Competition Confusion – Part 2
I covered Part 1 of my competition recap last week. Today I’m tackling the remaining two events that I skated in – the Gold Ladies Dramatic and the duet.
There were only 3 of us skating in the dramatic event. I skated second, and before I stepped foot on the ice, I looked up towards the heavens and talked to the people I had lost in 2014. I dedicated my skate to them and hoped that they were watching down on me.
The entire program felt like an out of body experience. It didn’t seem real, and I skated from the heart and with confidence. I only had two jumps and one spin planned since I wanted to make this an emotional program to fit the “dramatic” theme.
Apparently the judges did not agree with me because the programs that beat me were filled with jumps and spins.
I placed 3rd out of 3.
For the duet, something similar happened with the judging. Two duets really stood out to me: the first was a male duet that was fun, entertaining and full of surprises. The second was a female duo that received huge laughs and clearly was the audience favorite (and even got a few visible snickers from the judges).
Two duets, however, did not seem like they belonged in our category – they were pairs partners, and it felt like they were placed in our event because there wasn’t a formal pairs event at the competition. How was this going to be judged?
Much to everyone’s surprise (and believe me, there was a lot of outrage when the results came out), the female duet that was the audience favorite placed last. I would have placed them 1st or 2nd, but obviously I am not a judge. The male duet won the event, a female duet won 2nd, and a pairs group placed 3rd.
Similar to my dramatic event, the skaters that performed the best elements won. It wasn’t about being dramatic or entertaining, but unfortunately, it was whoever executed the best (and most) technical elements.
I’m utterly confused about the judging at this event. Again, I’m not trying to say that my duet should have gotten 1st, 2nd or 3rd, but I am baffled how the judging came down to technical elements. The dramatic event should be full of drama and artistry, and the duet is supposed to be entertaining.
My duet placed 4th but I firmly believe the female duo should have placed well above us. Their performance was better than ours, yet we beat them by 2 places. And the pairs groups? Jury’s out on that one.
I’m not sure what to think about my sport other than just being utterly confused. Who knows what the outcome would have been with a different judging panel. Perhaps it would have been the same, but I’ll never know.
Anyway, here is the video for my dramatic event:
