This episode of the Rocker Skating Podcast is brought to
you by John Wilson Blades. For more than 329 years, John
Wilson has been perfecting the art of blade making in
Sheffield, England. And while their history runs
deep, their eyes are always on the future.
That's why they created The Revolution, the world's most
advanced figure skating blade. It is the perfect fusion of
centuries old craftsmanship and cutting edge technology,
delivering unmatched precision, responsiveness and performance.
That's why the majority of world and Olympic champions trust John
Wilson, because when history meets innovation, you get the
revolution. Welcome to the Rocker skating
podcast sponsored by John Wilson Blades.
This is a couple of things. One, it's our final, final recap
of the season. And two, if you are on video,
the one and only Michelle Ellis is also on video.
She exists. This is not just some AI person.
Hi. Hi, Michelle, How are you?
We missed you. We missed you in Prague.
Oh, I missed. I missed seeing all of you guys.
I don't know if I missed watching hours and hours and
hours of skating, but you know, I missed the party.
I had a fun time, I really did. It was I, I think, I think part
of it is really the competition itself was very much a
celebration for a lot of people. And you saw that in the
atmosphere, you saw that in the way people were skating.
It was a lot. It was, it was really, it was
really a a good time. I mean, I was marvelling at the
fact that for a fourth World Championships in a row we were
having gigantic crowds. Wow.
This was this was sold out. Wow, that's awesome.
Yeah, Yeah. The whole thing was sold out.
I think that I think there was some stat that it was like
125,000 tickets were sold over the OR at least 100 a 125,000
seats were filled or something like that.
I got it. It was on the ISU WhatsApp
mailing list. They sent something about this.
Yeah, 111,922 spectators across all sessions.
It's pretty good. Pretty amazing.
I mean, it was, you know, Boston
is always going to be the standard in terms of like crowd
noise and like enthusiasm. But this crowd was great.
It was, it was supportive. It was an interesting mix.
It was certainly a bunch of figure skating fans, but also a
lot of people who were, you know, locals, Czech locals, you
know, Europe locals, right? And it was a, it was a different
crowd than it was in Milan. And, and the, the, the way that
the crowd was reacting to different things was also very
interesting. I mean, there, there was a point
when I was like, this crowd does not clap for twizzles.
Like you know how you know, and usual, usual competitions is
like people do the twizzles and it all of a sudden is like, Oh
my God, they did it like it, like it, it was like it didn't
faze them. They were also very intense on
clapping along with the music. Doesn't matter what music it
was. Yeah, anything with like a, a, a
general beat, they will try to do it.
But the problem was they kept, they kept getting faster and
faster every single time. And so it so like they, they got
off sync within about 4-5 seconds.
It was very endearing, yeah. Especially with like music cuts,
you know, like the part you can clap to.
Yeah, changes pretty quickly usually.
They were trying. They were really trying and they
were the the IT was Ashley Wagner and Tom Mushverner who
were the in arena hosts for the whole thing.
And every single time they really emphasized standing
ovations. I'm not sure what it was like
that that it was a thing that like at the beginning of every
session they were like, if you see something great, don't yeah,
don't be shy to stand up. Like they were really, really
intense on it. And and so that that there were
a lot of standing ovations. I think because of that, you
know, I think I do think that now that the ISU has done the in
arena hosting and the like entertainment value piece of
this for so many season or not so many, but so many
competitions. I guess now it's starting to
feel like it's resonating. And and you know, Ashley
obviously has done this a number of times and and there there was
a lot, there was a lot of it was it was, it was really good.
I I thought it was really well done.
So cool. Yeah, I'm still kind of.
Sad that I don't get to hear their interviews on the world
feed. I I wish that they would include
those. Maybe like do a split screen or
something. I don't.
Know I know I know I do wonder if they're going to try to do it
in the future but I mean, you know from NBC, they they do the
interviews while the the. Replays.
Replays are happening and and they they they do it as quickly
as possible so that when the replays are stopped, they can go
back and it's ready, like it's kind of ready to go.
But I agree like it was it. It is interesting to see a lot
of the the different skater reactions, personalities and
such. And now, now they're expecting
it. Now they know.
Like the first couple of times it was like.
What am? I going to what am I going to
say? And like they're already.
Yeah, like they want to do it, Yeah.
Even even if they didn't know what to say, they will always
default to thank you to the crowd.
