Just about all the pairs had a strong short program, some of the couples struggled in the freeskate, but overall both programs were pretty good here.
Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, obviously, won the event. They had good skates, but did not attempt the throw quad lutz. They still had the most difficult throw triple in their program, which still worked to their benefit. Their freeskate has a greater emotional impact that was missing a little from last year's programs. Certainly, the emotional impact was amplified by the quality of their skating this weekend. Even though I'm really (really) not a fan of Moulin Rouge, their short program doesn't irritate me like the others do.
Tarasova and Morozov finished in second, but well behind Duhamel and Radford. They don't have a quad like the top teams in the world, but they could easily make their triple twist a quad. Their triple twist is beyond impressive, its gigantic, and she seems to hover in the air forever before coming back down.Their programs are good, but the short program wasn't the most logical choice for them. Riverdance doesn't have the right tone for them, and so the selection they made from the soundtrack was odd. I like them, but they're not my favourite, in large part because they are the epitome of the Russian pair team.
Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro did the best they've done since joining forces, but their programs had some pretty big blemishes. In the freeskate, he couldn't get her up into one of the lifts. Unfortunately, this was not surprising. They always struggle with the lifts, he isn't entirely strong enough to execute the lifts. He always lets his butt stick out in the lifts, and he always or almost always seems to struggle to get her into the air. Their jump elements are looking better, but he really needs to improve his strength to get the lifts into the air. The last thing I will say is that I absolutely hate their freeskate. The sexy Leo voice over the (less than amazing) music from Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. I am really not a Baz Luhrmann fan, and music from his films seems to have overtaken the skating world.
Merissa Castelli and Mervin Tran had a good showing here, especially as a new pair team. They really need to work on the side by side jumps, but all of their other elements were pretty strong. The throw double axel may be worth the least in terms of points, but throw axels always look strange, and are harder to complete. I like their programs, but I would like them a whole lot more if they could just land their jumps.
Valentina Marchei and Ondrej Hotarek only skated in the short program. I really like them, and I am beyond impressed with Valentina for making the transition to pairs so quickly and so well. However, they had to witdraw because he apparently got a concussion before the short program. I really wish skaters would not skate with concussions, I wish they would take care of themselves before getting on the ice.
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