#and petr gummenik from russia

[austerlitzborodinoleipzig]

Fun fact

2/3 of the Junior Men Grand Prix Final 2018 is competing this weekend at Angers

Stephen Gogolev (2018 JGPF champ), Koshiro Shimada (2018 JGPF bronze medalist), Camden Pulkinen and Adam Siao Him Fa.

[figure-skating-watch-party]

GP - Cup of Russia 2020 (pairs, men)

I was so excited!!! Our tv broadcasted everything, the commentary was awesome, time difference very kind, the field so strong and some of my absolute favourites participating! 

PAIRS

Ioulia Chtchetinina / Mark Magyar - Renaissance / Welshley Arms [Hungary] They were the only foreign participants and they really did very well to represent  Europe there :D though we have to agree that Russians are simply able to outnumber whole Europe.  I especially like their SP. 

Ksenia Akhanteva / Valeri Kolesov - Cirque du Soleil / Shine on you crayz diamond Their SP is really so much fun. They saved what they could in the free but it was a really rough skate...

Iuliia Artemeva / Mikhail Nazarychev - Senza parole / Bohemian Rhapsody Italian music is good for pair skating. That’s a fact. I said it :D Seriously, I liked their program and liked even the free, such a powerful choreographic sequence. 

Aleksandra Boikova / Dmitri Kozlovski - Star of captivating happiness / James Bond I love them. A lot. I mean them and Matteo Rizzo are by far my most favourite skaters. Sometimes I even think I should tone my love for them down a bit because this way I can’t enjoy any programs of theirs. I’m holding my breath, crossing my fingers, counting points and can’t concentrate.  I like their SP so much, maybe even more than their previous one, this is more mature. There was one mistake on the throw jump but it was awesome.  And in the free they really confirmed who is the best.

Iasmina Kadyrova / Ivan Balchenko - Memories of a Geisha / Angel and Devil I love them so much!!! And I can’t even tell you how much our tv commentator loves them, especially the sbs 3F! The death spiral and step sequence are really awesome. And in the FP they just really skate to the music, so much drama. 

Anastasia Mishina / Alexandr Galyamov - Esmeralda / Bohemian Rhapsody I love their SP and they were perfect. Unfortunately then came a mistake on sbs jumps in the free and it decided. 

Apollinaria Panfilova / Dmitri Rylov - Joker, Rock n Roll / Third person I just had the impression that the individual parts of the SP kind of don’t fit together but they are so good nevertheless. And the FP, the iconic dress for their awesome twist! I especially liked their elegant lifts. 

Alina Pepeleva / Roman Pleshkov - Love / Orpheus and Euridice  Withdrew

MEN

Vladimir Litvinsev - Concerto de Espana / Hallelujah I really like Vladimir and how cool he is. His spins in the SP were great. 

Alexander Lebedev - E lucevan le stelle / Once upon a time in Mexico I really like him (I noticed him at Minsk Ice star) but poor him, the jumps in SP didn’t work well and in the free the pant leg fastened under the boot came loose and it influenced his skate a lot. But jumps aren’t everything and the performance was quite good.

Morisi Kvitelashvili - Amsterdam by Jacques Brel / Tosca The SP is sooo good and he interacts with the spectators... I call this a “civil performance”, doesn’t overplay it, is not fake oozing feelings from every move and is just skating. I really loved it.

Dmitri Aliev - Masquerade Waltz / L’immensita I am so happy he went back to Masquerade Waltz, this program suits him like a glove. I have to admit that I don’t have any opinion about the free. I usually like all Italian programs and whatever happens I just love the performance but honestly the only thing I remember is that I felt there were too many jumps...

Petr Gummenik - Moonlight sonata / Phantom of the opera Maybe I didn’t like the SP that much but it was a really good, balanced program. And the FP is what I call a drama on the ice par excellence! 

Makar Ignatov - I can’t go on without you / Je suis malade The quad loop out of nowhere! So beautiful, amazing perofrmance, smooth skating, great spin variations. I could do with a more emotional performance in the free, but anyway it was great. 