And it it helps reinforce the cycle of like the crowd
appreciate the skaters and the skaters appreciate the the
crowd. Like it was really fun.
I I maybe it's a little Stockholm syndrome of me, like
kind of like the 90s music for the rhythm dance, but I after
all this, I kind of like it. Yeah.
I kind of like it. You know, it's, it's become a
routine now. Mm.
Hmm. Yeah, Ashley's enthusiasm was
always contagious, so. Yeah, yeah, Ashley's.
Ashley's gotten better and better at doing this and I and
and it it it's really, it's really great that she's the the
person that they they bring in. Mm Hmm.
Yeah, there was. There was one hilarious instance
of Nikki Voorhies from. The oh I read about this.
Yeah, yeah. For some reason in the bio that
they had, it said that this was her debut at Worlds.
When she went to World in 2016. I think it's because that was so
long ago. The ISU bio doesn't have it on
the chart because it starts after that.
I think it's, I think it's like what I saw Ashley said that she
did. Is she just looking at the ISU
bio and like it's completely blank for World.
So yeah. Yeah, that one she.
Assumed it was her debut. Yeah.
And so she was like, fair. Assumptions.
Very, very fair. But Ashley was like, how, what
was it like to be on the, you know, at the your debut world?
And Nikki was like, well, I was at the world when you won the
silver medal. So we were competitors.
And Ashley was like, Oh no. That stuff is fun, though.
That's fun. It is.
Yeah, it was. Fun.
I I I thought, yeah, I thought a lot of those were really were
really good. The the the Czech ones
especially were like out of control.
So it was, it was great. All right, before we get into
the World Championships, we have some awards or what award I
guess because on the heels of the ISU awards, which we will
talk about, that happened yesterday.
As you all know, or maybe not know but many people know, the
Rocker Skating March Gladness costume of the season happened
over the past two weeks. Thank you to all of you who
voted, who put in nominations. I thought it was a really
phenomenal set of 64 costumes that you all got into the
brackets. I had people emailing me asking
me if next time we do this they can actually do their own
predictions for the brackets, which is what you do in March
Madness in the US when you do college basketball.
So stay tuned for that. More fun and more, more games to
come with with with Rocker skating.
So it came down to the semi finals was Cowrie versus Alyssa
and Cowrie versus Amber and Cowrie.
Both times got eliminated on a 53% to 47% vote.
Wow. Yeah, your voters were
consistent. Apparently.
Apparently very consistent and I, I actually, I actually
checked, I, I, I did it such that I don't see the, the, the
people and what they voted for, but I can see the combinations
of people of, of, of the votes. And it wasn't like a straight
down. I'm just, I'm not, I'm not
voting for calorie or I am voting for calorie.
There was a lot of like differences, which is very
interesting. So so that it ended up being a
Lisa McKinnon costume battle between Alyssa Lou's free skate
dress from the Olympics and Amber Glenn's short program
dress, which she's had all season and.
With the best illusion fabric ever done.
Yeah, I mean, it was very well done.
It ended up the the tally at the end of the two weeks of voting
was 150,000 plus votes that yeah, that went across the, you
know, 10 days of voting, which was very cool.
Very. Cool seats were filled at
Worlds. Wow, there are a lot of repeat
customers on that one, but costume of the season for March
Gladness 202526 with a let me just get let me get this right
with a final total of 66% of the vote Amber Glenn's.
Whoa, let's. Go like like a prayer short
program costume that was the winner.
Awesome. I mean, that costume was
unbelievable. I, I it, it absolutely was one
of the best costumes of the season and, and the fans
obviously liked it and it was it was great.
It was also one of the three final three of the ISU Awards
Costume of the of the year, and it ended up being Ilya's free
skate costume that got the costume of the year there so.
No offense, but that's crazy. I mean no contest.
That's Amber's all the way. I.
I still I still like actually I I like both of Elias costume.
I really liked the original 1. I really like the original 1.
They're not necklaces, like, and perfectly matched illusion
fabric and just this incredible, like, mesh and just fishnet
material. I mean, yeah.
I mean, I I, yeah. Go Amber.
What does Amber win? Amber wins the recognition of
being the first one. She's the People's Choice.
