Mariah Bell cheer thread: Rise Up

[kwanatic]

It was definitely obvious she was holding back at 4CC. She usually skates with a lot more energy and flair; she just seemed muted there.

I really do hope Mariah goes all out at worlds. With Miyahara out an additional spot has opened up in the standings which should make it one spot easier to get to that magic number. A clean Mariah could place top 7 easily, especially given her content and the way she performs. I'd love to see her have a breakout performance at this event. Now would be the perfect time. Impress the international judges and set yourself up for a good run on the GP next season.

I'm crossing my fingers for her.

 

[Wyliefan]

According to this (originally linked in the U.S. ladies thread), Raf has been making Mariah drill the first half of her SP in practice, which I think is a very wise move. Best wishes to her at Worlds!

 

[Sylvia]

Getty Images - Mariah's Team USA 2018 Olympics photo shoot on April 28, 2017 in West Hollywood, California (19 photos)

Glad to see her included!

ETA:

Snuggling with the puppy on set: https://www.instagram.com/p/BTcaZLIFcPx/?taken-by=mariahsk8rbell&hl=en

 

[DDNatalia]

Getty Images - Mariah's Team USA 2018 Olympics photo shoot

Glad to see her included!

Thanks for the link Sylvia. Will enjoy watching for other skater photos as well with the shoots going on now. Looks like all of the relevant skaters on TeamUSA were invited which is nice to see.

 

[Sylvia]

Time to revive this thread with Mariah's first Grand Prix happening in Russia this week .

If you click on the Getty Images link above, photos from her Team USA media summit photo shoot on September 25, 2017 in Park City, Utah will show up above the older photos from April.

Her ISU bio was updated recently and lists her SP music as "Stand By Me" performed by Florence + The Machine: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00054128.htm

2 USFS-produced videos:

September 2017 feature on Mariah (includes practice footage with/a few comments from Rafael Arutunian): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYaWOMzKzmE

23 (Random) Questions with Mariah Bell (October 14): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtFjkv6Wtmk

 

[Bellanca]

Good luck to Mariah @ Rostelecom Cup. Shine! Shine! Shine!

 

[Sylvia]

Mariah Bell reacts to 4 childhood photos provided by her family: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BycHbOmiY1E

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks to @Spun Silver for reminding me to bump up this thread:

What a lovely shot of Mariah from the gala. Classic.
http://www.gettyimages.com/license/865037614

Mariah was invited to perform in the Rostelecom Cup Gala after her 6th place finish and she reprised "Rise Up" by Andra Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HriGqO6XKJY
(Note: This was the second time her music graphic mistakenly read "Stand By Me" by Florence + The Machine - this also happened before her SP.)

Her opening 3Lz+3T in her West Side Story FS (choreographed by Cindy Stuart) was very well done and received + GOE from 7 of the 9 judges): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeVT9laHeu4
She landed 5 of her 7 planned triples cleanly and rotated but fell out of the other 2.

Mariah's total score (188.56) was just 3 points from her ISU personal best from Skate America last year when she won the "surprise" silver medal. She set a new ISU PB (63.85) in her Rostelecom SP (despite her 3Lz+3T< combo) due to all level 4s in her spins and footwork.

 

[Sylvia]

Reviving this thread months later...

After Mariah finished 5th at Nationals in San Jose, she was assigned to the Four Continents Championships and finished 5th overall in Taipei (185.84).
Her 122.94 4CC score, 5th in FS, was just below her 3 ISU Season Best scores at Rostelecom Cup: FS (124.71), Total (188.56), and SP (63.85) which is also her PB.
After 4CC, she is #30 on the ISU SB total scores list.

She fell once in the SP (back half of her 3Lz+3T) but only had 1 major jump mistake is her FS -- a popped loop (she also had an off-balance landing/step back on her 3F in the 2nd half). The good news is that despite the very tough 4CC technical panel, Mariah got full credit for her opening 3Lz+3T and second half 2A+3T, plus had all level 4s in her spins and footwork, in her FS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v71O9vNOANM

Mariah's ISU quick quotes after her FS:
I am still learning so much this whole year and as my goal was to be in the Olympic team, I don’t think I am quite ready in this year. So I take this as an experience doing something under pressure so that I can prepare myself for the future when I am competing in the Olympics, since there is no more pressure than that. I keep learning from my new coaching team and I’ve been really enjoying my life in California and enjoy working hard. I am proud of myself although I had a few silly mistakes. I am really proud of what I did and the arena is so cool. In Taipei, I really have a good time and it’s an honor to represent Team USA and I can travel the world and do what I love. After the competition, I’ll go home and keep training but I’m really excited to give back and get working the next season. I really want to develop my skating skills and the program.

After her SP (62.90, 4th):
Overall it is ok. Although I had no problems in practice I missed the triple-triple combination (3Lz+3T) today. But this experience helps me to skate better and although I was not chosen for the Olympic team this year, I believe I will be in 2022. So this year I just keep learning from this experience.

