The past few days have been filled with work and getting ready for Vegas stuff. I only just managed to watch the results show for Battle of the Blades. I am so, so, so glad that Val Bure and Katia Gordeeva are still in it! I was partly surprised that they were in the bottom 2, but part of me feared that would happen. They were, in my opinion, one of, if not the, best of the couples from Sunday night. To me, Katia has always been the epitome of what figure skating is and should be about; her natural grace, exquisite lines, and pure pair skating skills have never been matched on the ice in my opinion. Together with her late husband, Sergei Grinkov, they created some of the most beautiful and unforgettable programs I have ever seen. But her style has never been showy, never over-the-top, never aggressive. But I think that the showy, extroverted kind of programs may translate better on such a show as Battle of the Blades. The smoothness, pure skating, and well-matched lines that Val and Katia show in their skating may get a little lost amongst the big “tricks” and over-the-top body language/facial expressions of the other couples. I noticed that the judges all remarked on their incredible speed on the ice, but that kind of effortless speed, where they don’t look like they’re even trying to skate fast at all, does not translate well on television. I think you have to see in live to appreciate the excitement it creates. Len thought they were a bit boring, and I think that that may be a general sentiment amongst non-figure skating fans. Which is perfectly valid from the perspective of the theatrics of this show. I myself had more laughs and gasps of excitement with some of the other teams’ programs. I guess for me, however, this is a figure skating competition and thus goes much deeper than the theatrics, so I want it judged as such. But that’s not to say I didn’t absolutely enjoy the other performances! Oh my, it was a fantastic first week for all of the competitors, and I was super impressed by all their skating. It’s gonna be such a fun season!
Enough skating talk–onto Vegas! This time tomorrow I’ll be in the Paris hotel and trying to ward off Rupi’s coaxing to have a drink… 🙂 So excited! Today I made a bunch of energy bars and pumpkin bars to bring with us so we’d have some healthy snacks.
I’m hoping to have a balance this weekend between gluttony and moderation. Is that possible? I want to try to get in my fruits and veggies and fibre 😛 but at the same time not feel guilty for having some drinks and eating less-than-healthy foods. I’ll let you know how I do when I get back! 🙂
