CBC coverage

[LTM]

while I found today's coverage a bit--shall we say---thin
I'd like to thank the commentators for keeping their
comments to a mininium while the skaters were skating.
Boy that was nice.
Also thanks for showing the Canadian skaters regardless of their placement and for showing us some of Jeff's medal presentation.
I'm still burned that CTV chacked the medal ceremony in which three (count them three) Canadians were on the podium.

[missflick]

ITA. And I was surprised that JB was mouthing the words to "O Canada" in french! Apparently, he is bilingual. :)

[jp1andOnly]

I know the anthem in both French and English due to the fact that when I was growing up, my schools played a version that ocntained both French and Englsih. I often sing the anthem in both because thats the way I learned it

[bleu]

best part was seeing CBC call Joannie - ROCKET ROCHETTE...

:bow: :bow: :bow:

Also, it was so great to see Joannie smile and almost go YES after doing the jump sequence!!! Plus, she is fast!!!

Jeff - to see him this far into the season skating 2 programs as cleanly as possible is just so great....so worthy given the short lifespan of his LP from last year. Again, Jeff.... :bow: :bow: :bow:

[Nicki]

I thought it was a refreshing change not to have the usual skating fluff pieces. However, it would have been nice if CBC had used that time to show more skating instead of constantly going live to Lake Louise to promote the skiing compettition that aired after Cup Of China. Skating was scheduled to be broadcast for three hours, and they cut away after only 2 1/2 hours to show Skiiing. Once again skating takes a back seat to the other sports.

[Fruit Loops]

I was a little miffed by that as well, but who else was there to see? The only skater I'm surprised they didn't show was Miki Ando as she generally gives at least a technically exciting program and she did finish in 4th. We only got to see 3 pairs, 4 ladies, 3 dance and 5 men. I didn't understand why they had to keep cutting back to the skiing or doing that skier fluff piece during the skating event. But like I said, maybe CBC didn't think there was any other performance worth showing :?: At least they showed Buttle's interview back in China and then did a live (?), well recent, interview with him at Mariposa. AND we got to see Jeff's SP. I'm liking better and better each time I see it. I also liked hearing our national anthem play. I wonder if Jeff sang the whole thing in French. I like to sing the first half in French and the last half in English myself (I think "we stand on guard for thee" sounds better than "proctecting our freedoms and rights" or whatever the French version means. Sounds too civic and passive-aggressive. :halo: )

Overall though I do like CBC's coverage mainly because they treat figureskating as a sport, not some drama on ice. I still don't agree with their assessment on Jeff's LP though [see the "I Hate CBC" thread in the TV Alert Forum] ;)

Buttle, Rochette :bow: :bow: :bow:

[Artemis]

And I was surprised that JB was mouthing the words to "O Canada" in french! Apparently, he is bilingual. :)

Yes, that pleased me too. Actually, just the fact that he was singing (silently or not) the anthem at all pleased me. There are so many athletes who don't.

[jcspkbfan]

I'm still burned that CTV chacked the medal ceremony in which three (count them three) Canadians were on the podium.

IIRC, CTV did at least show us a few seconds from the Skate Canada men's medal ceremony. I agree we deserved to see more (how often does a country sweep the medals at any event in any discipline?), but at least it was better than chacking it altogether.

I was a little miffed by that as well, but who else was there to see?

I don't know; maybe CBC could have used those extra 15 minutes (plus the other time they devoted to World Cup skiing fluff during the broadcast) to show us more short programs? :roll:

Overall though I do like CBC's coverage mainly because they treat figureskating as a sport, not some drama on ice.

ITA! That's one of the things I enjoy most about CBC's skating coverage so far this season!

The rest of my $0.02 on CBC's Cup of China broadcast (copied and pasted from the "I Hate CBC" thread on the TV Alerts forum):

I thought S&Z's skated their LP much better here than at Skate Canada, and I still think this could be their best LP ever when they skate it cleanly. It looks like they'll only get better throughout the season. I'm glad M&B held their own fairly well in this competition, too.

