Flatt Changing Long Program

Tribune Company's Philip Hersh reports that Rachael Flatt has decided to go back to her long program from last season, "Romantic Rhapsody," rather than sticking with her Debussy music she has been using. Hersh thinks it's a good move:

Rachael Flatt, likely to be the top U.S. woman at next month’s World Figure Skating Championships, has decided to go back to last year’s free skate music, a wise choice for her and an indictment of the sport. Flatt was skating this season to two Debussy tone poems, "The Sea" and "In a Boat," and interpreting them was too ambitious an exercise for a 16-year-old. More importantly, international judges lacked the musical sense to grasp what they were hearing, accustomed as they are to the "Boleros" and "Romeos" and "Toscas" and movie scores that are used ad nauseum in the sport.

I don't think Rachael was connecting particularly well in her long program anyway, so hopefully she will feel more comfortable with the other music.