The People's Choice Awards. Oh my God, is this the People's
Choice Awards? It might be, it might be,
although I I still honorary mention to Christina Carrera and
her perfume free dance dress, which I think was stunning and
had a little narrative of its own at Worlds this year, which I
guess we'll get into. But yeah, she had a beautiful, a
beautiful response to shedding a pedal during her program that it
was the price of beauty to get a costume deduction.
So. OK, Speaking of People's Choice
Awards, now that world is over. Go to
live.ruckersgame.com/games/pots and what POTS stands for is
performance of the season. So we're going to have another
bracket style fan voted contest I guess of what the performance
of the season was for 20/25/26. I already have over 2500
nominations. I know, I literally just put it
up like I don't know what like 10 hours ago.
No, that's not true. 20 hours ago.
I don't know. I.
Haven't even put mine in yet. Yeah.
Yeah, I'm sure someone got it. That's that's fine.
I'm sure it's in there. Well, you it, it is important
that that people do vote because if, if or not vote nominate
because it is based on the number of nominations that go in
there. Can I do more than one?
You can do more than one, which is why there are so many I.
Think you don't? Mine are.
So, so we will start the voting later this week.
I need to obviously tabulate all of the nominations, but it's
it's fun. I-11 thing to note, it is
performance. Note that the word performance
of the season, not program of the season, because what I want
you all to do and think about is how it was stated, where it was
skated, the significance of it, you know, the story behind it,
everything, right? Like the things that really made
us jump out of our seats and you know, really celebrate the
skaters and their performances. So it could be junior, it could
be senior, it could be domestic, international, be any
competition that has to be in the 202526 season.
So again, go to live.rockerskating.com/games
slash pots, pots. It is the pots.
It'll be fun. ISU awards.
It was interesting. It was my first gap.
It was it was my first banquet. Yeah, you went.
I know they, they've invited me for a couple of years and I'm,
I'm like, and they literally will invite me the, the week of
worlds and I'm like, I have flights that I booked already.
Actually, I can't change it. It was, it was, it was a, it was
a good time. They, they really, they, they do
a good job of celebrating the skaters and making sure they
have a good time. And the, the, the awards now I
will be very frank that the awards, when they first came out
a couple of years ago, I was sort of like, what is, what is
this weird gimmicky thing? And now that it's been around
for a couple of seasons, maybe again, it's Stockholm syndrome.
It feels like an institution now.
And you know, they've made tweaks to it.
They've changed the categories, they've changed the ways that
they've done, you know, all of the things, right?
So it, it, it feels, it feels like a nice celebration of, of
the work that the skaters and the choreographers and the
coaches and the costume designers and everything have
have, have done. I think they need a skater's
choice category where like. Only the skaters.
Wolf boat. Yeah, that'd be interesting.
I like that. Maybe I'll do that.
Yeah, it's fun. All right, let's talk about
worlds. You know, you and I were going
on and on and on about how post Olympic worlds is weird and
strange things happens like post Olympic worlds and watch out,
things are going to be, you know, things might be a little
unexpected or a lot unexpected. And we've seen that before and,
you know, we didn't have that much of it.
No, no. I feel like the only place that
happened was like in the men's short program.
Yeah. Otherwise it was not not that
crazy of a. It was not that crazy, but it
did come down to the third to last program for us to have a,
what adjective should I say, a doozy of a call to from the
technical panel. That was, yeah, that was, I
mean, wow, like. I literally, I literally sat
there being like, we are three programs away from finishing and
this happens. Yeah, I think, I think the event
was mostly defined by the lack of calls in other disciplines up
until that moment. And then it was like, this is
what you're coming after. Like not one queue for Nina
Pinzrone anywhere but Lyla and Lewis lift they've been doing
all season Illegal. Yeah, yeah.
Let's start there. Let's start with the ice dance
because we we can't not talk about the thing that everybody
was talking about at the very end of that competition.
Well, so this season I feel like has really been marked dance,
like judging, calling wise in by its unpredictability.
And everyone's been really frustrated by it because you
have skaters that have been competing and have no issues.
And then we'll show up at an event and then get a weird call.
And it's happened to a lot of people.
I mean, people at the top and it's been interesting.
And then this is one thing that is Lila and Louis have this
stationary lift, rotational lift combo with opening their
freelance where Louis lifts Lila above his head, but he his arms
are out to the side. So so as though like he can't
straighten them like she's up, but they're like they're like
wide. So he's got a bend in his elbow.
