Jr. Worlds on Lifetime

[sk8lvr]

I guess this is the place to post this since the Jr.Worlds thread has been archived.

I really enjoyed what I've seen so far which is the men and pairs.
It was very close between Lysacek and Shubin. I probably would have put Lysacek in first because I enjoyed his performance much more. I liked Shubin and he had a beauty of a quad, but his program seemed unfocused.

I didn't know that Jennifer Don had a finger amputated! And was on the ice two days later. My goodness, she is driven. I thought she and Jonathan Hunt did a terrific job. I love the music but wasn't sure about the choreography to it. The potential of this pair is great. They have more of a "pairsy" feel than some of the higher ranked pairs and so far seem to be able to land their jumps and most of the throws. I just hope they realize the full extent of it. I was wondering if they were better at Nats. or at Jr. Worlds.

It was also interesting to see Yulia Obertas' new partner. He was very solid on both 3toe and 2axel. Unfortunately, his partner didn't fare as well.

I haven't watched the ladies yet.

Did anyone else watch?

[Sylvia]

For those who don't get Lifetime cable or missed the broadcast earlier today, here's a list of what Lifetime in the U.S. showed on their 2003 Junior Worlds telecast, plus music info. Predictably, they focused on the ladies again this year. Complete program count was as follows: 3 ladies short programs, 6 ladies' free skates, 1 pairs free skate, and two men's free skates.

Ladies Qualifying Round
*Clips of: Beatrisa Liang (fall on 3lutz), Miki Ando (landed 4salchow then fell forward), Yebin Mok (landed 3sal), Yukina Ota (landed 3lutz, deeply arched and held layback)

Ladies Short Program
*Clips of: Louann Donovan (fell out/hands down on 3flip), Yebin Mok (3lutz-2toe), Mai Asada (fall on 3lutz), Miki Ando (3flip-2loop), China's Binshu Xu (only 4'7" tall, looks much younger than 14, landed 3loop-2toe, 3lutz)
Complete SP of:
*Yukina Ota to Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre (2-footed 3flip-2toe combo, 3lutz)
*Beatrisa Liang to The Duel by Bond (hand down on 3flip combo, fell on 3lutz) with fluff piece beforehand featuring interviews with her, her mom, and coach Tiffany Chin
*Carolina Kostner to Pachelbel's Canon - piano rendition by George Winston (3loop-2loop, 3lutz, impressive, flowy footwork sequence all on on left foot)

Men's Free Skate
Clip of Evan Lysacek skating at 2001 Jr. Worlds (where he won silver) plus an interview clip
Complete FS of:
*Alexander Shubin to music from Gidon Kremer's Vivaldi and Piazzola: Eight Seasons album
*Evan Lysacek to an angst blues piece from Drop Zone soundtrack
Judges split 5-4 for Shubin, and his impressive 4toe and 7 triples could very well have placed behind Lysacek's 8 solid triples, which included clean 3axel and good speed throughout, with a different panel.
*Clip of bronze medalist Alban Preaubert of France (landed 3flip) and his excitable coach Phillipe Pelissier
*Post-skate interview with Lysacek in which he didn't hide his disappointment, but spoke with maturity and determination about the future

Free Dance
*Clips of Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin to an Afro-Latin mix (1st) and Loren Galler-Rabinowitz/David Mitchell to The Mummy soundtrack (4th)

Pairs' Free Skate
Fluff piece on Jennifer Don
*Jennifer Don/Jonathon Hunt's complete FS to Michael W. Smith's "Freedom" (only major mistake was her fall on the throw 3loop)
*Clips of: Julia Karbovskaya/Sergei Slavnov (5th), Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang (1st) and Maria Mukhortova/Pavel Lebedev (4th)
Interview with Don/Hunt after they won the bronze

Ladies Free Skate - complete programs of:
*Beatrisa Liang (5th in FS, 6th overall) to Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D minor
*Mai Asada (3,4) to Rondo Adagio Espressivo (ballet-like)
*Miki Ando (2,2) to La Bayadere by Minkus
*Carolina Kostner (4,3) to the soundtracks of Yentl, Schindler's List, Far and Away
*Yukina Ota (1,1) to Violin Fantasy on Puccini's Turandot by Vanessa Mae
*Yebin Mok (6,5) to Spartacus by Khachaturian
Interview with Liang and Tiffany Chin

[A.H.Black]

I thought Don and Hunt had a better short at Nationals, but a better long at Jr. Worlds. I love her skating but I am not yet convinced that this is the best possible pairing for either of them. Only time will tell. They have many very strong points - the 3toes are fabulous, but they also have a lot of room for improvement.

