Helene

Before Sale and Pelletier competed in their first Worlds, the US press was all over the story of how Berezhnaia had her head cut open by her former partner during side-by-side camel spins, and how it took her a very long rehab to be able to skate again with Sikuharlidze. She was the classic comeback story, and very beautiful. She and Sikuharlidze were finally able to distinguish themselves from "All Those Interchangeable Russians That Always Win," and they were being groomed for the North American post-Olympic tours as "Elena and Anton." Then, in 2000 Berezhnaia and Sikuharlidze were banned from competing at Worlds because of a failed test, and Sale and Pelletier made a smashing debut, finishing fourth. Since it would have been fifth had Berezhnaia and Sikuharlidze competed, it was a reasonable expectation for them to vie for a bronze medal; hardly anyone expected them to beat Shen/Zhao, let alone Berezhnaia/Sikuharlidze. In the Grand Prix series, they did not compete against any of their strongest rivals, so it wasn't a surprise when they won those events, but they defied expectations by winning the Grand Prix Final in 2000, Worlds the following March in Vancouver, and the GP Final in 2001, just a couple of months before the Olympics. Suddenly, the US coverage was touted as, "Can the Canadians break the Evil Russian Domination of Olympic Pairs Gold Medals?" So much for "Elena and Anton." Fast forward to 2004. At Skate America last year, Tatiana Totmianina fell from a lift during the long program, and suffered a frightening head injury. The footage of the fall was repeated over and over again during last season. Totmianina made a miraculous recovery, and, since she and Marinin train with their coach Vasiliev in the Chicago area, her story was picked up by Oprah Winfrey. Deja vu all over again: this lovely Russian pairs skater was becoming known in the US as the "Russian girl who fell on her head and had a miraculous recovery," the first step for being marketed as part of "Tanya and Max" for the post-Olympic North American tours. Top Chinese pairs skater Hongbo Zhao, part of the team that would have rivalled Totmianina/Marinin at the Olympics, hurt his Achilles tendon badly when practicing jumps this summer, and underwent surgery. What a media bonanza: Totmianina's miraculous recovery vs. Zhao's: "Can These Two Athletes Recover from their Horrifying Misfortunes to Win Olympic Gold?" with countless replays of Totmianina's fall and footage of Zhao in the hospital, gingerly working his way on the ice, Shen's mother feeding him homemade dumplings, etc. Zhang, the man in the third Chinese pair, collided with Totmianina during the warm-ups at Worlds last year. No one blamed Vasiliev for his immediate reaction when he saw his skater go flying after being hit by a tall, stocky man, but he wouldn't let it go. The main issue is that in the ISU post-competition press conference, Vasiliev went on a bit of a rant about how he thought it was a deliberate action, and this was filmed. Then, recently, in the Russian press, Vasiliev said that he had to prepare his athletes psychologically for three possibilites: 1. Shen/Zhao wouldn't be able to compete 2. Shen/Zhao would compete, but would be sub-par and 3. The whole thing might have been faked or exaggerated. Totmianina, in an interview, was tactful when asked about the this, and gave a more complex answer: she said that since she recovered much more quickly than most people expected, they had to prepare for the possibility that Zhao might also have the same success in his recovery. What concerns me is that the US media might take the footage from the ISU press conference and make a "story" of this and Vasiliev's recent comments, so that Totmianina/Marinin would go from being "that nice girl from Oprah and that handsome dude" to "The Big Bad Dominant Russian Pair with the Nasty Coach."

I really dislike Daniel Day Lewis, too, in the movie. Except for Pfeiffer, the entire movie was lost on me. I don't expect Mae to be a mouse, and I do expect her to have the posture of her station and to enunciate.

I want one of those Karinska Liebeslieder Walzer gowns.

