler–3s-2t. Sarah Meier looked rock solid with all her jumps. Elene Gedevanishvili definitely tried the most jumps of all ladies, some with success, some with troubles. Sokolova landed a 3t-3t-2t, but didn't do too much overall and I didn't see too much of Volchkova.

Both Stefka and I were not really looking forward too much to watching the OD (ok actually we weren't looking forward to it at all, apart from the lower ranked groups) after the CD, since we thought it wouldn't be any fun, so I felt rather negative about watching the whole thing (another reason for watching the OD practice, since I find dance practices much more relaxing than dance competitions), so my notes for the OD start with some stuff about how watching dance live always makes me appreciate singles, pairs and anything else from Curling to underwater chess (yes that's a sport!). Of course since I actually ended up really enjoying the OD and FD in the end, those notes now look pretty silly and melodramatic :lol: , but since I noted it down, I feel obliged to mention it in order to properly convey all my emotions during the week :D

The actual competition was started by Hajkova & Vincour. I did not like their OD music very much (already hadn't at Nebelhorn as far as I remember), but they had a solid performance as far as I can see.

Anastasia Grebenkina wore a very nice orange Latin dress, I wonder if that's the same one Andrey found so weird at Skate Israel??? Probably not. They had a very polished technical performance (which also translates into it wasn't really very much fun though) and she's just so pretty! She has a great smile !

Aureli & Vaturi were a bit wobbly and slow on the diagonal footwork, but they had the most dancy performance so far and therefor were my favorites at this point.

Krail & Peter definitely skated better than I remember them from Nebelhorn, I think they were both slower and shakier there. Nice to see them make improvements and their OD was nice to watch.

Nagy & Elek unfortunately botched their last lift, but they had good energy and flow and were cute to watch. I have to admit their attempts at „Latin“ dancing looked more cute than anything else, which I suppose wasn't the intention, but I just thought it was charming.

Kauc & Zych had messy twizzles during their sbs steps and he fell at the end of their footwork (I think the other one). It is quite typical for them to fall in at least one competition portion, sigh. They were faster than most of the teams who had skated so far, but I didn't find too much standing out in their program.

Towler-Green & Poole were just great fun! I always enjoy them so much. They had good flow too :) Stefka was keeping a list of how many teams have a rotational lift as the last element of their OD, since she wanted to find out if anyone does it at another point of the program at all (I think she found someone :P , but not many), so I noticed that Towler-Green & Poole were actually the first team I remember seeing who have no rotational lift in their OD at all. Up until this point I had actually thought it's mandatory to have one :P

William Beier is still in the orange monstrosity ehm costume. They had a good final rotational lift, but he stumbled on the diagonal footwork. I think they had the most „fluffy fun“ music of all teams.

I like Golovina & Voiko, but as always they were a bit slow (an Ukrainian tradition I suppose).

The Zaretzkis had a smooth performance, except for maybe one short moment during their diagonal footwork, that somehow looked a bit strange to me, even though I'm not quite sure why.

Hoffmann & Elek were cheered on by György Elek in the audience. Apart from that I only noted down that Attila had a strange freeleg position on his second twizzles in the straightline step sequence (ok, this sounds really not any better than having a problem with the timing of someones' counter three-turns, thinking about it :lol: )

I didn't note down anything else about the OD's, but it was much more fun than I had anticipated. Somehow I was dreading seeing the top groups, but when C&S' group came onto the ice I suddenly got well-tempered about it and enjoyed it :) I also was much less nervous than I usually am when watching them live and I think it was one of the best live performances that I've seen of them (or the first one where I wasn't too nervous to really enjoy it :P ), only the first lift looked a bit slow to me, apart from that they were fast and fluent and I liked it better than their OD at least years' Euros that had also been polished, but not as fast and fluent. I'm still not sure if it's such a good idea to try no combo spin at all, I think they might have been the only team who didn't do one (except for Nagy & Elek and I suppose possibly somebody else) and since a Lv4 solo spin can only get a max base value of 4.0, while a combo Lv4 spin can have a 4.7 base value, it's 0.7 potential points that others can get that they are definitely throwing out of the window. On the other hand, they never got their combo spin credited as Lv4 so far and many of the other teams have problems with it too, therefor going for a secure Lv4 solo spin might actually be just fine (and it's definitely nice to see them doing just a nice long spin without any convoluted position). I was glad they finally got a decent TES score on the OD, but apart from that their scores are somewhat getting slightly frustrating, always they either get a competitive PCS score together with a weak TES (like earlier in the season) or alternatively a competitive TES without the competitive PCS to go with it :-/ But I was glad they were so far ahead of DomShabs after the OD that I was now sure that even if they fell in the FD or something, they wouldn't drop any lower and I therefor would get to see them in the gala for sure (it never even occurred to me that the gala might not contain the Top 5 in all disciplines this time :P )

