(no subject)

[cleolinda]

The final night of ice dancing! A French couple dressed as... oh, Les Mis. That's why they look like someone dragged her through a chimney and him through the Victorian era. I think it's the first ice dance I've ever seen that included a waistcoat, but then, I haven't been watching very long. Holy shit, they do some crazy stuff, too--I can't believe they get out alive. Cravats: 1. Falls: 0.

(Here's the thing about falling, for those of you who aren't watching, can't watch, or missed this part: Chick Announcer was saying the other night that the new rules, in an attempt to be less subjective, no longer reward grace and style so much as they reward hard tricks and taking risks. The epitome of this, as you may remember, was when Jeffrey Buttle took a fall on a quad because he got more points for trying (+4) and falling (-1) than he did for not trying at all, and got a bronze for his trouble. And just now, she also said that the new-rule programs are a lot more strenuous, and the skaters are getting more tired at the end, which is where they start to make mistakes. And fall. That's why it's suddenly a battlefield out there.)

Americans in black, Silversomething and O'Meara. Silverstein, there you go. Very nice, kind of a Chicago-tango look. Well... his shirt is a little sheer, but this is downright subdued after last night. Very pretty music. Sheer arm-gloves: 2. Falls: 0.

Hello, I love your costume. I don't know who you are, but I love your costume. It's kind of lavender-pink and princessy--ah, they're skating to Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. Hee! She actually "stabs" herself at the end and falls back over him.  Number of times I wondered if this was a techno remix: 2. Falls: 0.

[Eighteen years of ski coverage later:]

The Canadians are not competing tonight--that poor woman has "bruises too great to continue," although she was so amazingly fortunate to not break anything. Seriously. (Awww! They're crying in an interview!)

DUDE. Monday night started out frosty between Italian ice dancers Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio. Following an incident in which Margaglio dropped Fusar-Poli during Sunday night's program, the duo refused to look at each other before and during their free routine.

The announcer is expanding on this--they even arrived separately. Holy shit, how do you expect to skate as a pair if you won't even SPEAK? NBC totally has cameras on them backstage, showing the guy walk right past her without even looking, mostly because I imagine he's tired of her death glare. "Look, I DROPPED YOU, OKAY? We have an OLYMPIC PERFORMANCE, OKAY? You have to talk to me SOMETIME."

Wait, they're not skating yet? Dammit. Domnina and Shabalin in medievalish gold, very nice. It's no princessy lavender, but it's nice. Very pretty routine, very graceful; they seem to be very comfortable together. Number of times I thought, "Hmm, I might keep an eye on these two": 4. Falls: 0.

Backstage with the Bickersons (i Bickersoni?): still in deep freeze. "I've never seen anything like this!" says Chick Announcer. "I wonder if she wants her very little daughter to remember this performance," snarks one of the male announcers. "She won't misbehave," snarks the other one.

Hmm. Who is this, the Lithuanian pair? Pink and white for her, black for him, and... Phantom of the Opera for the music. Oh, good Lord. No, he is not wearing a mask, but if he had, I would have voted to give them the gold on principle. I'm not terribly versed in the various versions, but it doesn't sound like the movie soundtrack (a stunning lack of hand claps, for one). Probably the Sarah Brightman? Who knows. I'm just physically incapable of hearing any part of the score and not laughing my ass off now. Good times. (ETA: I'm now hearing from multiple people that it was the movie soundtrack. I'll be damned.) Facial disfigurements: 0. Falls: 0.

ITALIANS! ITALIANS! Wow, that's a strange position to begin with--she's basically lying over his foot on the ice. They're skating to... Prince of Egypt? The costumes are kind of gypsyish, not really very Egyptian or Hebrew. (Yes, I know the ironic etymology of the word "gypsy.") Is it just me, or is this kind of an odd choice of music, with the "Can you hear my people cry" (I HATE YOU) and the "Deliver us" (WE'RE GETTING A DIVORCE) and the wailing (WAIT, WE'RE NOT ACTUALLY MARRIED) and the Moses lullaby (FUCK YOU)? Maybe it's because it's in English and I can actually understand what they're saying, and the words just don't seem very ice-dancy, and it's distracting me in a way that Les Misérables didn't. Anyhoo. They finish without killing each other. After last night, I'm a little disappointed. Conciliatory hugs: 1. Falls: 0.

