fsfan1

Could this be and Natalie case? Maybe her words were taken out of context too?
But she made this not first time.
From this interwie i have feeling, that a lot off people was happy to see T-S withdrawall from 4CC. I remember Zhulin interwie after ECh, where he talk - this season canadians could be not so good, like last season. They were the best, but had injury and nobody could say how good they are now. And if V-M will skate with I-K in the same warm-up we will see who is better
Its hard to be champions.

truly

I agree that no one "owns" any piece of music. It's a matter of perception. V/M are the current Olympic champions and no one right now will hear the same cuts of UofCh without making comparisons.
IMO it might be different if it were a pairs' team, or a singles' skater. But an ice-dance team?

Why be seen as a team that's copying another? It makes them look uncreative and desperate. (I like C/L, so this is not a personal issue for me re. V/M's music. I just don't think it's a smart move.)

Avocagirl

Who knows ? Anyway, her French interview before Europeans was pretty clear and she did say some ridiculous things there that were definitely not taken out of context. I was really surprised and disappointed.

It's natural for Zhulin to praise his students - although the V/M-I/K comparison is a bit bold, to say the least. Tessa and Scott's position is a difficult one right now. Not only do they have their titles and reputation to defend, they also have to fight against the same prejudices they were afraid of last year. Everyone knows about her injury and they'll be looking for mistakes even where there aren't any. But I'm counting on their ambition and focus and hoping the extra month of training will prove helpful.

fsfan1

I agree with you. Thats why to win title first time is easy, then made this in second time.
A lot off people look at them during traning session and try to find this little things which show she have ingury, didnt have a lot off time for traning. And some of people start all this speculation about there chances at WCh - they could be on top again..... This is hard, but i think they are very strong now, they have greate families and friens, who love them. So they could do this - they will bring a lot happiness for FS fans

variationlunge

Predictions!

I don't follow some of these teams as closely as I follow Tessa and Scott, but hey.

1. Tessa/Scott (this is a complete random guess. I want them to win, but if they come second then I'm okay with that too.)
2. Meryl/Charlie
3. Nathalie/Fabian
4. Shibutanis (yeah, I would LOVE them to place well. Really well. But I thought bronze predictions would be tempting fate.)
5. Bobrova/Soloviev
6. Weaver/Poje (I think W/P will edge out over C/P.)
7. Crone/Poirier
8. Elena/Nikita
9. Anna/Luca
10. Madison/Greg

Dance_Lovely

Have to catch up, but I thought I'd post this just because I think it's cute:

kris9918

Plus Zhulin talks. A lot. In fact I'm of the opinion that he never shuts up and likes to throw in as many underhanded slams at other teams as he can over the course of a season. But eh, it is what it is. A competitive sport where emotions run high. And those kinds of comments get attention. Comparing I/K to Tessa and Scott is a joke. There's nothing identical about the two teams except they were both Junior World Champions.

I guess I don't find Nathalie's comments to be that big a deal. She's confident in her and Fabian's programs and abilities and thinks they can contend for gold. She doesn't believe Tessa and Scott will win because she firmly believes that she and Fabian will be fighting for that first spot with them in addition to Meryl and Charlie. Fair enough. That's a good mindset to have going into this kind of competition. To me it's no different than reading Scott's past comments where he's declared that he and Tessa are the best in the world.

truly

Confidence and a positive mind-set are all good, but to me Nathalie's comments are different from Scott's in that she is not only saying she expects to win, she also gets in a dig at the competition. There's no excuse for the things she said about Faiella.

Scott's comments don't bother me so much because he's not at the same time putting down other skaters.

Avocagirl

Yeah, maybe it was her attitude that reminded me of her past comments which had bothered me. Plus, I'm just not seeing them as world champion material, although I do recognize their hard work, especially this season.

ETA: Truly, I completely agree.

kris9918

I'm a little confused. In the LifeSports article I don't see any comments about Federica Faiella.

PaperGirl

I think it was something before they're referring too? I don't know much about that team personally, so for me, it just sounds like the mindset of a top team. Zhulin, on the other hand ... I'm going to have to agree with Kris. Comparing I/K to V/M? Seriously? No. Just ... no.

... For some reason this had me want Scott and Tessa to really win ... IDK, when I was first venturing into their past history their silver/bronze seemed like such inspiring, fairy-tale stories and ... I can't help but hope for another one of those for them this year, because even now, I still think they're the best in the world. Because there IS a lot of naysayers (not here, but in the FS community) with them and I can't help but hope they come out with a stellar performance and win .

Also ... just watched Anna and Luc (?)'s FD ... why, why would you use that piece of music so soon after the Olympics?! Although I don't think anyone in their right minds would want to touch Mahler at least in the next four years.

Avocagirl

Those comments appeared a few months ago in a French newspaper and someone posted the article on FSU. As far as I can remember, the interviewer asked Nathalie what she thought about the other couples competing with them at Europeans, and she managed to put everyone down, in addition to saying that Faiella is physically unattractive and Sinead Kerr lacks elegance. I don't remember the details exactly, I just know it felt weird to read those opinions which she really should have kept to herself.

kris9918

Ah. Thanks for the clarification. My earlier post was only in relation to Nathalie's comments in the LifeSports article.

truly

Yes. Sorry, I should have clarified.

I wish I could find a link, but for sure Nathalie did not come across as a gracious competitor.
IIRC, she also said Faiella had no sex appeal.

I can't help hoping that V/M do far better than Zhulin's teams seem to expect.

Avocagirl

Me too. Tessa and Scott have something to prove, to themselves and to the rest of the world. I hope that, even if they don't win, we'll see them skate two impressive programs.

Anyway, not all Zhulin's students think alike. Elena Ilinykh adores Tessa and Scott. She said she spends hours watching their programs on YouTube and that she hopes to be able to skate like Tessa someday. I thought that was very cute.