It's not straight arms. So it's legal and all season, no
problem, no problem, no problem. They do it at worlds.
It's called an illegal element. They lose the variation from
that position. So they get a 2 point deduction
and a loss of level on that lift and I think it cost them four
points. Mark said they were coming in at
1:27 when they left the ice. So, so there were two things
that happened. It wasn't just that, it was the,
so the, the lift, the lift level cost them probably a half a
point to like maybe it's .75 or something like that because I
think it came in at 15 and we ended up at 14 point something
and and then there was a 2 point deduction.
When I was looking at the original numbers, they were at
high 120 sevens and so, so the lift cost them about yeah,
exactly. They they if had that original
set of numbers stood, it would have been second.
But the thing was, and I've I saw this one real time.
I did not see the lift real time, but in the twizzles,
Lewis's leg on the first set of twizzles did not go high enough
as he was swinging up and down on the straight leg.
And you have to be, in order to get the feature on it, you have
to have your leg has to be at a certain level.
And I think it's it, it, it's got to be some number of
degrees. And, and I knew they were going
to review that and they did. And then I think there was also
a he also did a a a switcheroo of edges on one of his twizzles.
Maybe it's it was the the the the right for it outside?
Yeah. And, and we were talking about
how Lila's twizzles have been the liability.
Hers was fine. Hers was the best that she's
done in in in a long time. Well, I'd say this calendar
year. Yeah, yeah, yeah it.
Was a little bit like very much like I'm going to get through
this, but. She did it.
But she got through it, yeah. She got through it, but Lewis's
twizzles went down to levels and that was another point and 1/2.
So all said that was the four points, 4/4 to 4 1/2 points that
that they lost on, on those two things in the mixed zone.
Afterwards, Lewis Lila was like, Oh yes, I, we are, we, we
talked, we talked to the, the, the panel and they said it was
the arms. And Lewis literally right right
after said, that's impossible. I can't, I can't straighten my
arms. And what was interesting was I,
I watched the old, the old versions of it in the other
competitions versus the new version of it.
And there was a point in this one where it looked like right
when he was getting her up, he went a little bit too far.
And like, instead of it lifting like this, it lifted like that,
you know, and, and it locked, it locked for a split second.
And I think that's what they called.
And, and what was also part of this whole thing that you
shouldn't see on on the screen, right, was that the, the levels
were going up and down and up and down because the, the three
people on the technical panel didn't agree.
And so they had to basically it was a, it was a vote of two to
one right, of whether or not to call these things.
And originally that stationary lift was called a level 1 and
then it went back up to a Level 3.
So the, the votes were what they were.
And that's, that's, that's how it all ended up.
And and then the two point for for the for the illegal element
of the straight arms. Yeah, yeah.
And as a result, they finished fourth, 4th, 5th in the
freelance and 4th overall. And we're very unhappy about it.
I mean, the thing with the arm, like on one hand, yes, they've
been taking that risk all season and they were always at the
mercy of the panel to say his arms, not his arms, not bent
illegal. But I, I, I'm didn't bring my
computer with me. I was in LA this weekend.
So I chose to watch this live on a giant big screen TV and not
have my phone. So I was just watching it and I
didn't notice that when it happened.
And then I noticed Lila posted a video to her story of like an
Instagram her of a fan video of her that left from the other
side of the rink. And then so I watched it very
closely, like having known this happened, and it didn't look
like he really straightened it to me.
I mean, maybe in the angle the judges had, it looked like he
locked it. But it he's got his leave on,
you know, it's like. I know, I know, I think.
You need to be sure before you. I don't know.
I know, I know. It's it, like you said, they
happened. It's it's, it's right on the
edge. They're playing with fire,
right, Like, and and it's, it's not like they haven't been told
that this there's a risk in doing that lift.
So you know, it. I, I, I just, it's one of those
things where it just feels disingenuous for the the nickel
ending and diming to happen right at the one of the biggest
competitions of the season. And they're like punishing
innovation, you know, like the rules are what they are so
people can push the boundaries and do unique things.
And it's like, not to bring up gymnastics again, but we had
something like this happen in Paris with Sabrina Voina.
I don't know how to say her last name.
I don't remember how to say it. I did at the time we were
producing it, putting on the on TV.
But she had, you're not allowed to put your foot on the floor
exercise outside of the line. And she had a piece of
choreography where she put her toe in the corner and swung her
heel around the outside. Didn't touch, but someone saw it
and called it as a step out of bounds, but it wasn't.