(Heh, the announcers are having a field day. "He's back in the good books!" "The ice has melted!" "Prince of Egypt has brought them together!")

Here's the Israelis--I didn't see them skate the other day. They're using "Bolero," which is apparently SACRILEGE because Torvill and Dean skated to it oh noes. He's in a dark navy with white sleeves; she's in some kind of randomly scarfy light peach dress. And glitter boobs. And we have another one of those "I support your butt with my face" lifts. They're so busy hitting the marks that there's no real pace or grace to it, as far as I'm concerned. Number of crimes against skating and humanity: oh, whatever. Falls: 0.

(Awww. Backstage, the Italian guy is just sobbing. He's probably relieved that his partner isn't going to murder him in his sleep now.)

The final group warms up--good Lord, the Ukrainian is wearing another headband. A big ol' jeweled one, this time. I love Tanith Belbin's costume, though. Here's the Ukrainians in white! It's very... Staying Alive. Yikes. To start off, she straddles his feet. I think she's wearing fringed pasties. It's kind of Conan the Barbarian's groupie, but his is more... you know those movies that are like, "In the future, we all live in a ruined dystopia and search for water on rollerblades"? It's that kind of costume. A little bit Thunderdome, a little bit Solarbabies. The announcers hate the routine--hate the music, hate the slowness, hate the boringness. Chick Announcer: "I just think the only problem was... the program." Which is kind of like saying someone's got a mild case of death, I guess. Number of times I totally looked away and stopped paying attention: 2. Falls: 0.

The Russians! Fairly nice matador and Carmen-esque costume. We get extreme closeups right before they start, and they look DRIVEN. She doesn't sell it like Tanith Belbin, but they're pretty smooth and confident. Number of matador tassels: 6. Falls: 0.

Bulgarians in scarfy black and red, skating to "Adagio." They're both blond, and kind of have identical haircuts. It's really kind of disturbing--I can't really tell who's who if I'm not looking at their legs. I think I'm getting skated out, because I'm having a hard time paying attention. Twins: wha? Falls: 0.

Belbin and Agosto! (To settle a discussion from last night: Tanith Belbin was born in Ontario, Canada, and received U.S. citizenship in part thanks to a law that was passed allowing immigrants with great talents or abilities to speed through the nationalization process [although Johnny Weir did, apparently, offer to marry her for the green card]. Ben Agosto was born in Chicago. Neither of them is Russian. And y'all weren't alone--my mother tried to argue that Agosto was Russian, too.)

So here they go. Still kind of with the Carmen theme, but less toreadoration. Ah, "a selection of flamenco rhythms." Agosto gives the camera the sex eye. For real, I love Belbin's dress--it's both classy and fun and, oh look, a dress, not some random peekaboo arrangement of whickety-whack. (Okay, it looks a little gaudy when they're walking off the ice, but the pink highlights and the frills show up well from a distance.) Holy crow, he picks her up by, like, a leg and swings her around. The announcers? Dead silent. (Tanith! Tanith! Where did you get your earrings? I MUST HAVE THEM!)

Hee! The Russians are backstage just sacked out flat on the floor. Then they sit up and hug, because no one can catch up to their score at this point and they're totally going to get the gold.

Ah, the French. Red, gold, and black--they kind of look like figures on a deck of cards. They're skating to something called "Carnival in Venice"--wow, their gloves don't match at all. They're kind of a purple-pink on white or black, and just kind of clash. Chick Announcer explains that there's a whole story about them wearing metaphorical masks at a carnival and not recognizing each other--ahhh, that's what the gloves are supposed to do; they hold their hands up like masks. Tearful hugs afterwards: 1. Falls: 0.

It's official: there was no carnage. So the Russians have the gold, Belbin and Agosto have the silver, and the Xanadu Ukrainians have the bronze, because the French ended up a point or two behind.

