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Recap: 2026 World Championships Part 1 (Ice Dance) · The Rocker Skating Podcast

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This episode of the Rocker Skating Podcast is brought to
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you by John Wilson Blades. For more than 329 years, John
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Wilson has been perfecting the art of blade making in
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That's why they created The Revolution, the world's most
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revolution. Welcome to the Rocker skating
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podcast sponsored by John Wilson Blades.
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This is a couple of things. One, it's our final, final recap
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of the season. And two, if you are on video,
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the one and only Michelle Ellis is also on video.
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She exists. This is not just some AI person.
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Hi. Hi, Michelle, How are you?
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We missed you. We missed you in Prague.
1:18
Oh, I missed. I missed seeing all of you guys.
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I don't know if I missed watching hours and hours and
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hours of skating, but you know, I missed the party.
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I had a fun time, I really did. It was I, I think, I think part
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of it is really the competition itself was very much a
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celebration for a lot of people. And you saw that in the
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atmosphere, you saw that in the way people were skating.
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It was a lot. It was, it was really, it was
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really a a good time. I mean, I was marvelling at the
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fact that for a fourth World Championships in a row we were
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having gigantic crowds. Wow.
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This was this was sold out. Wow, that's awesome.
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Yeah, Yeah. The whole thing was sold out.
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I think that I think there was some stat that it was like
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125,000 tickets were sold over the OR at least 100 a 125,000
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seats were filled or something like that.
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I got it. It was on the ISU WhatsApp
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mailing list. They sent something about this.
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Yeah, 111,922 spectators across all sessions.
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It's pretty good. Pretty amazing.
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Pretty amazing. I mean, it was, you know, Boston
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is always going to be the standard in terms of like crowd
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noise and like enthusiasm. But this crowd was great.
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It was, it was supportive. It was an interesting mix.
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It was certainly a bunch of figure skating fans, but also a
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lot of people who were, you know, locals, Czech locals, you
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know, Europe locals, right? And it was a, it was a different
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crowd than it was in Milan. And, and the, the, the way that
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the crowd was reacting to different things was also very
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interesting. I mean, there, there was a point
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when I was like, this crowd does not clap for twizzles.
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Like you know how you know, and usual, usual competitions is
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like people do the twizzles and it all of a sudden is like, Oh
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my God, they did it like it, like it, it was like it didn't
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faze them. They were also very intense on
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clapping along with the music. Doesn't matter what music it
3:49
was. Yeah, anything with like a, a, a
3:52
general beat, they will try to do it.
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But the problem was they kept, they kept getting faster and
3:59
faster every single time. And so it so like they, they got
4:02
off sync within about 4-5 seconds.
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It was very endearing, yeah. Especially with like music cuts,
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you know, like the part you can clap to.
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Yeah, changes pretty quickly usually.
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They were trying. They were really trying and they
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were the the IT was Ashley Wagner and Tom Mushverner who
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were the in arena hosts for the whole thing.
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And every single time they really emphasized standing
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ovations. I'm not sure what it was like
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that that it was a thing that like at the beginning of every
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session they were like, if you see something great, don't yeah,
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don't be shy to stand up. Like they were really, really
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intense on it. And and so that that there were
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a lot of standing ovations. I think because of that, you
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know, I think I do think that now that the ISU has done the in
5:06
arena hosting and the like entertainment value piece of
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this for so many season or not so many, but so many
5:18
competitions. I guess now it's starting to
5:22
feel like it's resonating. And and you know, Ashley
5:27
obviously has done this a number of times and and there there was
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a lot, there was a lot of it was it was, it was really good.
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I I thought it was really well done.
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So cool. Yeah, I'm still kind of.
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Sad that I don't get to hear their interviews on the world
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feed. I I wish that they would include
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those. Maybe like do a split screen or
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something. I don't.
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Know I know I know I do wonder if they're going to try to do it
5:52
in the future but I mean, you know from NBC, they they do the
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interviews while the the. Replays.
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Replays are happening and and they they they do it as quickly
6:07
as possible so that when the replays are stopped, they can go
6:10
back and it's ready, like it's kind of ready to go.
6:12
But I agree like it was it. It is interesting to see a lot
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of the the different skater reactions, personalities and
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such. And now, now they're expecting
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it. Now they know.
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Like the first couple of times it was like.
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What am? I going to what am I going to
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say? And like they're already.
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Yeah, like they want to do it, Yeah.
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Even even if they didn't know what to say, they will always
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default to thank you to the crowd.
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And it it helps reinforce the cycle of like the crowd
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appreciate the skaters and the skaters appreciate the the
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crowd. Like it was really fun.
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I I maybe it's a little Stockholm syndrome of me, like
6:52
kind of like the 90s music for the rhythm dance, but I after
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all this, I kind of like it. Yeah.
6:58
I kind of like it. You know, it's, it's become a
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routine now. Mm.
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Hmm. Yeah, Ashley's enthusiasm was
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always contagious, so. Yeah, yeah, Ashley's.
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Ashley's gotten better and better at doing this and I and
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and it it it's really, it's really great that she's the the
7:18
person that they they bring in. Mm Hmm.