And then she didn't properly appeal it.
And then because it wasn't properly appealed, she kept that
deduction. And then she never got a medal.
And it's like she's being creative artistically and you're
being excessively punitive because of something you didn't
see correctly. You know, it's just sort of like
where, how, how much are we going to enforce these little
boundaries? Like how strict are we going to
be? There were some angles where you
can you thought you you could see her foots, like actually
touch the floor outside. I well, when you had the, the,
the, the NBC camera, like it was right behind her when we did it,
we had the view of it like she did not touch outside.
It's like she didn't. It may be the shadow of her foot
did, but her foot didn't. Yeah, I.
Anyway, it's like. Yeah.
That was a big it's like we ended with the scandal at the
end and then the British Skating Federation filed like a protest
and the ISU was immediately like lol, no.
So yeah, anyway. That didn't happen.
So yeah, yeah. So that's what we ended up with.
I I was so busy trying to figure out what happened that I didn't
even watch the last two. And I still haven't yet, because
I am. So.
I am so skating skating out that I have not even tried.
I did what I heard and I I'd be interested to hear what what
your thoughts were. What I heard was that Wuthering
Heights was good, but not great like there was, there was, it
felt like a program that that needed time because obviously
they just brought it back to two to three weeks ago and, and they
it needed more time and, and that Forney Beaudry and
Cicerone's free dance was much better than it was at the
Olympics. Oh yeah, so Piper and Paul bring
back Wuthering Heights. I mean, I I love seeing it
again. And there's some cool highlight
mode, especially like the the double cantilever they do is so
cool, but it really needed more time in the oven.
Like I think these programs are hard.
And when you haven't had the reps with it, it just you could
kind of see it once they went out to perform it that.
Yeah. And I honestly, I feel like they
got kind of lucky with Lila and Louis having the issues that
they did because they left some points on the table.
I think Piper and Paul did it in just, you know, just taking that
that kind of a risk. But I mean, it worked.
It was great to see the program again.
I very much enjoyed it. Yeah, forget them to get there,
I think. Was it their fifth world medal?
It was great. Laurence and Guillaume were
unbelievable. I mean, I've talked to you a lot
about how I feel like in Milan, when I was watching, they didn't
compete as well as they practiced.
I really felt like they were competing stronger here.
I really felt like Yelm especially was really pushing it
to the edge. I mean, it's like watching it.
Unbelievable how like how technically strong they are and
the like the depth of the edges they can hit and the way they
can hold and the, the, the length of time they hold them
and just the, the cleanliness. It was, it was like
overwhelmingly great. It was so sensational.
I mean, that's like, that's like how they were practicing when I
was, you know, watching them in Milan.
And it was just kind of like no one's in the same building as
this. No one's no one's competing with
this. And then because when they
competed it, they didn't compete it the way they were practicing
it. It's like sort of like made you
doubt, you know, but this was just like out of this world.
It was it was awesome. And, you know, before this
competition, they had a lot of questions about will they
continue? What's their plan?
And they were very like, oh, we have to talk about it.
We don't know. I'm going to be very upset if
they don't do another season at least.
Like it's it's, it's unbelievable to watch.
I mean, no one is doing it at that level.
It's just it's yeah, it's incredible.
And I also thought the rhythm dance was was great, too.
That was. That's at least the one that I,
I watched and it was, it really was a lot better than what they
did at the Olympics. I I both of the programs at the
Olympics were not anywhere near as good as the one that they did
here. Well, I woke up and I saw 92
because I, I did not wake up early enough to see it.
I woke up and I saw 92 and I was like, Oh my God, come on.
And then I watched it. I was like 92 wasn't enough.
They could have gotten more. Oh God, it was so good.
I, I feel like I because they're so new and they haven't competed
that consistently throughout the season.
I don't like have it in my brain that they're as good as they
are. And then every time I see them,
I'm just like, Oh my God, like, whoa.
So. Yeah, yeah.
And, and Piper and Paul's supermodel was not as strong as
it was at the Olympics either. So I was a little bit a little
bit messy in in some spots. I wouldn't say it is was as good
as it was in the individual event at the.
End of the individual event, Yeah, yeah, the team, The team
event was. Yeah, as far as the rest of the
season has gone for them, I thought it was a pretty strong
effort. Yeah, yeah.
