Saturday, October 17, 2009

TEB Pairs Free Skate-Live Commentary

8:38 CT-Here will be my commentary of the pairs free skate for the 2009 Trophee Eric Bompard competition, updated as the competition goes on live. Enjoy!

8:45-The judges are being announced. Arena looks about 60% full.

8:47 Large response for James/Bonheur from their home audience; Inoue/Baldwin get a decent response also.

8:49 James/Bonheur is same costumes from Worlds FS. Just tried a throw double twist.

8:50 Bonheur fell out of SBS triple salchow in warm-up.

8:51 James/Bonheur good throw triple salchow in warm-up.

8:52 Camera hasn't paying much attention to Inoue/Baldwin; Inoue is in a white dress and Baldwin is in black.

8:53 Warm-up has concluded. Vanessa James/Yannick Bonheur are about to skate. Big response from crowd. They look relaxed, particularly she.

8:55 Same program as last season IIRC.

James/Bonheur
SBS 3S-UR and two-footed from him, hers was fine
double twist-looked she was going for a triple but bailed out
throw 4S-fall; great attempt!
2A+2A SEQ-fall on second jump from Vanessa
spiral sequence different in that they face each other
throw 3F-fall

Very weak skate compared to last year's worlds, but still a really gutsy (and I would say fully-rotated) attempt at the throw 4S. Her expression is superior to his.

TES: 44.40
PCS: 38.43
Ded: -3.00
Total: 79.40
Grand Total: 118.66

Castelli/Shnapir

Cool transition into double twist
SBS 3S-fall out from him
throw 3S-fall out
2A+2T SEQ-looked like she singled hers but I missed it
throw 2A-hand down; fall out
Very cool lift sequence; nice positions
Spin combo off unison

TES: 44.63
PCS: 38.88
Total: 83.51
Grand Total: 133.01
Rank: 1

Great senior international debut!

9:11 Dong/Wu China

SBS 3T+2T-good
SBS 3S-fall from him
throw triple twist-first one we've seen today; good
spin combo-started off well but good off unison in the middle
throw 3R-good
throw 3S-leaning to her right side in the air, but landed without error
This team is talented technically but bland artistically. They need to skate to something more lyrical, because their free skate music was much too strong and intense for what they were able to emote to.

TES: 54.63
PCS: 41.12
Ded:-1.00
Total: 94.75
Grand Total: 144.45
Rank: 1

9:19 Inoue/Baldwin

SBS 3T-he doubled his
2A+2A+SEQ-fall out from her on 2nd jump
throw triple twist-poor exit
throw 3R-good
throw 3A-excellent; WOW!
spin combo-good centering
Program to Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no.1. They had one of their better skates in the last couple of years. Excellent throws, but side by side jumps need major work in terms of consistency from both of them. A better program choreographically than past programs, but their attempts to look romantic are a colossal failure.

TES: 56.70
PCS: 47.60
Ded: -1.00 (they went overtime, finished way after the music)
Total: 103.30
Grand Total: 158.36
Rank: 1

9: 28 Warm-up group 2 is on the ice.

9: 31 Savchenko/Szolkowy dressed in some brown/yellow disaster. Canac/Coia had a good throw 3F.

9: 32 One minute left in warm-up.

9:33 Warm-up concluded. Cheers for Canac/Coia start before their names are even announced.

9:34 Canac/Coia FS
Samson and Delilah music.
Catch-foot position from her on the opening pose; good thing Dick Button isn't there commentating.
good double twist into a spiral
SBS 3S-nice
throw 3F-very low; put her hand down but manged to not fall
Good extension from her on spiral
2A+2T+SEQ-She singled her axel and didn't bother to do the toe
throw 3S-way off in the air
Her presentation is significantly better than his. They are a potentially good team but need to work on the throws. He doesn't throw her at all, and thus she barely gets two inches off the ground and falls.

TES: 48.82
PCS: 46.40
DED: -1.00
Total: 94.22
Grand Total: 150.18
Rank: 2

9:43 Dube/Davidson
throw triple twist-little rough on exit but better than Inoue/Baldwin's
SBS 2A+2A+SEQ-clean
SBS 3S-good
throw 3Z-two-footed
throw 3R-both hands down
Very nice lift combo
Ending pair spins a little slow
Lovely program! They both emoted really well to each other and to the audience and I think this music really suits their artistry. Ending was a bit anti-climatic, with the slower pair spins and the lack of energy going into the final pose (as the final note of the music is very strong). SBS jumps were very good; throws need work and looked a bit low.

TES: 58.91
PCS: 57.52
Total: 116.43
Grand Total: 180.97
Rank: 1

Mukhortova/Trankov
Love Story
Costumes are just awful
Throw triple twist-best one we've seen today
SBS 2A-good
SBS 3T+2T-solid
Throw 3R-lovely leg extension and speed on landing
Throw 3S-excellent; they are on!
Nicely centered spin combo
Very passionate finish
Program was a bit bland artistically (unusual for them) until the last third or so of the program when they got their big technical elements out of the way. Excellent performance technically and great ending; should go into 1st.

TES: 64.77
PCS: 61.28
Total: 126.05
Grand Total: 192.93
Rank: 1

Savchenko/Szolkowy need 119.96 to win.

3T+3T+SEQ-Two-footed 2nd jump from both of them
Throw 3F-nice
Crazy fall backward from her on Y-scale spiral
SBS 3S-fall from him; hers looked UR
death spiral-another fall
throw double twist-good
throw single salchow
Total meltdown! Taking away all the mistakes technically, I don't think this program is as polished nor as passionate as their "Shindler's List" LP from a year ago. Between their week performance at Nebelhorn and here, they have started off their Olympic season on an especially rocky track.

TES: 46.16
PCS: 57.28
Ded: -2.00
Total: 101.44
Grand Total: 174.42
Rank: 3

Final Standings
1 Maria MUKHORTOVA / Maxim TRANKOV RUS 192.23

2 Jessica DUBE / Bryce DAVISON CAN 180.97
3 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 174.42
4 Rena INOUE / John BALDWIN USA 158.36
5 Adeline CANAC / Maximin COIA FRA 150.18
6 Huibo DONG / Yiming WU CHN 144.45
7 Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR USA 133.01
8 Vanessa JAMES / Yannick BONHEUR FRA 118.66

Check back for live commentary of ladies later in the day.

That is all.

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