7:21
Yeah, there was. There was one hilarious instance
7:23
of Nikki Voorhies from. The oh I read about this.
7:29
Yeah, yeah. For some reason in the bio that
7:33
they had, it said that this was her debut at Worlds.
7:36
When she went to World in 2016. I think it's because that was so
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long ago. The ISU bio doesn't have it on
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the chart because it starts after that.
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I think it's, I think it's like what I saw Ashley said that she
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did. Is she just looking at the ISU
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bio and like it's completely blank for World.
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So yeah. Yeah, that one she.
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Assumed it was her debut. Yeah.
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And so she was like, fair. Assumptions.
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Very, very fair. But Ashley was like, how, what
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was it like to be on the, you know, at the your debut world?
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And Nikki was like, well, I was at the world when you won the
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silver medal. So we were competitors.
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And Ashley was like, Oh no. That stuff is fun, though.
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That's fun. It is.
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Yeah, it was. Fun.
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I I I thought, yeah, I thought a lot of those were really were
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really good. The the the Czech ones
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especially were like out of control.
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So it was, it was great. All right, before we get into
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the World Championships, we have some awards or what award I
8:44
guess because on the heels of the ISU awards, which we will
8:49
talk about, that happened yesterday.
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As you all know, or maybe not know but many people know, the
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Rocker Skating March Gladness costume of the season happened
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over the past two weeks. Thank you to all of you who
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voted, who put in nominations. I thought it was a really
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phenomenal set of 64 costumes that you all got into the
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brackets. I had people emailing me asking
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me if next time we do this they can actually do their own
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predictions for the brackets, which is what you do in March
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Madness in the US when you do college basketball.
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So stay tuned for that. More fun and more, more games to
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come with with with Rocker skating.
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So it came down to the semi finals was Cowrie versus Alyssa
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and Cowrie versus Amber and Cowrie.
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Both times got eliminated on a 53% to 47% vote.
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Wow. Yeah, your voters were
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consistent. Apparently.
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Apparently very consistent and I, I actually, I actually
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checked, I, I, I did it such that I don't see the, the, the
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people and what they voted for, but I can see the combinations
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of people of, of, of the votes. And it wasn't like a straight
10:30
down. I'm just, I'm not, I'm not
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voting for calorie or I am voting for calorie.
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There was a lot of like differences, which is very
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interesting. So so that it ended up being a
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Lisa McKinnon costume battle between Alyssa Lou's free skate
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dress from the Olympics and Amber Glenn's short program
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dress, which she's had all season and.
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With the best illusion fabric ever done.
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Yeah, I mean, it was very well done.
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It ended up the the tally at the end of the two weeks of voting
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was 150,000 plus votes that yeah, that went across the, you
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know, 10 days of voting, which was very cool.
11:21
Very. Cool seats were filled at
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Worlds. Wow, there are a lot of repeat
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customers on that one, but costume of the season for March
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Gladness 202526 with a let me just get let me get this right
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with a final total of 66% of the vote Amber Glenn's.
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Whoa, let's. Go like like a prayer short
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program costume that was the winner.
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Awesome. I mean, that costume was
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unbelievable. I, I it, it absolutely was one
12:05
of the best costumes of the season and, and the fans
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obviously liked it and it was it was great.
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It was also one of the three final three of the ISU Awards
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Costume of the of the year, and it ended up being Ilya's free
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skate costume that got the costume of the year there so.
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No offense, but that's crazy. I mean no contest.
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That's Amber's all the way. I.
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I still I still like actually I I like both of Elias costume.
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I really liked the original 1. I really like the original 1.
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They're not necklaces, like, and perfectly matched illusion
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fabric and just this incredible, like, mesh and just fishnet
12:54
material. I mean, yeah.
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I mean, I I, yeah. Go Amber.
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What does Amber win? Amber wins the recognition of
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being the first one. She's the People's Choice.
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The People's Choice Awards. Oh my God, is this the People's
13:10
Choice Awards? It might be, it might be,
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although I I still honorary mention to Christina Carrera and
13:18
her perfume free dance dress, which I think was stunning and
13:22
had a little narrative of its own at Worlds this year, which I
13:25
guess we'll get into. But yeah, she had a beautiful, a
13:29
beautiful response to shedding a pedal during her program that it
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was the price of beauty to get a costume deduction.
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So. OK, Speaking of People's Choice
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Awards, now that world is over. Go to
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live.ruckersgame.com/games/pots and what POTS stands for is
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performance of the season. So we're going to have another
13:55
bracket style fan voted contest I guess of what the performance
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of the season was for 20/25/26. I already have over 2500
14:10
nominations. I know, I literally just put it
14:14
up like I don't know what like 10 hours ago.
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No, that's not true. 20 hours ago.
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I don't know. I.
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Haven't even put mine in yet. Yeah.
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Yeah, I'm sure someone got it. That's that's fine.
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I'm sure it's in there. Well, you it, it is important
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that that people do vote because if, if or not vote nominate
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because it is based on the number of nominations that go in
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there. Can I do more than one?
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You can do more than one, which is why there are so many I.
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Think you don't? Mine are.