Which is also crazy because in the at the Olympics, in the
individual event, his costume came off right at the end and
she caught it, which was like, like the, the, the number of
things that had to have happened for that to happen.
Incredible reflexes. Yes, absolutely.
Well, Emily Azingis and Vadim Kolesnik get the bronze in their
debut at. Worlds unbelievable.
I mean, to be fair, it's not like they haven't been.
I mean, they haven't been to the world just because US Figure
Skating's dance field is so deep.
But still, that's like crazy. And I also would like to point
out that we both predicted it. So it was weird because when
after the rhythm dance, when they were in fourth, I was like,
oh, well, if Lila messes up her twizzles again, they're going to
get the bronze medal. And then she didn't, and they
still did. So that.
I mean, no, a lot nobody in that arena understood the score for
Lila and Lewis for very real reasons.
And and thus I was going through every single, going down every
single rabbit hole I could possibly go into and figuring
out what was going on before I before they even was able to get
us any kind of explanation. Yeah, you were texting me lots
of excerpts for the rules, and I was trying to look stuff up on
my phone and I was like, you know what, He's got it.
I'm just gonna watch. I like there was one point when
I was texting with Michelle and I was like this is my final
thesis and I am leaving. Yeah, like I.
Cannot do any more of this. Well, the thing that I didn't
realize is that for so for an extended lift, you get that
carrot that shows up on the protocol for an illegal element.
There's nothing. You just get a legal element at
the bottom. And I thought for sure there
would be something like at least an asterisk, something the way
they do in jumps like to show like what you know, has the but
nothing, nothing. And so then I was like, was it
something else they did that got caught?
But. Yeah, that was that was the
confusion in the moment of of was it like, was it something
that was choreographical that they did that was that was
illegal because that that was what happened with Zingis
Kolesnik at the Grand Prix Final.
I was. Thinking of them with her Axel.
With her with her assisted Axel. Yeah.
And they were like, no, you can't do that.
And so they had, they ended up having to change it.
So, yeah, so so they are only the third ice dance team ever to
meddle in their very first worlds.
Wow, Fournier, Boudre and Cicerone ends up or Fournier,
Boudre and Cicerone end up becoming the fourth wow to to to
meddle in their first World Championships.
Who are the 1st 2? I feel like I should know and I
don't the. Ships was one of them.
The ships was one of. Them.
Of course he is, yes. And then I don't know the other
one. No idea.
I did. I did.
I was on the same flight as Amelia and Vadim on the way to
Amsterdam, and they were like, they were like, yeah, we're
tired. Yeah, I mean they did 4
continents too. They did national 4 continents
that they were there for the whole Olympics and and then
worlds. I mean, yeah.
It's been, it's been, it has been a long season for them.
And I mean, what a what a breakout season.
And and it would be interesting to see what that what the next
four years looks like for them. Like is this one of those where
they get the bronze medal this year and it's sustained or that
something else happened? Who knows?
Ice dance has been weird. Yeah, I hope that Vadim can stay
healthy because they really attributed their improved like
performances this season to the number of increased run throughs
they were able to do because he had surgery on his hips.
Was it the hips he had? He had two different procedures.
I think he had a hip issue and then he had a hernia issue.
But he had those like treated medically at the end of last
season and that like allowed him to start training more run
throughs and and more consistency.
And I think that I mean, it's obviously really translated into
their competitive performances. But I hope that he is able to
maintain that in a healthy way to continue their trajectory.
Yeah, exactly. Some of the big highlights,
Smart and Deeks, like they just, they just keep doing that Dune
free dance and they, yeah, they really left it all out there.
I, I, you know, I think the, the only thing was like their, their
step sequence was a level 2 and a level 1, but like everything
else was so well done. And no exclamation point.
Second moment, no exclamation point on the character's.
No, no exclamation points given. So thank you to the panel for
that. I.
I maybe in the minority they were.
Actually very actually sorry. They were actually very close to
1 exclamation point. I remember seeing it so.
But they didn't give it to them. They didn't.
Give it to them. No, it was.
It was Becker, Becker, Hernandez's.
I would not mind, I would not complain.
I wouldn't have anything negative to say about June 3.
I would be so interested if Spartan Deke decide to continue
competitively skating. Oh, I think they are.
