Skating with the Stars Episode 3 & 4

[SceneIt]

This show is pretty snarkworthy and I have a snark on Tanith: Did anyone else notice that when she talked, she talked out of one side of her mouth, her lips are too thin, and the top of her dresses are never fitted so they look deflated or something, in comparison to most spokesmodels? Just sayin'.

[ArtisticFan]

This show is pretty snarkworthy and I have a snark on Tanith: Did anyone else notice that when she talked, she talked out of one side of her mouth, her lips are too thin, and the top of her dresses are never fitted so they look deflated or something, in comparison to most spokesmodels? Just sayin'.

I didn't notice that, but I did notice that she bobs forward. It drives me insane.

[Skittl1321]

Here's my super long post since I didn't post as the show went along...

I love this show so much. So sad it's been so bad in the ratings, as it won't come back I'm sure.
But none of the shows I like ever do well... (i'm thinking of you Better Off Ted...)

First, I am absolutely amazed to find out that Johnny Weir and I are still on the exact same wavelength. I guessed half of his critiques and said the same score as him on everyone but Jonny, who I thought he overscored a bit on technical (Rebecca's technical was way better...). I think his look is MUCH better this week. On the fashion side- holy moly Tanith looks gorgeous tonight.

Now onto the skaters:
Rebecca- wow on the flip! But the "story"- um, until the little push at the end, I thought they forgot there was supposed to be a story. She's a great skater, but I'm really with the judge on the low artistic scores- she is boring to watch. Also what does she have against skirts/pants? This is the 2nd time she hasn't worn them... skaters don't generally just wear leotards, but I think this particular look is a take off on Katy Perry... still doesn't explain the first week outfit, but she looks great, so whatever. The lift she hurt her wrist on was amazing. Definetly the highlight of the program.

Bethanny- I'm happy to say I have a much better toe loop than she does. She didn't even try to pivot her legs together before the take-off, which is what happens when you let beginners jump before they know what their edges are... But her toe-waltz efforts were good, and she did leave the ice. I thought she did much better tonight than she has before. Her attitude is just awful. She doesn't want to be on this show and it shows. Johnny's speech to her that they score what they see on the ice, and not the skater's personality made me wonder if he had heard that speech before too...

Vince did not impress tonight. I've thrown a few votes his way, because I felt that unlike Bethanny he was trying and wanted to be there, but tonight was bad. I've been comparing my jumps to all the celebrities, and I'm thinking it might be a tie between my waltz jump and his. His had a horrible landing, but more "up" than mine. Thank god I could kick his ass in moves and spins- it would be sad for me to be worse than Vince. I'm glad he went to skating school, I think it was good for him to see the work kids put in on the non-flashy elements.

At Keanu's "it's halfway through the show" comments I thought for sure Brandon was there- she just sounded so ridiculously put-on that I thought she must be "acting". Turns out, the girl is just an emotional wreck.

Jonny is definetly my favorite- he looks like he is having a lot of fun in his programs. Was shocked how bad his jumps were, but he did try for the combo. The falls in practice made me so mad at the producers- at least half of them, maybe 3/4 looked like they were caused by the edge of the rink. Now I know on a full size rink, real skater are always very close to the edge, but these skaters would NOT be. They should not be stepping out of the teeny tiny rink and practically killing their partners because of it (the last fall they showed it look like Brooke went flying off stage- I couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying when she was laying down there). They did a good job considering Brooke can't hold right now, I think the injury will affect their training this week, more than it did their performance tonight. Jonny's rotational lift was very good.

Now we go to the DWTS crossover, and holy crap- that's Lacy? I thought for sure it was her cousin Heidi, but I haven't seen either in many years.
I know it was rehearsal, so it's tough to judge, but I was kind of disappointed by Brandon- at least his jump. In that I completely missed it. I rewatched TWICE before I realized he did a solo jump after the hold hands and jump things. It was tiny. And for a man with such comfort on the ice (his skating is terrific now) that shocked me. Usually women have a much harder time jumping than men (I'm going by adults here, not eligible skaters). The overall program was good, but I agree with the judges that it's difficult to score when the performance aspect is missing. He had no "oomph". I thought they'd go a little higher on the scores, but I guess they just wanted to make sure he was in 3rd, but not with a great lead. It's nice that they don't just kick him off immediatly, I suppose. Keanu is over acting again... poor girl, if that's real she must be crazy stressed and just not know how to deal with it with a camera in her face. you'd think a skater would know how to do that.

Tanith and Ben were lovely, but a little boring, and why did they never mention who the other skaters were. The announcer introduced Tanith and Ben, and then 4 skaters were on the ice and none were Tanith or Ben- WEIRD.

