Darn, wrong prediction but soooooo happy for P/C  my bbs were amazing 

 

So now they are officially the favourites for ogm

11 minutes ago, Deliverpooh said:

So we have new world records in:

Dance

Pairs

and Ladies Juniors

Jr ladies was crazy 

Well, when King and Queen are MIA it's harder to have WRs in senior singles, so the other disciplines had to save the day 

The French have their own style, they skate to this type of music and program for the fourth time in a row. It's beautiful to watch but there is nothing innovative about them anymore - their Mozart FD was innovative, but after that, they are doing the same thing over and over again. On the other hand, the difference between Guillaume and Gaby's skills are so much visible even with my untrained eyes, while Guillaume has fantastic skating skills, I can't say about the same about Gaby. They are still young and hopefully, they will improve after the Olympics and try something new as well. I have seen them skate many times in person over the years (first time in 2013 when they were still really young and unknown), and they skate really nicely live, but their skating don't excite me that much.  To me, their skating is not comparable with Tessa and Scott's who are the best ice dancers I've seen, both techniqually and artistically. Their choreographies, the difficulty of their programs, their execution every elements, their skills, how they always try to challenge themselves and skate to something new, the incomparable chemistry between them makes them a very special team.

It just makes me sad to think about that someone like Tessa and Scott probably won't be two-time Olympic Champions, but they will retire with two silvers. There are only a very few skaters who would deserve to be two-time Olympic champions, and they are definitely one of them.

11 minutes ago, LadyLou said:

Jr ladies was crazy 

Well, when King and Queen are MIA it's harder to have WRs in senior singles, so the other disciplines had to save the day 

True. No Yuzu and Zhenya do make it harder, but great to see the others knocking it out of the park.

The junior ladies was insane. If only half go on to become  as succesful as seniors, they will revolutionize skating.

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, sallycinnamon said:

The French have their own style, they skate to this type of music and program for the fourth time in a row. It's beautiful to watch but there is nothing innovative about them anymore - their Mozart FD was innovative, but after that, they are doing the same thing over and over again. On the other hand, the difference between Guillaume and Gaby's skills are so much visible even with my untrained eyes, while Guillaume has fantastic skating skills, I can't say about the same about Gaby. They are still young and hopefully, they will improve after the Olympics and try something new as well. I have seen them skate many times in person over the years (first time in 2013 when they were still really young and unknown), and they skate really nicely live, but their skating don't excite me that much.  To me, their skating is not comparable with Tessa and Scott's who are the best ice dancers I've seen, both techniqually and artistically. Their choreographies, the difficulty of their programs, their execution every elements, their skills, how they always try to challenge themselves and skate to something new, the incomparable chemistry between them makes them a very special team.

It just makes me sad to think about that someone like Tessa and Scott probably won't be two-time Olympic Champions, but they will retire with two silvers. There are only a very few skaters who would deserve to be two-time Olympic champions, and they are definitely one of them.

 

I agree with just about everything you've said. I prefer PC's style but to me their performance couldn't match the perfection of VM, a pair I've only very recently come to appreciate though who are still too flashy for my tastes half the time. Artistic preferences aside, there's no denying their exceptional talent. They were absolutely outstanding today. As you say, PC are still young and have plenty of time to improve and I look forward to watching them do so. 

 

 

 

The problem with ice dance is that personal preferences are going to colour the average fans view ( quadruple that for the casual viewer ).  I can't tell the technical difference between the two - not knowledgeable enough - but I prefer P/C - to me V/M are too flashy/in your face/ whatever, but not in some new innovative way, just in the NA tradition, just a bit too much without adding anything new.

 

IDK how to express it - it's just a feeling and it is probably me being too European but that's what I think  

2 hours ago, Sombreuil said:

The problem with ice dance is that personal preferences are going to colour the average fans view ( quadruple that for the casual viewer ).  I can't tell the technical difference between the two - not knowledgeable enough - but I prefer P/C - to me V/M are too flashy/in your face/ whatever, but not in some new innovative way, just in the NA tradition, just a bit too much without adding anything new.

