I decided to cover both skill and style in the same post as I watch the Ladies Long Program.
Let's start with a word on the Americans. They were quite a disappointment. They all did pretty well in the short program, although their difficulty levels prevented them from earning better scores, but too many falls in the long, and not enough energy. I was so sad to see the wind knocked out of Kimmie Meissner's sails - it doesn't seem like she can shake off these types of performances anymore. I guess she'll need some more time working on her jumps with Richard Callaghan.
Also, it was quite valiant of Miki Ando to attempt the long program, so sad she had to withdraw.
Carolina Kostner: Great start on the triple jump combo. But...the whole thing turned into quite a mess. I don't really like to see people mess up like that and still win a medal, because it seems that means the level of competition is pretty low. As far as her costume, she did not disappoint. I tried to ignore the fact that it was designed by Roberto Cavalli (although the skirt was quite cute and very Cavalli). But, the rest of the outfit was a hot mess. I thought for a second that it was the same costume I wore at my second grade tap dance recital but then they went and mentioned Cavalli so I guess not.
Yu-Na Kim: First of all, she skated to Miss Saigon, which I'm pretty sure she chose just to get me in her corner. It worked. After an impressive triple/triple combo, she later popped one jump and was a bit shaky on some landings, but overall I was very impressed. I was a bit shocked that Kim didn't beat Kostner.
Kiira Korpi: Terrible...I cannot even tell you. Also sad was seeing Dick Button turn on Korpi through the program. He LOVED her at the beginning of the program, and even went so far as to try to say that one of her falls shouldn't even matter that much, because she did not fall on her shoulder and slam into the boards and disrupt the program for several seconds (he really said this, no joke). But then by the end of the program, with all of the falls, he actually said she had no business being in the last group of skaters, which was kind of sad, but true. Her outfit was gorgeous though. It was a very similar color to Kostner's but just such a pretty outfit with nice use of crystals!
Mao Asada: Wow, that triple axel takeoff fall was scary! And boy, ABC loved showing it to me like three times in slo-mo. She did slam right into the boards. And then she came back and stayed on her feet completing triples the whole way. Now THAT'S how you come back from a fall. I was so happy to see her win and I think she definitely deserved it. She had a burgundy/mauve type outfit going on. It wasn't too bad, but mostly I felt it made her look quite grown-up, which was nice.
Yukari Nakano: I will tell you about the program when I regain my sight.
Ok, back. Awesome triple axel! Cleanest free skate of the night and I think the fact that she didn't win a medal is enough reason to completely revamp the scoring system. Apparently, the judges did not give her credit for all of her triples.
Button mentioned that the marks given to Kostner were interesting in how they fit into the "Asian invasion." Don't ask me to figure that remark out or what he was implying...but either way, the problems with figure skating judging just got even more blatant.