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Friday, November 12, 2010

Skate America Pairs Short Program

Warm up group is on the ice.  Zhang/Toth practice their throw and look great in their gray/blue costumes.  Castelli/Shnapir rehearse their triple twist.  Moore-Towers/Moscovitch run through a lift.  The Russians have a two footed and a turned out landing on their throw element.  I like the simple but elegant look of Marissa's dress.  Shnapir stumbles on the side by side jumps.

Group 1
Felicia Zhang/Taylor Toth, USA
  • In only their second season together, Taylor/Toth are making their senior Grand Prix debut.  They both look nervous as they wait for their names to be announced.
  • They are skating to Clare de Lune
  • She really crashed into him on the landing of the twist
  • The side by side triple toes looked clean
  • She could use some more extension through her legs and arch in her back in the overhead lift
  • Nice ride out on the landing of their throw salchow but i think it may have only been a double
  • Very in sync on the pairs spin
  • Nice unison on the step sequence
  • Legs could be a little more stretched out in death spiral
  • Overall a very pretty routine and they look very comfortable with each other and have a good connection.
26.82 TES + 21.31 PCS = 48.13 and into 1st place

Kirsten Moore-Towers/Dylan Moscovitch, CAN
  • With Dube and Davison out the top Candian Pairs spot is open and this team seems poised to take it
  • Fun, upbeat folk music with some arms that match
  • Crash landing on the triple twist
  • She puts a hand down on the side by side triple toes
  • Overhead lift from the knee and he releases her to a one arm hold and flip exit--all looks very effortless
  • Great ice coverage on the throw triple loop and she landed it nicely
  • I hate the upside down death spiral position
  • Great use of the ice and their positions in the step sequence
  • Spins are fast and in unison
35.33 TES + 26.31 PCS =61.64 new seasons best and into 1st place

Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov, RUS
  • Asurias is their music
  • Double twist with her arms over her head
  • Throw triple flip with a nice ride out by Stolbova
  • Side by side triple toes looked clean
  • They're a little far apart in their step sequence and she does a partner cartwheel over him which I haven't seen before--I'd like it to be a little fiercer with this Spanish music as well
  • She has an interesting air position that doesn't look fully developed and she may have crashed into him during the exit
  • The spins are unison and close together but seem to lose speed toward the end
  • Very different entrance into their death spiral from a backward lunge position and it looks like he almost drops her for a second at the very end
  • Their program lacked some of the polish of the other Russian teams but they have room to grow
  • Long wait for their scores, possible jump downgrades?
30.67 TES + 23.06 PCS = 53.73 into 2nd place

Marissa Castelli/Simon Shnapir, USA
  • Music is Money by Pink Floyd and the Apprentice theme song
  • He takes a bad fall on the throw triple salchow
  • Nice height and catch on the triple twist
  • Unison is slightly off on the spins
  • Nice closeness ans unity on the step sequence
  • She lands on her knees on the throw triple salchow but it had huge height
  • They go into their signature leg hold position in the overhead lift
  • Death spiral was nice
  • Not as clean as Skate Canada with the two falls.  I wonder if nerves are a factor in front of the home crowd as they are still a young team.
26.50 TES + 22.74PCS -2.00 deduction = 47.24


Warm up group is on the ice.  Sui and Han seem to really be going through their program.  Cadee Denney looks like she's got a tissue stuck in her bodice.  The rest of the teams just seem to be skating around and I don't see many elements being warmed up here.  Jumps from Denney, Barrett and Savchenko. 

Group 2
Stacey Kemp/David King, GBR
  • Their music is Clocks by Coldplay (Yay Vitamin String Quartet!)
  • Nice triple twist but it look like she might have two footed the landing and crashed into him a little bit
  • Double Flip for their side by side
  • Throw triple loop was landed nicely
  • Nice stretched out position in the death spiral
  • The footwork seems slow and a little repetitive
  • Their spins are off unison and it looks as if at one point they were doing two completely different spins
  • Overhead lift with a catchfoot position for her
22.60 TES + 19.40 PCS = 42.00 into 5th place

Wenjing Sui/Cong Han, CHN
  • Country Dance is their music
  • She turned 16 since Cup of China
  • She has so much personality on the ice!
  • Great side by side double Axels
  • She gets great height on the triple twist
  • Huge throw triple flip!  She holds the ending forever as well--great control.
  • Great speed and energy through their step sequence and it really plays into the character of the routine and the crowd is really behind them
  • Nice unison on the spins but they lost it a little bit at the end--great speed through the spins
  • She could use a little more arch through her back in the overhead lift and they use the same split position as Castelli/Shnapir.  There was a little bobble getting into it but he got her up there.
  • Nice death spiral position
  • Great routine from them with no errors and the crowd is screaming!  They should get a huge score. 
32.02 TES + 25.51 PCS = 57.53 into 2nd place (and a lower score than Cup of China where they had 2 falls)

Caydee Denney/Jeremy Barrett, USA
  • Love Theme from Cousins
  • A little bit of a crash landing on the triple twist and she didn't get great height
  • Side by side triple toe loops were clean and well done
  • Throw triple lutz was good but didn't get the height or ice coverage that some of the other teams do
  • Her death spiral position is very ugly and she doesn't get as low as Moore-Towers did
  • Side by spins were good and in unison
  • They seem a little far apart at times on their footwork but they have nice movements and speed and flow through this section
  • She could use a little more arch in her back in the overhead lift position
  • I like this softer side to their skating that we haven't seen before
32.46 TES + 26.03 PCS = 58.49 new seasons best and into 2nd place

Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy, GER
  • Korobushko by Bond is their music
  • I'm not quite sure what the story a the beginning was supposed to be
  • Throw triple flip was huge and she really held on to the landing
  • Triple twist was good
  • Double toe--it looks like Savchenko was a little tilted in the air and couldn't do the 3rd rotation
  • Nice over head lift and he tosses her into the flip exit
  • Great death spiral position
  • The music for their step sequence lends itself to clapping and could be a real crowd pleaser but the steps are not as exciting as they could be
  • Spins are good but the unison is slightly off but they get them back together
  • Overall a solid program, but not my favorite from them and I think it doesn't really give them the chance to perform
32.84 TES + 31.15 PCS = 63.99 and into 1st place

Top 3 are Savchenko/Szolkowy, Moore-Towers/Moscovitch and Denney/Barrett
Moore-Towers/Moscovitch had the top elements score
Savchenko/Szolkowy had the top program components score

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