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So, so we will start the voting later this week.
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I need to obviously tabulate all of the nominations, but it's
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it's fun. I-11 thing to note, it is
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performance. Note that the word performance
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of the season, not program of the season, because what I want
15:11
you all to do and think about is how it was stated, where it was
15:18
skated, the significance of it, you know, the story behind it,
15:24
everything, right? Like the things that really made
15:28
us jump out of our seats and you know, really celebrate the
15:34
skaters and their performances. So it could be junior, it could
15:37
be senior, it could be domestic, international, be any
15:42
competition that has to be in the 202526 season.
15:47
So again, go to live.rockerskating.com/games
15:52
slash pots, pots. It is the pots.
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It'll be fun. ISU awards.
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It was interesting. It was my first gap.
16:05
It was it was my first banquet. Yeah, you went.
16:09
I know they, they've invited me for a couple of years and I'm,
16:12
I'm like, and they literally will invite me the, the week of
16:16
worlds and I'm like, I have flights that I booked already.
16:18
Actually, I can't change it. It was, it was, it was a, it was
16:25
a good time. They, they really, they, they do
16:27
a good job of celebrating the skaters and making sure they
16:30
have a good time. And the, the, the awards now I
16:34
will be very frank that the awards, when they first came out
16:40
a couple of years ago, I was sort of like, what is, what is
16:43
this weird gimmicky thing? And now that it's been around
16:46
for a couple of seasons, maybe again, it's Stockholm syndrome.
16:49
It feels like an institution now.
16:51
And you know, they've made tweaks to it.
16:53
They've changed the categories, they've changed the ways that
16:56
they've done, you know, all of the things, right?
16:59
So it, it, it feels, it feels like a nice celebration of, of
17:06
the work that the skaters and the choreographers and the
17:09
coaches and the costume designers and everything have
17:12
have, have done. I think they need a skater's
17:15
choice category where like. Only the skaters.
17:19
Wolf boat. Yeah, that'd be interesting.
17:21
I like that. Maybe I'll do that.
17:29
Yeah, it's fun. All right, let's talk about
17:32
worlds. You know, you and I were going
17:36
on and on and on about how post Olympic worlds is weird and
17:42
strange things happens like post Olympic worlds and watch out,
17:46
things are going to be, you know, things might be a little
17:49
unexpected or a lot unexpected. And we've seen that before and,
17:53
you know, we didn't have that much of it.
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No, no. I feel like the only place that
17:58
happened was like in the men's short program.
18:00
Yeah. Otherwise it was not not that
18:05
crazy of a. It was not that crazy, but it
18:08
did come down to the third to last program for us to have a,
18:15
what adjective should I say, a doozy of a call to from the
18:21
technical panel. That was, yeah, that was, I
18:25
mean, wow, like. I literally, I literally sat
18:32
there being like, we are three programs away from finishing and
18:36
this happens. Yeah, I think, I think the event
18:40
was mostly defined by the lack of calls in other disciplines up
18:43
until that moment. And then it was like, this is
18:45
what you're coming after. Like not one queue for Nina
18:50
Pinzrone anywhere but Lyla and Lewis lift they've been doing
18:54
all season Illegal. Yeah, yeah.
18:59
Let's start there. Let's start with the ice dance
19:01
because we we can't not talk about the thing that everybody
19:04
was talking about at the very end of that competition.
19:08
Well, so this season I feel like has really been marked dance,
19:12
like judging, calling wise in by its unpredictability.
19:16
And everyone's been really frustrated by it because you
19:19
have skaters that have been competing and have no issues.
19:22
And then we'll show up at an event and then get a weird call.
19:24
And it's happened to a lot of people.
19:26
I mean, people at the top and it's been interesting.
19:29
And then this is one thing that is Lila and Louis have this
19:32
stationary lift, rotational lift combo with opening their
19:35
freelance where Louis lifts Lila above his head, but he his arms
19:39
are out to the side. So so as though like he can't
19:42
straighten them like she's up, but they're like they're like
19:44
wide. So he's got a bend in his elbow.
19:46
It's not straight arms. So it's legal and all season, no
19:50
problem, no problem, no problem. They do it at worlds.
19:54
It's called an illegal element. They lose the variation from
19:57
that position. So they get a 2 point deduction
20:00
and a loss of level on that lift and I think it cost them four
20:07
points. Mark said they were coming in at
20:09
1:27 when they left the ice. So, so there were two things
20:13
that happened. It wasn't just that, it was the,
20:17
so the, the lift, the lift level cost them probably a half a
20:23
point to like maybe it's .75 or something like that because I
20:27
think it came in at 15 and we ended up at 14 point something
20:33
and and then there was a 2 point deduction.
20:37
When I was looking at the original numbers, they were at
20:43
high 120 sevens and so, so the lift cost them about yeah,
20:51
exactly. They they if had that original
20:55
set of numbers stood, it would have been second.
20:57
But the thing was, and I've I saw this one real time.
21:02
I did not see the lift real time, but in the twizzles,
21:09
Lewis's leg on the first set of twizzles did not go high enough
21:14
as he was swinging up and down on the straight leg.
