sears canadian open 2000

�Andrea Chempinski
http://www.scratchspin.com/

Ok, I'm safely back from the Canadian Open and have recovered from getting next to no sleep for two days. The kitten has been played with and has stopped sulking at mommy for leaving him alone for two days. It is now time for a review. As usual I was taking photographs so this is all from memory, no notes. Any mistakes in description or order of events are entirely by accident.

Men Short Programs

1. Brian Orser - "Concierto de Aranjuez"

Brian pulled out an old piece of music for him in a reworked short program format. I've always liked the music and thought it worked really well as a short. He had on cranberry colored pants, a creme billowy shirt and black waist sash with a tassel. He went for the triple axel but crashed on it unfortunately (though it was one of those fall and pop right up kind of spills). Nice 3toe and 2axel. The program was well designed - lots of great Brian footwork and flair.

2. Yagudin - Chopin

Alexi used his short program that we've seen all season. He stumbled or fell on the quad (can't remember) but managed to tack on a 2-toe. 3axel and 3lutz were pretty spiffy. It's hard to say much more about this particular skate - it was good, but the two other live times I've seen it have blended them all together.

3. Steven Cousins - ??

Glad to see Steven pull out a new short program - I was getting a little tired of his blues one (and I always thought it made him look too stiff). After the disaster at the Masters, it was great to see Steven really pull off an excellent short. He's got a real flair for the program and sold it quite well. Nice, but two-footed 3axel with 2 toe for his combo, big 3flip (always a nice jump from him) and a 2axel. Costume was black pants with black v-neck shirt. Great program!

4. Kurt Browning - ??

Kurt's costume was cute, but reminded me of the geeky man in the office stereotype. Short sleeve white shirt (oxford style but it was a form fitting knit-like material) with skinny black tie and black pants. Kurt was hamming it up with the audience before it even started and was down at our end of the ice doing some weird marking off of the ice - he took like 10 steps to the right, then 10 forward and then 10 left to get to his spot - very funny. Went for the 3 axel but crashed, landed a nice 3toe and 2axel. The jumps weren't the point of the program - it was the footwork. And man what footwork there was! It was fast, quick, complicated and just a joy to behold!

5. Todd Eldredge - "Exotica"

Todd has the awful luck of skating after Kurt and while I'm sure he knew it was going to take forever for all the flowers to be done with, he had more bad luck. He got into his start position, only to have the announcer ask him to wait while they collected an errant flower stem. Then back in position to have a long time til the music started - just as he looked up to wonder what was going on it started, so he entered the program a beat or so behind usual. He went for the quad, but crashed instead. Unlike previous shorts, Todd didn't let the fall break his concentration and landed a nice 3axel and 3lutz. Spins as always were first-rate. The footwork sequence wasn't as sharp as it was at Skate Canada but was still nice. He was wearing black pants and the black "Pity the Child" shirt.

6. Emmanuel Sandu - Jazzy music

This was my first time seeing Emmanuel and so I finally got to see what the Canadians have been rambling on about for all these years. He has some wonderful fluid movement. He suprised the heck out of me with a huge, light 4toe-3toe combo - had to ask my seatmates if I really saw that - very quick rotation and nice line. Unfortunately I think he surprised even himself as he came around for the 3axel and singled it out horribly and barely hung onto a 2axel after that. Costume was purple on purple satin striped pants, light blue shirt and dark suspenders.

Men Interpretive Free

(I know I got the skate order wrong, but for the life of me I couldn't remember it correctly so I just followed the SP order)

1. Brian Orser - "Against All Odds"

I was told that seeing this program live would make the difference since I wasn't liking it too much from the TV broadcast and boy they were right! Live, you really hear and feel how the program starts out slower and then builds as it goes on. Once again Brian shows off his incredible feet with great footwork and connecting bits throughout the program. Highlight was the closing footwork sequence to the saxophone. During warm-up Brian was having trouble getting the backflip-3toe combo - he kept popping to a 2toe. But in the program he gritted his teeth and nailed a great 3toe on the end. Also a 2axel, open axel and 3sal. He was wearing black pants and the black sheer shirt with the silver work across the front panels. He looked really happy after his skate

2. Alexi Yagudin - "Gladiator"

Now I love the LP version of this program, but even on the third live viewing I still hate the exhibition footwork. He's gone back to the metal silver knives he had at the Masters instead of those plastic gold things he used at Skate Canada. Huge 3axel that wasn't long, but it was really vertical - mighty impressive! Nice 3lutz, but popped the 3loop badly. As usual, some great footwork (at least one eligible has great feet). Somehow for me the passion just isn't there in the IF version that is there in the LP.

3. Steven Cousins - "Belfast Child"

For me this was *THE* highlight of the evening. This has always been my favorite Steven program, but I've never seen it live, boy was it worth waiting for. As a competitive program it was a bit different than the version he uses for exhibitions but it was still lovely. The program had lots of long lines and flow and the jumps just seemed to melt into the program. The little footwork kicks and turns to the music were really timed so well. I think this is just one of those programs that reaches out and just grabs the audience and makes them a part of the program. Needless to say I just loved it! He was wearing black pants and a blue-gray billowy shirt that was sort of sheer.

4. Kurt Browning - "Don't Fence Me In"

A classic Kurt program and it indeed brought down the house. The version of this song he used had lots of character and though the costume was over-the-top country (complete with spurs on his skates!!!) Kurt played it rather straight and it's a real winner. The series of four 2axels at the end was really amazing! Can't wait to see this program again.

5. Todd Eldredge - "13th Warrior"

Todd debuted his new costume for this event, wow was I a bit shocked. He's got navy pants and a leather top! The top is styled as a high collared vest over a blouse. The sleeves are metallic bronze and the vest a metallic/snakeskin looking cobalt blue. Quite a material departure! It's an interesting look, though personally I'd have gone with fabric sleeves and leather vest, not all leather and the pants are not quite the right shade of blue to match. Nice style though. Todd did a different version of this program than he did at the Masters that opened with a 3axel-2toe, 3lutz, 3toe (which to me seemed odd, but it wasn't a quad attempt nor a flip - wrong entrances - a plain 3toe just seemed odd there), 3axel and 2 axel. As usual some nice connecting moves. He skated it well, but somehow it just didn't sell as much as usual, don't really know why, but I was missing that "wow" feeling this program usually gives me.

6. Emmanuel Sandu - ??

Don't have much memory of this program other than the costume that was blue pants with a two-color top. He did have some nice spins and flow, but there was another bobble on the axel attempt. After his skate he had an odd "Baiul moment" while he sort of laid there curled up and communing with the ice. It seemed a little strange to say the least.

Final Standings

1. Yagudin
2. Browning
3. Eldredge
4. Orser
5. Sandu
6. Cousins (Hey! We demand a recount...)