Comments

[pastelstar.livejournal.com]

I love Tanith. Surprisingly squeaky voice though. I love how the CBC are all "Tanith! Wanna say hi to people at home in Kingston?", as if to emphasize that yeah, she's Canadian goddammit.

[stepliana.livejournal.com]

my dance company's advisor choreographed a really strange company piece to the same music the ukranians skated to. it produced about the same result.

although it did make me sit up and go 'oh god, why is this music making my ears burn? oh no oh no not again!'

[speshope.livejournal.com]

What was that music? Do you happen to know the name?

[conejita-diabla.livejournal.com]

Heh...the second I saw the first French couple I was like "Oh god...look at those costumes...I'll bet anything they'll be skating to Les Mis." *sigh*

[angevin2.livejournal.com]

Heh, me too. ;)

[ambiguousreason.livejournal.com]

I can't even tell you how wonderful I find this recappage of sorts. It's hilarious.

Tanith Belbin is so gorgeous, jeez.

[wildcatlizzie.livejournal.com]

Your commentary on the Italian couple had me practically on the floor laughing! Oh the drama. It wouldn't be the Olympics without it, right?

As far as the Lithuanian couple's Phantom soundtrack of choice, it was indeed the movie version. And now that you've mentioned it, a mask would've been AWESOME! Other than the lack of disfigurment, I enjoyed his costume. Hers was to bright and pink for their choice of music. Something red or black would've been my choice.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Huh, was it really? I could have sworn it didn't sound like it. I will note that Christine does wear a pink dress in the movie, though--I figured that was the idea, something innocent looking. Although, really, white is the way to go in that case.

[punkiejeannien.livejournal.com]

nothing about the Ukranian boobie/crotch tassles? I thought THAT was pretty... distracting. Yes, distracting...

And it wasn't Sarah Brightman, my musically inclined friend indicates Emmy Rossum as the singer. I'm not musically inclined, but I know it wasn't Sarah Brightman-- her voice is burned in to my brain. BURNED I TELL YOU.

I've also decided that the Bulgarians were a David Bowie video on bad acid. BAD. Acid.

And did you notice the huuuge cut on partnerman to Fusar-Poli? I think she beat him last night. Thank goodness they aren't married, I'm not sure Fusar-Poli's daughter could forgive her father.

*has images of Fusar-Poli's baby turning her nose up at an ill stirred batch of strained lasagne*

Man. That's one diva-y baby.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, someone else is saying it's the movie. I'll be damned.

[emerybored.livejournal.com]

Number of times I snorted water through my nose while reading your reacap: 2. Seriously. My lesson is learned: Never drink and read a recap by Cleo. Though I really should have known that already.

You may not have seen, but this morning on The Today Show, they did a whole segment about the really ugly costumes on the ice dancers. The tie-in was, "Italy is home to some of the world's most famous fashion designers, so why are some of the skating costumes more fashion 'don'ts'?" or something similar. Katie Couric thought it was harsh. I thought, "Did you watch the original dance? Those were some heinous costumes."

[emerybored.livejournal.com]

While watching the late-night rebroadcast I had these thoughts:
1) I still missed the first three due to the crappy split coverage. Thanks, NBC.
2) The easiest way to tell that the Phantom recording used was from the movie is that you hear Minnie Driver scream "Oh mah God!" not only at the beginning, but at the end of the performance. (The clip comes from her screaming when she finds Piangi dead as the opera house goes up in flames.) And it would soo have been better with a mask.
3) When I think Prince of Egypt, I think burgundy velvet.
4) The Israeli woman who skated to Bolero? Pit stains.
5) I want a gold water bottle like Belbin and Agosto had. That's gotta be some damn good water if it comes in a golden bottle.
6) Did the "Adagio" open up with the THX noise? I think it did.
7) The Suburban commercial with the groundhogs? So damn cute it almost makes me want to get a Suburban. Almost. Rather'd get a groundhog, actually.
8) Belbin's flying split-spin thing must have hurt when they first practiced it.

Olympics-watching at 3:30am is so much more fun than in prime-time.