21:18
And you have to be, in order to get the feature on it, you have
21:22
to have your leg has to be at a certain level.
21:24
And I think it's it, it, it's got to be some number of
21:28
degrees. And, and I knew they were going
21:31
to review that and they did. And then I think there was also
21:35
a he also did a a a switcheroo of edges on one of his twizzles.
21:41
Maybe it's it was the the the the right for it outside?
21:45
Yeah. And, and we were talking about
21:47
how Lila's twizzles have been the liability.
21:51
Hers was fine. Hers was the best that she's
21:53
done in in in a long time. Well, I'd say this calendar
21:58
year. Yeah, yeah, yeah it.
21:59
Was a little bit like very much like I'm going to get through
22:01
this, but. She did it.
22:03
But she got through it, yeah. She got through it, but Lewis's
22:07
twizzles went down to levels and that was another point and 1/2.
22:13
So all said that was the four points, 4/4 to 4 1/2 points that
22:20
that they lost on, on those two things in the mixed zone.
22:26
Afterwards, Lewis Lila was like, Oh yes, I, we are, we, we
22:33
talked, we talked to the, the, the panel and they said it was
22:38
the arms. And Lewis literally right right
22:42
after said, that's impossible. I can't, I can't straighten my
22:45
arms. And what was interesting was I,
22:48
I watched the old, the old versions of it in the other
22:52
competitions versus the new version of it.
22:55
And there was a point in this one where it looked like right
23:01
when he was getting her up, he went a little bit too far.
23:07
And like, instead of it lifting like this, it lifted like that,
23:13
you know, and, and it locked, it locked for a split second.
23:16
And I think that's what they called.
23:20
And, and what was also part of this whole thing that you
23:25
shouldn't see on on the screen, right, was that the, the levels
23:29
were going up and down and up and down because the, the three
23:34
people on the technical panel didn't agree.
23:38
And so they had to basically it was a, it was a vote of two to
23:43
one right, of whether or not to call these things.
23:47
And originally that stationary lift was called a level 1 and
23:53
then it went back up to a Level 3.
23:56
So the, the votes were what they were.
23:59
And that's, that's, that's how it all ended up.
24:02
And and then the two point for for the for the illegal element
24:09
of the straight arms. Yeah, yeah.
24:12
And as a result, they finished fourth, 4th, 5th in the
24:17
freelance and 4th overall. And we're very unhappy about it.
24:21
I mean, the thing with the arm, like on one hand, yes, they've
24:24
been taking that risk all season and they were always at the
24:28
mercy of the panel to say his arms, not his arms, not bent
24:33
illegal. But I, I, I'm didn't bring my
24:37
computer with me. I was in LA this weekend.
24:39
So I chose to watch this live on a giant big screen TV and not
24:44
have my phone. So I was just watching it and I
24:46
didn't notice that when it happened.
24:49
And then I noticed Lila posted a video to her story of like an
24:53
Instagram her of a fan video of her that left from the other
24:56
side of the rink. And then so I watched it very
24:58
closely, like having known this happened, and it didn't look
25:02
like he really straightened it to me.
25:03
I mean, maybe in the angle the judges had, it looked like he
25:06
locked it. But it he's got his leave on,
25:09
you know, it's like. I know, I know, I think.
25:11
You need to be sure before you. I don't know.
25:15
I know, I know. It's it, like you said, they
25:19
happened. It's it's, it's right on the
25:21
edge. They're playing with fire,
25:22
right, Like, and and it's, it's not like they haven't been told
25:30
that this there's a risk in doing that lift.
25:38
So you know, it. I, I, I just, it's one of those
25:45
things where it just feels disingenuous for the the nickel
25:51
ending and diming to happen right at the one of the biggest
25:58
competitions of the season. And they're like punishing
26:00
innovation, you know, like the rules are what they are so
26:03
people can push the boundaries and do unique things.
26:06
And it's like, not to bring up gymnastics again, but we had
26:12
something like this happen in Paris with Sabrina Voina.
26:15
I don't know how to say her last name.
26:17
I don't remember how to say it. I did at the time we were
26:19
producing it, putting on the on TV.
26:21
But she had, you're not allowed to put your foot on the floor
26:23
exercise outside of the line. And she had a piece of
26:25
choreography where she put her toe in the corner and swung her
26:28
heel around the outside. Didn't touch, but someone saw it
26:31
and called it as a step out of bounds, but it wasn't.
26:35
And then she didn't properly appeal it.
26:36
And then because it wasn't properly appealed, she kept that
26:39
deduction. And then she never got a medal.
26:41
And it's like she's being creative artistically and you're
26:47
being excessively punitive because of something you didn't
26:50
see correctly. You know, it's just sort of like
26:53
where, how, how much are we going to enforce these little
26:56
boundaries? Like how strict are we going to
26:58
be? There were some angles where you
27:01
can you thought you you could see her foots, like actually
27:06
touch the floor outside. I well, when you had the, the,
27:11
the, the NBC camera, like it was right behind her when we did it,
27:14
we had the view of it like she did not touch outside.
27:17
It's like she didn't. It may be the shadow of her foot
27:20
did, but her foot didn't. Yeah, I.
