Can't Help Falling In Love ... with Hubbell & Donohue (fan thread #2)

Madison and Zach are more mature skaters who have specialised in more sultry style programs. So the wide eyed teenage love of a straight Kissing You is not the most immediate fit for them.

Like Virtue/Moir's Moulin Rouge, this will probably go through a fair few changes with some changes to the music cuts and choices.

I know they are trying to not directly interpret the movie in their FD, but I feel that Kissing You is so closely linked to Romeo + Juliet that they might as well go whole hog on it. Maybe really camp it up with some of the other dramatic cuts from the soundtrack like 'O Verona' or 'Escape' or maybe 'Young Hearts Run Free' and just get stuck into it. Put Zach in a Hawaiian shirt and just roll with it lol see reference poster ( Although I see that Madison's dress is most likely modelled off the knight in shining armour costume Romeo wore to the ball - nice touch).

If they just want to do a lyrical romantic man + woman program, there are probably better music choices.
 
I guess I'm more excited than some here. What I like the most is a certain steering away from gimmickry and histrionics. It's early, but they're displaying such beautiful dancing and skating.

I'd say H/D have shown good intuition in forging a unique path. I think year after year their programs always stand out against each season's crop of competitive offerings. And what they previewed this weekend, imo, shows great promise.

My only two cents about the FD, I wish they'd replace that now familiar curve lift with something entirely different looking. They're already doing a great variation of this lift at the end of the RD, and of course the original version was a huge highlight in last year's FD. It's feeling a little repetitive.
 
blancanieves said:
I guess I'm more excited than some here. What I like the most is a certain steering away from gimmickry and histrionics. It's early, but they're displaying such beautiful dancing and skating.

I'd say H/D have shown good intuition in forging a unique path. I think year after year their programs always stand out against each season's crop of competitive offerings. And what they previewed this weekend, imo, shows great promise.

My only two cents about the FD, I wish they'd replace that now familiar curve lift with something entirely different looking. They're already doing a great variation of this lift at the end of the RD, and of course the original version was a huge highlight in last year's FD. It's feeling a little repetitive.
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I think that curve lift got them around 12 points. So I bet it stays.
I love love the dress. I see this program growing as so many of their others. It's very early in the season and I feel Madi and Zach seem to get screwed here every year. The judges are stingy with points, high alt, very early in the season. But they get their programs out.
As the season goes I see this scoring in the 120's and the rd in the 80-90s.
They have 4 weeks until SA.
 
I love the choreo elements. The Ch slide was so unexpected and effective, though I suspect if they can't executive it more smoothly, they'll get low GOE and change it. Which would be a shame.

I think if this was their first program I had ever seen, I would love it unreservedly. The issue for me is there is quite a lot movement that reminds me too vividly of their previous romantic programs. I wish they had worked with an outside choreographer just to introduce them to some different movement they could overlay over the framework choreo from the Gadbois coaches.

It is a beautiful and enjoyable program regardless. I think when their RD becomes sharper it might overshadow the FD.
 
First off congrats on their winning season debut :cheer2: Being this early, I'm pretty sure we can expect many changes to this FD. I would love them to rethink the music choices and edits. Too much Des'ree for too long which gives a monotonous impression. There is no momentum and peak moment which would give more texture. There are so many songs with really different style in this soundtrack, why stick with Des'ree for 3/4 of the FD. I also agree on the fact it doesn't feel like they're they only one who can skate this FD. It was a very camp movie, a very Lurhmann movie so they could have a lot of fun playing around and seeing how they pulled off their Hip Hop SD, they can certainly go a bit nuts here. I love the idea of the Hawaiian shirt and Zach is confident enough to pull it off. Anyway, very early and it should be interested to see it evolve. A++ on her dress and on them being so much in shape so early. I'm hoping for something more flamboyant from him.
 