 

IDK how to express it - it's just a feeling and it is probably me being too European but that's what I think  

 

I think it's probably cultural, too. I'm not European or North American but I feel the same about their, and the majority of North American skaters', style, though I can tell they are technically the more polished and experienced dancers. I don't quite know how to explain it but something about the weight, flow, and comfort in the way they move together. As was said above, there seems to be a gap in skating skills between P&C which I noticed more than usual this time, though, like you, I much prefer them artistically. I think it was seeing them skate one after the other that really highlighted the difference in the skills of each pair for me (I hadn't watched ice dance live before.) 

 

FWIW, VM seem less in your face live as you can't really see those exaggerated facial expressions and their movements seem less showy from afar. I suppose it's the same as the difference between stage and film/television acting. I did only see their FD and gala performances, though, and was spared the flashy SD.  (I still haven't watched their Prince routine in its entirety. I can't seem to last more than 5 seconds.)

Re: V/M and P/C

I don't know enough about the technical elements and levels of ID, so I honestly can only tell if a twizzle is fast and in sync, or think "that lift looks great" and "wow those spins really match the music".

My preference for P/C is only due to their style being more appealing to me.

I see in them a sort of delicate and flowy quality that reminds me a lot of Yuzuru. Like Yuzuru, I feel they are just "skating together in their own world" and because they are skating beautifully, expressing the music through their bodies, they "drive me in"  instead or "reaching out at me", and that's what makes me prefer them and their FD in particular to Moulin Rouge, though I do love Tango de Roxanne and V/M are maybe skating the most convincing MR ever (tho I have a soft spot for young Yuna Kim skating to that music).

 

About versatility, at first I kinda had the same impression of P/C remaining in their comfort zone when I started searching for their programs (I started from Boston FD, then got to Helsinki, then back to their Mozart FD. My absolute favourite was the 2015-2016, but the current FD is now up there with it. I've loved it from Finlandia Thropy, tho there the magic was broken by Guillame falling)

Now I'm not bothered at all by them going for FD with similar "atmosphere". In Olympic season. And tbh I don't see the necessity for them to show any more versatility in their FD, when all ID pairs are forced to "show versatility" every season in the SD. When I learnt they had to do rumba I thought "no way P/C are going to sell me that" but they did, a bit more each time they performed it (I think Gabby in particular is letting herself get more loose, she's gaining confidence). Maybe I'd still give the edge to V/M in the SD on a perfect skate, but P/C did show they can manage something that was not their style at all.

Overall, I'd agree Tessa and Scott have more versatility, if we mean that they can be very convincing on a wider range of styles, but it doesn't mean that P/C can't do anything different, and it doesn't change that I do enjoy to watch programs with the same "atmosphere" from P/C and each one of them has a unique "feeling" to me.

 

Asfaik, last season P/C had repeatedly been left behind because they made mistakes and lost levels on their elements, so their BV was often way lower, while GOE and PCS weren't that much different. Apparently they've managed to fix this problem and now V/M are losing the edge they they used to have on TES. And it's not surprising the difference in PCS reduced or even reversed.

This time they were beaten in the SD too. Again, I don't know is it's fair or not, because the teams had same BV and were mighty close in PCS,. GOE made the difference and it was only half a point. I cannot judge who was better. But P/C looked as if they were enjoying their dance a lot, imo they looked carefree and at ease, so that might have played a role.

As for why the judges would edge P/C over V/M, Ambesi and Dolfini have commented (some podcasts ago) that maybe athleticism could sway the judges, as it's happened in Sochi, where the higher "athleticism" of D/W won. I think by athleticism they mean higher stamina that could help to minimize mistakes, while still keeping great overall speed throughout the whole program. P/C might have the advantage there of being younger, while V/M, while more experienced as a pair, might pay a bit on the athletic side now, being a bit older. They were also commenting that (this is about CoC and SC) apparently P/C had an edge on goe of choreographic elements, that have received maybe more attention. IMO what's really impressive about Moonlight Sonata is the attention to music timing, nuances and detail.

 

Still, both are magnificent teams and I think the ogm will depend on how they'll perform on the day. And on judges' personal tastes about music and "style", you can't really rule it out completely when it comes to some components, more so in ID. When I said that P/C looks like the favourites for OGM I meant that it looks like judges might like (or "feel") their FD more, and might prefer their lyric skating style, not that they're going to underscore V/M for the rest of the season.

Let's just hope all the teams will skate at their best in PyeongChang