Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Worlds 2010 Gala Guide: The Couples

Here’s what I found of gala performances for pairs and ice dance… this time I didn’t include the members of the Italian team that got to skate as well.

PAIRS

Zhang/Zhang (finished 5th) skated to something that might have been called “On the Wings of Song”… I heard those words among the endless Italian commentary.

Mukhortova/Trankov (finished 4th) used an operatic duet: he skates during the man’s vocal, she skates during the woman’s… they skate together on choruses… and had trouble with the same elements as in their regular programs.


Kavaguti/Smirnov (finished 3rd) used a variation on Blue Danube from their free skate; like many of the singles skaters, they hit the prop cabinet before taking the ice (tossing around a bouquet of flowers during the routine).

Savchenko/Szolkowy (finished 2nd) used an instrumental version of Somewhere…

Pang/Tong (finished 1st) also use an operatic duet; watch for the “oops” moment they have about 1:25 into the clip.


For ICE DANCE…


Kerr/Kerr (finished 5th) skated to Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 3 by Muse (same artist as was behind their free dance from 2008-9)… compelling as always.

Pechalat/Bourzat (finished 4th) did a bouncy number to Andy by Les Rita Mitsouko.

Faiella/Scali (finished 3rd) skated to a very pretty Italian ballad whose name I could not decipher by way of the graphics.

Davis/White (finished 2nd) with David Cook’s version of Billie Jean (though I don’t think they plan to use this number much on the upcoming SOI tour)

And Virtue/Moir fans, I tried to find their Gala skate but was strangely unsuccessful… very sorry. Again, if you have a link that would make this collection of clips complete, please share!

3 comments:

jumping clapping man said...

thanks kell...

but, just to be a snob, these adult, easy-listening programs ALL the pairs seem to feel the need to skate to in their EXs these days are NOT opera. they are "popera," or classically-styled crossover, sung by singers who have a classical sounding vocal style but could NEVER manage to sing opera without a mic. i hate it. i WISH these pairs would skate to "Opera" (ie: sasha's "Un Bel Di" EX from madame butterfly, etc.)

all this snobbery aside, i do love sav/szol's program...bernstein, when performed this well is ALWAYS welcome!

Lotta said...

V/M did "Everybody Dance Now" as a gala, a separation from all the snooze-worthy gala programs and generic female ballads (thanks FSU) other teams were doing.

Kelli Lawrence said...

JCM-- you're right, it's definitely "popera" and frankly it's a genre I would never ever miss... and that's coming from someone who finds something to love in almost EVERY music genre!

Lotta-- I was guessing it was the C+C Music factory number from the stills on Universal Sports' web site... very cute when I watched it on NBC in February; just wish I could find it here. Maybe it's up by now...?