How long has NBC had the Michelle Kwan “tribute” in the can? She announced yesterday she was withdrawing and two minutes later there’s a promo for it.
Like the German pair? With their black S&M track suits? Or the Russian (?) pair in baby blue? Fugly is too kind. 
Am I the only one who’s a bit annoyed by the whole Michelle Kwan drama? I mean, she petitions to kick another girl off the team so she can go to the Olympics, then drops out the first day? And because of the injury that stopped her from competing in the trials, no less. Obviously she never should have been there to begin with. Now we’re going to have to hear about how classy and wonderful she was. Yeah, 'cuz what she did was totally classy. Sorry, but I used to really like her and this whole thing makes me mad.
Loved the pairs Friday night. The Russians were definitely in a league of their own.
No. But this sport is about drama. That’s where the eyeballs are, and the advertisers, and the exposure.
Did anyone happen to recognize the music the German couple, Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, skated to? It put me in mind of an epic movie, but I couldn’t place it. My google-fu doesn’t seem to be working - I’ve tried every combination of “Olympics Skating Music,” “Olympic Pairs Skating Music,” etc., that I can think of and couldn’t come up with anythng .
Does anyone else hear yelling in the background? It sounds like a coach yelling at a speed skater or something. Am I totally hallucinating? Is there another rink in the same building, or something?
Final results, pairs:
Jeez freakin’ louise. That was incredibly gutsy. They deserved the silver on shear raw bravery alone.
I saw the whole thing with my wife earlier today(the pairs).
I mean, what the fuck is that shit? They totally had a terrible fall…end of story. They didn’t deserve a medal. The other Chinese team did. My wife and I were very let down that they could earn the silver after such a bad move.
Teh only music I regognized was “A Time for Us” from Romeo and Juliet but I thought that was the Russian’s skating to that.
Wow. For the first time in my life, I have a really strong opinion about figure skating.
No WAY did they deserve silver! No doubt it was tough for them to go out and finish the routine, but you know what would’ve been even tougher? Doing it right the first time. Like all those teams who didn’t fall.
(And by the way, I really didn’t need to see the footage of that poor Russian girl getting dropped on her face. Not even for an “up close and personal” background-setting special interview. Ick.)
It’s not like they weren’t deducted for it. After the deduction, I took it to mean that they were still better, because of the all the hard moves they did. I am not a regular watcher though, just turned it on.
It really struck me how the Chinese pairs were able to finish 2-3-4, and yet so much about their programs is mediocre compared to the pairs who occupied those spots in past Olympic games. Their choreography is dull and emphasizes big tricks at the expense of everything else. Their unison is often sloppy, especially in the spins. Many of the smaller tricks are often poorly performed–death spiral form is poor, and Dick Button is right when he says it doesn’t look like any of them know how to do a proper sit spin. And their costumes are hideous (though that doesn’t factor into scoring).
Even the Russian pairs are lackluster, especially compared to past medal winners. The gold medal winners skated slowly, were tentative in many places, and their program was not particularly moving or beautiful. Russian pairs used to be known for their speed and artistry.
If this is what the new scoring system will bring us, I’m not impressed.
I can’t find a cite but I’m pretty sure it’s from the movie soundtrack to 1492: Conquest of Paradise. I recognize it because other skaters have used it in the past including Brasseur and Eisler.
The pairs had lots of drama this time around but not much in the way of truly great skating. I’ve seen Totminanina and Marinin perform that routine much better. I wish they’d stop showing her fall over and over and over again.
While I admire the guts of the second place finishers I’m not sure it was fair to let them continue to skate after the hole in the program, let alone win a medal. I am glad for Shen and Zhao. I’ve adored them since the last Olympics.
I think Kwan definitely tarnished her reputation here. She deprived Emily Hughes of the chance to participate in the opening ceremonies. She should have just retired and let it go. Then again I think she should have won the gold in 1998. Lipinsky did not have an ounce of her artistry even if she was a bit tentative that night.
The pair that I think has the most promise was the young Canadian pair, who kind of fizzled out about two-thirds of the way through their long program, but had a spark in their skating that you don’t see in many pairs. They’ve definitely got promise. Not this time, but in a future Olympics, they may well live up to the promise of other great Canadian pairs.
And I definitely did not need to see that Polish woman’s flabby ass in her wedgified costume in the overhead lifts. Coverage, ladies! That’s where it’s at!
