JGP #2 - Czech Skate, Ostrava CZE - Ice Dance RD & FD

[Wyliefan]

They did do a ranking competition for jr ice dance. I don't know if Jinny has a new partner yet, but if so, they didn't compete at that event in July. It was just this team - Yoo/Grant - and Namu Lee with his new partner Madelaine Breau

Jinny paired up with Nicholas Ying. They didn't skate in the ranking competition, as I said, but I saw a test skate from them that looked better than anything I've seen from Yoo/Grant or Breau/Lee so far.

 

[Kateri]

Really weak field here, Wolfkostin and Tsarevski got lucky with that bad skate.

 

[Karen-W]

[Kateri's Standard Issue Post Getting Mad About How The Referee Should Stop Skaters When There Is Any Chance Someone Hit Their Head]

though fortunately he missed the ice on replay!

Replay showed he didn't hit his head. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the referee can probably hear if there's a head hitting the ice in person, but maybe I'm wrong. But, I do agree, I wish the ISU mandated a program stop to check for a possible concussion - you don't have to hit your head to suffer one.

 

[Kateri]

Replay showed he didn't hit his head. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the referee can probably hear if there's a head hitting the ice in person, but maybe I'm wrong. But, I do agree, I wish the ISU mandated a program stop to check for a possible concussion - you don't have to hit your head to suffer one.

I hope you're right the ref had a better view! Just based on the past, I could swear they're all drinking coffee and checking their phones.

 

[Karen-W]

Jinny paired up with Nicholas Ying. They didn't skate in the ranking competition, as I said, but I saw a test skate from them that looked better than anything I've seen from Yoo/Grant or Breau/Lee so far.

Yes, well, we all know the KSF, lol. Hopefully Jinny & Nicholas will be given a non-JGP international competitive opportunity so they can earn the CTES minimums for Jr Worlds, which will then put them in contention for that spot.

 

[Karen-W]

Okay, trying to play catchup with the teams that I missed.

Laine/Reina - their costumes are cute - very "at the hop!" that fit the music. If only their skating was up to that same level.

Yamashita/Nagata - Rainbow tie-dyed lamé, sleeveless mini dress for her with matching shirt & black pants for him. Oh, not disco. What are the odds, at any comp this season, where we have two non-disco RDs back-to-back? Probably pretty low. Not bad for them. She's very smiley. Not sure her constant o-face fit the music but they were pleasant.

Szilagyi/Jaracs - Oh, my... these costumes look straight out of some 1970s Dallas Cowboys halftime extravaganza. Very shiny silver shirt with royal blue lamé pants for him that have a silver/white stripe down the side. She has a sparkly silver skirt and a slightly lighter blue top with a halter neck. Oh, those leg positions do not match at all on the twizzles - and they were both wobbling on them too. They're not very good but I appreciate his commitment to all the cliched disco moves, lol.

Tscharner/Wiederkehr - they look like they're ready for an afternoon sail on their personal yacht on Lake Geneva. This medley of songs and the choreo is something else. I sat with my mouth half-open through their entire program, taking it all in. That was kind of amazing. Or, at least, it would be if it was done by a really top-notch team.

Okay, onto pairs FS and I'll come back and watch the middle 10 teams later.

 

[her grace]

Yamashita/Nagata

Smooth skating. She may be taller than he is. She lifts him at end, yes!

Vellion/Brandis

Strong performance quality, great projecting during the pattern dance steps, maybe most polished junior program I’ve seen this season until the ending pose fall by both.

Wolfkostin/Tsarevski

Big pattern with good ice coverage, twizzle error from him, lost some energy and confidence as they went

Ovsiankina/Rahier

Twizzle trouble for him, want them to work on their synchronized movements, nice rotational lift that moved well across the ice

Straub/Straub

Nice twizzles, nice clean skating, they manage their height difference well. Time to work on upping the levels

Finelli/Buccarelli

Skating close together, got some good levels on pattern dances, good energy, can add some speed. Hard to believe they’re a new partnership—great foundation to build from

Fradji/Forneaux

Immediately showcasing their musicality—work that beat! Twizzle trouble from her, he shows up nicely in the choreo—always glad to see balanced choreography that utilizes both partners, complete performance

Renzi/Lissauer

Fun choreo, working the elements, but need to integrate them more to make it more seamless. Nice debut

 

[her grace]

Really weak field here, Wolfkostin and Tsarevski got lucky with that bad skate.

