Who was the better crazy two-timing diva:
Krylova
or Navka?
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Romanian Tri-Meet Domination
The Romanians kicked a little ass in Switzerland last weekend. They are beginning to look like a team that will slowly but surely find themselves in medal contention at Worlds. Let the others make mistakes. These bitches look like they'll know how to hit.
Diana Chelaru: UB, BB, FX
Gabriela Dragoi: UB, BB
Raluca Haidu: UB, BB, FX
Sandra Izbasa: VT, BB, FX
Cerasela Petrascu: UB, FX
Ana Porgras: VT, UB, BB, FX
Oksana Chusovitina: VT1, VT2, BB
Ariella Kaslin: VT, UB, BB
This and That
Mackenzie Caquatto's update on the World Selection Camp. (Includes training footage.)
Kim Zmeskal's Raw Ambition video.
A recent interview with Mao Asada and Nobuo Sato was translated.
Joelle Forte says she is just hitting her stride at 24.
Hong Su Jong's registration for worlds shows a 3rd different birthdate in recent years. This is not the first time the PRK has had difficulty keeping their altered passports in order.
US Regionals and Sectionals schedule.
Kiira Korpi's winning short program from Nebelhorn:
US Men's World Training Camp vid (props to USAG for once):
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
This and That
Jaered Glavin took the Royal NZ Ballet's youtube channel on a tour of his outrageous wardrobe.
Evan Bates gave Icenetwork details about his injury and an update. He will be having surgery tomorrow morning.
Evgeny Plushenko took his sweet as time and finally got around to writing a letter to the Russian Figure Skating Federation president to restore his competitive eligibility. Evgeny previously had three weeks to appeal the ISU's decision to revoke his eligibility. He has yet to explain why he didn't just write the appeal in the first place.
Read Key quotes from the US Men's World Team during today's conference call with the press. Jonathan Horton announced that he WILL medal in the All Around this year. Audio from the teleconference is available.
Season Two of Battle of the Blades premieres Sunday and is expected to be an even bigger hit than season one.
Pechalat and Bourzat's SD from Nebelhorn. I'm really missing the Original Dance:
Natalia Laschenova's immigration case remains unresolved.
Wu Jiani spoke to Gymnastike about how Mackenzie Caquatto did at the first selection camp. As usual, she had a problem on beam:
Taylor Spears of OU has a new bar dismount:
NCAA Update
The Gym Dogs are working their way back to being a respectable team. As usual, every day is a hair emergency for Cassidy McComb.
The Boomer Sooner's have become fantastic about uploading practice videos. (Yet another reason to love KJ Kindler.)
Brie Olson worked on her release sequence. Her handstands and straddle back and meeting my OCD needs:
And her full twisting double layout dismount...:
Sara Stone's new beam series:
This is a subtle reminder to Rhonda to get some videos up. You're pregnant, so everyone is likely afraid of you. Take advantage of it and order some people around!
Jimmy Kimmel on the DWTS Booing Controversy
Jimmy Kimmel takes Dancing With The Stars very seriously. He has gotten to the bottom of the booing controversy. Unfortunately, that slore Brooke Burke is included in this clip. I never thought I'd miss Samantha Harris.
Miss Mao Asada
Miss Mao Asada opened her training to the media. Mr. Sato's very exacting and calm, disciplined demeanor looks to be exactly what Mao needs to ascend her position as the HBIC of the sport. With Yu-Na out for the Grand Prix (and who knows how much longer), Mao is expected to win every time out. If Nobuo and Mao can continue to work on improving all aspects of her technique, she should have no problem staying motivated enough to remain head and shoulders ahead of the pack.
Her triple loops continue to cure cancer and Master Frank Carroll would live for the way she is holding out her landing edges.
I predict a much steadier Grand Prix season awaits Mao as compared to last year.
Ballet Mania
A reader sent me this video of the diva Diana Vishneva dancing Carmen with attitude that would make Ms. Witt blush.
Jaered Glavin, the dancer with the most personality from The Secret Lives of Dancers, has been doing a little choreography. Here is his 'Lady Gaga Ballet' entry for The Global Dance Contest at Sadler's Wells London. One of the dancers is the delightfully controversial Katie Hurst-Saxton.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
This and That
Amanda Jetter spoke to Gymnastike about the first selection camp and was rather honest about her form and execution needing work. The video also includes her performing a bar routine during workout.
