#i mean no hate to cyberpunk since i’ve never watched it so i can’t judge but…

[shopkeeps]

Cyberpunk Edgerunners winning anime of the year was such a shock?? Demon Slayer and AOT were fighting almost every round and Cyberpunk was winning nothing, only for it to beat both of them in the end?? The biggest possible plot twist

[austerlitzborodinoleipzig]

Favorite programs 2018/2019 season

6 - Mishina/Galiamov - Party Like A Russian

That program is bonkers and I love it. When they’re on (not always, during big comps they were really tensed during the short), your eyes just get irresistibly drawn to Nastya. Such charisma and presence on the ice. 

5 - Sui/Han - No One Like You

It really says a lot about Sui/Han’s skating that this program ended up on this list. It’s not their best SP. At first I hated music. Far too emotional. I’ve always disliked pop/operatic mashups. It came as corny, and like they can do emotional stuff without using cheap music as a back-up. I mean they have the range, so why do that. 

Also does not help that everytime I heard the music I was reminded of that great eurovision performance (please check-out the link. It’s actually great).

But the way they skated it... I mean at this point they are in a league of their own, and they performance at Worlds blew me away and actually made me like the music... That step sequence and the final pose is everything.

Also correct me if I’m wrong but apparently the music was Han’s idea, while Sui hated it, so come next season, the free program stayed, but that short just had to go. Well Sui has good taste :)

4 - Zabiiako/Enbert - Alexandre Nevsky

Everything about that SP is just trolling at a high level and pure genius and I’m so here for that! So bear with me as I explain how brilliant this program actually is. 

First of all I love that when making this new program they just went: okay. Pair skating. We have to people on the ice. What’s an interesting we can do with two people? and instead of going down the overdone road of love/passion/sexy times/break-up, they actually said: Let’s have them FIGHT!!!

Secondly the music choice for that SP is the soundtrack to Eisenstein’s film Alexandre Nevsky. Just so you know, it was made by Prokofiev, and the whole score is dope. Putting aside the film for a moment, Alexandre Nevsky is an emblematic historical figure in Russia. To make it short, he’s a Prince of the Kievian Rus (i.e. medieval Russia), and is mostly known for defeating Teutonic Knights, from Baltic lands, and stopping their invasion of Rus (basically, Old Russia). He defeated them at the so-called Battle of the Ice... See where all of this is going? The Battle of the ice was fought on a frozen lake. Full armoured Knights were too heavy and the ice broke under them. That’s how Nevsky defeated them.  So second genius choice: if we’re going to have them fight, let’s reenact the fucking Battle of the Ice!

Lastly, Natalia Zabiiako is estonian. So she’s doing the Teutonic knight. Alexander Enbert is the Russian soldier. 

So, yeah, you can always say that the execution of that SP is not that great, the choreo is not the most inventive, and Z/E lack the fire and intensity to bring it too life, tho I think they did a good job and tried hard. But at the end of the day, you have a SP where the concept is pure genius, and we should recognize that. We really need more programs like this, and I’m so glad this one exists. 

Also prior to that season, I never thought Z/E would ever make my favourite programs list. 

3 - Efimova/Korovin - Humans

E/K were the most artistic Russian pair and I’m gutted they broke up. Sure they had weak tech content, but they were always, at least enjoyable to watch, and when they were on (and they had good programs), they could create a moment on the ice. 

So Humans, is definitely one of the best SP of the season. They worked with a modern dancer for the choreography and it shows. It’s fresh. It feels modern. It’s elegant. The music choice is good. A+++ Sometimes you don’t have to do a program with a deep meaning. Sometimes you can just be two people dancing on the ice. That’s what they do, and remarquably so.

Link to their Skate America SP. I can’t find vids from their performance at RusNats which is a shame because that was definitely their best one. They were on fire, and Alysa landed that SBS jump. Here there was a step-out and also they botched the spins, but still a good enough performance. 

2 - Scimeca-Knierim/Knierim - Castle

The Knierims were never my cup of tea. I just tend to find them a bit vanilla and bland, tho they have some very good elements. Perhaps I loved this SP so much, because that’s really not their usual style. 

It’s a striking program with a gorgeous cyberpunk vibe to it. The opening pose is iconic. The music is unusual and interesting. I like the step sequence that’s here to really showcase edges and flow. 

Again I can’t find a vid other than this one, from Skate America 2018, and it’s definitely not their best performance. 

1 - Peng/Jin - Ophelia

That SP is everything. It’s bright. It’s flirty. It’s quirky. It’s light. It’s just 2:30 minutes of pure joy. Really the best program of the season, and one of my all times favorite program. I don’t know what I like best. How happy and free and utterly at ease Peng feels on the ice? The tune that is ridiculously catchy? That beautiful throw with Peng lowing at kiss at judges. The exit steps out of the twist. The move they make at “Honey I love you”. How they stand SBS, then turn their head, perfectly in sync on the beat? It’s just endless...

0 - Yu/Zhang - Leave A Light Out

Is it cheating to put a program that has been only once performed, and in a domestic competition?? Not to mention that Yu/Zhang did not really took part in the Chinese 2019 Nats. They just skated their SP, like Sui/Han did. 

But... That SP is so beautiful that it deserves a mention on this list. And Aljona Savchenko agrees with me since she called it the best short of the 2018/2019 season, so there.

But really, despite the crappy quality of the video, it’s such a raw, heartfelt program. Full of interesting moves but that are not there for the sake of being there. Those arm and leg movements, where the limbs seem to have a life of their own, and are so fluid really contribute to the mood of the program. Support. Letting go because you can be safe with your friends. The final pose is beautiful... The transitions are beautiful... 

I really hoped to see that SP this season. Now we never will...

Honorable mentions - Cain/LeDuc (Belle Belle), Kostiukovich/Ialin (I’m A Survivor), Della Monica/Guarise (Never Tear Us Apart), Tarasova/Morozov (Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto n°2)