#hase volodin

[erinaonice]

HASE VOLODIN I LOVE YOU!!!!

[austerlitzborodinoleipzig]

Favorite 2023/2024 Programs Pairs SP

Pairs event at Worlds was so fucking good even without the Russians. (You'll only see me saying this for pairs. This is the only discipline where Russians were legitimately above the rest). But this season did prove that the field can actually manage without them.

Have to say tho that most the programs aren't really good and we're desperately in need of some good Choreo which is too rare at this point (Cheng Peng save me!).

So here's list if my favourite programs from this season. Rankings are to be taken with a grain of salt.

Honorable mentions go to

Ghilardi/Ambrosini (The Ecstasy of Gold). Choreo did not left an imprint but I love the music choice the costumes and the general vibe. G/A had some great packaging this season.

Ariano Kent/Laliberté Laurent (500 miles). You just can't keep the Canadians away from Sadboi music and this baby pairs came out with the weepy ballad variant of 500 miles. It's an experience for sure.

7th - Yuna Nagaoka/Sumitada Moriguchi - Can’t Take My Eyes of You, by John Lloyd Young, choreo by Cathy Reed

Fun. Charming. Nice to watch. Nothing special but this is one of those feel good programs. The fact that YunaSumi for their first season together have better packaging than RikuRyu is nothing short of tragic.

6th - Anastasia Golubeva/Hektor Giotopoulos-Moore - Architect of the Mind, by Kerry Muzzey, choreo by Jonathan Guerreiro

Recycled from last year. I love the baby Australians so much and this routine show why. Ability to follow the relentless pace of the music. A sense of drama. Good unisson and well matched lines. I especially love the step sequence where their bodies unfurl to the swirls of the music a bit like an accordion. It scratches an itch. Love Nastya's lines and love Hektor's commitment to the performance.

5th - Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin - Stay, by Rihanna, choreo by Paul Bolle and Mark Pillay

Not the most original thing and Virtue/Moir did it better. But Hase/Volodin are not Tessa and Scott, nor do they need to be. It could be a bit bland and tbh if the team were only slightly less talented it would be.

But instead we have a nice, light, romantic program. It goes perfectly well with Minerva's softness. Volodin is very solid but non existent as a performer and that's ok ! They only have to move prettily to the music and it works for them.

4th - Ellie Kam/Danny O’Shea - East of Eden, choreo by Drew Meekins

What good skating skills does to a motherfucker !!!

Even with the tech shortcomings (that throw jump is not even close to ready), when I saw them live in Angers this seasons they blew everyone put of the water with this SP. Skating skills are so rare among pairs skaters and it's so good to see them being rewarded by the judges for it. The sheer ice coverage the breath the ease of their skating is wonderful to see live. And East of Eden, overused as it is, is a perfect match for their brand. The music is suitably intense. Definitely one of the highlights of the season.

3rd - Cheng Peng/Lei Wang - The Storm Driven Sea, by Christopher Tin, choreo by Lori Nichols

Definitely the best choreo of the bunch, gets bumped from first place because Peng/Wang are a new pair and it shows. We sadly did not get the performance that short program deserved. The drama the position, the intensity... Unmatched.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps - Oxygen, by Cirque du Soleil choreo by Julie Marcotte

I HATED the music at the start of the season. The loud breathing triggered my misophonia and the vocals were grating.

I love it ! It's unlike anything else in the current pairs' field. Cirque du Soleil doesn't get more Québécois than that. The step sequence is fun. The lift rocks.

1st - Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel - I Love Rock and Roll, by Joan Jett, choreo by Luca Lanotte

Speaking of rock... Best short of the season hands down. Gorgeous lifts with hard and creative dismount? Check! Massive throw jump? Check! Big twist? Check! Great step sequence with loads of attitude? Check! Music that will make the audience loose it? You bet! Performance levels? Unmatched!

Of fucking course they judges hated it and they were robbed blind at worlds.