27:23
Anyway, it's like. Yeah.
27:26
That was a big it's like we ended with the scandal at the
27:29
end and then the British Skating Federation filed like a protest
27:33
and the ISU was immediately like lol, no.
27:36
So yeah, anyway. That didn't happen.
27:39
So yeah, yeah. So that's what we ended up with.
27:45
I I was so busy trying to figure out what happened that I didn't
27:49
even watch the last two. And I still haven't yet, because
27:52
I am. So.
27:54
I am so skating skating out that I have not even tried.
28:00
I did what I heard and I I'd be interested to hear what what
28:04
your thoughts were. What I heard was that Wuthering
28:06
Heights was good, but not great like there was, there was, it
28:11
felt like a program that that needed time because obviously
28:15
they just brought it back to two to three weeks ago and, and they
28:21
it needed more time and, and that Forney Beaudry and
28:25
Cicerone's free dance was much better than it was at the
28:29
Olympics. Oh yeah, so Piper and Paul bring
28:33
back Wuthering Heights. I mean, I I love seeing it
28:36
again. And there's some cool highlight
28:38
mode, especially like the the double cantilever they do is so
28:42
cool, but it really needed more time in the oven.
28:46
Like I think these programs are hard.
28:48
And when you haven't had the reps with it, it just you could
28:50
kind of see it once they went out to perform it that.
28:54
Yeah. And I honestly, I feel like they
28:57
got kind of lucky with Lila and Louis having the issues that
29:00
they did because they left some points on the table.
29:03
I think Piper and Paul did it in just, you know, just taking that
29:08
that kind of a risk. But I mean, it worked.
29:10
It was great to see the program again.
29:11
I very much enjoyed it. Yeah, forget them to get there,
29:15
I think. Was it their fifth world medal?
29:17
It was great. Laurence and Guillaume were
29:21
unbelievable. I mean, I've talked to you a lot
29:24
about how I feel like in Milan, when I was watching, they didn't
29:27
compete as well as they practiced.
29:29
I really felt like they were competing stronger here.
29:33
I really felt like Yelm especially was really pushing it
29:36
to the edge. I mean, it's like watching it.
29:39
Unbelievable how like how technically strong they are and
29:46
the like the depth of the edges they can hit and the way they
29:49
can hold and the, the, the length of time they hold them
29:53
and just the, the cleanliness. It was, it was like
29:57
overwhelmingly great. It was so sensational.
30:02
I mean, that's like, that's like how they were practicing when I
30:05
was, you know, watching them in Milan.
30:06
And it was just kind of like no one's in the same building as
30:09
this. No one's no one's competing with
30:10
this. And then because when they
30:11
competed it, they didn't compete it the way they were practicing
30:14
it. It's like sort of like made you
30:15
doubt, you know, but this was just like out of this world.
30:21
It was it was awesome. And, you know, before this
30:24
competition, they had a lot of questions about will they
30:26
continue? What's their plan?
30:27
And they were very like, oh, we have to talk about it.
30:29
We don't know. I'm going to be very upset if
30:32
they don't do another season at least.
30:34
Like it's it's, it's unbelievable to watch.
30:38
I mean, no one is doing it at that level.
30:41
It's just it's yeah, it's incredible.
30:44
And I also thought the rhythm dance was was great, too.
30:48
That was. That's at least the one that I,
30:49
I watched and it was, it really was a lot better than what they
30:54
did at the Olympics. I I both of the programs at the
30:57
Olympics were not anywhere near as good as the one that they did
31:01
here. Well, I woke up and I saw 92
31:06
because I, I did not wake up early enough to see it.
31:07
I woke up and I saw 92 and I was like, Oh my God, come on.
31:11
And then I watched it. I was like 92 wasn't enough.
31:13
They could have gotten more. Oh God, it was so good.
31:16
I, I feel like I because they're so new and they haven't competed
31:21
that consistently throughout the season.
31:23
I don't like have it in my brain that they're as good as they
31:26
are. And then every time I see them,
31:28
I'm just like, Oh my God, like, whoa.
31:31
So. Yeah, yeah.
31:33
And, and Piper and Paul's supermodel was not as strong as
31:38
it was at the Olympics either. So I was a little bit a little
31:43
bit messy in in some spots. I wouldn't say it is was as good
31:47
as it was in the individual event at the.
31:49
End of the individual event, Yeah, yeah, the team, The team
31:51
event was. Yeah, as far as the rest of the
31:54
season has gone for them, I thought it was a pretty strong
31:58
effort. Yeah, yeah.
32:00
Which is also crazy because in the at the Olympics, in the
32:03
individual event, his costume came off right at the end and
32:08
she caught it, which was like, like the, the, the number of
32:12
things that had to have happened for that to happen.
32:16
Incredible reflexes. Yes, absolutely.
32:20
Well, Emily Azingis and Vadim Kolesnik get the bronze in their
32:27
debut at. Worlds unbelievable.
32:31
I mean, to be fair, it's not like they haven't been.
32:36
I mean, they haven't been to the world just because US Figure
32:39
Skating's dance field is so deep.