Man the eliminations on this show are so predictable. I think Vince was the right choice to go home, but I hoped Bethanny would have volunteered to leave- she just seems miserable, and Vince might suck, but he seems to have joy in it. Maybe someone should send him information about Adult competitions LOL he's about as good as some of the no tests I've seen, and he has the money to afford the lessons to get himself up to Bronze. The stories I hear make nationals seem like a giant party (I'm not bronze yet, no loop... so I don't know) so he'd fit right in.

Overall, I wish there was more than one required element this week. With only the jump, I felt a lot of the programs were kind of lacking on any sort of content, since no one really did any footwork.




The clapping for the celebrities non-jumps reminds me of my first competition. I did a salchow, and then a few seconds later there is a smattering of applause. It's like the audience just then realized I had done a "jump". They never leave the ice much...

[Lara]

So I started catching up on DVR recordings not realizing the show was at 8 instead of 9. Did they say if Brandon was actually admitted to hospital? Johnny was an idiot either way but even moreso if that was the case. It takes a lot to be admitted for gastro induced dehydration as an adult compared to a kid (rather than just get zofran and IV fluids in the ER).

[Garden Kitty]

I just think she's taking this show extremely seriously and was highly disappointed to have to just sit there while the others skated.

Her tweet about how this is her chance to redeem herself after not making the Olympics certainly suggests she's taking this very seriously. She's still just a teen ager and I think it's likely she was upset she didn't get a chance to skate and "redeem herself".

[rfisher]

I feel sorry for her. She was way over hyped as a junior and had huge expectations on her that didn't pan out. She hasn't handled things very well. I wonder what's going to happen with Caydee Denny this season. She too has been over hyped and their GP events were not good. There are other pairs that could well beat them at US nationals and get sent to worlds. Some of these kids can handle success but can't handle when things don't work out like they want. They don't have the drive to dig deep and come back strong.

It's really sad if Keaunu thinks her performance on a silly TV show is required as some form of redemption.

[Bev Johnston]

Man the eliminations on this show are so predictable. I think Vince was the right choice to go home, but I hoped Bethanny would have volunteered to leave- she just seems miserable, and Vince might suck, but he seems to have joy in it. Maybe someone should send him information about Adult competitions LOL he's about as good as some of the no tests I've seen, and he has the money to afford the lessons to get himself up to Bronze. The stories I hear make nationals seem like a giant party (I'm not bronze yet, no loop... so I don't know) so he'd fit right in.

I was thinking the same thing about Vince going to Adult Nationals. His in-between skating is no worse than some I've seen there. People would go wild to see him skate and he'd have tons of support and new friends/fans.

As for Vince's skating being worse than Bethany's: How can anyone tell? Vince actually tries to skate, and Bethany mostly waves her arms around while her partner pushes/pulls/lifts her. After three episodes, I can honestly say I have no idea what Bethany's skating is like.

[Skittl1321]

I didn't notice that, but I did notice that she bobs forward. It drives me insane.

Her twitter shows that either she read your comment here, or she really noticed it too.

TanithJLB Watching playback of the last night's episode and realizing that I bob like a buoy when I speak,haha.That's gonna be a tough habit to break!

At least now she's going to try to fix it!

[orbitz]

I'm impressed with Rebecca's skating skills. A few more weeks of practices and she would be able to do fwd and bckw xovers with more flow and ease. She could do well at Adult Nationals with her current skating skills.

Mosely's adorable. I'm surprised some of these beginners are doing the flip for their first jump.

Bethany - she had on such a sour puss face while the judges were commenting, LOL. I give her credit for doing this though. The skating judges like to go on and on about bent skating knees, more flow, arched back, etc. but if you're new to ice skating and especially if you're an adult, those things aren't going to come with just a few weeks of practices. Bethany's skating resembles a lot of adult skating that I used to see at my rink when I was skating.

This show actually isn't that bad. It's entertaining for what it is. Too bad it won't ever return to TV again.

[Skittl1321]

arched back

UGH! But Tanith's commentary about her lift was that she had a nicely arched back- OMG, I've never seen such a stiff back, and this is coming from someone with almost zero back flexibility.

[BittyBug]

Her twitter shows that either she read your comment here, or she really noticed it too.

At least now she's going to try to fix it!

And this is one of the fabulous things about Tanith and Ben. They always seemed interested in critically examining their performances to find areas that could be improved upon, and always seemed genuinely open to criticism as an opportunity to find things that could be bettered. With that attitude, she'll go a long way.

[reese]

From la Twitter:

@Bethenny OMG.after show I told judge:dude,I don't take personally.this is silly.I'm40&on skates.who cares:he said he's feeling it is personal.

[LadyNit]

My fave moment of the show: stoopid announcer asks a sharp question directed at Uncle Dick. Dick gets agitated as he gives his long, meandering answer. During the whole incident, JWe has his arm linked with Uncle Dick's and is petting his arm soothingly. It was really sweet.