Vellion/Brandys, too. W/T would have been 7th in Latvia, behind their American teammates Deych/Hu. V/B would have been 8th in Latvia behind their Canadian teammates Cincon-Debout/Celestino. Vellion/Brandys are ostensibly Canada's #2 team in juniors so good for them that their hiccup didn't derail their junior season (Way too hard to tell where Wolfkostin/Tsarevski are ranking in the U.S. Junior pantheon having only competed once as juniors and with Aboian/Veselukhin's emergence upsetting the applecart and the top-ranked returning team from junior nationals Peal/Peal coming in 4th at Lake Placid).

Also, of note, 3 judges said the new Italian team Finelli/Bucciarelli violated choreographic restrictions so they should probably tweak their program.

 

[Karen-W]

Okay, finally back for the 2nd & 3rd groups since I didn't have time to watch them between the pairs & men's FS earlier.

Veillon/Brandys - sapphire blue & white polka dots for her with highlighter yellow waistband, and his shirt is a combination of highlighter yellow that has rows of blue circles down the front gradient-ing from sapphire blue to white in the center, and black pants. So, I'm guessing some sort of '50s or early '60s program. Hmmmmm... I didn't realize they were at IAM-Ontario, thought they were in Montreal. She's channeling training mate Christina Carreira. Cute choreo in the step sequence! Awkward fall on the closing pose!

Beznosikova/Leleu - so, she's dressed like a street worker and he's dressed like her pimp, and they're skating to, among other things, "Brickhouse". Okay then. That's an appropriate choice for a JUNIOR team, Igor. Program is fine. Nothing remarkable. I don't hate it, but everyone here should know by now that, on principle, I'm probably not going to intensely dislike anything that isn't disco and since this isn't really disco-y, it's fine. I will only remember it because of their costumes at their 2nd JGP though.

Wolfkostin/Tsarevski - She's dressed like a shiny, starry grape ready for the disco club and his shirt is like a shiny cork of the wine bottle. So, basically, they're ready to party. Eeesh - huge twizzle error from him and hers was wobbly too. They probably lost a good 4 points on that element alone had they gotten the L4 they're both capable of. Still wouldn't put them very close to FraForn but still... They are better than this - and lucky that their 2nd JGP has, on paper, like this JGP, one of the weaker fields. Also - the steering wheel choreo at the beginning? Do better, MIDA.

Ovsiankina/Rahier - Oh, my. So, he's got the purple grape look for this team with the sport coat, and, not to be outdone, she's in hot pink with a ruffle on one shoulder and a ruffle on the skirt. He is way more into this disco program and choreo than she is, lol. Major step out of the 2nd twizzle for him and a bit stumbly on the lift exit. Another team that is perfectly fine but I'll only remember them at their 2nd JGP because of their costumes.

Hemcke/Sladkov - the super-wide collar on his costume makes me think disco but I'm not getting the boating color scheme of red, white, marine and navy blue. Did they just come from some USA Bicentennial fleet week regatta? Those were some very careful, controlled, slow twizzles. That was... Well, they're apparently quite new and he's coming off of surgery. As cash-poor as the German fed is, you have to wonder if they'll get a 2nd JGP. They do have 2 spots left to fill for China but will the German fed send any dance teams when they don't have any men's or women's spots there also?

Blaasova/Blaas - it's not junior ice dancing without at least one Czech sibling team, is it? Mark tells us they're using music from all three decades and I believe it looking at these costumes. He's dressed like an extra from Grease and her skirt is shiny fuchsia lamé with a cropped, matching orchid pink & black sweater set. This is quite the medley Mark just listed off. She was wobbly on her twizzles. There are no further words for this RD.