32:41
But still, that's like crazy. And I also would like to point
32:45
out that we both predicted it. So it was weird because when
32:50
after the rhythm dance, when they were in fourth, I was like,
32:52
oh, well, if Lila messes up her twizzles again, they're going to
32:55
get the bronze medal. And then she didn't, and they
32:57
still did. So that.
33:01
I mean, no, a lot nobody in that arena understood the score for
33:07
Lila and Lewis for very real reasons.
33:12
And and thus I was going through every single, going down every
33:18
single rabbit hole I could possibly go into and figuring
33:21
out what was going on before I before they even was able to get
33:25
us any kind of explanation. Yeah, you were texting me lots
33:29
of excerpts for the rules, and I was trying to look stuff up on
33:32
my phone and I was like, you know what, He's got it.
33:34
I'm just gonna watch. I like there was one point when
33:39
I was texting with Michelle and I was like this is my final
33:43
thesis and I am leaving. Yeah, like I.
33:46
Cannot do any more of this. Well, the thing that I didn't
33:49
realize is that for so for an extended lift, you get that
33:53
carrot that shows up on the protocol for an illegal element.
33:57
There's nothing. You just get a legal element at
33:58
the bottom. And I thought for sure there
34:00
would be something like at least an asterisk, something the way
34:04
they do in jumps like to show like what you know, has the but
34:08
nothing, nothing. And so then I was like, was it
34:10
something else they did that got caught?
34:12
But. Yeah, that was that was the
34:15
confusion in the moment of of was it like, was it something
34:18
that was choreographical that they did that was that was
34:21
illegal because that that was what happened with Zingis
34:25
Kolesnik at the Grand Prix Final.
34:27
I was. Thinking of them with her Axel.
34:29
With her with her assisted Axel. Yeah.
34:32
And they were like, no, you can't do that.
34:35
And so they had, they ended up having to change it.
34:38
So, yeah, so so they are only the third ice dance team ever to
34:46
meddle in their very first worlds.
34:48
Wow, Fournier, Boudre and Cicerone ends up or Fournier,
34:52
Boudre and Cicerone end up becoming the fourth wow to to to
34:58
meddle in their first World Championships.
35:00
Who are the 1st 2? I feel like I should know and I
35:02
don't the. Ships was one of them.
35:05
The ships was one of. Them.
35:06
Of course he is, yes. And then I don't know the other
35:08
one. No idea.
35:12
I did. I did.
35:14
I was on the same flight as Amelia and Vadim on the way to
35:20
Amsterdam, and they were like, they were like, yeah, we're
35:24
tired. Yeah, I mean they did 4
35:27
continents too. They did national 4 continents
35:30
that they were there for the whole Olympics and and then
35:33
worlds. I mean, yeah.
35:36
It's been, it's been, it has been a long season for them.
35:38
And I mean, what a what a breakout season.
35:41
And and it would be interesting to see what that what the next
35:46
four years looks like for them. Like is this one of those where
35:50
they get the bronze medal this year and it's sustained or that
35:55
something else happened? Who knows?
35:57
Ice dance has been weird. Yeah, I hope that Vadim can stay
36:00
healthy because they really attributed their improved like
36:04
performances this season to the number of increased run throughs
36:07
they were able to do because he had surgery on his hips.
36:12
Was it the hips he had? He had two different procedures.
36:15
I think he had a hip issue and then he had a hernia issue.
36:17
But he had those like treated medically at the end of last
36:20
season and that like allowed him to start training more run
36:24
throughs and and more consistency.
36:26
And I think that I mean, it's obviously really translated into
36:29
their competitive performances. But I hope that he is able to
36:32
maintain that in a healthy way to continue their trajectory.
36:37
Yeah, exactly. Some of the big highlights,
36:42
Smart and Deeks, like they just, they just keep doing that Dune
36:46
free dance and they, yeah, they really left it all out there.
36:50
I, I, you know, I think the, the only thing was like their, their
36:54
step sequence was a level 2 and a level 1, but like everything
36:58
else was so well done. And no exclamation point.
37:03
Second moment, no exclamation point on the character's.
37:05
No, no exclamation points given. So thank you to the panel for
37:09
that. I.
37:15
I maybe in the minority they were.
37:17
Actually very actually sorry. They were actually very close to
37:20
1 exclamation point. I remember seeing it so.
37:23
But they didn't give it to them. They didn't.
37:25
Give it to them. No, it was.
37:26
It was Becker, Becker, Hernandez's.
37:29
I would not mind, I would not complain.
37:32
I wouldn't have anything negative to say about June 3.
37:38
I would be so interested if Spartan Deke decide to continue
37:44
competitively skating. Oh, I think they are.
37:47
You think they are OK? Yeah, Yeah, I think so.
37:50
I have no idea. Like I, I, you, just, you never,
37:53
you never know with all these teams.
37:54
Right, Olivia on her podcast makes it sound like they are
37:58
definitely planning their free dance for next season.
38:00
So that's like they're at least, I assume least doing another
38:03
year. Interesting.