The Chinese have come a long way, but they clearly have a long way to go as well. I do think they pay close attention to criticism, however, and will hopefully improve their fundamentals.
Dick Button really gets on complaint kicks, doesn’t he? A few years ago, it was poor spinning, slow and sloppy. Now it’s either catch-foot tricks or butts sticking out going down into death spirals. But where he criticizes, coaches listen and things improve – a couple years after his spinning bitch season, spins started to improve rather dramatically.
Let’s hope his criticisms of the poor Chinese fundamentals will help them improve. Because although I didn’t like their programs that much, I did like the skaters. They seem like they love what they do, and that’s what makes a skater most interesting to me. The Russians went through their routine with gritted teeth; the Chinese were loving it (or, in the case of the silver medalist, gritting her teeth but due to pain, not lack of enjoyment).
The new scoring system is really going to take some figuring out, but I do like the de-emphasis on jumps already. Focus on some of the other skills, folks! I remember Peggy Fleming in her youth and the simplicity of her jumps but the sheer beauty of her programs and it’s very clear to me that too much focus on jumping detracts from good skating.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to see the pairs’ final, but if you’re talking about Dubé and Davison I have to agree. Given that this was their first international competition at the senior level, and the Olympics no less, to finish 10th is pretty damned impressive. If they continue to develop on their current track, they’re going to be a serious threat in 4 years, at which time they’ll unfortunately have to deal with the pressure of being expected to win gold at home.
I have a question about figure skating judging that I’ve been pondering for a while, and this seems like a smart crowd to ask.
At the 2002 Winter Olympics, the controversy arose when the Canadians (Sale and Pelletier) skated a clearly superior long program, but the Russian pair won because they were ranked first on 5 of the 9 judges scorecards. Attention focused on the French judge, with the allegation that she traded her vote in the pairs to get support for a French team in the ice dancing.
What about the other 4 judges who chose the Russians over the Canadians? I mean, if that ranking is bogus, then it’s bogus for all 5 of the judges who made it. Amid the avalanche of press coverage this got at the time, why was this never questioned? Is it just assumed that the judging will break along the old western- and eastern-bloc lines, and that’s okay with everybody as long as the swing vote stays honest? Does the new scoring system fix this, or are they hoping nobody will bring it up?
Any comments?
The music: There were two Rachmaninoff pieces, one was from “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” and the other from his Piano Concerto #3.
Unfortunately, I don’t remember which pairs skated to these.
I have to agree about the young Canadian team. They looked very polished considering their relative lack of experience (until the end, that is).
There is no way to completely eliminate subjectivity from the judging of figure skating. There was a somewhat plausible argument to be made in 2002 that the Russian team deserved to be in first place rather than in second. I don’t find it convincing, but some do. It’s not entirely laughable–after all, there is almost no argument that the Russians deserved to be on the podium.
But in that case, the French judge came out and said she was told how to vote by her federation, and either said or implied she would have voted for the Canadian pair otherwise.
The new scoring system, IMHO, does not remedy the problem that judges can still prop up their favorite skaters, now by using the second mark (called program composition, or whatever). There is just no guarantee that a given judge’s marks will be used, and, IIRC, judges don’t have country designations anymore. This doesn’t eliminate bias, however. It just makes the judging system more opaque and thus harder to criticize.
Frankly, I think making the judging more confusing for the audience is a mistake. I know some viewers are drawn to watch in large part because of the expectation of a scandal.
I agree with this. I do admire their guts in going back out there, but there were other teams who had a fall and they had to keep skating through it. They didn’t get to regroup and refocus.
Long time skating fan checking in .
I am surprised by the plethora of Chinese in the top spots. While they have lots of tricks in their basket, their ability to actually become a part of the music and their interpretation is awful.
The couple that had the horrific fall on ice…man, I felt so bad for them and was in tears when they finished their program.
The russian pair were good, but (understandably) cautious. And why is it that it seems that all the russian women dye their hair a hideous blonde? It is freaky and scary at the same time. Oh, and their costumes were awful. His especially so.
When did we slip back into the 80’s for atrocious costumes? (Though the guy’s pants in the pair that had the fall I did like.) The german costumes were so blah and it looked like she had a parachute strapped to her back.
One would think that a famous designer from each country would help design something with panache or flair or something.