Ladies Free Skate Live Blog!

I'll be updating as it happens :) NBC will be showing the final 2 groups of skaters LIVE.


Fluff on Sasha:
"Ice is slippery"
"I want to be my best. I want to be a better skater at the Olympics."
"I'm nervous... at nationals, this is the one that counts."
"I want everything to be perfect."
"It would be so fulfilling to come back and go the Olympics for a third time..."
"...Everybody watching me... It makes me feel alive."


Caroline Zhang: 11th after short. Nice dress! Falls on first jump... Stumbles on 2nd jump, a triple lutz. Nice double axel. Pretty spins...she's not doing "The Pearl," I asume becuase of her back. Next jump combo nice, and next jump, and next combo! And next combo! That's including a lot of stuff that she fell on earlier.. Gorgeous spiral sequence! Last combo spin was amazing! Looks very disappointed :(


I'll use this commercial break to remind everyone that Mirai Nagasu is in first, Sasha Cohen in second, and Rachel Flatt in third. The three of them are separated by less than a point, and are essentially the only skaters with a realistic chance at making the Olympic team (the US can send only 2 ladies this year). They are the last three skaters tonight.


Caroline is currently in 1st.


Bebe Liang: First combo was beautiful! And next! She's very dynamic :) Stumble on next jump... Nice spin. EASY next jump. Another great jump. She looks excited! Spiral sequence... Singled a triple lutz. Still going strong, last combo was great. Final combo spin. She looks disappointed, but pretty happy. 1st place.


Allissa Czisny: 7th after short. Very nice dress. Fall on first jump. I like her music. Second jump was nice. I think she fell on the last jump but the tv got messed up... nice spin. 2 more jumps... combo? I am liking her skating way better than last year! Stumble on triple lutz. Fought for the next combo! Her spiral still annoys me. Next combo was nice, but she wont get credit because she had already done 3 combos. She is reminding me why I love her spins so much! She looks *mostly* pleased with her performance. Don't know what place?


Emily Hughes: 7th after short. They show her sister Sarah (2002 gold medal at the Olympics) First bunch of jumps were great... combo spin...  falls on next jump.  triple? lutz. falls again. footwork. She's going after this program! I think I like her music... combo spin.. triple toe... spiral sequence. ends with combo spin.
Sorry, my cat jumped on my keyboard and deleted what I typed at the beginning, which is why it now just says "first jumps were great." I don't remember what they were :)


Allissa's in 3rd.


Alexe Gilles: Cute music! She's smiling! Yey!  Triple flip was nice. Jump combo right on. I love that she's having fun! Next jump good! Interesting combo spin. Spiral sequence. Another great jump! falls on triple flip. Hand down on next jump, but still makes it a combo! falls on next jump. But she's still performing! Combo spin to end. That was a fun program! She looks a disappointed.


Alexe's in 2nd. Final group is warming up.


Just realized that Emily's in 4th!


Mirai's looking good in warm up. Sasha looks nervous and isn't jumping much. Rachel looks good.


Amanda Dobbs: Sparkly dress! Great first jump! She does pairs and singles... wow! falls on triple flip. next jump was amazing. combo spin. jump combo. another spin. beautiful 3 jump combo! falls on next jump. next jump was great.. stumbles on double axel. messes up on something else... spin. She says "Not bad." :)


Amanda's in 1st.


Christina Gao: Triple toe triple toe combo! Great! 3 jump combo, great! Triple salchow double toe combo. Combo spin. I love her! Another great combo spin. Another great jump.. triple lutz! Spiral sequence. Great! Double axel.. barely hung on to the landing. Falls on triple flip. Cute footwork! Double axel, stumble. Combo spin. I really like her!


Ok, I think that Emily's not actually in 4th? (or that would be 5th by now) The results page on icenetwork is only giving rankings for the long  think...


Christina's in 1st! Yea!