Batkova/Yang - Oh my. Was there a sale on grape purple skating lycra of all types at fabric stores worldwide? I don't find her unitard to be all that flattering - the nude illusion side cutouts and the deep v-neckline (both front & back) interrupted by the silver stoned belt around her waist breaks up her bodyline. That costume designer needs to be flayed with a spatula for this outfit. Oh, I really like their energy when "Proud Mary" kicks in - shame about her fall! It really threw her concentration off for the twizzles. On the plus side, it looks like the fall may have caused some sort of minor tear on the backside of her costume and if that means this monstrosity gets replaced before their next JGP, I'll not complain - there's three weeks to make that happen.

Zakova/Mencl - The fabric sale must have also extended to various shades of hot pink & fuchsia skating lycra. Their costumes are fairly unremarkable given what's come before, so that's a positive, I guess. Of course it's disco. Couple of spots where they missed their grip/hold and I think they probably lost a level on their lift because they didn't get it started when they planned and had to improvise/save it. They're the best of the Czech teams here but that's not saying much.

Straub/Straub - Well, that confirms it. There was definitely a worldwide sale on grape purple skating lycra. I'm betting disco because all the teams in grape are going disco today. Okay, this cover of "Hit the Road, Jack" is why covers should NOT have been allowed. It's neither disco nor jive nor anything that we ever need to hear again. And they're only in 4th here because this is a REALLY weak field, even for a JGP.

Vaclavikova/Morozov - Czech sibling skating for Slovakia, they're multiplying and farming themselves out! Just kidding. Per her brother, Lukas', ISU bio, he represents SVK also in Men's singles, and their brother, Tadeas represents CZE in Men's Singles because their mom is from CZE and dad is from SVK. Looking at the results, they'd be the best CZE team here if they were representing CZE instead, lol. Well, now, Halloween came early for them! Orange is an often-forgotten part of the '70s color palette but God bless the Czechoslovakians here for bringing it back. It does, though, look like the other Halloween color of grape has been left out - guess they missed the fabric sale. Oh, wait, their costumes look red on a different camera. Hmmmm... Either way, they missed the grape purple fabric sale. Having said that, they're actually a team that we should keep an eye on - they've got some potential.

And that concludes my opinions about the RDs, mostly the costumes because that's all I'm really good for when it comes to ice dance. See everyone later for the FD!

 

[Karen-W]

FD LiveStream link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pngFx69EWuc
Detailed Time Schedule - https://results.isu.org/results/sea...JUNIOR----FNL-000100--_StartListwithTimes.pdf

Live Results - https://results.isu.org/results/season2425/jgpcze2024/SEG008.htm

StN.	Name	Nation	Rank	Points
	Warm-Up Group 1
1	Cilla LAINE / Urho REINA	FIN	19	35.52
2	Lauren Audrey BATKOVA / Jacob YANG	CZE	18	36.07
3	Jihu YOO / Zachary Jon GRANT	KOR	17	36.36
4	Villo Mira SZILAGYI / Istvan JARACS	HUN	16	36.49
	Warm-Up Group 2
5	Nelly Elisa HEMCKE / Artyom SLADKOV	GER	15	42.67
6	Natalie BLAASOVA / Filip BLAAS	CZE	14	44.28
7	Laurence BRIERE / Julien LEVESQUE	CAN	13	44.35
8	Seraina TSCHARNER / Laurin WIEDERKEHR	SUI	12	46.18
9	Eliska ZAKOVA / Filip MENCL	CZE	11	46.92
	Warm-Up Group 3
10	Aneta VACLAVIKOVA / Ivan MOROZOV	SVK	10	48.15
11	Alisa OVSIANKINA / Maximilien RAHIER	FRA	9	49.89
12	Emily RENZI / William LISSAUER	USA	8	50.50
13	Sofiia BEZNOSIKOVA / Max LELEU	BEL	7	50.61
14	Kaho YAMASHITA / Yuto NAGATA	JPN	6	51.24
	Warm-Up Group 4
15	Laura FINELLI / Massimiliano BUCCIARELLI	ITA	5	52.29
16	Anita STRAUB / Andreas STRAUB	AUT	4	53.34
17	Layla VEILLON / Alexander BRANDYS	CAN	3	55.04
18	Katarina WOLFKOSTIN / Dimitry TSAREVSKI	USA	2	55.98
19	Celina FRADJI / Jean-Hans FOURNEAUX	FRA	1	64.80

 

[Wyliefan]

Parade of warhorses in that last group! Notre Dame de Paris, La La Land, La Strada, Moulin Rouge, and (wait for it) Exogenesis, in that order.

