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| European Championships 2006 Compulsory Dance - Tango Romantica |
| Before you read, a disclaimer:
I am not infallible, I cannot guarantee not to have made any mistakes and since it’s impossible to mention everything, there are bound to be some omissions. If you have any comments, disagreements or corrections, feel free to contact me, I’ll appreciate any input. Since these reports are based on Eurosport TV broadcast, I can never be absolutely sure about some issue, like speed or ice coverage (Chris and Nicky, which you can see mentioned, are British Eurosport commentators). I haven’t done my homework on the Tango Romantica, so as a result, this will be a very uninformed set of impressions. I’m not an ice dance expert by any means. The reviews are arranged according to the starting order. Full results can be found by clicking on one of the links below: Compulsory Dance – Official Results Ice Dance - Final Results Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin /RUS/ 32.69 (16.17 / 16.52) Beautiful posture and lines, putting the tango feel across very well, although he was a bit flat – she interpreted the music much better than him. They skated very close together, maybe were slightly scratchy, and it seemed they could use a little bit more speed (but according to Nicky, they had very good ice coverage). First sequence very good, slightly more hesitant on the second sequence but overall it was a very good performance. Possibly the best CD I’ve seen from them so far. Kamila Hajkova/David Vincour /CZE/ 22.31 (12.10 / 10.21) Very unfortunate draw for them, skating right after Domina/Shabalin created a very unfavourable comparison. They were hesitant, the footwork was insecure and the basic skating very scratchy. While they seemed to be enjoying themselves and made an effort to sell it well, they weren’t moving as if it was a tango, more like a country wedding dance. ;) Jana Khoklova/Sergei Novitski /RUS/ 28.64 (15.06 / 13.58) They started with a nice lift, pushing the rules (seemed they took slightly more time to open than the other couples). Very good knee-bend and hence nice flow. The basic skating was very good but they skated a bit too “on auto-pilot,” not paying enough attention to the interpretation (slightly messy lines). Technically, they were quite strong, although Nicky was complaining that there were problems with the holds. Philippa Towler-Green/Philip Poole /GBR/ 20.84 (11.23 / 9.61) They were really going for it but paid the price with some minor stumbles, throughout. While technically they attacked the dance from the start, they were noticeably holding back with the interpretation. Philip was too wooden, especially in his upper body and some of the lines were not matching. They just need more polish but that will surely come with time. Julia Golovina/Oleg Voiko /UKR/ 24.53 (13.15 / 11.38) Seemed ok technically, although they could have skated on deeper edges, and the footwork looked a little rushed. However, question mark over the timing, which seemed off to me. Aleksandra Kauc/Michal Zych /POL/ 23.74 (12.69 / 11.05) Great basic skating and flow, way better than Golovina/Voiko’s in this respect. This is the area of skating where Kauc/Zych excel. I wish same could be said about their footwork. ;) It looked hesitant, not very secure, they didn’t skate very close together and in placed drifted even further apart. I’m afraid I cannot refrain from making a “Joan Rivers comment” and have to point out that their black and bright yellow costumes were absolutely horrific, distracting and didn’t fit the tango character at all. Alessia Aureli/Andrea Vaturi /ITA/ 20.89 (11.31 / 9.58) They have improved considerably since last season. Great interpretation, but Nicky pointed out that some of the lines weren’t matching. It seemed that their ice coverage was very good, considering how close to the boards they were getting, and technically they looked very sound. Trying to explain why the marks were that low, then, their edges could have been shallow and the footwork weakly executed, with some turns not correct? Also, they possibly were lacking in power, which wouldn’t be that noticeable on tv. Tatiana Navka/Roman Kostomarov /RUS/ 38.21 (18.63 / 19.58) Excellent basic skating, beautiful lines (perfect synchronisation) and smooth transitions from one movement to another. Roman skated the end of the second sequence slightly weaker (it looked like he lost his concentration, I guess) but overall the dance was of typical N/K top quality. Zsuzanna Nagy/Gyorgy Elek /HUN/ 18.91 (10.49 / 8.52) They still look like a junior couple and they didn’t manage to portray the tango mood at all. Some steps were slightly messy, all her twizzles looked wonky and three-turned and their skating lacked power. Overall it was a decent debut but they still have a lot of work to do to reach the senior elite level. Sinead Kerr/John Kerr /GBR/ 31.96 (16.71 / 15.25) Their basic skating has improved leaps and bounds over the last two seasons and their flow was great. Comparing to their weak compulsories, from back when they first entered the international scene, this looked like skated by another couple altogether. Strong overall performance with good attack and precise footwork but I spotted one minor wobble and the timing seemed slightly off. Galit Chait/Sergei Sakhnovski /ISR/ 34.79 (17.19 / 17.60) Deep knee-bend, lots of attack, very strong and secure footwork. Excellent performance. Moving to Zhulin and Platov seemed to have been a very good choice, their basic skating looks way better and you don’t get that “running on ice” impression anymore, when you watch them skating (Sergei himself said in the interview with Gwendal that’s something they worked on with Zhulin). Alexandra Zaretski/Roman Zaretski /ISR/ 22.70 (12.47 / 10.23) They still look slightly “juniorish,” lacking speed and power, but they skated this dance well, moving smoothly from one move to another. A very good senior debut, much better than anything I’ve seen from them before. They already have the basic skills and they look “very balanced” - there aren’t any areas of their skating, that they seem to be seriously lacking in. Now they just need to gradually improve all the aspects of their skating, and they have a perfect coaching team to do so. Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali /ITA/ 33.21 (16.84 / 16.37) A decent, competent performance, although they didn’t show anything “special,” and could have used more power. I thought that Domnina/Shabalin were better overall. Nicky pointed out that they used variations of the required dance hold. To make another bitchy “Joan Rivers” comment: with her “101 Dalmatians” dress and a new bimbo haircut, Federica looked just terrible. Natalie Pechalat/Fabien Bourzat /FRA/ 28.63 (15.26 / 13.37) Great basic skating and flow! Muriel is just the best coach in the world, when it comes to basic skating. They had good speed and were strong technically (although had a minor stumble) but were lacking in the tango feel. The judges virtually tied them with Khoklova/Novitski (0.01 point difference) and personally I would have placed Pechalat/Bourzat above K/N, based on the technical precision and overall quality. Leonie Krail/Oscar Peter /SUI/ 17.80 (9.83 / 7.97) They lacked extension, and throughout the dance he kept touching down with his free foot to keep the balance on the more difficult moves. The footwork was messy and in places they were quite far apart. Clearly the weakest skate so far. Kristin Fraser/Igor Lukanin /AZE/ 30.06 (15.21 / 14.85) Skated too far apart, she needs to move her hips forwards! Nice extensions, basic skating was ok, but they got scratchier and lost speed in the second sequence. The interpretation was lacking, I thought, especially in terms of chemistry and the connection between them. Her zebra dress made my eyes bleed. In my humble opinion, European Championships isn’t the best time to play optical illusion games. Christina Beier/William Beier /GER/ 28.62 (15.18 / 13.44) Good basic skating and speed. A huge improvement since last season! They could have played out to the audience more with the interpretation but in terms of both footwork and the basics, they skated great. The only criticism I could think of was that they could have been skating closer together in face-to-face holds. Another couple tied with Khoklova/Novitski and Pechalat/Bourzat (0.2 behind K/N and 0.1 behind P/B). I would have placed the Beiers on top of those three. That was a very good performance. Nora Hoffmann/Atilla Elek /HUN/ 27.08 (14.30 / 12.78) Very good speed and ice coverage, skating extremely close to the barriers. Good knee-bend, but because he gets deeper down in the knees, she looks taller throughout the dance and that doesn’t make a good impression, especially since it’s a tango. It was a clean, decent performance but it lacked “the x-factor”. They just seemed to be lacking in attack and projection on the interpretation. Nora was less perky than usual and Atilla was even more flat than usual. Monika pointed out on FSU that their lines were messy and that they skated far apart and after watching this dance a second time, I totally agree. That explains why I got such a weak overall impression. Chris and Nicky also pointed out that his hips were a bit too far back in places (that’s the criticism I heard levelled at Atilla before). Elena Grushina/Ruslan Goncharov /UKR/ 38.82 (19.16 / 19.66) Much improved basic skating. They aren’t causing snowstorms anymore. His edges are still quite flat, however. It was quite a powerful dance with good flow, but the tango mood was lacking completely. I would definitely have this below Chait/Sakhnovski (Chris and Nicky also thought so). I was totally shocked about this beating Navka/Kostomarov. I would really like to be able to speak to some of the judges to get an explanation of this. I am totally baffled. Margarita Drobiazko/Povilas Vanagas /LTU/ 38.34 (19.03 / 19.29) Straight from the start, Margarita seemed slightly hesitant and her footwork got more insecure, as the dance progressed. There also was a messy change of hold in the second pattern. The postures were nice, however while Povilas was excellent in portraying the tango feel, Margarita was quite stiff and didn’t express the music as well. Overall, this wasn’t a very good skate and I would have ranked this around 5th so far. Once again, I got totally shocked, seeing them place second, ahead of Navka/Kostomarov! What an upset! There was either something very weird happening behind the scenes, or I have still a lot to learn about ice dance (or about how and why the judges make decisions ;). Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder /FRA/ 35.66 (17.77 / 18.89) While performing the difficult one foot turns, with a change of hold, their skates collided and Oliver fell on his knee. It’s a huge shame because both before and after that fall, the dance was skated excellently. Other than the fall, this was in my opinion the best skate of the evening. They skated very close together, on very deep edges, with very good knee-bend, and portrayed the tango feel well. Anastasia Grebenkina/Vazgen Azrojan /ARM/ 26.25 (14.10 / 12.15) Strong footwork to start but they were slightly scratchy, not very smooth, moving from one move to the next, and as a result there was a noticeable lack of speed. The dance also lacked in interpretation, another one of those “skated on autopilot”. Not a best performance from them. While Grebenkina/Azrojan were waiting for their marks, Chris and Nicky were bitching about Grushina/Goncharov being 1st, while Chait/Sakhnovski (who according to Nicky were the best of the afternoon) were only down in 5th place. Personally, I found the results were nothing short of shocking. The protocol has been turned upside down, nevertheless I still disagreed with the final standing. Well, I guess that’s always going to be the case. ;) Still, compared to previous years, I have much less reservations about the standings than usual. Does it mean that I’m getting old and losing that teenage, hormonal “f*** the judges” neurosis? |