Nastia Liukin is back in the gym preparing for her show. It looks like she has given up eating for a few weeks in order to look presentable. She is able to do front aerials and back handsprings. Note when Nastia doesn't sound cocky AT ALL when she talks about how she is just a natural role model because she had 'the right upbringing.'
Morozov's group debuted their new programs.
Javier Fernandez SP:
Miki Ando's SP:
Florent Amodio's SP:
Florent Amodio's FS (Altered version):
Samuelson and Bates suffered misfortune today. Emily's blade sliced Evan's achilles. He'll be having surgery on Thursday, at which point they'll know the full extent of his injury. The injury will likely take them out for the entire season.
Evgenia Kanaeva's gold-medal-winning routines from the Individual AA at last week's RSG Worlds:
Alexei Yagudin will Die Another Day:
And Goodbye To...
Michael Bolton said goodbye to DWTS tonight.
Apparently, the audience was getting the scores on a delay last night and was interacting with the judges...
Sarah wasn't booed after all, though it is how it came across on the TV broadcast. Her response to "which dancer was your favorite thus far?" was oddly similar to her response to Katie Couric's question about what newspapers and magazines she chooses to get her news from.
Ah, hopefully Sarah will keep returning to the Ballroom, as she is needed to keep this season interesting.
DWTS: Week 2
Derek Hough and Jennifer Grey are on track to run away with the mirror ball trophy. At this point, they are so far along that they've already had to whip out Jennifer Grey's 'cancer card' in order to dispel any notion that she has an unfair advantage due to the fact that she studied dance her entire life and was the star of one of the most popular dance movies of all time. We saw that she could waltz and now we know that she can still kick it into high gear and whip out a fierce Jive. Their Jive slowed down a bit, but the only part that bugged me was when she was on the ground while receiving her marks and again before the interviewed. Was she THAT out of breath? Bottle of water for the girl, anyone? Jennifer Grey is doing so well that if she was Kristi Yamaguchi, she'd have to start talking about how skating and dancing have little in common.
The highlight of Grey and Hough this week may have been the audience booing Sarah Palin when it came time for her to be interviewed by Tom Bergeron. Ms. Palin is quite the actress and played "Bristol enthusiast" throughout. The highlight of the entire show was when Sarah went to embrace Mark and thank him "for taking care of our girl." Mommy Dearest said, "what a bunch of phony baloney bullshit." Well said, but that doesn't mean I am not living for her in the audience. Sarah The Barracuda knew just when the camera was on her and was sure to mouth "oh, that was so good" to whichever daughter was with her in the audience. Was that Willow? Fern? Dandelion? I forget.
The judges said it best when they told Bristol that her actual dancing was adequate, but she needs to work on being able to present and entertain. Basically what they were telling her is to be more like her telegenic mother who lacks all substance but can still command attention. Sadly, Levi has yet to sit in the audience and attempt to woo her back. There is still time.
Audrina may be Tony's best partner yet, but I certainly prefer watching him dance with Kate Gosselin. Audrina has a body built for dancing, but I'm more interested in learning whether she is as dumb as she appeared on The Hills. Audrina was already crying about not seeing her boyfriend. They've barely been dancing for a month at this point. Their rehearsal time gets shorter and shorter every year. Get a grip! This is a relationship that will last...
In other news, Brandy went from front-runner to a bit of a hotter mess. My coworker is one fierce little Jewish princess and she was utterly annoyed by Brandy's mugging for the camera last week. Brandy is always SUPER EXITED or waaay too into nailing steps. Brandy is not competing against a Yamaguchi. There isn't that much to worry about. She is already fighting with Maks and tried to add some "I've dated 27 different rappers" to the Jive. It was NOT cute. There were moments during her solo when I could tell that she did indeed attend her prom with Kobe Bryant. Maks may have met his match in terms of attitude. The producers have done their job with regards to creating must-see drama.
"Your approach is very asshole sometimes."
Bruno said it best when he said that Michael Bolton's JIve was the worst in show history. The odd moment came when Len tried to debate him. Is Len attending his concerts with my mother? My enmity for Chelsie grows every week. She had Michael Bolton in a dog house with a bone in his mouth. Just no. Chelsie, you've voted off the island. And take Lacey with you. The two of you won't be missed.