I also liked Evan Lysacek. I have been watching him since Nationals '99. I wish they had shown his short. I think the spanish music gives him more opportunities for showcasing his presentation skills, which I think are naturally good. The music to the long and some of the other music he has used recently is not as condusive to those skills. I think Evan is able put the exclamation points into his programs and thus he needs music with exclamation points. I was glad to see such a good skate from him, though, and very glad to have something on tape. How about Evan for a quad lutz? It's always been one of his best jumps.

[AsianSkatingFan]

Thanks Sylvia for info on Carolina's version of "Pachelbel's Canon", I was wondering what version she used. Also, Binshu Xu was soooo cute! :D :D

[iskater13]

Nancy did such a nice job with her comments, would love to see her on ABC!!!!!!!!!!:)

[viennese]

Interesting coverage, with some very informative commentary from Kerrigan.

I am amazed at some of the techical skills the junior ladies have--but it was good to see that the commentators were not going totally crazy over it. After all, some of those great jumpers have a way to go with presentation, steps, and spins.

[Trillian]

I only saw the second half of the event thanks to faulty taping. I liked Ota and Kostner very much, but the others didn't seem to be developing at the right pace and/or in the right direction. Ando and Asada are both just begging for career-ending injuries. If Ando can avoid that she's developing in the right direction, but in Asada's case, most of what happened between the jumps was barely acceptable for the junior level, let alone seniors. I wouldn't mind being wrong, especially since both skaters did appeal to me on a certain level, but I don't see the outlook being good unless they cool it with the jumps and work on everything else for a while. As for the Americans, Bebe was impressive but again, we have the injury factor already (plus she's still lacking senior level speed and power). Ye Bin Mok is one of my personal favorites, but she's already 18 and the odds of big time senior success are not in her favor. As for Ota and Kostner, they a long way to go, but they struck me as having the most well-rounded and age-appropriate level of development by far--I hope to see more of both of them.

As for Don & Hunt, I'm not on the bandwagon yet. I think they're a great match and I can see the long term potential, but they have some developing to do and I hope people don't expect too much right away. Give them some time and they'll be fine. I do think they'd be better off if both partners were focusing exclusively on pairs, though...

As for Kerrigan's commentary, I thought she was surprisingly good. Am I the only one who got the impression she was having fun? She offered some genuine insight (such as why a skater might have fallen on a jump, rather than just pointing out the obvious fact that they'd fallen). She could probably stand to talk a little less and there were times she seemed to stumble over her words a bit, but on the whole she certainly didn't sound like a first-time commentator and her voice isn't bad for TV. I hope she does more in this area.

[jpksk8]

Ota--totally bored by her skating. her presentation is all done with her arms, which she uses very nicely, but her actually skating is nothing remarkable, IMHO.
Ando--totally suprised. last year i hated her and her program choices, but this year i really enjoyed her. her presentation looks a lot better, and i thought that packaging worked for her. her technique is pretty good, so i think she should be able to hold out for a few years, but i don't think she should do lutz-loop and sal--too much emphasis on right hip strength.
Kostner--Still not sold. I get why she's good but for some reason, she leaves me totally cold. I'd love to see her carry a little more upper body tension, as well as skate to musich that's not so pretty. Music like Pachelbel only really works for me if you can sell it, which she can't. A lot of undeniable great qualities though. Her double axel is crap.
Asada--Ok, she was just terrible. Not only does she have nothing to offer but jumps, she's also being terribly packaged. That dress emphasized her oddly shaped body, and the music emphasized that she has nothing to offer as far as the second mark goes. And the axel is cheated, on top of everything.
Liang--Really impressed, simply because she skated clean (discounting the lutz-loop). For her, the only thing I was starting to worry about was whether she could keep it together throughout a long. It seems like the puberty monster is just hitting her now, so I think this year will be indicative of a lot for her. I wouldn't be suprised if her hip was just from her growth plate
Mok--I LOVE HER!!! And I'm so impressed by how she gets better every year, especially with regards to her nerves. Given how she was able to get through her programs both here and at nationals, a girl who I thought was tragically never gonna make it now still has hope in my mind. Who would have thought that this was the same girl that missed every jump in the short in LA?! She's amazing. Hopefully, her programs will be a little more engaging next year. :)

[DBZ]

I really enjoyed watching Ota and Kostner. They both have enormous potential. They still need a lot of work, but the foundation is solid for them to build upon. Ota's layback was absolutely stunning. I think she gets more arch in her back than Sasha does, which is mind-boggling.

