Fractured Dreams

So the world championships are over (with the exception of the gala which Eurosport is showing live tonight…yay, they never show the whole gala live) and I felt like jotting down a few thoughts. Only a figure skating freak will have a clue what I’m talking about so if you haven’t been following the sport obsessively for the past few years feel free to skip it. First, I’m completely gutted because the workmen were pissing around with things while I was at work and tripped my electricity, so the compulsory dance didn’t record. I had a bad feeling something would happen but I had to work late and didn’t get home until it was nearly over. Argh!

Pairs
I don’t really care about pairs since Elena and Anton turned pro, but I still like Petrova/Tikhonov and Aliona Savchenko/partner whose name I’ve forgotten right now is definitely a team to watch. By the way, what’s up with Obertas/Slavnov??

Men
I’ve loved Stephane Lambiel since I went to Euros in 2002 — it was in Switzerland and impossible not to get caught up in the excitement for their boy — so it was great to see him skate so brilliantly. And yay for Joubert getting it together in the free. Sandhu could’ve been worse but why oh why can’t he be better and put down 2, or should I say 3, clean skates… I understand he did well on the Grand Prix circuit but we dont get to see that in Eurosportland!!

Dance
My beloved ice dance seems empty without Diva Navka, but congrats to Albena and Maxim — I didn’t really like them until I saw them live at Euros, and while they’ve never been my favourites, I can appreciate their voidiness. I’m gutted for Isa and Olivier — I love them and they always have my favourite free programs, but for some reason the judges must hate them. Sorting through my old skating tapes as I transfer them to DVD (a mammoth task) has reminded me how much I liked Margarita and Povilas; I’m so glad they came back and what a season it’s been for them — bronze at Euros, and a shame they didn’t make the podium here considering they were second on the free.

Much sympathy for Nora Hoffmann — getting a blade across the back during warm up just before you have to go on must be every skater’s nightmare. What a horrid thing to happen and boo to the ref for not letting them skate last in the group. Apparently word is she’s gonna be partner shopping during the off-season, which could be great if she finds someone as good as her — she has the makings of a future Dance Diva Star TM! She was one of the reasons I kept watching dance in that depressing first post-Marina and Gwendal season.

As I type I’m re-watching the free dance and Dubreuil/Lauzon are on. I’ve never really been able to get into their skating…they always have really difficult lifts but the rest seems kinda empty and zzzzz… I do like this sappy piece of music though.

Ladies
I have to say I just don’t like U.S. ladies’ skating — the arms annoy me no end and when I say I’m a Maria B fan from way back who misses her dearly that says it all really…for me jumps aren’t everything. Still, wow for Kimmie Meisner — her first World Championships and she skates away with the gold!

As they say at FSUniverse, “483783 depressions” for Elena Sokolova, aka Cupcake — she’s my fave ladies skater post-Masha and I’m gutted she didn’t get bronze after her fab short and free. My great discovery this Worlds was Kiira Korpi — how classy is she — and yay for Tugba Karademir — she stood out to me at Euros 02 but she doesn’t usually make it through to the free, so I’m glad we got to see her this time! Oh yeah and WTF happened to Viktoria Pavuk? She didn’t even qualify for the free… she was, what top five or something in her first Euros but it’s been ever downhill since… 74675 depressions!

Sooo…although it lacked the sheer drama of the Olympic original dance, Worlds has had some great moments!

With the World Figure Skating Championships this week I came across this article from The Nation slating the NBC (as in “Neo-con Bellowing Corporation”) coverage of the Olympics with a larger point about provincialism:

America has never been a more dynamic, multicultural society and the world has never been more of a global village, but NBC still treats the games as if it were 1980 and the United States were taking on the Eastern Bloc. As Florida writer Pierre Tristam wrote in his blog, “NBC covers the Olympics the way American neocons do foreign policy: The world is 95 percent America, 3 percent water, and 2 percent everything else…”

I’ve been too busy watching the figure skating to go online much, and I only have one thing to say – the ‘interim’ judging system must die!! I mean basically the medals are decided based on luck – whichever marks get randomly picked by the computer decide who wins. Ick. What kind of ‘competition’ is that?? And of course I’m feeling reeeaaaally bad for Irina & Ilia; the marks were so close to gold and they even got a 6.0. But even more so my babies Tatiana and Roman – I love their free dance (although I *always* love their free dance), and their presentation marks were better than Albena & Maxim (who are cool too) but they didn’t get bronze. Sigh. I can’t wait until next season though; hopefully I’ll be able to get to competitions again. Watching on TV just can’t compare to actually being in the arena. And hanging out at the skaters’ hotel is always fun. Talking of which this is to make me feel better, although for some reason I can’t find the clearer version:


Gwendal Peizerat in the Movenpick lobby in Lausanne, Euros 2002

Anyway, time to get ready for the ladies free program, starting in half an hour. Can’t wait to see Lena Sokolova – I’ve been a fan since ‘98 so I’m glad to see her finally doing so great. Her short program was excellent and I love her free; a silver medal would be fantastic. Go Lena!