The Situation is one pigeon-toed mofo and his days may be numbered. He shouldn't be too upset over it, as it appears that he's never seen the show before.
Florence Henderson looks like she is going to be a survivor this season. The 76-year-old-potty-mouthed sex pot is seriously entertaining to watch. Her fluff pieces alone are worth keeping her on the show.
Kyle Massey's Quickstep may have been more of a Jive, but his "two dances in one" might just have been more to love.
Margaret Cho may just have survived another week, but it has become plainly obvious who the top performers will be. While it will be Derek and Jennifer all the way, this season will be all about the drama. This campy hot mess is delivering yet again.
This and That
Cassie Whitcomb told Gymnastike how amazing the first selection camp was...as though she'd ever say that everyone secretly wanted to cut one another. It looks like the video MLT posted of her floor routine is more recent than flip video said.
The Shibutanis debuted their new free dance at Nebelhorn and defeated many top teams to finish second in that portion of the competition. It shows that their prospects are much better than the internet buzz on them was saying this summer. One would've thought that Maia belonged on "The Little Couple" or in a touring production of the Wizard of Oz.
Cappellini and Lanotte's winning short dance.
The Persian Prince's free skate.
Anna Pavlova won the AA at the International Dinamo tournament with a 14.8 on vault and a 14.870 on beam. It remains to be seen how big of a mistake it will be leaving her off the world team.
The Romanian women dominated their tri-meet this past weekend. Ana Porgras had another AA-winning competition and was joined on the AA rostrum with Raluca "Pitic" Haidu and Diana Chelaru. Belu mentioned being most impressed with Porgras, Chelaru and Izbasa. While he didn't laud Pitic's performance, her second place finish should put her among the competing members of the World Team.
Q Notes wrote a column questioning the choice of Johnny Weir as the recipient for the HRC Visibility Award.
Johnny at the High Heel-A-Thon:
Cal announced that it will be droppings its men's and women's gymnastics team at the end of this season.
Pechalat and Bourzat's winning Free Dance from Nebelhorn:
Monday, September 27, 2010
Love It Or Hate It?
After every idea they had on their own failed to hit the mark, Shae-Lynn Bourne filled herself with the "love of Russia" and became the most Eurotrash of them all. It was so Eurotrash that everyone in the skating community let it be known that it was a "done deal" that they would be winning the '03 Worlds. Whether it was simply politics or tongue in cheek way of pointing out how horrid Lobacheva and Averbukh's free dance was that season, I like to consider it payback for Ilya being a dumbass and splitting with Anissina in favor of dragging a hag around the ice in the name of love. In true Russian figure skating fashion, they just wound up getting divorced anyway.
Do you dig the Eurotrash "Adagio For The 21st Century" Shay-Lynn? Do you dig her Masha/Fusar-Poli level of "I'm going to fucking win!" insanity?! Or are you just glad the judges gave them a World Title so those whiners would finally go away?
Given that she is one of the few women to have failed to be impregnated by Morozov (despite his best efforts), Adagio For The 21st Century may very well be regarded as the fruit of their loins.
This and That
MLT updated Gymnastike about the World Selection Camp.
Jody Flatt is pissy about how her daughter's jumps and her endorsement prospects have gone in the shitter. While I'm not a fan of Tara Modlin, there is only so much one can do for Rachael (especially when Mama Bear is such a nightmare.)
Jessica Lopez is focusing on 2012. (This means she has no shot at medaling at the upcoming Worlds.)
Tai Babilonia is reinventing herself.
Adam Rippon did an interview with Lifeskate.
Mama Hults posted a training video of Nica with Chris Burdette at Texas Dreams:
Yu-Na and David Wilson made a video for Michelle Kwan to rehearse 'Hero.':
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The Lithuanians
This team was so good...the commentators decided they didn't need names. They were simply, "The Lithuanians."
Terry Gannon's favorite team was awarded bronze at the 2000 Worlds:
In 2002, the skaters signed a petition after Galit Chait's father "allegedly" bought off the judges to screw the Lithuanians out of a medal:
Their free dance was about "the first cries"...at birth and during one's first sexual encounter. Like the crowd, I was into it.