As for the ladies, I never thought we'd ever see Irina skate at that level again and that was probably the best performance I've seen her skate in at least two years. I'm glad we actually got to see Mira's entire LP this time, and I agree her maturity and general presentation has already improved quite a bit since Canadians. I loved Joannie's performance, too--the triple-triple, the interesting choreography and the fact she did not use the same overused cuts of music as virtually everyone else who's ever skated to "Firebird" (including Mira). Her costume looks much better "in motion" than in still photos, too. Even though I agree Viktoria's needs more jump combinations and complicated choreography to do better under CoP, she should still be proud of herself since that's the cleanest LP I've seen her skate in years.

BTW, did anyone else notice Paul's remark about Michelle and Sasha skipping the GPF and hopefully working on their triple-triple combinations? :twisted:

A big thank you to CBC for showing both of Jeff's programs. It looks like we'll only get to see one SP from each GP event, but I'm certainly glad they featured Jeff's this time. What a wonderful comeback after his disappointing Skate Canada LP! I also thought Paul was a little too hard on Jeff's music choice--I'd probably agree with Paul if almost any other skater had used this music, but Jeff's one of the few skaters I can think of who can make this program work.

As for ice dance, meh, I'm sorry to say I'm not a big fan of any of the ice dance programs we've seen so far this season. I'm glad B&A and D&L won medals, though.

Buttle, Rochette :bow: :bow: :bow:

I don't have much more to add to that other than a few more :bow: for Irina (as I said, I never thought we'd see her skate again at all, let alone turn in the best LP she's skated, IMO, for at least two years!) and Mira for such an impressive skate in only her second senior GP event...and a couple of extra :bow: for Joannie and Jeff for good measure. :D

[Fruit Loops]

I don't know; maybe CBC could have used those extra 15 minutes (plus the other time they devoted to World Cup skiing fluff during the broadcast) to show us more short programs?

True. I thought about that a while after posting. They could have shown us the leading short programs of each discipline (well, OD for dance) with all the extra time they had. Hopefully they show us Joannie's SP next week--and all the other leading SPs while they're at it 8-) .

I must say I'm a bit worried about the amount of skating we'll see next week. Wasn't TEB a relative splat fest? And with only two Canadians there (L/A withdrawing) how many skates will we actually get to see? And I still don't get why skiing preempts figureskating. I can't imagine it being any more popular with general audiences here in North America than skating. I think that Guay skier guy they kept talking about ending up placing 21st so all that chitter chatter talking away from skating was for nothing!

And I'm still baffled at how Paul Martini (scarily similar sounding to Paul Martin) doesn't feel thrilled by Buttle's program. :giveup: At least they like Rochette!

[Peter_K]

We were at a wedding on Saturday. We popped into the house after the ceremony to freshen up for the evening at around 4:40.

Imagine my surprise when I turned on the TV and heard the last few bars of the anthem at the medal ceremony followed by the liberty bell march! (the monty python theme) :)

Then I read the thread about the CBC's timing and thought something had gone terribly wrong.

I think the CBC is just trying to play with us. :)

--Peter

[TRAxel]

I have noticed the times that I have seen Jeff on top of the podium that he always sings Oh Canada in French :)
I too learned our National Anthem in French in school, but Jeff is billingual.

Paul Martini is whacked... no one has ever said a bad thing about Jeff's programs, I don't know how anyone could :roll:

[Lise]

I don't like Jeff's program that much either. Not everyone is going to agree that the program is better than sliced bread. Personally, I was a little upset that he won with so little jump content. Yes Jeff's transitions and spins are good; but are they really worth the high component scores when he doesn't land the jumps?

[TRAxel]

You are right Lise... not everyone will agree.

I'm not going to comment on your other point because it would be a waste of time :D