News and updates à la Française, part trois

[cholla]

I'll be at Courchevel JGP yes

 

[Orm Irian]

Anna Kuzmenko has been taken off the list for Courchevel and is listed as 'forfait' on the FFSG site; I hope she isn't injured or sick.

 

[Sylvia]

I'll be at Courchevel JGP yes

Hope you enjoy and report back afterwards!

Adam Siao Him Fa is training in Vaujany this week (he posted this 3A clip today): https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Yewp4BVc5/

ETA:

Florent Amodio's camp is being held in Vaujany now (Elena Radionova is a guest coach): https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ZS1dsIt07/
Adam SHF & Phillip Warren (hair in ponytail) is in this off ice dance clip (is that Luc Economides in the center?): https://www.instagram.com/p/B1W1_LCInn9/

 

[Seerek]

Thanks for the heads up! JGP Courchevel event info link: https://ffsg.org/evenement/grand-prix-junior-de-patinage-artistique-danse-sur-glace-2019-courchevel/
Sophie SPRUNG

Sophie Sprung has both her programs choreographed by Benoît Richaud (yes, there were besti squats).

Her sister Hannah is in Novice.

 

[Jeschke]

Nice Metropole Trophy (Oct 9-13) got cancelled
I was really looking forward to the revival of 'Coupe de Nice' under a new name.

Someone has updates on that?

 

[cholla]

Someone has updates on that?

Lack of funds again I heard...

 

[alexikeguchi]

Sophie Sprung has both her programs choreographed by Benoît Richaud (yes, there were besti squats).

Her sister Hannah is in Novice.

Sophie is super mignonne, and something about her skating reminds me of Sasha Cohen. It's wonderful that she got this opportunity, and I hope she has a great future.

 

[Sylvia]

There were lots of new fans of Sophie Sprung's in the JGP Courchevel play by play threads this past week!

She was 23rd after the SP and pulled up to 15th overall with this 11th place FS (scored 96.52 with 5 triples through flip & all level 4 spins): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntpeBd5pzwg
Music is Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence OST by Ryuichi Sakamoto, choreo. by Benoit Richaud.
She will be 14 in December and her ISU bio says she was born in New York City: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00107929.htm

 

[cgirl8]

James/Cipres have withdrawn from both of their Grand Prix Events
https://twitter.com/sywtwfs/status/1172523222220365825

 

[Orm Irian]

James/Cipres have withdrawn from both of their Grand Prix Events
https://twitter.com/sywtwfs/status/1172523222220365825

Not unexpected, given Battle of the Blades and their stated focus on Euros and Worlds this season, but I'll miss them.

 

[Jammers]

Not unexpected, given Battle of the Blades and their stated focus on Euros and Worlds this season, but I'll miss them.

Seriously they aren't going to compete on the GP this season because of some cheesy skating competition? There will be plenty of time to skate in shows like those when they retire but if they really hope to beat S/H let alone T/M or even some of the other teams moving up they need to compete. They say they aren't retiring but then do something like this? Either compete or retire.

 

[clairecloutier]

And now the French federation has announced that James/Cipres will compete ONLY at French Nationals and Europeans this season. Apparently they will not compete at Worlds!?

https://twitter.com/europeonice/status/1172589851176308736

The press release does say that they plan to continue through the 2021/22 Olympic season.

 

[Spiralgraph]

If they really do plan to continue on to the next Olympics I think missing out on Worlds 2020 is a bad idea. J/C need to prove they're not afraid of competing against the best. This piecemeal strategy usually does not work out well for most teams.

 

[Sylvia]

Seriously they aren't going to compete on the GP this season because of some cheesy skating competition?

Maybe she is happy to make some money and enjoy the BOTB experience this fall.

@Barbara Manatee has recapped Vanessa's explanation in her Instagram stories here: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...wo-skating-as-one”.105581/page-6#post-5636084

 

[Jammers]

And now the French federation has announced that James/Cipres will compete ONLY at French Nationals and Europeans this season. Apparently they will not compete at Worlds!?

https://twitter.com/europeonice/status/1172589851176308736

The press release does say that they plan to continue through the 2021/22 Olympic season.

I thought they weren't going for another Olympics?

 

[Sylvia]

This article was published on Sept. 2, 2019:

James and Ciprès Find New Motivation

By Hiro Yoshida A nightmare end to a dream season means Vanessa James and Morgan Ciprès have unfinished business when it comes to skating.

europeonice.com

James and Ciprès are going to keep pushing boundaries and continue competing for as long as they can. Whether that will take them up to Beijing 2022 remains to be seen.
“We like to create new transitions and new lifts,” Ciprès said. “Sometimes we have a lot of new stuff, but we don’t use it for the programme because there is no place to put it or it doesn’t go with the music. We really enjoy it and she is really creative on a lot of things.
“We wanted to stop before Worlds last year. Now we have to skate one more year obviously because we have to get this title. It’s getting closer and closer to the Olympics.”
“We’re in it for another year and then we’ll see,” James said. “Even though Worlds was upsetting, it brought in a new motivation. Everything happens for a reason.”