The original Phantom Of The Opera:
Foray Into Adult Skating
One of the best parts about Floyd Hall is that there are all of these Russian/Former Partners of Navka and Galit Chait/likely competed for Israel/hungover-looking men with fierce fair who always look disgusted by everything. You can understand all of the sexual tension these men must've experienced with their partners over the years. They have battle scars. Also, it is noted that any young Jewish girl with a skating dad who earns a living as a lawyer will take lessons from said Russian-Israeli-Galit Chair survivors.
Olivia Yao and her mother were at the rink, as was the MILFtastic skating mom from Franklin Lakes (who knows the Manzos.) Olivia Yao's mother confirmed what Ioana told me---she did indeed skate while pregnant. Naturally, I have fabulous visions of Isabel Delobel during the summer of 2009.
Olivia Yao leaves for regionals in a few days but has been hampered by slight pain in her achilles. She took two weeks off and told me that her skating was "horrible." Yes, Olivia's bad days would be amazing for most mortals when it comes to spins and footwork. She is going to rack up the points with her spins. Olivia literally hung out in her pancake spin for a good five minutes. I wasn't sure if she was taking a cell phone call mid-spin. You can never underestimate the tech-savvy Asians. Her hair cutter was also looking especially fierce. I openly question whether she secretly has a Swiss father.
Given that the session had around 50 skaters on it, I did not mention to torture the ice too much today. I found corners to work on my back crossovers, 3 turns, spins and waltz jumps. I worked a lot on stroking. I couldn't do all of my moves in the field for the bronze test given space restrictions, so I made sure that my left foot was as turned on and giving as much PUSH as my right foot. This has been a glorious issue in the past. My hips still don't want to do back crossovers on the weaker side of my body. My upper and lower halves debate this issue frequently. There was one magical day that I even had them down in rentals, but that day has come and gone (like my salchows.)
There were moments that I felt like an actual skater again, but then the pain in my boots returned. As usual, my boot-tying issues continue. There are always too tight no matter how loose I try to make them. My navicular bone is NOT pleased about my decision to return to the ice. It turns out that I might not be a whiner after all. I'm going to have the boots punched out again. They were heat molded to by feet, but I fear they should've been wide boots. I got them in Hackensack, a place a never want to visit. There are only two things of note in Hackensack: a dark, damp, cold rink that produced Sarah Hughes and the county court (where you always wait forever and wind up paying lots of $ over bullshit traffic violations.) Nothing good happens in Hackensack. We even lost some controversial Mock Trial cases in said courthouse.
I'm going to go to Fritz Deitl again during a session where the owner's son won't be present to talk my ear off. I need to have one of those really good sessions where I have the ice to myself and work on all sorts of things without worrying about taking the lives of small jumping beans.
This and That
Evan Lysacek was a guest on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
Marissa King is out of the Commonwealth Games with a partially torn pectoral muscle. She will be out of the gym for two weeks.
Kiri Baga won the silver at JGP Japan. Max Aaron also won silver. Andrei Rogozine won the men's event.
Kiira Korpi won the Nebelhorn Trophy. Our girl, Mel B, captured the bronze medal. Pechalat and Bourzat rallied to take the dance gold.
Paul Hamm posted a training update as a birthday present for us. Oh how we need for this to work out!
Natasha Kelley on bars yesterday:
Daria Dmitrieva's gold-medal-winning ribbon routine:
Friday, September 24, 2010
This and That
Your favorite feline, aka Cat Ponor will work for former Romanian soccer great Giga Hagi at his hotel Iaki in Mamaia -a sea restor close to her home town of Constanta. She will work in the hotel spa in the aqua gym with the children, but also with a workout gym gorup. "I'm very happy I could work at Hagi's hotel. It's incredible we could work together, especially since we both did good things for Constanta sports and not only [that]." (Hagia is also originally from Constanta).
Team USA has bad a much better day internationally today. Melissa Bulanhagui is in second place at Nebelhorn behind Kiira Korpi and ahead of a pair of Helgessons. Kiri Baga is second and Angela Wang is 3rd at JGP Japan. Max Aaron leads the men's event and Jason Brown is fourth. JGP Results. Ice-Dance.com has a short dance report from Nebelhorn.
There is an update on our favorite home wrecker and two timer from the Secret Lives of Dances.