[Nan]

From la Twitter:

@Bethenny OMG.after show I told judge:dude,I don't take personally.this is silly.I'm40&on skates.who cares:he said he's feeling it is personal.

She uses some pretty emotional language for someone who doesn't take it personally.

[Skittl1321]

I love reading blog recaps of this show.

From here: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/real...o-lurrrve.html

For those of you not familiar with skating, the jumps are in this order of difficulty from most difficult to least: Axel, Lutz, Flip, Loop, Salchow, Toe Loop, Waltz, Mohawk.

I would say the mohawk is the most difficult jump. I mean, even in the Olympics the skaters get no air on those at all

[Allen]

I love reading blog recaps of this show.

From here: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/real...o-lurrrve.html


I would say the mohawk is the most difficult jump. I mean, even in the Olympics the skaters get no air on those at all

Well, then Bethenny did a great "mohawk" jump.

[cruisin]

Fire and nice!

Yes, and then his partner said something to the effect that he made figure skating even more gay. LOL

I feel sorry for her. She was way over hyped as a junior and had huge expectations on her that didn't pan out. She hasn't handled things very well. I wonder what's going to happen with Caydee Denny this season. She too has been over hyped and their GP events were not good. There are other pairs that could well beat them at US nationals and get sent to worlds. Some of these kids can handle success but can't handle when things don't work out like they want. They don't have the drive to dig deep and come back strong.

It's really sad if Keaunu thinks her performance on a silly TV show is required as some form of redemption.

I completely agree with you here. We often forget that many of the skaters are just kids. They soar to the top, are hyped as the next greatest thing and then it doesn't happen. These kids are devastated and often don't know how to handle it. Skating is their whole world and they suddenly have to face the real world, usually after a lot of sacrifice. As far as having the drive to dig deep and come back strong, that is not always an option, if the cause is growth. Especially in pairs and dance.

I love reading blog recaps of this show.

From here: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/real...o-lurrrve.html


I would say the mohawk is the most difficult jump. I mean, even in the Olympics the skaters get no air on those at all

Yeah, those Mohawk jumps are the ruination of many a skater.

[deltask8er]

According to a list of best-paid reality TV stars, no wonder Bethenny is being a sourpuss on this show. She already has at least $4 million from doing less strenuous work.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2397/1/

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-a...evision-stars/

[Debbie S]

Evan Bates's blog on last night: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

[stjeaskategym]

I know it's just a message board, but it's spelled Keauna. The ending of her name is exactly the same as the more common name of Shauna. Take off the Sh and put on the Ke and ta-da, you spelled her name. A lot of names end with the "Ana" sound, including Keauna's. That should be a sign to always end her name with the letter A.

I feel sorry for her. She was way over hyped as a junior and had huge expectations on her that didn't pan out. She hasn't handled things very well. I wonder what's going to happen with Caydee Denny this season. She too has been over hyped and their GP events were not good. There are other pairs that could well beat them at US nationals and get sent to worlds. Some of these kids can handle success but can't handle when things don't work out like they want. They don't have the drive to dig deep and come back strong.

Who is over hyping Caydee Denney? If she likes competing and has things in proper perspective, nothing will "happen to her" regardless of how she does at this year's Nationals. Once a skater becomes National Champ, there is nowhere to go but down, but losing this year wouldn't mean Caydee has "failed". Nobody can win every year (especially not young pair teams), nor does anyone expect a team like D/B to win every year. The skaters who head into Nationals with the mentality that they will quit if they don't make the World/Oly team are putting too much pressure on themselves and are increasing the likelihood that they will do poorly in the first place (maybe this happened to Keauna). They hold Nationals every year so that if skaters aren't happy with their placement one year, they can come back and try again...It's not supposed to be a life or death experience. You're right that these skaters have to have the drive to dig deep when they experience losing. They need to have some patience (especially in pairs) and not be spoiled by early success.

It's really sad if Keaunu thinks her performance on a silly TV show is required as some form of redemption.

I sense she likes competing/skating at least somewhat and is using this show to help fill the void that has been left by not having that in her life. As she's sitting at home thinking about the note she ended on last season, I could see how even a show like this could feel a bit like "redemption". Given her competitive nature, it would be ridiculous to expect her to just get over the Olympic disappointment... Maybe this fun skating experience is helping her heal a little. Hopefully she won't take it too seriously if Brandon gets eliminated.

Tanith and Ben were lovely, but a little boring, and why did they never mention who the other skaters were. The announcer introduced Tanith and Ben, and then 4 skaters were on the ice and none were Tanith or Ben- WEIRD.

I thought their performance was quite good considering the size of the ice... They had to go around that crazy ramp just to have enough room to do one of their lifts. I guess they didn't announce the other skaters' names because they were pretty much just "backup skaters" to Tanith and Ben.