[eggplantgifs]

Minerva Fabienne Hase & Nikita Volodin: Stay » 2024 World Championships

[contagiousrhythminmybrain]

Minerva Fabienne Hase & Nikita Volodin, Stay || 2023 Grand Prix Final

[raininyourblackeyes]

Minerva and Nikita should be a mile ahead 😒

[wizard0rbs]

nothing good ever comes out of being a figure skating fan

[misograce]

I‘ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Hase/Volodin are a match made in skating heaven

[stitching-in-time]

Worlds 2024 was amazing and who would have thought that the Pairs would be my other fave event?? Like it kind of felt like pairs was a bit empty for a long time after the well of Soviet-trained Russian skaters ran out, but it's so back now, in a big way!!!

So happy for Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps! They really worked their tails off, and they deserve all of their success. They're not even my faves, but the quality is there, and aside from Deanna making history as the oldest World title winner, she is truly revolutionary in redefining what's possible in the sport. Literally everyone has always believed skating careers should end in your thirties, that it's impossible to skate competitively beyond your mid thirties at all, let alone successfully, and here she is blasting a hole in that narrative. In a sport that's often been dominated by teenagers, it's just amazing to see someone at 40 at the top of her game, achieving so much, especially on home ice. She was crying, I was crying, the commentators were crying, it was a damn good freeskate!

And my faves, Hase & Volodin, making the podium after their semi-disaster at Europeans fills my heart with joy. I've been obsessed with them this whole season, I can't believe they're so good in their first season together! They look like mirror images of each other, they way they move, their body lines, all perfectly matched, and they have the technical content too! They look like they've skated together their whole lives! And they were smiling through almost their whole freeskate!! They radiate joy!! They land side by side triples!! How are they so perfect?! I don't know, but if this is them just starting out, I'm beyond excited to see what they do in the future when they have more experience together.

Miura & Kihara are also amazing and I'm glad they won the silver, I hope they are ok after not attending the medal ceremony!

Also Italy has so many good pair teams now! They've been great all season, and though they didn't do super well at Worlds, I'm sure they'll be back stronger than ever next year. And hopefully they'll have three spots by the Milan Olympics.

Honestly I'm just really glad to see there were so many pairs who did well, and who went for (and landed!) side by side triples, the future of pairs skating is bright and I'm excited for the next Olympics.

[allekha]

Very happy for Deanna & Max becoming the world champions, and also glad for Riku & Ryuichi (good to hear they turned out to be okay after having to miss the medal ceremony) and Minerva & Nikita! Congrats to all of them, it was a great event.

[leahthedreamer]

You did great Minerva and Nikita and FUCK salchows

[erinaonice]

FUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKK LIFTS

[figureskatingfanblog]

Nice Triple Twist. Gorgeous sbs Triple Sals. Wonderful Throw Triple Loop. Wow, that was a good entry into the lift. Lovely lift and wonderful exit. Nice death spiral. Nice sbs spins. Lovely step sequence.

Absolutely stunning program from Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Voldoin of Germany. Just gorgeous from start to finish.

72.10 and into first and the free ahead of Metelkina/Berulava and Kam/O'Shea.

[jennibeultimate]

Personal recap at European Championship - Pairs FS

I guess this is one of the best attended Pairs events all season or even of most European championships! Also Kaunas really impresses with the quality of filming and the flag thing is quite cool.

Can't say the result is what I wanted...

The favorites struggled, first Conti/Macii in the SP and now Mini and Nikita.... wasn't their Europeans but both are great teams and imo overall better than those that placed above them. Anyway congrats to the other two Italian teams! 🥳🇮🇹

CATS WON! 😸😻I am really happy for Matteo Guarise, a European medal on his 10th European championship! This team with Lucrezia Beccari works really well and I like the fun they have with the program - hate the music cuts though. I also like that with their age gap they don't portray a loving couple on ice but go for something different.

I am just glad Luka Berulava/Anastasia Metelkina didn't win honestly...I will never forgive him how he treated his former partner Karina Safina and dumped her so horribly when she was struggling. A silver on the first try as a new team is still admittedly a very good result. I really didn't like the program. I am all in for quirky but this was just weird. I also love Queen music usually but not on them...