Mikhail Kolyada - Let’s get loud / The White Crow Misha’s FP is a marvel but let’s not sleep on the short. He’s a showman in the SP, so entertaining. Only the fall on the 4T put him on the third place.  And then came The White Crow... and who didn’t cry doesn’t have a heart.  Misha coming back after one season away, changing coaches, training in this difficult situation in the world and just creating magic on the ice.

Artem Kovalev - Stand up, Batman / Queen medley Poor Artem, beginning the FP with three falls in a row, but then he came back and performed to the end.

Andrei Mozalev - Sadeness / The man with the harmonica I have to admit I don’t find his programs very engaging, but his step sequence in the FP is really interesting.

Roman Savosin - Bella Ciao / Requiem This is a skater where my reactions to the SP and FP differ the most. To be honest, his free program was a bit boring. But the SP! That was a performance. I loved it so much! 

Evgeni Semenenko - The city which doesn’t exist / Notre Dame de Paris I really like Evgeni (also noticed him at Minsk Ice Star). Interesting song for the SP.  Such a great performance in the free. DID YOU KNOW that Evgeni was third in the free?! (and sixth overall)

Ilya Jablokov - Tick tock goes the clock / Notre Dame de Paris Yes, his SP was so beautiful. And really really good job in the free. 

[austerlitzborodinoleipzig]

Favorite programs of the 2018/2019 season

On to Mens’ SP

8 - Petr Gummenik - Czardas (vid from JGPF)

First of all, that costume is wonderful and I wish more male skaters would skate in such colorful and detailed shirts. Secondly Czardas is a bit of a warhorse but I love it. Thirdly I just love how the choreographer transposed moves from character dances, in this case Czardas and Mazurka, and I wish there were more programs inspired by traditional dances. And finally outstanding spins and a loop combo.

7 - Junhwan Cha - Cinderella (vid from 4CC)

I love Prokofiev so half my enjoyment of the program lies on the music. Also that axel right after the music cut is great. And the clock Junhwan does with his arms is wickedly cool

6 - Boyang Jin - While My Guitar Gently Weeps (vid from Chinese Nats)

Boyang - Air Guitar - Jin, the crowd pleaser. And wow has he tremendously improved in the PCS department. This SP is fast, intense and all-around lovely

5 - Stephen Gogolev - Run Boy, Run (vid from Canadian Nats)

Run, Boy Run is a great song, well suited for figure skating. Also it fits Gogolev like a glove. That’s what I call intelligent packaging. Gogolev basically doesn’t have to perform that much because he’s the embodiment of the lyrics anyway. So he can focus on the technical side. The choreo uses fast, straight brutal moves. It’s well rythmed. It’s inventive, and dare I say it, it’s iconic. 

4 - Koshiro Shimada - Adios (vid from Japanese Nats)

That program is beautiful. It’s intricate. I love the step sequence. It requires a great musicality from the skater and a lot of maturity... And I love Benjamin Clementine (another thing I enjoy about figure skating is that I’ve discovered so many singers thanks to it. Benjamin Clementine is one of my new faves thanks to Nathan Chen’s Nemesis). Actually it’s one of the programs I wish Yuzuru, or someone like him could skate, and I mean no disrespect to Koshiro who has a difficult job and does it really well. I hope he’ll revisit it later in his career.

3 - Kevin Aymoz - Horns (vid from Worlds)

Original and iconic. The horns. The sommersault on the ice. The final pose. The triple axel from a back counter. The step sequence. The moment where he strikes the ice with his hand. it doesn’t get any better. 

2 - Jason Brown - Love Is A Bitch (vid from Worlds)

Well maybe it does get better, but only with the very few, and among them Brown’s SP which is smooth and classy. And of course that split jump. It’s art on ice. 

1 - Yuzuru Hanyu - Otonal (vid from Cup of Russia of course)

Wow. Just wow. And still not Yuzu’s best SP. (Let’s Go Crazy is the GOAT and I won’t hear otherwise)

Honorable mentions : Nathan Chen (Caravans) and Mikhail Kolyada (Muse)