Torvill and Dean, Bolero.
Enough said.;)
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Torvill and Dean, Bolero.
Enough said.;)
Laura,
Yes, after the'02 Olympics when the Canadian pair Jamie Sale & David Pelletier along with the Russian pair Elena Bereznaya & Anton Sikhurlidze shared the gold medal in pairs, a new scoring system got developed. It supposedly will stop cheating by the judges. There was some scandal that a French judge cheated and another judge or maybe it was the French judge was tapping her food in signal to another judge or something. I didn't pay a lot of attention to the details of all that, but it was talked about as "a judging scandal".
There is no more 6.0 as a perfect score with the eligible skaters. There is all kinds of things they look for and score on now, and each element has a "rank"...i.e., it can be a level 1, 2, 3 or 4 spin, jump, spiral, etc. The higher the level, the higher the scores. I still don't understand it all nor do I understand totally what constitutes a harder move, etc. I mean, obviously, a triple jump gets more points than a double, but all the rest of it...I don't know. It seems to have taken a lot of the beauty and showmanship out of skating.
amen!!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by momto4femalefelines
Catlady711,
Another Kurt fan?
One of the best programs ever was seeing Kurt do Brick House live!
He is amazing with his feet!
Talk about skating I use to skate as a kid went through 5 pairs of skates. We would play crack the whip & the person on the outer end ended up in the snowbank. So much fun trying to skate backwards. Went to the ice capades in St. Paul with my folks. Saw this very old couple do a skating waltz on the ice. They were spectacular. I was in Minneapolis for Stars on Ice & was disappointed a couple years ago. Scotti my favorite olympic skater looked like an ant down there on the ice. He is my most favorite skater of all time. That little bald headed guy sure can whip up a good show when he skates & I like him as a commentator he does a good job. I never liked that old fart Dick Button? I think that was his name. He use to criticize the skaters just never had anything good to say about anyone. A real jerk! Kristi is my favorite female skater such a sweet girl & so talented. I don't like the new scoring system either. I am excited about the olympics but the older I get the harder it is to accept the new young skaters. They just don't seem to have the grace the older ones had from the very beginning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Momto4FemaleFelines
He sure is great with the footwork!! I never got into the ice skating until I saw an improve on ice thing on tv, it was great. Of course most of the ones I liked best aren't skating so much anymore so I haven't follwed the sport in awhille.
I always liked Michelle Kwan because she wasn't all about the jumping. During most of her career she could certainly do the jumps, but her best programs were wonderfully expressive and emotional, not mere jumpfests. And I admire her choice to pursue an education rather than attempt to prolong her skating career. Like Kurt Browning, she doesn't need an Olympic medal to be listed among the great skaters.
I guess I'm in the minority in finding a lot to like in the new scoring system. It forces the skaters to put some sort of connecting moves between their jumps, rather than just coasting from one jump to another. Male skaters have been able to win competitions under the new system without doing quad jumps, whereas under the old system it appeared that no one would be able to win without a quad. And because more points are given for jumps after the halfway point, the new system encourages a big finish, which I think is more fun than watching a front-loaded program that fades out at the end.
I don't dislike the new system, it is different, though and so any change will lead to detractors!
I didn't think much of the new system at first, but the choreographers are getting the hang of it now and the programs are improving as a result. There are definitely some problems--the changes of positions in spirals and death spirals are often annoying--but I do think it prevents the power jumpers who lack artistic finesse from running away with every competition.
Bonny, I skated as a kid, too, for fun. I could walk down the street to the local lake any time I wanted. I loved skating at night.
I've never sat above the lower bowl in the venue we see the skating shows at, but I can imagine if you're in the nose-bleed seats, without binoculars the skaters would look miniscule.
Stars On Ice hasn't drawn the crowd it used to since Scott Hamilton retired, but my husband and I still enjoyed seeing it live immensely. I really feel like I'm missing my right arm not planning to go this year.:( It was like our "date night" going to the show, and I'd meet up with on-line fellow skating fans each year.
I liked Dick Button. He helped me learn the different elements and what made one a good one and what made one a bad one. I totally agreed with him on the leg position of the layback spin. "Uncle Dick" as he's known by fans would let you know when someone performed a great performance. Without him, I'd not know some of things I know now about skating and the different elements of it.
I just watched a repeat of Improv on Ice with the Goo Goo Dolls as musical performers. It was a good show!
Catlady711,
The faces of skating sure have changed.
I just finished watched the latest Improv on Ice show with the Goo Goo Dolls. Kurt was in it. It was a good show.
PrairiePurrs,
It wasn't that I disliked Michelle Kwan because she didn't jump...which she did, of course, and usually quite well.
I would rather watch a program with no mistakes, full of "in-betweens" and "moves in the field", like beautiful spirals and Ina Bauer moves, than a program full of attempted and fallen on big jumps.
Skaters like Dorothy Hamill and Yuka Sato are amazing to watch skate.
The new scoring system puts a little too much emphasis on doing certain things to rack up points rather than just letting a skater skate.
Michelle's style did not bode well with the new skating system. People like Kurt, Yuka, Dorothy and many others would not do well with that system either...maybe if they'd been "raised" on it. But, certain skaters who had come up with the 6.0 system and were really engrained to skate for that system, just couldn't do well with this new system coming into effect mid-stream through their eligible career.
One of my issues with Michelle was that all her programs looked the same. She never "stepped outside the box". But that being said, I totally applaud her for all she did in her skating and have any ill-will thoughts towards her. She just wasn't my cup of tea in her style of skating.
I also admit, my heart has always been with the pro skaters who were more free to do what they wanted in their programs. There is a HUGE difference in watching a live or televised competition compared to watching a live or televised show starring pro's who are entertaining and having fun.
The most exciting thing at the live shows was the lights going down, the venue getting quiet and seeing the first flashes of the skate blades under the curtain where the skaters ender the ice and then the SOUND of the blades on the ice. Thrilling!
Originally Posted by PrairiePurrs:
I didn't think much of the new system at first, but the choreographers are getting the hang of it now and the programs are improving as a result.
YES, I've noticed...some of the choreography is starting to mesh in with the new system.
Take for example Jeremy Abbott who won US Nationals Gold in mens competition. His coach is Yuka Sato and his short program was choreographed by former dance pair/now solo skater Shae-Lynn Bourne! He not only skated the skate of his life, but his short program was wonderfully choreographed. I didn't hear if they mentioned who his long program was choreographed by, but it was equally wonderful.
So, anymore thoughts on the US Nationals which just finished airing on tv last night?
I really, really loved Meryll Davis and Charlie White in the Dance discipline.
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are good and I totally understand that they are the fans sentimental favorites, but their performances seemed flat to me.
I fell asleep during the last 2 or 3 skaters of the Ladies long program last night so am going to try to catch the repeat on Universal Sports later today.
Watched the Ladies last evening, and the Dance earlier. I'm not liking the new scoring much. I thought that Mirai Nagasu was much better than Rachel Flatt - and look who is the winner.
I read an interesting article in the NY Times about the new scoring, and the further into it I got, the more I kept thinking school figures. Takes me back to the days of Trixie Schuba. She was perfection in figures, building up overwhelming leads before the free skate.
If that's where this is headed, count me out.