I think what people want to see in programs is definitely a personal preference. You only need to read the play by play threads to see that. What is one person's masterpiece gets a 'that was boring

' from another.
I also think what people view as romantic is subjective too. I noticed that most of the teams the author chose as her examples were ones who have made it clear one way or another they are not romantically involved off ice and won't be in the future.
I'm somewhere in the middle. I like romantic programs (because pulling them off convincingly is a challenge). But at the same time I found the phase where say Zueva was trying to compare all her teams to Gordeeva and Grinkov to be a bit much.
But what is and isn't a 'romantic' themed program isn't cut and dried. Is it just connection?
Have any of Papadakis/Cizeron's free dances been overtly *romantic?* I can't really say that I've thought of them that way. But they do skate with strong connection.
For example, Weaver/Poje's current SOS free dance is not a romantic themed program. But maybe people wouldn't agree with that because it skated between two skaters who have done romantic themed programs in the past and is skated with connection.
The problem is the programs you get for teams who have zero connection and the choreographer tries to hide that with a *fun* program. Which is then never much fun because they don't have connection - and connection isn't the same thing as romance. My peak example of that is when any team comes out dressed as clowns.