Ashley Wagner: 4th after short. OMG I really don't like her dress! I love her music! First combo was nice.. Triple loop was great! Combo spin is great! I am loving the music! And her spiral sequence! Great jump! The dress works with the program! Triple salchow, two footed. Triple loop double axel combo was great. Triple flip, hangs on to double axel. Last jump is great! She's such a better skater then I remembered! Great spin to end! She looks VERY happy with it :) She definitely has an outside shot a making the team!


Ashley looks so happy and nervous in the kiss and cry! 1st place by loads! She's so excited!


Sasha Cohen: Can she do it? Can she do it? Triple lutz double toe.. step out. Another combo... Triple loop.. 2 footed. Nice jump. Spiral sequence. Beautiful! Very pretty spin! Falls on next jump. Sad. Next jump was good. And next! combo spin. Footwork is great. Combo spin to end. Gorgeous! She looks pretty happy, though :)


Still looks happy in kiss and cry. 2nd place!!!???? She's not going to the Olympics... Ashley looks so excited and nervous!


Rachel Flatt:  Double axel, very solid. Triple-triple, barely hangs on. triple lutz, nice. Combo spin. Very solid jump. triple lutz in combo. Spiral sequence. 3 jump combo! Last triple was great! She looks so excited! and happy!


Ashley still looks so nervous!


Rachel looks nervous in kiss and cry.. then she gets a huge score and is soooo excited! I have a feeling that she is going to the Olympics... Ashley's nervous!


Mirai Nagasu: Love her music. 3 jump combo to start!! she's got great choreo. great combo! another great jump. spin... another spin.. pretty! Nice spiral sequence! Great triple lutz. and 2 more great jumps! and another! triple toe loop! and now she's having even more fun :) footwork is fun... combo spin...really nice! THAT WAS AWESOME! She looks SO excited! And even more happy! Her coach looks so happy!


Ashley looks kind of sad and nervous :(


So who's going to win... Rachel or Mirai? I think Mirai... Rachel looks nervous. And Sasha's yawning?


Mirai's saying pleasepleasepleaseplease... and she's second! Rachel's first! Mirai looks happy! Ashley looks disappointed.


Rachel interview with Andrea Joyce. Pretty boring but she looks happy! As always!


That was awesome! So much better than last year! It probably won't be official until tomorrow, but I think that it's safe to say that Rachel and Mirai are going to the Olympics, and that Ashley will be first alternate.


Goodnight!

Ice Dance - Free Dance Live Blog

Replay of original dances first.


Belbin and Agusto: Not sure what to think so far... they're having fun, and I think they've hit all their elements so far. Crazy choreo... is that normal for OD's? I haven't seen many.


Davis and White: I love her costume! Idian dance themed... very original choreo! THAT WAS AWESOME! They look so happy in the "truth booth!" Meryl is talking about stuff they can fix :) I love this team!


Samuelson and Bates: I don't know this team well. American folk theme. Cute choreo, but I've decided that everyone has cute choreo in OD's! Sorry I don't have much to say about them.. they do seem to be hitting their elements! They look excited when they finish :)


Going into the free dance, Davis and White are in first, and Belbin and Agosto are in second by less than 2 points. Samuelson and Bates are waaaayy down in third by more than 10 points. I didn't see the names of the 4th place team, but they're *pretty* close to Samuelson and Bates. 5th place is way behind them.


They just showed a cute fluff piece on Davis/White and Belbin/Agosto.


The final group is warming up... commercial break! ugh! Now we're back. They warm up is  still going on.


Belbin/Agosto: Her costume is waaay over the top. But it is ice dance... Mucis is Ave Maria. Cool flip thingy on his arm :) His shirt has wings :)  Is she singing to the music?? I don't think so... but she's definitely moving her mouth a lot. Very cool spin! Their skating is definitely dynamic... They look happy with it! Edit, very happy! 1st for now, 218.51 total score. Don't remember their free dance score. they look happy.


Navarro/Bomentre (they're the 4th place team): Music is by U2. WOW she was just upside down over the ice and he was skating with her across the rink! I actually like these costumes :) Spin looks good. I like them. I really like their choreo! Correction: LOVE their choreo! Sad cuz they probably wont make the Olympic team :( They looked pretty happy though! The comentators are showing where they'll get deducted and where they'll get points. 186.42. 2nd for now.