I also agree about Nancy's commentary; it was very insightful and informative, not only about the jumps, but other elements as well -- like Kostner's footwork done on one foot, or Ota's layback. The only thing I didn't like was her interview with Lysacek, where she basically told him he was robbed. The bias was too blatant, I thought. Then again, it's pretty mild compared to Dick and Peggy's.

[Oracle]

I guess I was more impressed by Kerrigan's commentary than I tho't. Last night she appeared in a dream. She was a war correspondent reporting from the deck of a US Navy ship in the Gulf!!!
As to the actual Jr. Worlds event, I was most impressed with Oto, Don & Hunt & Lysacek. Evan looks like he has the goods to become a future National Champion.

[Ariadne]

I have watched juniors before and not enjoyed it much, but for some reason this year was different. Part of it is that we keep hearing about the big-time jumpers who appear in juniors still -- Ando's quad, Kostner's 3/3's etc. And I did find it very exciting to be able to see new faces.

I found Ota the most appealing, since I am a sucker for grace and line and flexibility. Kostner -- I agree w/ jpksk8 -- she leaves me cold. But I hope that won't always be the case. I admire many things about her and I really enjoyed watching her juniors program with the loop combo as opposed to the lutz/toe she nailed at worlds.

I find that in juniors I am even more puzzled than I sometimes am in seniors about the marking. For example, I did not at all understand Shubin over Lysacek (though at least it was close). I too thought Lysacek handled himself well in the interview.

I thought Liang's freeskate might have been marked higher too -- how did Asada get placed above her? I'd be happy for anyone's perspective on judging juniors.

One thing I really appreciate commentary on is the flutz issue -- probably a big thing here since so many gals were using it as their solo jump. I can't always tell from my TV and appreciate (brief) observation, at least on the replay, as it explains the marks better.

I too was amazed at Nancy. I really enjoyed her commentary despite a few rough spots. Although I have always watched skating, like many I didn't get into it until after the Nancy-Tonya thing -- perhaps because until then, figure sating was not a regular feature on North Carolina TV! So my impression of her was formed by that whole media circus. Also, I was so taken with Oksana after seeing her at the Olympics, that Nancy sort of diminished in my mind. But of course all that is very unfair to her, she is who she is. I'm glad to see her as a commentator and I hope to see more of her!

[Trillian]

Originally posted by Ariadne
I thought Liang's freeskate might have been marked higher too -- how did Asada get placed above her? I'd be happy for anyone's perspective on judging juniors.

Less accomplished skaters are simply harder to judge, because all of them have major weaknesses, but they may also have some things they do very well. Because of that, it often depends on what the judges are weighing most heavily--a judge who appreciates great edge quality, for example, may give high marks to a skater who's strong in that aspect but doesn't have much jump difficulty, while a judge who's worried more about the jumps may place the same skater substantially lower in the standings. It doesn't mean that either judge is wrong or doesn't know what he/she is doing (which I think is what people sometimes assume when there's a wide range of marks for a skater)--it simply means that the judges saw the performance differently.

The most frequently cited example is probably from the 2000 U.S. nationals junior ladies short program--Joanna Glick received marks ranking her from first to last among the twelve skaters (she wound up placing eighth, I think), and every judge could have made a perfectly reasonable case for what they did! One judge could have pointed out the difficulty of the jumps she attempted and the fact that she landed them, while another one could have pointed out that they were cheated and didn't get much height, so they shouldn't count for as much. Both arguments would have been correct, depending on what mattered more to that particular judge.

As for Liang and Asada, I found that one pretty odd myself since I thought Liang was much better--but things like the triple axel were probably the deciding factor. Besides, while I don't remember the scores or skate order, I'm assuming Liang skated a little earlier, which plays a role--and I'd also guess it was pretty close between them.