 

[Orm Irian]

I thought they weren't going for another Olympics?

Clearly they changed their minds! Morgan was trying out backflips in harness in his Instagram stories yesterday, so it's not like either of them is slowing down, it looks like they just want a breather and time to develop new things with less pressure. It's not unheard of for skaters to take a break for one reason or another, and they've both had injuries in the past, which takes a toll - plus they're at the upper end of the age range even for pairs skaters. Having a rest-and-develop season while keeping their hand in just enough could be good for them.

Vanessa mentioned on Instagram that Worlds being in Montpellier after the next Olympics was a factor for them too. They want their final skates to be before the home audience that's cheered them and supported them for years, even in the rough period when it seemed like they'd never break through that final barrier, and I can understand that very well.

 

[Seerek]

Perhaps the end goal now for Vanessa/Morgan is a Team Event Olympic medal?

 

[nimi]

Kevin was fabulous yesterday in ACI SP!

Одноклассники

ok.ru

(ETA: The YT vid I initially embedded above got muted, so I replaced with a Russian tube vid. Here's the link to the full archived competition stream, scroll to 54 min mark for Kevin.)

New PB 94.38 (TES 50.11, PCS 44.65) and oh yeah HE GOT THE PCS HE DESERVES!!!

He's currently in 2nd (Yuzu leads, obv)

ETA2: If you don't like his new hair style, don't worry, he's going to get it sorted out ASAP! (source)

"It was the worst thing I did in the world. I tried to dye it grey. It was beautiful for three weeks, a beautiful grey, silver. And after, the colour disappeared and my hair's still blond because I bleached the hair. I can't wait until the end of the competition to cut my hair!"

MBM had an okay season debut and placed 7th so she got some WS points. I really like both her programs! Her latin SP is more enjoyable and less bland than the supposedly "latin" skating programs usually are, and the FS (choreo by Adam Rippon) is reminiscent of last season's lyrical Rihanna SP. Didn't find the free on YT yet (also it's Adele so it'll probably get muted on YT like Kevin's Prince program) but the archived competition stream is up on Dailymotion, she starts around 1h 16min.

 

[Sylvia]

Masters de Patinage 2019 – Villard de Lans
26 septembre 2019 - 30 septembre 2019
Event info: https://ffsg.org/evenement/39708/

SENIOR DANCE (7 couples/2 Groupes)
PAPADAKIS Gabriella / CIZERON Guillaume
LAURIAULT Marie-Jade / LE GAC Romain
GALYAVIEVA Adelina / THAURON Louis
WAGRET Julia / SOUQUET Pierre (received the TBD GP host spot in Grenoble)
LOPAREVA Evgenia / BRISSAUD Geoffrey
SECLET MANCHOT Lila-Maya / MANCEAUX Renan
LAGOUGE Natacha / CAFFA Arnaud (new)

SENIOR MEN (10 messieurs/2 Groupes; Adam SIAO HIM FA is scheduled for JGP Zagreb that weekend)
AYMOZ Kévin
ECONOMIDES Luc
HERREBOUDT Antonin
LE MAY Landry
PONSART Romain
ROLS Joshua
TESSON Adrien (received the TBD GP host spot in Grenoble)
VAUCLIN Xavier
WARREN Philip
Invité: LEWTON-BRAIN Davide (MON)

SENIOR LADIES (6 dames/1 Groupe)
CROZET Alizée
FROESTSCHER Julie
LECAVELIER Laurine
MEITE Maé-Bérénice
SERNA Léa (received the TBD GP host spot in Grenoble)
Invitée: SPOURS Kristen (GBR)

SENIOR PAIRS (2)
MENDOZA Camille / KOVALEV Pavel
KERRIVEN Coline / PIERRE Noël-Antoine
[Not competing: Cleo HAMON / Denys STREKALIN, who competed at JGP Lake Placid and are ISU senior age-eligible.]