All That Skate gave us a lot of info about some of our favorite skaters. As usual, Johnny displayed an unappealing love for Slutskaya and Plushenko. You may be liking some people a bit more and seriously questioning levels of taste. Wagner's love of Lipinski sure explains things.
Get to know Castelli and Shnapir.
Shawn Johnson showed the BBC why she needs to be on hoarders.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
This and That
Shawn Johnson appears to be adapting to her new body. While it is doubtful that she will do the double double again, she is training double layouts and a double layout full out. Both look suitable for her new frame.
A new exhibition from Alex Johnson was posted on youtube.
It was a rough day all around for Team USA at Nebelhorn. While the Americans have captured several golds in the past few years, it looks quite possible that Team USA could leave empty handed.
Cappellini and Lanotte lead after the short dance. Riazanova and Tkachenko are second. Pechalat and Bourzat are third. The Shibutanis currently sit in eighth. These results certainly show significant shifting in the world of ice dance.
Tatsuki Machida leads the men. Kevin Van Der Perren is second. Armin Mahbanoozadeh is eighth and Michal Brezina is ninth. Jason Wong is eleventh.
Skating Circle posted an interview with Johnny Weir.
An Auburn training video was posted on Gymnastike.
Mother Russia captured team gold at Rhythmic Worlds.
Evgenia Kanaeva won the ball final:
Oklahoma posted new training videos of their blonde beamers
Megan Ferguson's skill set:
Kayla Nowak's skill set:
This and That
Mark Ballas tweeted a photo of himself with 'Mama Palin.'
Russia announced its World Team: Afanasyeva, Dementyeva Kurbatova, Mustafina, Myzdrikova, Nabieva and Semenova.
An article about Felicia and Tay's senior debut (and Gretchen Donlan and sexy Andrew Speroff.)
Nikolai Morozov's skater's have been training in Latvia due to fires in Moscow.
Kanako Murakami will not compete at Nebelhorn due to broken skates. She will compete in a Chubu regional competition on Oct.1.
Start Orders for JGP Japan.
Cassie Whitcomb's floor routine with upgraded tumbling. (It is unclear when it was filmed.)
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The Secret Lives of Dancers
A reader alerted me about this documentary series from New Zealand. It is six episodes long. Four have aired and the first two are available to watch online.
Gator Outlook
If Suzanne Yoculan was still coaching, we would already be hearing about the vaults UF will be throwing and how many E tumbling passes they were doing. She would be telling the media about the importance of Double Layouts, even if she said that last year was all about execution.
Now, it is important to note that the UF coaching staff is having Corey Hartung-like-gasms over Alaina Johnson, her bars, her dance, her skills and her consistency. She is said to be tumbling and swinging bars like a dream. Suzanne would've already nominated her for SEC Freshman of the year if she was donning red and black. Jeremy Miranda has given her a supposedly stunning new floor routine to a mix from "The Twilight Zone" and it better not disappoint.
Brittney Noble is strong on VT, UB and FX. She is capable of a 1.5TY and may throw it. She will hopefully show some consistency on bars after the girls threw away a title at home during the first rotation of the Super Six. We have hope that the rest of the girls will remember the sting and the twinge in their hearts in order to motivate themselves like Mother Russia.
Now, one of Rhonda's life blessings involves Kytra and Macko going for the World Team. Worlds are in mid October, which means that these girls didn't spend their senior years of high school drinking, having sex and learning what it means to be socially normal. They will show up in shape and the two months after Worlds will allow them to heal whatever bang ups and bruises they have because they need to be ready for battle come January. Mr. Miranda is already sweating over just what to give Kytra in order to erase from our minds the horror that is her elite floor routine. *Shudder.*
Both Kytra and Macko will likely be in the contention for All-Around spots and used on all four events at time, but they definitely have enough girls to have the luxury of resting some. That could be quite important for Macko's knee, as it is a chronic pain in the ass that they'll simply have to manage. Macko better learn to stay on beam quickly, because they'll need to depend on her. After watching Macko blow her key event at Nationals, I have concerns that she may be this year's Marissa King during Super Six Finals.
