Shanghai 2015 - The Most Technical versus the Most Elegant (Pairs)
The pairs competition looks to be more predictable than the ice dancers'. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are untouchable technically, so unless something goes awfully wrong, they have this in the back pocket.
Maria Paliakova/Nikita Bochkov's Corpse Bride looks good on paper; this is a Tim Burton story, after all, and it should look fabulous on ice. In actuality, it falls short of my expectations. They have no mistakes technically, but the presentation is just not accurate enough. The costumes are good, but the story is filled with gaps; for one, where is the sadness of the woman who falls in love with a man she can never be with because she is dead and he is alive? Their score: 46.17.
Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres manage to transmit the angst of Tango de Roxanne through variations on elements such as the broken leg side-by-side spin. Their phasing is clever too with the death spiral performed on the frantic last bit of the song. She doubles the side-by-side triple Toeloop though. They get 58.28 points.
Nicole della Monica/Matteo Guarise are one with the current trends as they skate to a story that is ravaging the box offices right now: Cinderella. Their version is not the Disney one though, but a ballet. Nicole does plenty of mistakes: steps out of the triple Salchow and double-foots the landing of the thrown triple Loop. Their creative lift position is excellent though. Their score: 54.48.
With surnames such as theirs, European bronze medallists Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov must be destined for greatness. They surely have the talent to become superstars, even though they lost synchronicity at the end of the side-by-side spins. Their Sarabande Suite is dramatic and quite epic. They get 67.71 points.
Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov are simply sublime in their interpretation of Meditation from Thais. He is too slow on the side-by-side spins though and can't keep up with her entirely. Their score: 71.59.
Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier skate on Speak Softly My Love by Andy Williams, which is why I would have liked to see them feign romance a bit more. She makes all sorts of errors in the side-by-side triple Salchow and they lose their unison every time they switch positions in the side-by-side spins. They get 61.32 points.
I keep forgetting about Wenjing Sui/Cong Han, and they keep reminding me I shouldn't by doing great performances. The throw triple Flip is impressively high - in fact it is so high that it makes everyone, me included, gasp. They are the most entertaining of the Chinese couples, skating to Stray Cat Strut. Their score: 71.63.
Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang's elements have definitely improved (by their elements, I really mean hers). Apart from the lack of unison in the side-by-side spins, they are foot-perfect. Choreography-wise, I have to say that they could do with some dancing given that the music is called Arabian Dance. The genre is different, but they could have done something similar to what Volosozhar/Trankov did when they skated to a waltz, which is actually learn some dance steps. They get 69.67 points.
Alexa Scimeca/Chris Knierim prove my point about dancing. They skate to Tango of Roxanne, and although there aren't a lot of tango steps in there, there are enough to give the routine flavour and make it look authentic. The phasing on the throw twist is spectacular. However, they are out of sync in both the side-by-side spins and jumps. Presentation-wise though I feel that they put a bit more effort into it than the French. Their score: 65.56.
Qing Pang/Jian Tong are the main reason why thousands of people have come to watch the pairs' event today. They are China's best and figure skating's most elegant pair at the moment. Unluckily, and I do believe it's just bad luck, they are not in unison at the beginning of the side-by-side spins. They get 72.59 points.
Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford are always trying to get a bit higher in the rankings, a bit more creative with their programmes, a bit more innovative with their elements. That's why I believe Un pue plus haut is the perfect song choice for this time in their careers; they are so good at finding songs that speak about themselves. Awesome job! Their score: 76.98.
It's no surprise that Duhamel & Radford have taken the lead, but it is also nice to see that two of the host's pairs, Pang & Tong together with Sui & Han, have ended the short programme on second and third place. Things might change for the latter pair though in the free skate, so don't miss it.
Maria Paliakova/Nikita Bochkov's Corpse Bride looks good on paper; this is a Tim Burton story, after all, and it should look fabulous on ice. In actuality, it falls short of my expectations. They have no mistakes technically, but the presentation is just not accurate enough. The costumes are good, but the story is filled with gaps; for one, where is the sadness of the woman who falls in love with a man she can never be with because she is dead and he is alive? Their score: 46.17.
Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres manage to transmit the angst of Tango de Roxanne through variations on elements such as the broken leg side-by-side spin. Their phasing is clever too with the death spiral performed on the frantic last bit of the song. She doubles the side-by-side triple Toeloop though. They get 58.28 points.
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| Della Monica and Guarise as Cinderella and Prince Charming Source: Jamie McDonald / Getty Images Europe |
With surnames such as theirs, European bronze medallists Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov must be destined for greatness. They surely have the talent to become superstars, even though they lost synchronicity at the end of the side-by-side spins. Their Sarabande Suite is dramatic and quite epic. They get 67.71 points.
Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov are simply sublime in their interpretation of Meditation from Thais. He is too slow on the side-by-side spins though and can't keep up with her entirely. Their score: 71.59.
Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier skate on Speak Softly My Love by Andy Williams, which is why I would have liked to see them feign romance a bit more. She makes all sorts of errors in the side-by-side triple Salchow and they lose their unison every time they switch positions in the side-by-side spins. They get 61.32 points.
I keep forgetting about Wenjing Sui/Cong Han, and they keep reminding me I shouldn't by doing great performances. The throw triple Flip is impressively high - in fact it is so high that it makes everyone, me included, gasp. They are the most entertaining of the Chinese couples, skating to Stray Cat Strut. Their score: 71.63.
Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang's elements have definitely improved (by their elements, I really mean hers). Apart from the lack of unison in the side-by-side spins, they are foot-perfect. Choreography-wise, I have to say that they could do with some dancing given that the music is called Arabian Dance. The genre is different, but they could have done something similar to what Volosozhar/Trankov did when they skated to a waltz, which is actually learn some dance steps. They get 69.67 points.
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| Scimeca & Knierim tango through the short programme Source: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images Asia |
Qing Pang/Jian Tong are the main reason why thousands of people have come to watch the pairs' event today. They are China's best and figure skating's most elegant pair at the moment. Unluckily, and I do believe it's just bad luck, they are not in unison at the beginning of the side-by-side spins. They get 72.59 points.
Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford are always trying to get a bit higher in the rankings, a bit more creative with their programmes, a bit more innovative with their elements. That's why I believe Un pue plus haut is the perfect song choice for this time in their careers; they are so good at finding songs that speak about themselves. Awesome job! Their score: 76.98.
It's no surprise that Duhamel & Radford have taken the lead, but it is also nice to see that two of the host's pairs, Pang & Tong together with Sui & Han, have ended the short programme on second and third place. Things might change for the latter pair though in the free skate, so don't miss it.
Duhamel/Radford <3
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