You think they are OK? Yeah, Yeah, I think so.
I have no idea. Like I, I, you, just, you never,
you never know with all these teams.
Right, Olivia on her podcast makes it sound like they are
definitely planning their free dance for next season.
So that's like they're at least, I assume least doing another
year. Interesting.
Don't leave us. I know they did say on on the on
my on the rewatch of June 2 that June 3 doesn't come out until
December 2026, so it's it wouldn't be next year that they
do June 3. Well, what if the music comes
out earlier? I mean, there's new, there's
new, there's some new music. I saw Olivia posting about it.
I mean, maybe they can get an advance copy.
I know it's like Zendaya. Can you please give us an
advance copy? I mean, Zendaya, she, she hooks
people up. She, she got Robert Pattinson a
role in the new Dune movie and she hung out with Alyssa at
Paris Fashion Week. So, you know, you never know.
I would I would be very interested in what June 3 would
look like because if you by the way, folks listening, if you
have not watched the Olivia Smart and Tim D commentate on
their own June 1 and June 2, you should go and do that.
It is on my YouTube channel at Rocker skating because you
really start start to understand the decisions that they made
from Part 1 to Part 2. The the connections of the
different elements. Like the for example, the lifts
at the beginning in Dune in Part 2 is a derivative and a much
more difficult derivative of something they did in Dune Part
1. The curve lifts, curve lift
combo in Dune Part 2 as another derivative of what they did in
Part 1, but also a much harder version of it.
So there was some things that they they they talked about in
in the two programs that really like made me watch this with a
very different understanding of what they did.
And trust me, I will do more of these re watches because they
have been so illuminating as to like what we're watching.
That that I, I, yeah, I think it's, I think it's very cool.
But yes. Dune Dune Part 2 gets a gets a
personal best for them. And A and a small medal.
And a small medal. Next year they'll get the the
gold small medal in the world's free dance.
Hopefully they get like a real world's medal at some point,
but. I know, I know.
What else? What else for from from this?
There were so many good programs.
Yeah, great skate from Carrera Panamarenko.
Really, really good. Yeah, just.
Yeah, they tell that story so well.
Yeah, I, I don't know what kind of dark, twisted nightmare
they're going to find to skate to next year, but I I love it.
I want more of it from them. Yeah, yeah.
Anthony. Program idea.
Anthony was telling me it at the banquet that they already have
free dance like things. Wow.
Boiling in, bubbling in in there in their decision making and
Anthony was like one of those ideas is something that I have
been wanting to do for years. So I'm, I'm excited to see if
like that, that ends up being the thing that they do next
season. I'm happy for them, but I also
think that's interesting that he didn't propose it in the Olympic
season. Well, they he probably did,
right? And yeah, who knows?
Who knows? I was driving today and I was
listening to shuffle and like Apple Music and a Placebo song
came on and I was like Cruel Intentions has the best
soundtrack. Someone should do a Cruel
Intentions free dance. Lila and Lewis.
Lila and Lewis can do it. They can do the 90s, clothes,
the music. Like if there's anybody who does
a Cruel Intentions free dance. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, some some really some other really good, good skates.
Davis and smoking continues to impress me with the way that
they've improved that free dance is still it's such a beautiful
piece of work that they've done and I appreciate it because it's
the composition of it is unusual.
The the way that the elements are strung together is different
than a lot of the other programs and they really do try to create
something that's theirs and that's different and, and I love
the improvements that they've made I.
Don't I? Don't even remember the rest of
these. Lajoie Laga had a very nice
performance of their White Crow Free Dance and we're once again
dumped. And I'm wondering what the
message is, you know, because last year they also similarly
skated relatively well and then got a pretty underwhelming free
dance score. And I wonder, I wonder what, you
know, I think, I definitely think there's some moments in
their programs where I think they could have a little more
finish or Polish. But I mean, on the whole, I
think that they are very consistent performers and they
just, it's a beautiful program. And, you know, I'm kind of
mystified by the way they've been received.
And yeah, I don't know what you do next after that.
I don't know what it is, but I am really sick of hearing white
crow. And it it like, it hasn't really
been used that much, but I the repetitiveness of white white
crow is it, it gets to my brain and I, I've turned it off.
Like, I don't know, it's it just, it just it.
Yeah. When, when, when Misha Koyeda
did it, it was like, Oh my God, this is beautiful.