Speaking of Marissa, she spent this summer training hard, competing at British Nationals and will compete at the upcoming Commonwealth Games. While one might worry about her getting injured, British women tend to have sturdy Jayne Torvill bodies. She should be fine and eager to prove herself. Hopefully she will have an inferiority complex and feel a need to bust out 9.95s at every opportune moment like Courtney Kupets. Marissa will still be busting out some serious skills, but hopefully they'll limit the madness on beam, as she does an impressive set that usually winds up being loaded with unnecessary half-tenth deductions. If they don't, Miss Rhonda will be hearing from me.
Ashanee Dickerson is back and will be a solid all arounder at first. Hopefully whatever fear she has about Kytra taking her anchor position and role as the team's black diva will motivate her to upgrade vault like she's been working on.
Maranda Smith will provide a key leadership role on the team. She has won before and will be a stabilizer on vault, bars and floor. We certainly hope that we don't have to witness any beam routines from her.
Nicole Ellis will provide depth and back-up on vault and bars. Elizabeth Mahlich will likely see action again on bars and beam. Dali will add depth to vault and beam. Alicia Goodwin will see action on bars and will likely do beam. As for Randy Stageberg, she looks to be having a repeat of last season. Making the floor lineup looks to be her only hope of any competition action. Liz Green will probably do beam, but it will be difficult for her to keep her spot in the floor lineup this year.
Probable Lineups are difficult for this team because Macko and Kytra have yet to form their college routines. They will probably start on a few events and add as the season goes along.
Bars:
Dickerson/Noble/Mahlich/King will occupy the first two spots.
Smith
Goodwin
Macko
Johnson
Given the depth, we will likely see a lot of toying with the lineup. Kytra and Nicole Ellis are also in contention. Kytra is not a great bar worker as an elite, but she does have the potential of being better on bars when her routine is shorter. Much will determine on the level of emphasis placed on being an All-Arounder or AA star verses being a highlight on specific events. The coaches could really sub in AAers during the easier meets to test a lot of different gymnasts. Exhibitions will also be key. Rhonda's inner Karolyi should make for some stiff competition in the gym. Sadly, Adrian can not change his Romanian heritage and the UF bars lineup will be unable to escape that dark cloud.
It will be difficult to replace the stabilizer that was Zaiser on beam. Given Macko's bars prowess and name, they will likely be tempted put her in the beam lineup. As we've seen this summer, Macko competing on beam involves a great deal of white knuckling for the viewing audience. She is one I would not trust to rely on when the team ends on beam. I already am anticipating ripping her a new asshole when she inevitably costs them a dual meet.
Probable Lineup:
The first three spots will be between Hunter, Goodwin, Green and Macko. I ultimately see Green being a leadoff.
King
Johnson
Dickerson
UF's vault and floor lineup bring back memories of Gym Dog power lineups past.
Floor:
Noble/Macko (Noble could really see more action than Macko given the latter's knee.)
Smith
Johnson (She was scoring 9.9s in JOs. Her being third up tells you how good their lineup is.)
Dickerson
King
Kytra- Highest and most difficult tumbling. Has to go last.
It will be another season of Where's Randy?!
Vault:
Noble/Caqutto/Smith for the first two spots.
Hunter
Johnson (Her vault is cleaner than Kytra's.)
King (Depending on which vault she does and what kind of day she is having, she's 9.7-9.95)
Dickerson
Florida needs to win this year or next. The late additions of Macko and Kytra could keep the team from peaking too early, as has been their problem in years past. If they hit, they should easily walk away with another SEC Title. Now that they've proven themselves as the SEC power, they will hopefully take it as just another meet to check off the list. In the past, they've won SECs (or nearly won) and had nothing left four weeks later. Should they solve that problem. the Gators will be giving the Bruins a run for their money.
The motto for this year should be: Don't fuck up bars and beam too badly and don't draw floor as the first rotation! If they can manage that, we'll all be Gator Chomping in April.
As always, we ask the girls to make sure they aren't accidently shoplifting, having blonde moments or allowing their boyfriend to store stolen weapons and ammunition in their apartment.
Shall We Dance...On Ice
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Voir) will perform their new short dance. That could mean that Marlie would perform their short dance, but it is brand new after changing it post champs camp. That said, Marina and Igor did invite the public to watch the new dances at their rink last Friday.
Hopefully some loyal Canadian skating fans will post videos. They are not AS crazed and reliable as those tech-savvy Asians, but they are addicted to all things ice. Let's pray that they come through for us!
