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Mel's Weekly#6: November 2, 2004If I had to sum up the first two weeks of the Senior Grand Prix in a single word, it would be surprise. For while the element of surprise has not been prevalent in every discipline (does it even exist at all in dance?!), it has certainly taken the ladies' event by storm. Two weeks ago, at Skate America, Angela Nikodinov. Even her own federation had begun to write her off as a has-been, giving her only one assignment in this, her first appearance on the grand prix since 2001. Fans have taken to mocking her habit of giving up halfway through a program and while there are few who dare to dispute the beauty of her presentation, there are also few who can honestly say that they have believed in her, all this time. I wish I could say that I was one of those few, but I think that even I have let my faith in Angela fade over the past couple of years. How wrong was I. No, it wasn't perfect, and yes, she can certainly do better, but with a triumphant victory at Skate America, I would venture to say that Angela Nikodinov is back. I couldn't be happier. On an equally surprising note, Canada will have a woman in the Grand Prix Final for the first time in nine years. After a silver medal at Skate America, young Cynthia Phaneuf once again proved that she isn't just another one-hit wonder with a convincing win at Skate Canada last weekend. I had the pleasure of meeting Cynthia last January at the Four Continents Championships, where she came back from a dismal eighth in the short program to win the free skate and go home with a silver medal. From all reports and interviews, it seems that she is still the same adorable, incredibly grounded teenager. With all the hype surrounding her, it's so refreshing to see a young skater who just skates because she loves it and just hopes for the best each time her blades glide across the ice. We'll next see her at the Grand Prix Final and while there are many who hope that she surprises us again there, I'm fairly sure we won't be hearing those types of announcements coming from her mouth. Sometimes, I just think that the skating world needs a bit of quiet confidence to counter the arrogance of the rest of the field. In the men's events, Ryan Jahnke proved that his strategy of starting the season in the summer with smaller competitions worked well, taking a silver medal at Skate America and barely missing the podium in Halifax. What a difference from last year! And perhaps the event that touched me the most, Ben Ferreira came back from an 8th place in Pittsburgh with two solid performances in Halifax that found him between his countrymen on the podium in Halifax. For someone who has worked so long and so hard, and contemplated retirement so many times, I was brought to tears when I learned that Ben had won his first grand prix medal, at the age of 25. Don't stick a fork in him just yet, folks. And finally, honourable mentions in the surprise category go to Wing & Lowe for winning their first Grand Prix medal in the 18th year of their partnership, Zagorska & Siudek for finding a burst of emotion I never expected them to be able to convey, and Inoue & Baldwin for conquering that pesky throw jump and being the first pair to land side-by-side triple lutzes in international competition. Best of luck to all three of these teams as they continue their seasons. And the continuing season starts in just a couple of days again with NHK Trophy in Nagoya, Japan. Headliners include World Champion Shizuka Arakawa, the showdown of US national championships Timothy Goebel, Johnny Weir, and Michael Weiss, another China vs. Russia pair matchup with Pang & Tong and Petrova & Tikhonov, and the first glimpse of the dance world title with Denkova & Staviyski taking on Nakva & Kostomarov, coming off of their first grand prix gold of the season. Archives -- Contact -- Features -- Guestbook -- Links (c)2004-7 Melanie L. Hoyt All rights reserved. |