Ghilardi/Ambrosini were great! 👏👏👏Finally a really good program for them! Europeans seems to be their competition. A medal last season, a medal this season! I also like the dark Bram Stoker theme, they sell it so well!

I am really sad about Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin 😭😭😭 Their chemistry is spellbinding. And in such a short time they developed so well. Today they were too many mistakes but as they struggled with illness and couldn't train this much, it's still a good achievement honestly. Also pressure was certainly high coming in as GPF champions. This season is just a start to their career and I am really sure there is more greatness to follow! ❤️ How about winning Worlds??? (I may be a bit biased as Mini is from my hometown and her mother and grandparents greeted me at German Nats bc they remembered me from Nebelhorn Trophy 😅, but aside from my bias they just deserve the world)

Hocke/Kunkel also did the best they can in the current condition. 🫶 Robert Kunkel should probably not be skating at all with his severe back injury that also will not really heal if you carry a partner daily around. But I applaud him for not giving up. Annika shines bright like the sun, but she seems to have some mental problem with the 3S. She does them well in practice and well in warm-up and then doubles them in competition or falls. I swear if not for those jumps they would be top contenders for every international medal, but she really has to get her mental state together.

The Hungarian team Pavlova/Sviatchenko are technically superb. They lack a lot of connection to music but I think for the way they are they did well. I do think they were scored quite strictly compared to others but I think the final placement is right. Loved her reaction at the end of the program!

[magicaleggplant]

extremely belated montreal worlds impressions, part 1

i've been meaning to write this for weeks now, but never found the time for it. finally putting some thoughts down in words before i forget everything.

this post covers the pairs and women's events. part 2 will be ice dance and men (if i ever get around to writing it...) warning for extremely unfocused writing; i have been so stupidly busy lately.

ETA: here is part 2

-----------------------------------

PAIRS:

pleasantly surprised by how much i enjoyed pairs at worlds! the short program was remarkably clean, and while the free was messy, there were still a few bright moments. the level of pairs did decrease after the last olympics, but i think many teams have been gradually building up their technical content and skills, and it's good to see teams coming from many small feds. i have to admit that i did not watch many pairs events this season (it's the first discipline i cut when i don't have time to watch everything), but pairs live is much more fun than pairs on screen. i can appreciate their elements much better. in general, my favorite thing about watching live skating is the sense of speed and scale.

miura/kihara: i was nervous as hell for them but they pulled through! i really didn't know what to expect after all of their injury struggles this season. it wouldn't have surprised me if they didn't make the podium, so i'm thrilled for their silver medal. this was my second time seeing them live and it was clear that they weren't at the top of their game - there were a bunch of little mistakes scattered throughout their programs. the free went much better than i hoped. i'm glad they went back to an old program, but i really wish they had started the season with better programs to begin with... (hear me out: have you considered lori nichol for choreo?) but i think at their best, m/k are still the class of the field. their speed and skating skills really, really stand out when you see them live. i cannot stress enough how fast they are; no other team comes close to their speed. their lifts are also very steady (when ryuichi isn't injured, anyway). i was happy that the audience cheered loudly for them even though they were clearly rooting for deanna and max to win. it was a tough season for them but they are such strong skaters, and i really hope the next season goes better. i'm also really glad they were able to get a medal ceremony do-over after the men's ceremony. they looked happy there.

stellato-dudek/deschamps: the crowd was HYPED for them, i couldn't believe how many people came to watch pairs for them, considering it always gets scheduled in the middle of the week! i'm happy for their win, though there was a little bit of home cooking to help out lol. they have great programs this season. it's a bit of the opposite situation with m/k where i really liked sd/d's programs, but their actual skating, not as much. their lack of speed is really obvious compared to m/k. many of their elements feel like a fight instead of effortless. but i was really impressed with how they held up under the pressure of a home worlds. deanna's determination is amazing.