Cohen (contusion and laceration on her hip, http://www.usfigureskating.org/event_story.asp?id=31225) and Kwan (strained hip ligament, http://www.usfigureskating.org/Story.asp?id=30981&type=news) have both withdrawn from Skate America with injuries, and Kwan missed the first made-for-TV invitations, Campbell's (aka "The Fall Cheezefest"), which Cohen won with a pretty solid performance. (Cohen's long program is a re-make of an exhibition program she performed to Nino Rota's Romeo and Juliet score.) Kwan has to stay off the ice for two weeks, and, according to the US Figure Skating article could need a month of rehab, is unlikely to be ready to compete the first weekend of November at Cup of China. Cohen, who can be back on the ice next week if all goes well, may have enough time to prepare for Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris the weekend before Thanksgiving. The reason this is so important this year, and why the high-profile doctors have been consulted and are quoted publically by USFS, is that last year, Ottavio Cinquanta, head of the International Skating Union (ISU), sent a letter to the Federations to tell them that they'd be sanctioned if they allowed their skaters to bypass the Grand Prix (GP) unless injured, and to participate in shows and other competitions, like the cheezefests, instead. The ISU threatened to ban skaters from participating in the Olympics and World Championships. Ironically, Cinquanta's letter was in response to Plushenko having withdrawn from NHK Trophy in Japan, but contracted to skate in a show in Eastern Europe. Plushenko, because he withdrew from Worlds -- he suffered from a double hernia -- has no obligation to skate in the GP this year, because he did not place in top 12 at Worlds. It will be interesting to see if Kwan is unable to compete in Cup of China, but is healthy in December, competes in the Winter Cheezefest. If she does, it isn't clear whether Cinquanta will take action against her. She's only competed under the new scoring system once, at Worlds in 2005, and despite the existence of the new judging system (NJS, formerly CoP ) for the prior two years, did not have a program that took the best advantage of the system, and was off the podium for the first time since 1994, her first appearance at Worlds.It is also unlikely that skaters who win one event will qualify for the GP Final to be held in Tokyo in mid-December. (That's a long trip to make for qualifiers who must compete in their countries' Nationals, which are held anywhere from the next week to a month later. Johnny Weir said last year that each competition on another continent takes two weeks out of a skater's training schedule.) So every doctor's note is met with skepticism, as an attempt to avoid qualifying for GP Final. The most consequential injury to date has been to Hongbo Zhao, who injured his Achilles tendon trying to upgrade the jumps in the long program in response to a rule change that invalidated the jumps Shen/Zhao had been performing over the last four years. He had surgery, reported widely in the Chinese press and in his own online journal (in Chinese), and it isn't clear whether he will be at full strength for the Olympics. Shen/Zhao were forced to withdraw from Worlds last year because of an ankle injury he suffered. This will impact the Pairs' competition, which was expected to be a head-to-head competition between the senior Chinese pair and Totmianina/Marinin. I happen to love Totmianina/Marinin for their wonderful posture, synchronicity, edging and line, and they've been more successful in the lyrical programs they've chosen over the last two years than in [i]West Side Story[/i] and [i]The Cotton Club[/i]. She made an incredible comeback after she fell from a lift at last year's Skate America. Back from injuries are Takeshi Honda, who won Campbell's a couple of weeks ago with his [i]Tosca[/i] LP against Goebel, Weiss, and a sub-part Johnny Weir, and Ilia Klimkin, who had surgery on his Achilles tendon. He recently defeated Andrei Griazev at the Russian Test Skate, with a less flawed program. He's relearning his jumps, according to a recent interview with him in the Russian press. Suguri recently suffered an injury, but she is expected to be recovered in time for Skate Canada next week. Plushenko, who is skating to [i]Carmina Burana[/i] for his SP and the Edgar Marton arrangement of [i]The Godfather[/i] -- choreography has been revised since last year -- recently performed his revised programs for Valentin Piseev, head of the Russian Federation, who was reported in the Russian press to be happier with the current program than the versions he skated at the Russian Test Skate. He's got a relatively light schedule with limited travel through the Olympics: Cup of Russia, Russian Nationals, European Championships, and Olympics. Stephane Lambiel, last year's World Champion, settled on his LP music after a couple of false starts, including a Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto. He worked with Ilia Kulik over the summer, and he said Kulik emphasized how important it was for him to relax into his cross-overs and jumps. (Per article in IFS Magazine.) If he can implement this, he will take his presentation skills to another level. Stefan Lindemann, Worlds 2004 and Euros 2005 bronze medallist, recently defaulted into a win at Nebelhorn; he's going to have to pick it up to compete successfully in Torino. Kevin van der Perren landed a quad/triple combination today in his SP at Skate America, his first quad ever, and in combination in the SP no less. Daisuke Takahashi is leading after the SP by .31 after taking a fall, but racking up points on his other jumps, footwork, and component scores. He's a spitfire, and when he's on, he's a terrific skater. He skated very well at the Japan Invitational a few weeks ago, as did Junior World Champion, Oda, who's another fine young Japanese skater. Evan Lysacek is sitting in third place, having recovered apparently from a lackluster and disappointing performance at Campbell's, with a musaky and overcut arrangement to selections from [i]Grease[/i], and much silly slick back hair gestures. (He was very upset with himself during the post performance interview.) Goebel, who defaulted into a second-place finish at Campbell's, is in sixth place, after failing to land a 4S and struggling with his other jumps. This is Kristoffer Berntsson's best chance to meet the Swedish Olympic Committee's requirement that he place in the top six at a GP event to take the spot he earned for Sweden at last year's Worlds, but, unfortunately, he struggled with this SP, and is now in 10th position, over 7 points out of 6th. Joubert struggled with his quad combo; his jumps aren't quite there yet in his James Bond SP, and he's in fourth at the moment. Weir is skating to various Russian elevator music, including his final straighline footwork sequence and two spins to the music from [i]Wonderland[/i] that Irina Slutskaya used for last year's gold medal performance in Moscow. Buttle, who competed in the Japan Invitational and won, is skating to a David Wilson program entitled "Tribute to Glenn Gould." I think it's got too many cuts, but it starts with the "Prelude" from [i]Tristan und Isolde[/i], intercut with short phrases of Schoenberg and Scriabin piano pieces, cuts to the 16th Goldberg variation, into the second part of the Well-Tempered Klavier, into an extended Schoenberg piano piece, into the adagio from the Bach Concerto in d minor. He does a fantastic long Ina Bauer during the [i]Tristan[/i] prelude. Zhang/Zhang lead the Pairs after the SP, having performing huge twist and throw, but faltering on their side-by-side and pairs spins. Hinzmann and Parchem, last year's US bronze medallists, are in second with their first clean SP ever. (She had surgery immediately after last season ended.) Just behind them are former US Pairs champions Inoue/Baldwin, who landed a series of throw 3Axels in practice. If they land this in their LP, they will be the first pair to have done so. Obertas/Slavnov, considered the third link in a potential Russian sweep in Torino (assuming Shen/Zhao don't compete or are sub-par), fell out of their 3Flip throw and struggled to get back into the program. They may not make up nearly 6 points on Zhang/Zhang, but I'd expect them to be in second by the end of the competition with their LP to music from [i]La Traviata[/i]. The Olympic podium is expected to be three out of the three Chinese pairs and the three Russian pairs. The only other pair that matches any of these pairs in quality is Savchenko/Szolkowy of Germany, but Savchenko is not expected to get German citizenship in time for the Olympics. It would take multiple meltdowns for anyone to break into this group. Slutskaya