JUNIOR DANCE (9 couples/2 Groupes; Emily BRATTI / Mathieu COUYRAS will be at JGP Zagreb)
DEMOUGEOT Loicia / LEMERCIER Théo
DUPAYAGE Marie / NABAIS Thomas
TERREAUX Lou / PERRON Noé
FRADJI Célina / FOURNEAUX Jean-Hans
BERNARD Eva / JOCHUM Tom
MAZINGUE Solène / DOS REIS Maxime
RUIVACO Chanelle / KHOKLHOV Alexandre – FORFAIT
TERREAUX Ninon / BAUMGARTNER Alric
Invités: LAMBIN Iris / ENEV Lucien (BEL)

JUNIOR LADIES (12 dames/2 Groupes)
CAGNON Adriana
DUFOUR Naomie
GHOZALI Lola
KUZMENKO Anna – FORFAIT
MAYINDU Clémence
MAZZARA Maïa
PIEGAD Océane
PITOT Héloïse – FORFAIT
POPOV Marina
SCHILD Lorine
SPRUNG Sophie
TORTAROLO Michaëla

JUNIOR MEN (12 messieurs/2 Groupes)
AHMED Axel
BELLE Théo
BOUVART Tom
CHAN KWOC KEUNG Alex
FRECHON Yann
GOMEZ Mathieu – FORFAIT
HAMMI Sami
MIMAULT Vincent
PITOT François
ROLS Xan
SPINAR Corentin
VAUCLIN Ian

JUNIOR PAIR (1)
MOLCHANOVA Liudmila / BELMONTE Rémi

 

[nimi]

Haven't watched this new GS interview with Silvia Fontana yet, but according to the description she talks to Ted Flett about J/C's decision to "withdraw from the GP events, 2019 Worlds, last season’s short program, and their rivals’ attributes, and more on her other students", so there might be some tidbits about Kévin and/or MBM as well?

Coach Silvia Fontana on Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres

Pairs coach Silvia Fontana talks the decision regarding France's 🇫🇷 Vanessa James & Morgan Cipres withdraw from the GP events, 2019 Worlds, last season's sho...

youtu.be

 

[Enchanted]

P/C, J/C and Aymoz obviously have the tech minimums for Euros and Worlds but what’s the situation with the others? Which French skaters have the minimums?

And which junior skaters have the minimums for JWC?

 

[watchthis!!]

Seriously they aren't going to compete on the GP this season because of some cheesy skating competition?

Exactly. She's slacking off trying to win $100,000 for the Alzheimer Society in honour of her deceased grandmother (who had Alzheimers). Where are her priorities??

 

[Gris]

P/C, J/C and Aymoz obviously have the tech minimums for Euros and Worlds but what’s the situation with the others? Which French skaters have the minimums?

And which junior skaters have the minimums for JWC?

Nirti on GoldenSkate has been updating the list of skaters with TES minimums.

Race to the 2019-20 ISU championships minimum TES

The ISU season begins in one week… It means the race to the qualification to ISU championships will start too ! As a reminder, each skater/pair has to earn minimum technical scores (TES) in order to be eligible to compete at ISU championships. These TES are the following and can be reached in...

goldenskate.com

 

[Sylvia]

And which junior skaters have the minimums for JWC?

The current ISU Championships minimum scores are listed in this thread, along with the links to the skaters' TES scores by discipline and level on the ISU website: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...isu-figure-skating-championships-2020.105713/

ETA the French skaters who already have both minimum scores for 2020 Junior Worlds are listed below (JGP Gdansk scores have yet to be added to the ISU website):

Men 23 / 42
Adam SIAO HIM FA FRA ISU World Junior Championships 2019 06.03.2019 42.87 J ISU Junior Grand Prix Final 2018/19 07.12.2018 76.82 J
Tom BOUVART FRA Minsk Arena Ice Star 2018 18.10.2018 25.40 J Coupe de Printemps 2019 16.03.2019 51.89 J
Francois PITOT FRA ISU JGP Grand Prix de Courchevel 2019 22.08.2019 29.07 J ISU JGP Grand Prix de Courchevel 2019 24.08.2019 45.49 J
Theo BELLE FRA Coupe de Printemps 2019 15.03.2019 23.30 J Coupe de Printemps 2019 16.03.2019 45.93 J (his date of birth is not listed in his ISU bio)
Xan ROLS FRA Mentor Torun Cup 2019 10.01.2019 26.35 J Warsaw Cup 2018 22.11.2018 45.21 J (his date of birth is not listed in his ISU bio)

Ladies 23 / 38
Alizee CROZET FRA Minsk Arena Ice Star 2018 18.10.2018 29.59 J Minsk Arena Ice Star 2018 18.10.2018 42.47 J
Julie FROETSCHER FRA Mentor Torun Cup 2019 09.01.2019 25.96 J Mentor Torun Cup 2019 10.01.2019 44.47 J
Anna KUZMENKO FRA ISU World Junior Championships 2019 08.03.2019 35.76 J ISU JGP Armenian Cup 2018 12.10.2018 56.43 J
Maia MAZZARA FRA ISU JGP Bratislava 2018 23.08.2018 31.33 J ISU JGP Bratislava 2018 25.08.2018 48.15 J (*these scores were from when she represented SUI last year)
Oceane PIEGAD FRA ISU JGP Riga Cup 2019 05.09.2019 23.75 J ISU JGP Riga Cup 2019 06.09.2019 38.99 J
Lorine SCHILD FRA ISU JGP Grand Prix de Courchevel 2019 22.08.2019 26.22 J Dragon Trophy 2019 09.02.2019 53.57 J
Sophie SPRUNG FRA ISU JGP Grand Prix de Courchevel 2019 22.08.2019 23.57 J ISU JGP Grand Prix de Courchevel 2019 23.08.2019 53.71 J
Lea SERNA FRA Dragon Trophy 2019 08.02.2019 26.58 J Dragon Trophy 2019 09.02.2019 45.42 J

Pairs 23 / 34
Cleo HAMON / Denys STREKALIN FRA ISU JGP Czech Skate 2018 27.09.2018 27.95 J ISU JGP Czech Skate 2018 28.09.2018 48.32 J

Dance 23 / 37
Loicia DEMOUGEOT / Theo LE MERCIER FRA ISU JGP Baltic Cup 2019 20.09.2019 36.28 J ISU JGP Baltic Cup 2019 21.09.2019 51.33 J
Emily BRATTI / Mathieu COUYRAS FRA Lake Placid Ice Dance International 2019 01.08.2019 25.68 J Lake Placid Ice Dance International 2019 02.08.2019 41.97 J
Marie DUPAYAGE / Thomas NABAIS FRA ISU JGP Riga Cup 2019 06.09.2019 29.21 J Mentor Torun Cup 2019 12.01.2019 44.31 J
Celina FRADJI / Jean-Hans FOURNEAUX FRA ISU JGP Grand Prix de Courchevel 2019 23.08.2019 27.63 J ISU JGP Grand Prix de Courchevel 2019 24.08.2019 42.53 J
Lou TERREAU / Noe PERRON FRA ISU JGP Grand Prix de Courchevel 2019 23.08.2019 30.72 J ISU JGP Grand Prix de Courchevel 2019 24.08.2019 47.02 J
Solene MAZINGUE / Maxime Reis DOS FRA Mentor Torun Cup 2019 11.01.2019 23.90 J Pavel Roman Memorial 2018 09.11.2018 40.86 J (dates of birth are not listed in their ISU bio)

 

[Sylvia]

Link to the Masters de Patinage competition thread in Kiss & Cry: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...ge-in-villard-de-lans-26-28-septembre.106062/

Emily Bratti & Mathieu Couyras are competing in their 2nd JGP together this week in Zagreb (also the season debut of Adam Siao Him Fa). They did a "GETTING TO KNOW" Q&A feature with IDC a while back (Aug. 28, 2019): https://www.ice-dance.com/site/getting-to-know-emily-bratti-mathieu-couyras/

 

[kirkbiggestfan]

The free program for Papadakis-Cizeron was announced:

Find Me by Forrest Blakk rearranged by icelandic musician Olafur Arnalds
It is a poetic slam.

Patinage: fidèles à leur ADN, Papadakis et Cizeron osent "slam poétique" et gestuelle contemporaine

Paris - "Slam poétique" et gestuelle contemporaine : fidèles à leur ADN, Gabriella Papadakis et Guillaume Cizeron ne dérogent pas cette saison encore à leur ambition artistique de faire explorer à la danse sur glace de nouveaux horizons.

www.lexpress.fr

 

[MsZem]

That is so Blanc/Bouquet of them. I'm truly appreciative.

 

[Nmsis]

That is so Blanc/Bouquet of them.

It is. And I'm very glad about it. Can't wait to see what it looks like.

But their team would be inspired to drop the "hyper novateur" (super innovative) line. Blanc / Bouquet did that when Papadakis / Cizeron were a novice couple. And years ago, they had french junior competitors inspired by Blanc/Bouquet who did a slam FD too.

Glowing about how using slam is "innovative" in Villard, the hometown of Blanc/Bouquet and Karine Arribert, is in particularly bad taste and given how Haguenauer used to criticize Blanc/Bouquet for beating his own teams, quite ironic. If there is a place for this selling point to fall flat, it is in Villard.

 

[watchthis!!]

Forest Blakk - Find Me [Spoken Word]

My thoughts on love extend deeper and deeper with each passing minute. I often wonder what it all means or where it all goes when we close our eyes for the l...

www.youtube.com

It sounds like music they've skated to about 87 times already. I bet they could take choreography from any previous free dance and put it over top of this music and it would fit.