This show will also show whether or not Belgosto have retired The Letter (aka Bleeding Love) for good. If I have to see that program one more freakin time... Tanith tweeted a photo of Ben working on choreography off ice, so there is hope!
Kurt Browning and Shae-Lynn are supposedly going to perform a dance together. Sadly, it does not appear that Shae and John Zimmerman will be melting the ice together. We can still remember and fantasize about that one-time-only pairing.
Sadly, since it is a Disson show, most of the performances will be shamelessly slapped together as a B-Roll for the featured singer. I have hope that we will see one legit number from each couple.
Some videos of skaters mingling backstage have been posted on Disson's facebook page. It would clearly kill them to even show them all skating in a freakin circle. This event kicks off the ice dance season and frankly, I feel like I am in heat.
Please post any and all links/vids in the comments.
Shall We Dance will air November 7, from 4-6 PM on NBC.
This and That
Nastia Liukin was photographed training with the WOGA elites during today's media day for next weekend's Skatenastics Craptacular.
Chelsea Davis was featured in Chris Burdette's Raw Ambition series on Gymnastike. This video was filmed four years ago.
Evgenia Kanaeva won the hoop final at the Rhythmic World Championships.
Yu-Na Kim spoke to the LA Times about having some breathing room in LA. She is looking for a home or apartment.
Johnny Weir posted a photo of his Louboutins from today's High Heel-A-Thon.
Mirai Nagasu will not be performing at the Skatenastics Craptacular, but she is starting to do run throughs of her programs and expects to be ready for her Grand Prix assignments.
Noel Couch posted a new Journal Entry.
Start Orders were posted for Nebelhorn.
Tomas Verner announced that he will be coached by Bob Emerson in Toronto. Bob Emerson previously coached the Netty Kim, the 1995 Canadian Ladies Champion.
The Examiner posted the World Squads for Romania.
The Women's Team is: Sandra Izbasa, Ana Porgras, Amelia Racea, Daniela Chelaru, Raluca "Pitic" Haidu, Gabriela Dragoi and Cerasela Petrascu. It is thought that Dragoi will be the alternate. The team (minus Amelia Racea) will travel to Switzerland this weekend for a tri-meet. Flavius Koczi and Marian Dragalescu will not compete this weekend but are expected to compete at Worlds.
For those who like big butts, Bama posted a video of their first official practice:
The Boomer Sooners have posted some training videos on Twitvid.
Megan Ferguson has a new beam series:
Candace Cindell has a new bar dismount:
Melanie Root has a new release sequence on bars:
The Magic of Torvill and Dean
Torvill and Dean are widely regarded as the best ice dancers in history and arguably the greatest skaters in history for their combination of artistry, creativity and technique. Long before ice dance became all about twizzles and performing lifts with a stop watch, dancers created difficulty by skating close together, changes of holds and the intricacy of steps.
Torvill and Dean were masters of innovation and storytelling.
For their second world title, Torvill and Dean performed 'Mack and Mabel,' a free dance about the silent film era.
The next year, they performed 'Barnum,' a free dance expressing the theme of the circus.
While 'Bolero' was the most famous piece, many felt that their Paso Doble was actually their strongest dance in 84.
Bolero left the world spellbound in Sarajevo.
After continuing to invent, improve and entertain for a decade, Torvill and Dean reinstated under the Boitano rule and were the world eagerly anticipated their return to competition. Torvill and Dean skated professionally during a time when they were certainly not "out of sight" or "out of mind." Their tours and presence at professional competitions sold out arenas around the globe.
Torvill and Dean's rumba from Lillehammer ('History of Love') may indeed be their finest dancer. It was emotional, romantic, difficult and mesmerizing.
Despite their victory in the original dance, Torvill and Dean were only awarded the bronze in '94 in one of the great highway robberies in the history of the sport. The ISU used Torvill and Dean for TV ratings and advised them on what they wanted in the free dance and suggested they make changes between the European Championships and the Olympic Games. After doing as they were instructed, the ISU judges gave the most successful professionals in history (and skating's most heralded stars) a giant middle finger upon their return to competition. Judges would later claim that Torvill and Dean arguably violated a rule with the final somersault Jayne performs over Chris' head despite the glaring rule-violating of Grishuk and Platov who skated apart for periods far greater than was permissible.
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