 

[Karen-W]

Parade of warhorses in that last group! Notre Dame de Paris, La La Land, La Strada, Moulin Rouge, and (wait for it) Exogenesis, in that order.

Well, the Straubs might be my favorite of the final group on music choice alone - least used warhorse FTW!

 

[victorskid]

The stream is live for the last event of this JGP competition - medals (Dance & Women) will follow the completion of the Free Dance.

 

[Karen-W]

Finnish team is taking us to the races today!

 

[Karen-W]

Mark's doing a shout-out to SkatingScores.com, lol. And Ted sounds totally ignorant of it. Yup, that tracks, lol.

 

[Karen-W]

Finnish team - oooooo, the Cars soundtrack! I don't know that I've heard that used for a program but I'm here for it. I wish it was a stronger team using it for a concept though.

ETA - "Real Gone" by Sheryl Crow and "Life's a Highway" by Rascal Flatts totally worked but I don't understand why they chose "Nobody's Fool" by Brad Paisley instead of "Find Yourself" or "Behind Your Clouds" which are his two contributions to the first soundtrack.

 

[Marta24]

Poor Baby Finns, all elements with negative GOE.

 

[Karen-W]

Batkova/Yang - doing a ShibSibs tribute with "Fix You" except it's a cover by Cody Fry. I blame ChoBat for introducing the skating world to Cody Fry, because he's a singularly unremarkable singer, IMO.

 

[Karen-W]

Florence & the Machine for Yoo/Grant - they're in black with her skirt ombreing into a dark minty green, and they have similar colored crystals on his tunic & her dress bodice. And, because she's a Korean woman, of course she's got silver hair bling.

 

[Lizziebeth]

Korean team has mysterious bio. Anyone know anything about them?

 

[Belsornia]

Korean team has mysterious bio. Anyone know anything about them?

I think they’re from Boston, and last season she competed in the US with the guy who’s now skating with Jinny Kim.

 

[Karen-W]

Korean team has mysterious bio. Anyone know anything about them?

Not even a basic Google Search of their coach listed pops up with anything. A real mystery!

 

[Amy L]

Korean team has mysterious bio. Anyone know anything about them?

Mark mentioned that Zachary is American, that's all I got so far.

 

[Karen-W]

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They definitely seem to be Boston-based.

 

[victorskid]

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They definitely seem to be Boston-based.

Skating Club of Boston - ice dance coach: https://scboston.org/bryna-oi/

 

[Karen-W]

Skating Club of Boston - ice dance coach: https://scboston.org/bryna-oi/

Her "Achievements" states she competed at 2013 4CCs. Wiki confirms Bryna Oi competed in ice dance with Taiyo Mizutani representing Japan where they finished 12th out of 13 teams.

 

[Belsornia]

Baby Hungarians don’t have the skills in the steps yet, but they’re very young and already have good presence and a great lift. If they stick together I think we could see them at the sharper end of things in a few years.

And always nice to see Diva Nora in the KnC!

 

[Karen-W]

LOL - notice we were all more interested in sleuthing about Yoo/Grant than we were in the Hungarian team. That's what happens when you choose "Paint it Black", young ice dancers, we ignore you!

 

[Karen-W]

This next group is giving us -

Charles Aznavour - La Boheme & Hier Encore
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Nicki Minaj
Lord of the Dance
007 Theme & Writing's on the Wall

 

[Karen-W]

Ted & Mark talk a little more about the music rights and Ted mentioned that some teams/skaters are having issues with getting their music cleared.