Apart from that I think most of the teams skated really well in the OD, it definitely was a much better portion than the FD. I really enjoyed NavKos' OD seeing it live (even with the blue leopard costumes ;) ) and I think Grushina & Goncharov and Delobel & Schönfelder were also much better in the OD than in the FD. I think when they skate well comparing the top teams after N&K is pretty much like comparing apples and oranges, I don't even know how I would have placed the teams (ok I of course would have a personal order, but just based on personal taste, I don't think I'd have any objective result, apart from that I think everybody was close together. I don't really remember much about the other teams, who placed in the lower top 10, I suppose if something dramatic had happened in anybody's skate, I'd remember. I remember both Stefka and I were rather disappointed with Faiella & Scali's OD, it should suit them well, so one would think they'd have something better.

Before the ladies LP we tried to go the restaurant in the rink (which was set up by a catering company), but it wasn't all that pleasant. They had much too little personnel for all the people, so we just kept waiting forever for our order to be taken. However, at least the time passed that way :P I had a small cheese plate, which was ok (Katja had a warm meal that was unfortunately cold) and with paying and everything we just made it back for the start of the ladies.

The Ladies LP was opened by Lina Johansson. She had a really tough time out there and was probably not really recovered from her injury yet. Her speed and spins were there though. Her jumps: 2a, 3f fall, 3l ur fall, tano 2z, another 3 I'm not sure about that she opened after about 2 and 1/2 rotations and took a bad fall on, 2s, 2t.

Andrea Kreuzer skated her Falco Medley, that we had already seen at Nebelhorn. She seemed to run out of stamina at the end, but still it was definitely the best performance I've ever seen of her, especially considering her usual success with the triples she attempts. Her jumps in this program: 3t-2t, 3l saved, tano 2flip, 2a-2t, 3t, 2f-2t (bit shaky), 2loop stumble out. She also had a stumble on her footwork.

Sonja Radeva is one of my favorite OES ladies, since she has very wide jumps, good basics, a beautiful style and a good general technique. Her choreographies could be more diversified and detailed though. Her jumps were: 3t-2t nice, 3? fall out, 3s-2t nice, 2a shaky, 3t, 2l shaky, 2s.

Ekaterina Proydo still seemed to be rather nervous and her jumps mostly seemed to lack the necessary confidence, since most of them didn't look as if she shouldn't be able to land them. She had a nice style and program, it was just a bit empty. Jumps: 3z fall, 2s-2t, 2f stumble, 2z, 3l 2footed, 3t touchdown, 2a extra turn. She also had a stumbly footwork sequence and finished a bit before her music. Too bad, because her basic style is really nice IMO.

Valentina Marchei skated with great attack, it's too bad about the missed jumps, because everything else was just great. She was one of the few skaters who actually varied her speed properly, skating fast in the fast parts and slower and calm in the slow middle part. Jumps: 3z fall (even though the jump had looked promising), 3s, 2s-1t stumble, good variation of speed displayed, 2a, 3t-2t, 3z fall, tano 2flip. Despite the mistakes it was one of the most enjoyable performances.

Jaqueline Belenyesiova's minus points to her skating are that she is slow and has weak basics, but on the other hand she is usually able to show most of what she's capable of doing. Today was one of her more rough skates though: 3l 2footed stumbled out, 3s, 2t, 2a, 2f 2footed, 3t-2t, 3s fall.

Julia Sebestyen unfortunately didn't have a better skate than in the SP at all :( Her jumps were: 3f fall, 3z fall, 3l 2footed onto wrong foot, 3s-2t-2l as the only positive highlight, 3f 2footed onto wrong foot, 1a, 3t fall. Still she managed to have good spins and footwork.

Martine Zuiderwik's jumps are very good when landed clean, unfortunately today there was only one really good one, the SP was much better! 3t, 1s, 3l fall, 3s stumble, 2a, 3t touchdown, 1a-2t.

Theodora Postic's skate included some good stuff, but also some bad: 1z-1t, 3l fall, 3s into I think another jump, 3t-2t, 2a, 3f fall, 3s.

Nadege Bobillier was not bad in the LP, she had boring music, but she's a rather good skater. Her SP was of course a lot better though. 3s fall, 3t-2t, 3s into 2f, 3t, 2a fall unnecessary, 2a shaky.