performed a flamenco LP at Japan International. I don't think her posture has improved, the pumping while stroking hasn't stopped, she had no flow-out of two combinations, and she had sloppy, open positions in at least two of her spins. Arakawa wasn't perfect, but she moves beautifully across the ice, with fabulous posture and edges, and I think she should have beaten Slutskaya with her program to a Chopin piano concerto. I personally think that Sluskaya's been written in for the Olympic gold in indelible ink. Miki Ando performed a gorgeous program by David Wilson. In this months IFS magazine there was an article on Wilson, and he said when Ando came to work with him, the first thing she did was to perform the opening of Wilson's [i]Firebird[/i] (for Joannie Rochette last year) and told him she wanted to skate like that. The only word on Kostner's programs is the LP choreographer and music -- Kurt Browning, like last year, and Vivaldi's [i]Four Seasons[/i]. The Ladies competition at the Olympics should be really fine this year -- there are so many podium contenders. Dance is the discipline that's considered the biggest lock, and I doubt if Navka/Kostomarov have anything to worry about. Belbin/Agosto will only skate if either there's a special act of Congress to grant her citizenship or if a bill that is being worked on to grandfather all of the several thousand people with special talents (scientists, doctors, world-class athletes) whose applications got tied up under the old rules passes. There was a lot of US/Canada audience buzz in Moscow that Belbin/Agosto were given the silver as a consolation prize for not being able to participate in the Olympics and to sink Denkova/Staviyski, but that if Belbin got citizenship, their ranking would suddenly drop. Interestingly, after the compulsory dances at Skate America, Delobel/Schoenfelder, who were considered "wuzrobbed" in Moscow, trail B/A by only .3. This could be a much wider gap by the end of the competition, and who knows what the judges will do with Delobel/Schoenfelder's Original Dance, which promised masks, gloves, and lights (lights?) to the mandatory Latin rhythms, even if the program was pre-approved. I'm dying to see if Camelengo, their choreographer, can surpass last year's [i]Frida[/i] program. Domina/Shabalin took a jump in the rankings between 2004 and 2005, and it will be interesting to see if they overtake either Chait/Sakhnovsky or Dubreuil/Lauzon this year; they're currently in third place at Skate America. There hasn't been any advanced word on Denkova/Staviyski's Free Dance. Grushina/Goncharov, last year's bronze medallists, performed mixed Latin rhythm and a longer piece to [i]The Feeling Begins[/i] -- does Morozov own one CD? -- in Champions on Ice in Prague, which could be their competitive programs for the season. US Nationals will be interesting in Dance, with citizenship issues galore in the ranks. Two top dance teams from the last Olympics are returning: Barbara Fusar-Poli/Maurizio Margolio of Italy, the 2002 bronze medallists, and Margarita Drobiazko/Povilas Vanagas of Lithuania, who were top six in SLC. None are competing in the Grand Prix. Drobiazko/Vanagas competed against Belbin/Agosto in Nebelhorn a few weeks ago and came in a strong second, although Belbin/Agosto had a break in their Free Dance and restarted, so perhaps Belbin/Agosto came in a weak first. They also won the Olympic Qualifier in Vienna last week handily. (Italy qualified for two spots at last year's Worlds.) This being an Olympic year, only a few skaters retired: Jennifer Kirk, whose struggled with hip injuries and announced her retirement through the USFS site, Gudina/Beletski (second Israeli ice dance team), O'Connor/O'Dougherty (British ice dance team coached by Sergei Ponomorenko), Kendra Goodwin, who split with Brent Bommentre and re-teamed with Chris Obzansky after his two-year Mormon mission (he's looking for a new partner), Philip Dulebohn, who retired at the end of last year (Tiffany Scott has a new partner, Rusty Fein, and they are coached by Ron Luddington and Dulebohn), and Patrice Archetto, who also retired last year (Anabelle Langlois has a new partner, Cody Hay, and they'll compete next week at Skate Canada.) Angela Nikodinov is taking the year off; she's still suffering from injuries from the van crash that killed her mother in Portland last