[iamthemoon.livejournal.com]

That Carnival song...I just had to do it on Trombone. HARD AS POO.

Annnnd....YAY FOR CORNY ANNOUNCER PUNS

[emerybored.livejournal.com]

Once saw a world-famous euphonium player (can't remember his name) play "The Carnival of Venice" with one finger. It's hard enough playing the thing when you've got all three fingers on your right hand (plus your index finger on your left hand working the fourth valve), but one, is... insane. But he did it, and it was brilliant.

Yay for you for playing it. It's a difficult piece.

[dorothywwom.livejournal.com]

The final group warms up--good Lord, the Ukrainian is wearing another headband. A big ol' jeweled one, this time. I love Tanith Belbin's costume, though.

I was distracted from the head band by the tassels on her tits.

[iamthemoon.livejournal.com]

OH AND WAS IT JUST ME OR...

Was Russian lady's underpantie part WAY too skimpy and tight? It was almost a THONG for crying out loud!

[elysian-dreams.livejournal.com]

Last night we thought the Canadian woman had forgotten her panties! But they were flesh colored. Bad idea.

[sweetly-savage.livejournal.com]

The thing about the French and Les Mis is that people like Dick Button are talking about the romance he could see from them during the program. Except that the music they played was Cosette telling her father not to die. And, being the Les Mis snob I am, I couldn't understand why they had the end with Valjean dying right in the middle of the dance.

Oh - and I haven't seen it yet on the West Coast, but being a Torvill and Dean girl, I'm sure I'll find Bolero sacrilege, being a good fangirl and all.

[cajitasazules.livejournal.com]

I couldn't look directly at it. "Bolero" should be banned because no one can to like they cool.

Cleo....enjoy

[iamthemoon.livejournal.com]

Costumes on ice...halloween? (http://articles.news.aol.com/sportsevent/article.adp?id=20060218085109990006&cid=2303)

[elysian-dreams.livejournal.com]

I loved the French Les Mis dance! I would have given them gold just for that. And yay for the Americans getting silver! There were awesome! And I love Phantom, but one of the chinese (I think) pairs used it in their long program in this olympics, so I'm less impressed since it's a repeat.

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

GIP. Because IT HAD TO BE DONE

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heeeeeeee.

[kokopellinelli]

I'm actually pretty impressed with how well the Evil Italian and her Maypole did...nice footwork. Though, during the lift when she was leaning over his shoulder and he was going backward with his leg extended behind him, he did seem a little off-balance. I'm pretty sure that if he'd dropped her then, she'd have toe-picked him in the head.

As it is, no murder. Little disappointed about that. Or wouldn't it be funny to hear this from the announcers: "Barbara's given Maypole her last Death Glare...he's dropped her on the ice and is bookin' it out of the stadium! Run, little buddy, RUUUUUUUUUUN!"

[someway.livejournal.com]

"Barbara's given Maypole her last Death Glare...he's dropped her on the ice and is bookin' it out of the stadium! Run, little buddy, RUUUUUUUUUUN!"
Yessssssssss!

[agatha-mandrake.livejournal.com]

Over on the CBC, Barbara Underhill Did Not Approve of the Ukranian costume. She felt they were more appropriate to "a Vegas stage than an ice rink". Ooh, burn, Barb.

A little bit Thunderdome, a little bit Solarbabies

I was thinking Boney M circa Night Flight to Venus myself.

[telesilla.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I could have gone all my life never remembering that Boney M existed. My dad thought the Rasputin song was hilarious in a "why the heck did they do a bouncy little number about him?" way. We used to sing it in the car.

And for some reason, probably because we were in Europe at the time, I associate them with Eurovision and the Ukrainians were dressed perfect for that. Maybe they forgot where they were?

[elysian-dreams.livejournal.com]

http://articles.news.aol.com/sportsevent/article.adp?id=20060218081409990004&cid=2303 What a reason to not be able to skate! It's such a freak injury. And the Russian Olympic favorite's name is so unfortunate, it sounds like a bad joke.

[dolphin--girl.livejournal.com]

Tanith! Tanith! Where did you get your earrings? I MUST HAVE THEM!