mysticchic said:
I think that curve lift got them around 12 points. So I bet it stays.
I love love the dress. I see this program growing as so many of their others. It's very early in the season and I feel Madi and Zach seem to get screwed here every year. The judges are stingy with points, high alt, very early in the season. But they get their programs out.
As the season goes I see this scoring in the 120's and the rd in the 80-90s.
They have 4 weeks until SA.
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It does seem to be a different style for them and everyone keeps telling teams (especially P/C) to do something diff. this yr. I love their usual style but this is beautiful and hits all the points with a mood of greater connection. It is scoring very well for this early in the season and I am very interested to see where it will go.
 
barbarafan - The maximum FD score this season is 137 and something, so over 118 is actually not that high. Would be somewhere around 106 or 107 in the old system I guess (I did not calculate this myself, but someone on the Golden Skate forum said that Guignard/Fabbri's Lombardia Trophy score of over 117 would be around 105 or 106).
 
lauravvv said:
barbarafan - The maximum FD score this season is 137 and something, so over 118 is actually not that high. Would be somewhere around 106 or 107 in the old system I guess (I did not calculate this myself, but someone on the Golden Skate forum said that Guignard/Fabbri's Lombardia Trophy score of over 117 would be around 105 or 106).
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I'm kind of shocked the Ita got such a high score and HD didn't. That's the problem with going to SLC. USFS ask their skaters to skate very early and knowing this is a hard event to get a good score at. It sets the tone for the GP. They were the only national champs to go to help get people to watch and sell tickets.
 
mysticchic said:
I'm kind of shocked the Ita got such a high score and HD didn't. That's the problem with going to SLC. USFS ask their skaters to skate very early and knowing this is a hard event to get a good score at. It sets the tone for the GP. They were the only national champs to go to help get people to watch and sell tickets.
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I read a few comments that Italian skaters tend to get very generous scoring at Lombardia. I don't pay that much attention to pre-GP scoring so I don't know, but I really don't think Guignard/Fabri would be that close to Madi/Zach if they competed at the same Grand Prix.

I am surprised they didn't get higher PCS. 53 something seems low even for pre-season.
 
laviemn said:
I read a few comments that Italian skaters tend to get very generous scoring at Lombardia. I don't pay that much attention to pre-GP scoring so I don't know, but I really don't think Guignard/Fabri would be that close to Madi/Zach if they competed at the same Grand Prix.

I am surprised they didn't get higher PCS. 53 something seems low even for pre-season.
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No they won't. I guess we will see at SA. But GF got 4s and 5s and one judge gave them 950 in skills.
 
Costumes! I think both sets work really well for each program/music. Respectfully, I do have two observations for anyone in H/D's camp.

The skirt in the tango dress flares out a lot and may be hiding Madison's leg action. Maybe having it more tapered through the hips would yield a better leg line.

The silhouette of the FD dress could use more definition in the waist. Maybe the crisscrossing-ribbon section could be extended/altered to create more of a corseted look.
 
mysticchic said:
No they won't. I guess we will see at SA. But GF got 4s and 5s and one judge gave them 950 in skills.
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It was the Italian judge that went all uber crazy giving out PCS's in the 9's but the Japanese, Lithuanian and USA judges also gave some in the 9's.. So either they've improved, they are getting the rep. of being Italian #1 or hometown benefit.. Or a combination of all 3.. too early to tell but something to keep a watch for..
 
levineismine said:
Was nice to see Madi and Zach in the audience at Autumn Classic cheering for their significant others and their training mates. They were very loud :cheer2:
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Tumblr blogs are spreading rumors that Zach looked very worried and surprised when WeaPo's FD score was announced. Any truth to that or are they just looking to start drama as always?
 