 

[Sylvia]

Best Wishes to Mariah (who is replacing Karen Chen) at Worlds in Milan!

Here are two recent photos taken at an Anaheim Ducks NHL hockey game where Mariah, boyfriend Romain Ponsart (Milan will be his Worlds debut), Nathan, and Michal Brezina were among the guests of honor -- the first photo linked below includes all of them plus Rafael Arutunian & Nadia Kanaeva; the other 2018 U.S. Olympians recognized on the ice are bobsledders Lauren Gibbs (in the middle) and Carlo Valdes (behind Bell), and snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis (far right).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgA3TEdHQ3B/?taken-by=mick_brezina

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgAevaugSlJ/?taken-by=romainponsart

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

Good luck to Mariah at Worlds! Nevermind the naysayers, I hope that she, Mirai, and Bradie all skate lights out!

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

Tough skate for Mariah in the SP but she can only go up from here! Redemption time in the FS Mariah!

 

[Sylvia]

Hey, Mariah moved up from 17th in the SP to 12th overall today! (Note: She skated/scored better when she placed 12th at Helsinki Worlds last year but, still, a nice comeback in Milan. ) IF the ISU Grand Prix selection rules stay the same, that means she's guaranteed 2 GP assignments next season.

ETA her quote as transcribed by the ISU after her free skate:

It's such a tricky thing because this is so new to me. It's no excuse but being called up late is a different pressure to the normal pressure at a competition. Training to go to a competition and training to maybe go to a competition require a different mindset. But I'm grateful I had this opportunity. I plan to skate for many more years and I'll learn from this. The beginning wasn't as it was planned to be so I was fighting through. I was basically making it up to try to salvage some points. I've got so much experience from being here and that's what I'll take away from it.

 

[Sylvia]

Happy 22nd Birthday today (April 18), Mariah!

Pertinent sentence from Hersh's Arutunian article published on Icenetwork today:

Bell, a two-time world team member who turns 22 on Wednesday, plans to keep training with Arutunian next season.

Posted on USFS' Facebook today - "Tune in TOMORROW [Thursday, April 19] for our Facebook Live with Mariah Bell and Max Aaron from Jump On It! Camp at 9:30 p.m. ET." https://www.facebook.com/usfiguresk...09118026341/10155569472396342/?type=3&theater

 

[aftershocks]

It should be an interesting training camp with Marin Honda and Eunsoo Lim reported to be joining Raf's team. Honda, Lim, and Bell are all such lovely, talented skaters. It would be nice if they could push and learn from each other.

Happy b'day to Mariah! I hope she enjoyed celebrating with boyfriend, Romain.

 

[Sylvia]

Romain Ponsart just finished up the 3-week French Spring Tour today (for those interested, cholla wrote a detailed review of the Courchevel show in the French news thread here: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...rançaise-part-trois.98463/page-7#post-5351058 ).

ETA: Looking at Mariah's IG story tonight, she had a fun and yummy birthday night out with friends.

 

[Sylvia]

Cross-posting from GSD... @Ican'twalkonice filmed and shared a video (thank you!) of Mariah Bell's two solos at the Skokie Skatium show in Skokie, Illinois this past weekend ("Stand By Me" & a fun, upbeat second solo with "Mariah" in the lyrics):

"Once again, videoing skaters is hard to do and it shows, but this way I'll never forget this evening. It was composed of mostly young kids, with her as the headliner. I REALLY ENJOYED the whole show, with the younglings and their families crazily cheering them on. There were a total of five shows over four days. Each show was packed with over 600 people."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6Z6YYvqTEs

Mariah is scheduled to make a return appearance in the SKATE IT FORWARD benefit show on Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 5 pm at the OhioHealth Ice Haus in Columbus, Ohio - ticket info: https://skateitforward.co/tickets/

 

[GullyGirl84]

I read on Twitter that Mariah Bell (along with Alina Zagitova and Gabrielle Daleman) has been added to the cast of The Ice this summer (Osaka, 7/28-7/29, Aichi, 8/4 and 8/5). If so, that's a pretty nice gig for her! Does anyone know if she has an agent? I would have to look at the full cast list, but it's obviously pretty star studded as usual. She would also join her US teammates Nathan and Mirai.

 

[Sylvia]

Time to revive Mariah's fan thread after her impressive season debut at Nebelhorn Trophy in the SP (70.02, 4th place): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we4i13gSzVs
Adam Rippon choreographed; her jumps were 2A, 3Lz+3T & 3F with a level 4 step sequence & 2 level 4 spins.

Congrats to Mariah for a great skate today! I expected nothing from her but she totally surprised me. She is so lovely to watch when she's on. I love her music choice and that dress is gorg. 70+

Watching Mariah now, can we also talk about Mariah's dress and how bad I want it?