You know, I'm reasonably sure I can duplicate those. If not exactly, then at least a reasonable facsimile...

Oh, now it's totally a challenge...

[fauxkaren.livejournal.com]

Haha. Whoa. The Ukranians dance was... hm... different. But the guy had great hair. So he wins in my book. Also, I think that every ice skater EVER has danced at least one program to Carmen. Seriously. I think in 2002 Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen BOTH skated to Carmen. And then Even Lysacek skated to it in his long program. What is it about Carmen?

[sturmclan.livejournal.com]

It's all about the drama, baby. Plus, being able to get all sexified with daring Spanish costumes and through-the-eyelashes glances of "no...you cannot touch the sexy".

I'm sure she wasn't the first, but Katarina Witt totally nailed the whole Carmen thing in '88. She was the first female skater to really BE sexy - rather than elegant or cute. So, of course, many of today's skaters saw that in their formative years & went on to turn the skate into a big 'ole sexy-fest.

And...just for good measure, I will say "sexy" one more time.

[lilotelasserie.livejournal.com]

The Bulgarians should have gotten bronze. The Ukranians were so damn boring.

The best part about the whole thing was the Italian soap opera. I wish I could death-glare like she can. That's got to be useful.

[angelene.livejournal.com]

hehe. I love your reca- I mean, commentary.

in regards to Mrs Death Glare and to her defence -- even though I don't feel like 'defending' her much, not even for 'patriotic' reasons -- I must say that uh... she always looks like that (http://www.nbcolympics.com/2006/0220/5121832_640X480.jpg)! I mean, she looked like that after their compulsory program, on the first night, she stared a little off to the camera and Death Glared everybody around -- except when she smiled, which was relieving -- that's her uh determined expression, I guess. (to which, I'd consider: do they no longer teach the 'Smile No Matter What' in dance school, now?)

also, I don't know if they showed any interviews from last night on 'foreign' channels, but, soon after their performance, the Italian couple was interviewed for the national (Italian) broadcasting channel and, when questioned about her Death Glare, Mrs Fusar-Poli declared that it was about 'frustration and anger' and the realization that 'they' completely screwed up their opportunity to reach the podium during this competition with a 'stupid mistake' occurring at the very last instants of their program -- yet none of this was directed to her companion, no no.


me? I rooted for the Bulgarians. or the Lituanians, I dunno. you watch three or four of these, they start melting into each other.

but! tonight! REAL SKATING! wheeeeeeee!

[angelene.livejournal.com]

here's the interview as posted on the Official site (http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/news/news_eng161712.html).

[piratesorka.livejournal.com]

I now have a new term to describe costumes..."whickety-whack" Thanks my dear, you've help make my Olympic experince.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I have to say, I stole that phrase from someone on Project Runway describing Santino's designs. I can't remember who said it, but it was devastatingly spot-on.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

The thing about using Bolero is that Torvill and Dean's performance to it is seen as The Perfect Ice Dance. So using it is kinda odd, because comparisons will always be drawn.

Did you see the British (Scottish) pair? They were in an early group (not medal contenders) so most countries seem to have ignored them. But they came 10th. Which was soooo deserved because their free dance had bagpipes! and tartan! and highland dancing! and was therefore 100x cooler than the typical Carmeny stuff that came later. See? (http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/56893572.jpg?v=1&c=MS_GINS&k=2&d=AAAB1D3D22B8F28C38D60AD5481DD57F) At least in Scotland there's not a terrible fabric shortage (http://www.torino2006.org/bin/OlympicGames/photogallery/C_3_photogallery_178_photos_foto_3_imagebig.jpg).

[moderately-lea.livejournal.com]

And the BBC commentator made the best comment about how John hadn't got overexcited with the Highland dancing, which apparently he sometimes does.

Hi, by the way.

[blackraven9.livejournal.com]

Please go to Figure Skating Universe and post there. Your re-caps are excellent.

Just... ewww

[corkdorkdan.livejournal.com]

Saw this on ABCNews this morning...

Fast-Food Ice Dirtier Than Toilet Water

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=1641825

...comes from a middle school science experiment!