Tugba Karademir again impressed with nice spirals and she just presented a lovely overall program and skate, it was by far the best performance so far: 3t-2t-2t, 2f stumbly, 3s, 3t-2t, 2a, 3s, 2a.

Elena Glebova skated to Bohemian Rhapsody (of course some orchestral version). She had a good start to her program, but then ended up somewhat falling apart. She has good basics and a nice style, but a shaky performance. Her jumps: 3t-3t extra turn, 3f step out 1t, 2a, loop with step out (not sure if a 2 or 3), 1z fall, 1a-1t-1t stumble, 3? shaky.

Susanna Pöykiö's jumps were: 3s-2t, 2z-2t, 1r, 3f, 3s, 2a, 3t. As usually she was completely lacking any attack to her skating, which is really bothering me.

Anette Dytrt presented a "vintage" program, meaning she landed her usual 3 triples. Still since she has the speed and attack that Pöykiö is missing, she was a lot more exciting to watch. 3z, 2s, 3f, 2l, 3t-2t, 2a, 2a fall.

Idora Hegel was generally lacking flow in her skating and I have seen her skate much better. I liked her costume though. 3Z 2footed step out, 3l-2t, 2s, 3t-2t, 3l stumble after already landing it, 1z, spread eagle into 2a.

Alisa Drei had good speed and flow, like she usually has, but I think her program is unfortunately rather generic. Jump-wise her program had ups and downs: 3t-3t, 2z, 2 and ½ loop on wrong foot, 2a-euler-3s, 3f, 1s, 2a.

Viktoria Pavuk unfortunately was lacking her usually energy today and had a rather rough skate. Also she has to work on the speed of her spins in general, they are too slow. 3z-2t-2l, 2 and ½ loop fall, 2f, 1a out of spiral, 3s, 3z, 2t stumble.

At this point we were starting to worry that the ladies LP would turn out to be a similar disaster as the one last year, but luckily already the next skater started to turn things into a much better direction :) Kiira Korpi had by far the best skate so far, maybe she slowed down a bit in the last 1/3 of the program, but overall she was very fast and fluent and skated to some Bluesy music that suits her well. She's by far my favorite of the current Finnish ladies, since she has power, flow and speed, combined with high jumps and promising presentation. She was very fast going into her first jump and stepped out of the 3z. She then did: 3f-2t, 3l-2t, 3l, 3s nice, 2a, 3t.

Sarah Meier had some starting problems in her program, but then got her act together. I really like her Bolero variation, even if her SP performance was better. 3Z-step out-2t, 2f-2t, 3l nice, 3z, 3t, 2a, 3s-2t.

I enjoyed Elene Gedevanishvili's energetic musical footwork the most of her LP. It was not as good a performance as the SP, but definitely more than respectable for such a young skater at her first Europeans. I think the only thing she clearly lacks in comparison to the other top skaters is the ice coverage. 2a-3t ur, 3z stumble-2t, 3f-2t, 3t 2footed, 1s, 1a, 3t.

Viktoria Volchkova unfortunately had a terrible skate in the LP and dropped a lot of places. I though her music suits her very well and she was not that slow today, except for during the last third of the program. 2Z, 2f, 3s, 3t fall, 1z popped, 3s stumble 2t, 1a.

Carolina Kostner as always wasn't 100% clean, but she still had a good performance with some amazing jump highlights. She did 3f-3t, 3z, 3l, 2a, 2a-1t, 2a-euler-3s, 3s fall. She had some wobbly spins and her spirals were nice but a bit slow today.

I think Elena Sokolova definitely had one of the skates of her life at this competition, her LP was just totally exciting and amazing and she got a good standing ovation from the audience. I just drew a big smiley face next to her jump notes :) 3t-2t-2l, 3f, 3s, 3z, 3l, 3t-2t, 2a-2t. All the jumps were rock solid and beautiful.

Irina also delivered, of course in her case it was less surprising than with Elena, cause she hardly ever not delivered lately :) Her jumps: 3z-2t, 3s-2l-2t, 3f saved, 3f-2t, 3l, 3t, 2a. This LP definitely made more than up for last years' and hearing it live I also really liked her LP music. Alltogether also this complete LP competition made more than up for the one from last year!

On Thursday evening we met up with Belsornia, Katja, Susanne and Christine (who had arrived by now) and watched the photos Katja and I had taken so far in Christine's room. I figured that mixing Ramazotti and champagne after having eating nothing but a tiny cheese plate all day long isn't such a brilliant idea :lol: