Cup of China: Short Dance LIVE BLOG

1) Xioyang Yu & Chen Wang (CHN)
   Music: Oh Susanna & Twilight Waltz

• Oh boy, a Chinese team doing a cowboy theme?
• I've always loved her facial expression
• This his very zippy
• He was a little crooked on the twizzle, they could've held them out longer
• They are losing energy in the Tennessee Waltz segment
• Oh boy, Cotton Eye was a surprise
• 20.58 (TES) + 22.39 (PCS) = 42.97

2) Madison Chock & Evan Bates (USA)
 Music: Quidam

• Her costume is absolutely to die for
• They need to kill this!
• She is perfectly in character, I love it
• Their posture and flow over the ice is gorgeous
• This Cirque piece suits them, she can use all of her flexibility to her advantage
• Nice unison on the twizzles, though the arm positions weren't always matching perfectly
• From what I know thus far of the Yankee polka, they seem to be doing well, the rhythm is there
• I particularly like the teams that have bought into the whimsy of the Yankee Polka
• She is divine
• 30.90 (TES) + 28.36 (PCS) = 59.29

3) Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri (ITA)
 Music: Buonglorno a Te & Tritsch Tratsch 

• We are seing such beautiful, light programs in the short, it's a breath of fresh air
• He is very smooth with great upper body carriage, but she seems to flail a lot
• That rotational lift looked a little reckless
• That all looked so frantic to me
• 29.17 (TES) + 26.40 (PCS) = 55.57

4) Victoria Sinitsina & Ruslan Zhiganshin (RUS)
 Music: Tennessee Waltz & Country Polka

• Another Tennessee Waltz? 
• This team is divine, let's see how they translate as seniors
• Very smooth so far
• He looks like a senior man, but she looks like a junior lady; could be the costuming
• I like the mirroring patterns, but they weren't executed quite perfectly
• The choreography in these "country" pieces is offensive to people from the south
• 28.25 (TES) + 26.84 (PCS) = 55.09

5) Xintong Huang & Xun Zheng (CHN)
  Music: Waltz & Polka

• This is the most understated costuming I've ever seen on them
• They usually score quite well in the short dance so we'll see
• They are never afraid to go to a "costumey place" you'll never see him in all black
• Nice speed off the bat, but synch issues in the twizzles
• I love how expressive they are with their upper bodies
• I don't like the disconnect between the waltz an the polka, it just looks sloppy to me
• His arms are getting so sloppy in this second section of the piece 
• 21.99 (TES) + 24.77 (PCS) = 46.76

6) Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Soloviev (RUS)
  Music: Put in a Good Word for the Poor Hussar & The Crew

• This is the best I've ever seen her costumed
• Very fast opening, great use of the musical nuances and intricacies
• Very quick work of the polka, clean crisp steps
• This music is so charming
• You can tell this is their second event, the look so well trained and rehearsed
• That lift seemed terribly out of place for this program
• Very nice program, I think that is my favorite short dance that I've seen
• 31.50 (TES) + 32.82 (PCS) = 64.32

7) Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew (CAN)
  Music: The Sound of Music

• Gorgeous musical selection from such a classic-looking team
• I'm missing some of the expression that I've come to love from them
• Okay, they are coming more into the performance here in the 2nd part
• Twizzle synchronization issues, Andrew was a little slower
• That was a wonderful straight line-no touching sequence 
• That was delightful and so enjoyable to watch
• 32.83 (TES) + 32.76 (PCS) = 65.59

8) Nathalie Pechalat & Fabian Bourzat (FRA)
  Music: Gaite Parisienne & Sous le ciel de Paris 

• I just love the costuming
• Very playful, their showmanship is always fantastic
• Very good speed at the beginning, a little frantic in the twizzles
• I have difficulty tracking the skaters when then do the mirroring sequences
• I love the idea of that straight line lift, but it loked very labored
• I love the quickness of the last section, but it is a very abrupt transition from the middle piece of music
• I like this program but it's not at it's best, I can see it being stellar by the end of the season
• 34.00 (TES) + 35.15 (PCS) = 69.15