A very nice, confident program by Mariah Bell. I really like this program and music for her! And no mistakes on the 3/3. Rah, rah! Keep going Mariah!

Don't know if it is the Sasha Cohen / Jenny Kirk vibes circa 2000-1, but I absolutely adore the way Mariah Bell skated the short program. So confident and paying attention to every single note of that music - and great pacing. I love that she is varying her speed and movement according to the tempo of the music, something rarely seen these days.

Mariah Bell's Team USA profile: http://www.usfigureskatingfanzone.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=74
Post-Champs Camp 8/23/18 article (first half): https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/...ew-quad-courtney-hicks-leaps-to-altitude.aspx
Excerpts:

The 22-year-old skater has reason for optimism. She took part in Mao Asada's "The Ice" shows in Japan this summer, performing her 2018/2019 season's competitive short program, choreographed by Adam Rippon to Celine Dion's "[To] Love You More." And having trained under Rafael Arutunian in Lakewood, California since April 2016, she thinks her triple jump combinations will be more consistent than ever this season.
"I definitely feel more trained this year, than I did last year at this time," Bell said. "The thing with Raf is, he has a very particular technique, and you spend a year learning how to speak his language. So first you have to understand it and only then can you start to apply it. Now I'm in the stage where I can really apply it, and it's exciting to see the changes happen. Every day I get more confident."

"Shae[-Lynn Bourne] is incredible, and it was such an honor she said she would do my program," Bell said. "Watching her skate is amazing. She would say, 'You try it.' And I said, 'Wow, I don't know what you did, I was just watching how pretty it was.'"
The Canadian choreographer, who won the 2003 World ice dance title with partner Victor Kraatz, stretched Bell artistically and technically.
"I fell like this is the most contemporary program I've ever done, more contemporary than even East of Eden, which was kind of its own thing," Bell said. "Some of the movement is more abstract for me, and that's exciting because I feel like I'm opening up another side of my skating."

 

[Wyliefan]

She looked very confident and happy today. I hope this is the start of a great season for her!

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I was elated to see Bell, Mihara, Hendrickx and Zagitova skate clean. They are all such different and yet, equally interesting skaters.

So far this season with the revised IJS, it looks like 70 points or more in the short program is becoming the new benchmark for top ten ladies.

 

[Sylvia]

Re-posting @Spun Silver's post (originally in the Adam Rippon Good News thread) here to give Mariah her credit :

Just wanted to mention that Adam did a great job choreographing Mariah Bell's SP to "To Love You More." Maybe it's just coincidence but at Skate Canada she was selling it like crazy in a way I can easily imagine him showing her how to do. The song is borderline camp IMO (sort of like a lot of country music)but Mariah and Adam made it look like a million dollars.

Very strong 4th place finish by Mariah at Skate Canada! She is skating with confidence and bigger amplitude this season, IMO, and I hope she can continue to build as the season progresses.

The ISU has archived all personal best scores prior to this season and Mariah's FS & total scores in Laval (126.90 / 190.25) were very close to her now "historic" PBs at 2016 Skate America where she won the silver medal (130.67 / 191.59).

 

[Sylvia]

Mariah Bell focused on the big picture ahead of NHK Trophy: https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2018...cused-on-the-big-picture-ahead-of-nhk-trophy/

 

[Sylvia]

"Mariah Carey"! (as called by the British Eurosport commentator at the end of her 6-triple FS ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L25aCcBR2hI

135.99 FS (4th) & 198.96 total are her best ISU scores ever (5th overall in a very deep & talented field at NHK) and she was thrilled!

 

[3Lz+3Lo]

I just love both of mariahs programs this year

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

"Mariah Carey"! (as called by the British Eurosport commentator at the end of her 6-triple FS ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L25aCcBR2hI

They call her Mariah Carey here...

https://youtu.be/zAgjON2OKEk?t=279

tee-hee

 

[firstflight]

Mariah is using an instrumental version of her boyfriend's SP music in her FS, right?

 

[Sylvia]

The first part of Mariah's FS is "The Piano" (no composer or artist listed in her ISU bio - anyone know who/what it is?) and the second half is "Experience" by Ludovico Einaudi.

ETA: It's "Divenire" by Einaudi (as identified in the YT video I posted.)

 

[firstflight]

The first part of Mariah's FS is "The Piano" (no composer or artist listed in her ISU bio - anyone know who/what it is?) and the second half is "Experience" by Ludovico Einaudi.

ETA: It's "Divenire" by Einaudi (as identified in the YT video I posted.)

Yeah I saw that on her ISU page but there’s a minute towards the end of her program that sure sounds like the background to “In This Shirt” by Irrepressibles.

 

[Vagabond]

Mariah Bell is to Mariah Carey as Michelle Kwan is to Nancy Kwan.