38:04
Don't leave us. I know they did say on on the on
38:11
my on the rewatch of June 2 that June 3 doesn't come out until
38:16
December 2026, so it's it wouldn't be next year that they
38:20
do June 3. Well, what if the music comes
38:23
out earlier? I mean, there's new, there's
38:26
new, there's some new music. I saw Olivia posting about it.
38:31
I mean, maybe they can get an advance copy.
38:33
I know it's like Zendaya. Can you please give us an
38:38
advance copy? I mean, Zendaya, she, she hooks
38:42
people up. She, she got Robert Pattinson a
38:44
role in the new Dune movie and she hung out with Alyssa at
38:49
Paris Fashion Week. So, you know, you never know.
38:54
I would I would be very interested in what June 3 would
38:56
look like because if you by the way, folks listening, if you
39:01
have not watched the Olivia Smart and Tim D commentate on
39:07
their own June 1 and June 2, you should go and do that.
39:12
It is on my YouTube channel at Rocker skating because you
39:17
really start start to understand the decisions that they made
39:22
from Part 1 to Part 2. The the connections of the
39:26
different elements. Like the for example, the lifts
39:31
at the beginning in Dune in Part 2 is a derivative and a much
39:36
more difficult derivative of something they did in Dune Part
39:38
1. The curve lifts, curve lift
39:41
combo in Dune Part 2 as another derivative of what they did in
39:45
Part 1, but also a much harder version of it.
39:49
So there was some things that they they they talked about in
39:53
in the two programs that really like made me watch this with a
39:57
very different understanding of what they did.
40:00
And trust me, I will do more of these re watches because they
40:06
have been so illuminating as to like what we're watching.
40:10
That that I, I, yeah, I think it's, I think it's very cool.
40:16
But yes. Dune Dune Part 2 gets a gets a
40:21
personal best for them. And A and a small medal.
40:25
And a small medal. Next year they'll get the the
40:28
gold small medal in the world's free dance.
40:31
Hopefully they get like a real world's medal at some point,
40:33
but. I know, I know.
40:37
What else? What else for from from this?
40:39
There were so many good programs.
40:42
Yeah, great skate from Carrera Panamarenko.
40:45
Really, really good. Yeah, just.
40:48
Yeah, they tell that story so well.
40:51
Yeah, I, I don't know what kind of dark, twisted nightmare
40:54
they're going to find to skate to next year, but I I love it.
40:58
I want more of it from them. Yeah, yeah.
41:03
Anthony. Program idea.
41:05
Anthony was telling me it at the banquet that they already have
41:10
free dance like things. Wow.
41:14
Boiling in, bubbling in in there in their decision making and
41:21
Anthony was like one of those ideas is something that I have
41:24
been wanting to do for years. So I'm, I'm excited to see if
41:28
like that, that ends up being the thing that they do next
41:30
season. I'm happy for them, but I also
41:34
think that's interesting that he didn't propose it in the Olympic
41:37
season. Well, they he probably did,
41:42
right? And yeah, who knows?
41:45
Who knows? I was driving today and I was
41:49
listening to shuffle and like Apple Music and a Placebo song
41:53
came on and I was like Cruel Intentions has the best
41:55
soundtrack. Someone should do a Cruel
41:57
Intentions free dance. Lila and Lewis.
42:01
Lila and Lewis can do it. They can do the 90s, clothes,
42:04
the music. Like if there's anybody who does
42:07
a Cruel Intentions free dance. Yeah, yeah.
42:16
Yeah, some some really some other really good, good skates.
42:21
Davis and smoking continues to impress me with the way that
42:24
they've improved that free dance is still it's such a beautiful
42:28
piece of work that they've done and I appreciate it because it's
42:36
the composition of it is unusual.
42:39
The the way that the elements are strung together is different
42:43
than a lot of the other programs and they really do try to create
42:47
something that's theirs and that's different and, and I love
42:50
the improvements that they've made I.
42:53
Don't I? Don't even remember the rest of
42:55
these. Lajoie Laga had a very nice
42:59
performance of their White Crow Free Dance and we're once again
43:05
dumped. And I'm wondering what the
43:08
message is, you know, because last year they also similarly
43:12
skated relatively well and then got a pretty underwhelming free
43:17
dance score. And I wonder, I wonder what, you
43:20
know, I think, I definitely think there's some moments in
43:24
their programs where I think they could have a little more
43:27
finish or Polish. But I mean, on the whole, I
43:32
think that they are very consistent performers and they
43:35
just, it's a beautiful program. And, you know, I'm kind of
43:39
mystified by the way they've been received.
43:42
And yeah, I don't know what you do next after that.
43:47
I don't know what it is, but I am really sick of hearing white
43:52
crow. And it it like, it hasn't really
43:57
been used that much, but I the repetitiveness of white white
44:02
crow is it, it gets to my brain and I, I've turned it off.
44:07
Like, I don't know, it's it just, it just it.
44:10
Yeah. When, when, when Misha Koyeda
44:12
did it, it was like, Oh my God, this is beautiful.
44:15
It's such a like a haunting piece of music or whatever.
44:17
It's, it's, it's, it's a beautiful piece of music.