year. http://www.usfigureskating.org/Story.asp?id=30244&type=news Sarah Hughes has returned to Yale, although she will do three SkateFests, skating sessions in which the public can skate with her, and she provided backpacks for children who were stranded in Texas as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Japan's Yukina Ota is injured and out for the season. As happens every year, couples break up and re-group, often when a couple has a disappointing season or there is a major injury to one of them. The most surprising was last year's US bronze medallists, Manon/O'Meara. Manon left to partner with Brandon Forsythe. O'Meara teamed up with Jamie Silverstein, former World Junior medallist, who had left skating to go to Cornell and came out of retirement. Brent Bommentre is now paired with Kim Navarro. Among the younger Ladies, Kimmie Meissner is touted as the next big thing. She got a lot of coverage for landing a clean 3A in warm-ups before the Ladies LP. (Her attempt in the LP was underrotated with a faulty landing, but this was judged by 6.0 and she got enough credit to win bronze.) She was sent to Moscow to do commentary. She showed up at the Colonial Travel farewell dinner with Paul Wylie as a "special guest." The fight for the third spot at US Nationals should be a good one, with Meissner, Bebe Liang, and Emily Hughes in the mix. (Alisa Czisny is still all over the place with her jumps.) If Goebel and Weir remain off their game, there could be a shakeup among the Men. If Katie Orscher recovers from her injury -- Orscher/Lucash have had to withdraw from Skate America and Cup of China in two weeks is still questionable -- then Orscher/Lucash and Inoue/Baldwin will likely compete in Torino. (Inoue is scheduled to get US citizenship, for which she had to relinquish Japanese citizenship, in January.) Dance is the most open, especially since it isn't clear if Belbin/Agosto can skate. Conventional wisdom says that Gregory/Petukhov, who finished 11th at Worlds, and with Belbin/Agosto helped to qualify three teams for Torino and Calgary, should get the first or second/spot, depending on whether Belbin/Agosto can compete. I don't think any of the other US teams are in a position to surpass them, let alone two, but you never know. (Two years from now, perhaps.) Former Junior World medallists Matthews/Zavozin are highly-touted, and, based on what I saw live at Nationals last year, overrated, but his citizenship is an issue at this time. Even if Stiegler/Magerovski qualify, which, based on their low finish in today's Compulsory Dance, usually their strongest phase, it isn't clear that Magerovwki will have his citizenship in time. It's possible that the new team of Silverstein/O'Meara will be the highest-ranking young team by US Nationals. Canada also has citizenship issues. Wakamatsu/Fecteau, who were Japanese citizenship, as reported by Skate Canada. Arseni Markov has not been released by the Russian Federation to compete for Canada; he needs to get Canadian citizenship in time, if he and Lefebvre qualify; as a Canadian citizen, the Russian Federation couldn't hold him. Just like Gregory/Petukhov, Wing/Lowe get little respect, and despite a top 10 finish in Moscow, are considered vulnerable at Canadian Nationals this year. We'll see. They're skating to [i]Copellia[/i] for their free dance. I think they're a lovely team, and that her knee bend is exceptional.

Assuming that your last question is rhetorical, I don't think voices are very important to film directors. Huge blow-up noises and horrendously sentimental soundtracks to tell you what to feel are. Otherwise, neither Brad Pitt, Winona Rider, or Keanu Reeves, all of whom swallow their words, would never have been cast in the movies. (Uh, and Winona Ryder cast in The Age of Innocence as a Wharton heroine who is described as a "sylvan Diana?")

I've done that many times, and one way to avoid losing everything is to click the "Preview Post" button after every paragraph. That way, if you hit one of the sequences that knocks you off the page -- which happens when I hit one of the mouse buttons in a certain way that I've never been able to consciously replicate -- I'm able to use the "back" button to recapture everything that's been "previewed" until then.

Thank you, carbro, for kicking off the season with a great review! (Hopefully, some more ABT goers will chime in about opening week.)