It's such a like a haunting piece of music or whatever.
It's, it's, it's, it's a beautiful piece of music.
And then and then a whole bunch of people started doing it over
the past few seasons. And then it's like, yeah, I
can't listen to this anymore. I felt like when Lajwala did
Lajwala did it the first time, it was really still really
special. And I definitely felt this
season it doesn't feel as special.
Like their interpretation in their performance is beautiful
but it doesn't have the like emotional impact when I see it
that it did the first season. They did it like 3 years ago.
But still I'm not happy with their score.
Yeah, Yeah. I don't know.
I don't know what the the deal is with them.
Yeah, the other one I wanted to talk about was actually Reid and
Amber Levichus. I don't know if you noticed, and
I barely noticed, but I was, I kept being like disoriented
during that freelance. But apparently right at the
start, they came out of the a lift in the wrong direction and
they skated the program completely 180°, turned around
and then had to talk to each other during the program to
figure out when they go back to the right direction so that they
end it on the end in the right direction.
Because that last piece of the, the program, the, the character
step starts with them grabbing the crowd and then they go to
the judges and, and, and finish that character step.
And so it would have been really weird for them to be at the
judge's side. And like, like the crowd isn't
over there. Like there's like a whole
section behind the judges where you, there's nobody sitting
there. So it doesn't make any sense.
And and so so that was, you know, talk about ice dance
communications. Yeah, in in mid program.
That was something that they they, they, they were doing.
It was very interesting. But that it was.
I talked to Allison afterwards. She was like, yeah, I don't even
know what happened, but we had to figure it out in.
The program, well, I mean that, yeah, that's usually when you
start making mistakes is when you have to talk to your partner
and they handled it really well. They they had a really good
skate, I mean. Yeah, I think, I think it helped
that they decided they weren't going to turn the program around
until the end until they did all their stuff because they're the
where I noticed it was on their twizzles.
Because I've always seen the program with the twizzles going
to the left side of the judges and the the twizzles were going
to the right side of the judges. And I was like, like, yeah,
there's something weird going on here.
I don't know what it. Is there's something weird and
and so it it wasn't until they went back in the middle and they
did the the choreographic spin like that, that little like that
little like back crossover spin move that they do with each
other. It's a synchro pinwheel.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's.
How you start it? Yeah.
Yeah, they'd start. Anybody else to join right?
Yeah, it it that was when I think they made the they they.
Made the switch, that was a good time.
Right. Exactly because you're, you're
in the middle, right? And all you have to do is move
to the the the the correct direction as it goes to the
wrong direction. Yeah.
What an event. And fortunately, France has
three spots for next year, so yeah.
I know. Yeah, this should have happened
last season. Mm hmm say that much.
So France gets 3 spots, Canada gets 3 spots and the US gets 3
spots and then the two spots go to Great Britain, Spain,
Lithuania, Georgia and Czech Republic, Czechia, Czechia.
I don't know why I said Czech Republic considering I heard
Czechia all all week long and then that's that's what I should
be calling it. Wait.
What's the total for for two because they.
Have 28, it's 11 plus, right? 11 + 16.
Yeah, they got 2027. No, they got 29.
No 2027 because you you Max out at 16 placement points if you
qualify for the for the. Free, right?
You're right. Yeah, OK, good.
Phew. I know I was incredibly sad
about Turkula Versoice withdrawing.
That was. Just like awful.
And now Finland only has one spot for Worlds next year.
For their for home worlds, yeah. Yeah.
I mean, it's a question of like Matthias Versoice has been
falling apart, like his body has not cooperated with him.
Yeah, all season. I mean the nerve damage thing
and now or the nerve, whatever thing that he was dealing with
in. Nerve injury.
And, and now his back is like a apparently a, an old injury that
has flared up. And he was skating with it and
the rhythm dance they were, they had, they were make, they were
trying to make the decision of whether or not they were going
to skate and, and they ended up doing it.
But yeah, it's it's tough to watch because they're such a
good team. Yeah, yeah.
So yeah, they're down to one spot.
Aye. All right.
Well, that was part one of two of the World Championships recap
for Michelle Ellis. This is Jackie Wong, chief skate
nerd of rockerskating.com. Thanks, as always, to John
Wilson Blades for sponsorship and to Terra Nichols for editing
and producing us. We will talk to you again with
Part 2 tomorrow. Bye.