44:20
And then and then a whole bunch of people started doing it over
44:24
the past few seasons. And then it's like, yeah, I
44:27
can't listen to this anymore. I felt like when Lajwala did
44:31
Lajwala did it the first time, it was really still really
44:34
special. And I definitely felt this
44:36
season it doesn't feel as special.
44:38
Like their interpretation in their performance is beautiful
44:40
but it doesn't have the like emotional impact when I see it
44:43
that it did the first season. They did it like 3 years ago.
44:47
But still I'm not happy with their score.
44:50
Yeah, Yeah. I don't know.
44:53
I don't know what the the deal is with them.
44:54
Yeah, the other one I wanted to talk about was actually Reid and
44:58
Amber Levichus. I don't know if you noticed, and
45:02
I barely noticed, but I was, I kept being like disoriented
45:06
during that freelance. But apparently right at the
45:11
start, they came out of the a lift in the wrong direction and
45:17
they skated the program completely 180°, turned around
45:22
and then had to talk to each other during the program to
45:27
figure out when they go back to the right direction so that they
45:32
end it on the end in the right direction.
45:34
Because that last piece of the, the program, the, the character
45:41
step starts with them grabbing the crowd and then they go to
45:47
the judges and, and, and finish that character step.
45:50
And so it would have been really weird for them to be at the
45:54
judge's side. And like, like the crowd isn't
45:59
over there. Like there's like a whole
46:01
section behind the judges where you, there's nobody sitting
46:03
there. So it doesn't make any sense.
46:05
And and so so that was, you know, talk about ice dance
46:11
communications. Yeah, in in mid program.
46:14
That was something that they they, they, they were doing.
46:16
It was very interesting. But that it was.
46:20
I talked to Allison afterwards. She was like, yeah, I don't even
46:24
know what happened, but we had to figure it out in.
46:29
The program, well, I mean that, yeah, that's usually when you
46:31
start making mistakes is when you have to talk to your partner
46:33
and they handled it really well. They they had a really good
46:36
skate, I mean. Yeah, I think, I think it helped
46:39
that they decided they weren't going to turn the program around
46:43
until the end until they did all their stuff because they're the
46:47
where I noticed it was on their twizzles.
46:49
Because I've always seen the program with the twizzles going
46:53
to the left side of the judges and the the twizzles were going
46:57
to the right side of the judges. And I was like, like, yeah,
47:00
there's something weird going on here.
47:02
I don't know what it. Is there's something weird and
47:05
and so it it wasn't until they went back in the middle and they
47:10
did the the choreographic spin like that, that little like that
47:14
little like back crossover spin move that they do with each
47:20
other. It's a synchro pinwheel.
47:22
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's.
47:23
How you start it? Yeah.
47:24
Yeah, they'd start. Anybody else to join right?
47:28
Yeah, it it that was when I think they made the they they.
47:31
Made the switch, that was a good time.
47:33
Right. Exactly because you're, you're
47:35
in the middle, right? And all you have to do is move
47:38
to the the the the correct direction as it goes to the
47:41
wrong direction. Yeah.
47:44
What an event. And fortunately, France has
47:48
three spots for next year, so yeah.
47:50
I know. Yeah, this should have happened
47:53
last season. Mm hmm say that much.
47:57
So France gets 3 spots, Canada gets 3 spots and the US gets 3
48:03
spots and then the two spots go to Great Britain, Spain,
48:09
Lithuania, Georgia and Czech Republic, Czechia, Czechia.
48:17
I don't know why I said Czech Republic considering I heard
48:20
Czechia all all week long and then that's that's what I should
48:24
be calling it. Wait.
48:26
What's the total for for two because they.
48:29
Have 28, it's 11 plus, right? 11 + 16.
48:33
Yeah, they got 2027. No, they got 29.
48:39
No 2027 because you you Max out at 16 placement points if you
48:46
qualify for the for the. Free, right?
48:48
You're right. Yeah, OK, good.
48:50
Phew. I know I was incredibly sad
48:52
about Turkula Versoice withdrawing.
48:55
That was. Just like awful.
48:56
And now Finland only has one spot for Worlds next year.
49:00
For their for home worlds, yeah. Yeah.
49:03
I mean, it's a question of like Matthias Versoice has been
49:07
falling apart, like his body has not cooperated with him.
49:11
Yeah, all season. I mean the nerve damage thing
49:13
and now or the nerve, whatever thing that he was dealing with
49:17
in. Nerve injury.
49:19
And, and now his back is like a apparently a, an old injury that
49:26
has flared up. And he was skating with it and
49:30
the rhythm dance they were, they had, they were make, they were
49:32
trying to make the decision of whether or not they were going
49:34
to skate and, and they ended up doing it.
49:37
But yeah, it's it's tough to watch because they're such a
49:41
good team. Yeah, yeah.
49:45
So yeah, they're down to one spot.
49:49
Aye. All right.
49:51
Well, that was part one of two of the World Championships recap
49:56
for Michelle Ellis. This is Jackie Wong, chief skate
49:59
nerd of rockerskating.com. Thanks, as always, to John
50:03
Wilson Blades for sponsorship and to Terra Nichols for editing
50:08
and producing us. We will talk to you again with
50:10
Part 2 tomorrow. Bye.