Chock/Zuerlein: Slower music then other teams... I don't know this team well either. They're skating really well! They have more elegant choreo than most of the teams. They looked like they had fun! 177.48. 3rd for now.


Davis/White: Bollywood inspired program. I've never seen it, so I'm excited! It's supposed to be awesome :) Music is Phantom of the Opera. Starting with a spin, looks good! Cool lift sequence. I love this music :) Great performance so far :) OMG they had better win!! They look happy and relieved. Their coaches are happy with it :) The commentators can't stop praising them during the replays :) 222.29! They'll win :)


Samuelson/Bates: If they don't mess up, they'll get 3rd and go to the Olympics. I like her dress! Pretty choreo at the beginning! They're doing great. I have a new fave team :) Yikes, she's flexible! Pretty spin :) They look happy! As they should be! The commentators liked it too. Their coach is crying :) 93.73 for the free, don't remember their total, but they're 3rd! I have a very strong feeling that they're going to the Olympics :)


Interview with Davis/White: Not much to say. They still look happy :)


Interview with Samuelson/Bates: Again, boring. Have I mentioned that I don't like Andrea Joyce? (She does the interviews for skating AND gymnastics)

Ladies Short Program, *liveish* Blog

Not really live, since I'm writing this as it's *starting* to end, and it actually happened 2 days ago!


Ashley Wagner: Looks like she's ready to give a good fight! Nice combo.. falls on triple lutz. I like her choreo! very pretty spin. nice spiral... they just said triple axel!!! but i think it was a double? i'll see if i can tell on a replay... they didn't show it on the replay. 4th place. Looks happy! Sounds happy in "truth booth," said her goal was to go for everything, and she definitely did!


Emily Hughes, LIVE thoughts! looking good so far! First jump combo looked good. Doubled a triple lutz, next jump good, nice spiral sequence. Very determined! Pretty spin! LOL was that an imp face?! Looks exited during footwork.. Nice ending. Looks pleased and happy! A bit disappointed as she leaves the ice. looks semi pleased with her scores... 7th place. (8th after everyone went)


I'll keep updating below the dots with my thoughts on what they've already shown, and above if they show anyone else.

* * *

Allissa Csinzy: Don't know why, but I've never liked her skating. Tried to keep an open mind today, though :) I definitely see why she's considered an artistic skater. Her spins are great! I guess her spirals are nice, but I feel like her leg is way out to the side. She fell :( She looks so disappointed! Sad. She's smiling, but not a happy smile. I feel bad for her. Placed 7th.


Christina Gao: OMG she looks so young! She's 15, but will turn 16 soon so she's eligble for the Olympics. I love her spins! I don't love her choreo, but it's better than a lot of stuff we see these days. Her jumps are amazing, but she doesn't hold the landings as long as most of the older skaters... I bet she'll look way better in a few years, and if she can stay healthy, she should challenge for a spot in 2014. She looked so thrilled when she finished! 5th place.


Rachel Flatt: I didn't watch it on tv, but I did watch it yesterday online, so we'll see if I can remember :) She looked like she was having fun, and her jumps were solid. Spins were nice... spirals were nice... sorry I don't remember much! A bit hesitant until the jumps were done, then all out. She's in 3rd.


Sasha Cohen: I now know why I haven't enjoyed the ladies event much for the last few years. Need I say more? She looked great, and her spiral sequence was amazing! :) 2nd place.


Mirai Nagasu: She did great! This is how she skated in 2008 (she was national champ then), but better technique! She looked SO HAPPY at the end! 1st place! She looked THRILLED!


Caroline Zhang: She was great at the beginning, then fell on her second jump and it fell apart :(




They just showed a clip of Sasha Cohen practicing her long program yesterday, and it looked AMAZING except for a fall.


They're doing a preview of the ladies long... one of the commentators likes Sasha :)


I'll try to live blog the ladies free skate tonight. It starts at 9.