Charlie Bilodeau just posted a pic on Instagram confirming that their new SP was choreographed by John Kerr. I like the sound of that and am excited to see what he came up with!
I'm sure many pairs teams would love to work with John Kerr after the work he's done for Savchenko/Massot and James/Cipres. Isn't Kerr also working with Della Monica/Guarise?
Since Meagan D sought the opportunity to collaborate with Kerr last season, she may have been instrumental in suggesting S/B try working with Kerr. I was recently watching vids of Milan Worlds again. I happen to have enjoyed both of S/B's programs this past season, even though some felt their sp wasn't their style. It's not always the best idea to stay locked into one type of skating style.
It was sad seeing Julianne so out of shape and missing her elements at Worlds. She likely wasn't fully recovered from injuries and she may not have had enough training time. They surely did not want to miss Worlds again, as they've been forced to do a couple of times over the past few years. Julianne seemed okay in the warm-up, but she just couldn't make it through the sp. I do think the judges were rather overly harsh, as they could have given S/B more credit for their skating skills, connection and program construction (albeit the mistakes disrupted the program's flow). Still, they are clearly a much better team than a number of the teams they were placed behind, even despite so many teams skating fairly well. It was a tough field. Taking a closer look though, a few teams were overscored and some were underscored. I don't argue with the tech points S/B were given, as much as the skimping on PCS. On the tech, they did lose two points from the falls, and that adds up to disaster. Otherwise, S/B should have at least been in front of the Croatian team (who while they have an amazingly excellent throw 3-twist, they don't have good skating skills, connection, or good quality flow over the ice). It doesn't matter in the end of course, since S/B were not going to make the stingy ISU cut-off the way they skated in that deep field.
So turning the page and moving on, I really hope that Julianne is recovering from her injuries and getting into better shape. Julianne & Charlie have such a special magical quality that I hope they can tap back into and find their way forward again. They lost a lot of momentum.
Meanwhile, M-T/M have been coming on strong, slowly but surely. I posted awhile ago the episode #69 IceTalk interview with Kirsten and Michael.
http://web.icenetwork.com/fans/icetalk * It's a great interview that gives a lot of insight into their personalities and the growth of their partnership. The key to their success has been the move they made to Gauthier/ Marcotte with choreo by Julie Marcotte, and to the fact that they hung in there under some dire circumstances. It seems a huge turning point was at Canadian Nationals two seasons ago when they had a lift mishap, but bounced back tough. Kirsten I believe had a foot injury at Milan Worlds. I don't know how she was able to grit out the pain and get through both programs. Canada really needed that boost. K&M have been charming their way right into my heart.
Michael still has some work to do of course, but they have come together as a team very nicely, and he's been steadily improving his partnering skills. One could argue that K&M skated well enough and have quite superior programs that they arguably should have landed in 5th place overall in Milan. They actually placed 4th in the fp! But since the judges were overly magnanimous points-wise in the sp to some teams, that's one reason why K&M came in 6th overall.
I also really enjoy watching Cami & Drew, and Walsh/Michaud. Are Evelyn & Trent staying in juniors another year? I think Cami & Drew have got to go for that throw 3-twist sooner than later if they hope to be competitive. If it's only two Canadian pairs teams eligible for Worlds, it's likely to be M-T/M and S/B, if both teams remain healthy over the course of the season.
* Note that a number of Canadian skaters were interviewed over the course of IceTalk's tenure, including Seguin/Bilodeau and Gabby Daleman in Episode 12. There are also episodes with Duhamel/Radford, Brian Orser, Kaetlyn Osmond, Patrick Chan, Bruno Marcotte, Joannie Rochette, Gilles/Poirier, Luba/Dylan, Jeff Buttle, and Weaver/Poje & Kurt Browning are featured in Episode 13...
I find them so bland, like white sliced bread (which can be great toasted with marmalade, but generally is just blah...) 