hase/volodin: ok, count me impressed by this new team. they still have a ways to go in connecting with each other, but their elements are really solid and their skating skills aren't bad, either. technically speaking, i'd put them behind m/k but above sd/d in quality. i enjoyed their short program a lot; the free was a bit of a snooze, imo. minerva is a wonderful pairs skater. i'm looking forward to seeing them improve. that one lift entry they do is SO cool.

other notes:

really enjoyed both of hocke/kunkel's programs. they're fun, i'm a fan now.

also enjoyed golubeva/giotopoulos-moore quite a bit

still can't believe cats won euros

peng/wang's throws were too big for this rink. i was very sad at their placement, but cheng is such a wonderful skater and their choreo was excellent, i especially love their free.

-----------------------------------

WOMEN:

a very up and down worlds after a very inconsistent season. so, more or less as expected.

kaori: her fs was a MOMENT. i think the first time i saw kaori live was...2017 skate america? it was her first senior season, and i remember being so impressed by the lightness of her jumps then. the same is true this time, but her growth has been astounding. kaori was not one of my favorite skaters when she was younger; she absolutely is now. while her free skate this season is not my favorite of hers, i love how her range of expression has expanded. her skating is lush, luxurious, she's learned to take her time with the music. and god, her speed. she makes everything look so easy. i'm so happy i got to see this confident, mature kaori win her third world title. the crowd was losing their shit for her, as they should. also love how she was the team mom at the medal ceremony with the two younger medalists. she's such a great role model.

isabeau: i feel like every time someone talks about her, they have to add the caveat that they hate her jump technique. which, yes, i do agree with that. but from now on i'm just going to talk about the positive aspects of her skating, because i think she deserves more of that. it was my first time seeing her live and i liked her! she's musical, her arm movements are beautiful, and she's not slow at all, except on jump entries. her spins are great when she hits them. i appreciate her a lot more after seeing her live. her reaction after her fs was really cute.

chaeyeon: unexpected medalist but i'm happy for her! she is not my favorite among the top korean women but i'm impressed with her improvement this season. her sp is one of my favorites. that kind of quirky program suits her really well. the fs is a bit muted, but i think she does a good job with it as well. her musicality is the less obvious kind, but it's there. she's gradually growing into her own style.

loena: her sp was a lot of fun, the audience really got into it. she can sell a program, alright. loads of charisma and she skates BIG. the fs...well, to be fair, even without the jump mistakes, i never liked it. i appreciate what loena brings to the women's field, but i hope her programs are better next season. maybe a change in choreographer would be interesting?

haein: sirens is a masterpiece. i'm so glad she could skate it cleanly like that at least once. she has my favorite step sequences in the women's field by far. we'll just ignore everything else in the fs except for the step sequence. i love her so much and i want her to win another world medal someday.

mone: her skating skills are a dream, her overall quality is chef's kiss. but when she's nervous, you can really feel it. she skated like she was terrified in the sp and it showed. it detracted from the performance. i'm glad her fs went better. i hope her confidence improves and that this worlds was a good learning experience for her. i randomly ran into her on the concourse and she signed my japanese flag! she’s so tiny and adorable.

hana: on the other hand, hana does not skate scared. she just goes out and does her thing! but to me her skating still feels a bit "small" at the moment. her lutz-toe technique is terrifying... she can also work on her dance skills a bit more, her overall polish. but i love her programs. i still can't believe she made koo koo fun work. i love that she never does conventional "pretty" programs.

other notes:

amber: love her, but it is what it is. her 3a was excellent.

katia kurakova's fs reaction was a great moment. i like that she's trying different styles of music now, but i think she went a bit too far in the "serious" direction. her natural spark feels too muted.

young you: my darling. we all wanted so badly for her to do well... her sp was wonderful, though.

olga mikutina is becoming a new fave of mine. her skating is powerful and she's a good performer!

also love niina petrokina's powerful skating

[raininyourblackeyes]

I didn't expect to be this thrilled for Minerva and Nikita omg I'm so happy they won. Very well constructed programs and amazing performances!

[wizard0rbs]

HASE & VOLODIN GPF CHAMPIONS