Last edited:
I wouldn't put too much stock in Tumblr posts. They are mostly individual fan accounts with their own agenda and strong opinions. Tumblr is where you go to post what you want and feel without being challenged.
 
angi said:
Tumblr blogs are spreading rumors that Zach looked very worried and surprised when WeaPo's FD score was announced. Any truth to that or are they just looking to start drama as always?
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Not worried at all. It's canadian scoring. Anyway, WP are sitting out the GP this year.
 
angi said:
Tumblr blogs are spreading rumors that Zach looked very worried and surprised when WeaPo's FD score was announced. Any truth to that or are they just looking to start drama as always?
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I did hear some people sitting behind him saying he had a very noticeable reaction to the score. Didn't see it myself though because I was on the other side of the arena, so cannot confirm.
 
twinklestar said:
Link please? XD
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To quote it: "it was complete shock (wide eyes, raised eyebrows, basically picture a cartoon), followed by turning to Madi and exchanging a look that I interpreted as ‘all right then, good to know’ while slowly clapping." (source)
Not that I buy it yes? just wondered since people here stated whey were also at the arena and saw him.
 
RoseRed said:
I did hear some people sitting behind him saying he had a very noticeable reaction to the score. Didn't see it myself though because I was on the other side of the arena, so cannot confirm.
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Zach makes faces over everything. But the skaters do know and understand scores. So what if they might be shocked. I'm shocked at some of the scores myself. 197 for Viknik? at this time of the year?
 
angi said:
To quote it: "it was complete shock (wide eyes, raised eyebrows, basically picture a cartoon), followed by turning to Madi and exchanging a look that I interpreted as ‘all right then, good to know’ while slowly clapping." (source)
Not that I buy it yes? just wondered since people here stated whey were also at the arena and saw him.
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I am sure all dancers are looking at the scores coming up trying to figure out where the judges are going on this. There is a lot of poring over protocols to see what is being zeroed in on I am sure. Especially the yynn's in the RD patterns. It also meant that their significant others just lost a slight chance for gold as their programs where very well done and received.I am sure all dancers when they return home will take a took at sinkats's programs to see is judges were making a statement or if their programs and skills made a very large jump over off-season.
 
mysticchic said:
Zach makes faces over everything. But the skaters do know and understand scores. So what if they might be shocked. I'm shocked at some of the scores myself. 197 for Viknik? at this time of the year?
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I certainly made a face at my TV when S/K got over 3 points more in PCS than Madi & Zach.

But I don't take Challenger scores that seriously. If you look over the lists of judges, these mostly aren't the same names that appear at the Grand Prix and Championships, and pre-GP scores aren't a reliable predictor of how teams score when it counts. For example, last season Coomes/Buckland scored 20 points lower at NHK (without any falls or blown elements) than at Nebelhorn.

At this point, I'm mostly concerned about getting the levels.
 
Im really disappointed with the free dance.
Not even sure what i was expecting, but it is just - so forgettable. In 2013/2014 season they had a program like that and it was understandable, Madison needed a paced program in order to deal with her injury. This free dance is not ambitious.
I am just sad.
 
kosjenka said:
Im really disappointed with the free dance.
Not even sure what i was expecting, but it is just - so forgettable. In 2013/2014 season they had a program like that and it was understandable, Madison needed a paced program in order to deal with her injury. This free dance is not ambitious.
I am just sad.
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What injury? Unless you were there, SLC has the worst camera angles, the worst lighting there is. Every year people hate their programs at SLC and love them by the end of the GP. The get feedback and Zach and Madi go back and fix what needs to be fixed. They continue to evolve throughout the season. So I'm not worried about it.
 
I don't think it was about the camera...
I also dont think this is a hopeless situation. I just don't see them pushing the envelope with this concept. That doesn't mean this program cannot develop. Still love their skating.
 
Let them experiment this year. Try some new things and concepts. This is a rebuilding year after the Olympics. Chock and Bates are trying something new also. Should be interesting.
 
kosjenka said:
I don't think it was about the camera...
I also dont think this is a hopeless situation. I just don't see them pushing the envelope with this concept. That doesn't mean this program cannot develop. Still love their skating.
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I'm not being facetious, I really want to understand. What envelope are they supposed to be pushing?
 
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