The ladies field has been really dense both in Russia and Japan. As such, I have been following both the junior and senior ranks with a lot of attention lately. Therefore in this post I will be covering all off-season news regarding music for the 2018-2019 season, as well as coaching changes and retirements. Updated on August 6th Music Announcements: ARGENTINA Virginia Elisia Bustos NEW SP: Seven Nations Army performed by White Stripes ft. Haley Reinhart; Mambo No. 8 by Perez Prado; Mambo No. 5 by Perez Prado FP: Chandelier by Sia AUSTRIA Stefanie Pesendorfer NEW SP: Radar Love by Golden Earring FP: Fantasy Music - The Last of her Kind by Peter Gundry; Dark Vampire by Peter Gundry Sophie Schaller NEW SP: Paint It Black (Westworld soundtrack) by Ramin Djawadi; Paint It Black peformed by Vanessa Carlton FP: Adios Nonino by Astor Piazzolla performed by Tango for Four Olga Mikutina NEW SP: Megapolis by Bel Sueno FP: Tango Step Up by Bear McGreary BRAZIL Isadora Williams SP: Take Five by Dave Brubeck FP: Medley from Natalia Lafourcade CANADA Michelle Long SP: "J'oublie" (female vocal) of "Oblivion" by Astor Piazzolla, choreo by Lori Nichol Alison Schumacher NEW SP: I Want to Hold Your Hand by John Lennon, Paul McCartney FP: Entrance of Butterfly; Un bel di vedizemo (from "Madame Butterfly") by Giacomo Puccini Aurora Cotop NEW SP: Arrival of the Birds by The Cinematic Orchestra; Blackbird by The Beatles, perfomed by Sara Niemietz FP: Evgeni's Waltz; Revolving Doors; Letters (from W.E. soundtrack) by Abel Korzeniowski CROATIA Hana Kosic NEW SP: Annie (soundtrack) by Charles Strouse FP: Rome and Juliet by Nino Rota Katarina Kitarovic NEW SP: Survivor by A. Dent, Beyonce, M. Knowles, performed by 2Wei FP: Hamilton (soundtrack) by Lin-Manuel Miranda Hana Cvijanovic NEW SP: California Dreamin' performed by SIA FP: Another Day Of Sun; City of Stars; Someone In The Crowd (from "La La Land" soundtrack) by Justin Hurwitz CZECH REPUBLIC Daniela Ko NEW SP: Hard Scary hip-hop beat (rap) instrumental; Alice Through Looking Glass FP: Butterfly by Maxime Rodriguez; Carol of the Bells by Mykola Leontovych, Peter J. Wilhousky; Nero by Thomas Jacob Bergersen, Nick Phoenix DENMARK Maia Sorensen NEW SP: La Vie en rose performed by Pomy Wave FP: Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps performed by Doris Day; Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps performed by The Pussycat Dolls GERMANY Ann-Christin Marold NEW SP: Mi Tierra by Gloria Estefan FP: Sooner or Later by Madonna; Hanky Panky by Madonna Lea Johanna Dastich NEW SP: La La Land, choreo by Rostislav Sinicyn FP: Never Enough (from "The Greatest Showman" soundtrack) by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul; The Greatest Showman Medley performed by Lindsey Stirling; This Is Me (from "The Greatest Showman" soundtrack) by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul Franziska Kettl NEW SP: Gimmie That Swing by Cissie Redgwick FP: Romeo and Juliet Elodie Eudine NEW SP: Experience by Ludovico Einaudi FP: Papa Can You Hear Me (soundtrack) performed by Barbara Streisand GREAT BRITAIN Anastasia Vaipan-Law NEW SP: Libertango by Astor Piazzolla FP: Skyfall (James Bond soundtrack) performed by Adele Kristen Spours NEW SP: Caught Out in the Rain performed by Beth Hart FP: La La Land (soundtrack) by Justin Hurwitz HONG KONG Yi Christy Leung NEW SP: Scene d'amour by Francis Lai, performed by Sarah Brightman FP: Breath of Life by Florence and the Machine JAPAN Rika Hongo SP: Kill Bill, choreo by Shae-Lynn Bourne FP: Jesus of Nazareth, choreo by Kenji Miyamoto Mako Yamashita SP: "Una voce poco fa" from Rossini; choreo by Mihoko Higuchi FP: Madama Butterfly (program from last season), choreo by Mihoko Higuchi Yuka Nagai SP: Riverdance, choreo by Misao Sato Yuna Shiraiwa SP: All Aboard, choreo by Tom Dickson FP: Pictures at an Exhibition Modest Mussorgsky Arrange (program from last season), choreo by Tom Dickson Yuhana Yokoi SP: The Lion King, choreo by Miho Kawaume FP: The Phantom of the Opera, choreo by Miho Kawaume Moa Iwano SP: Asturias - William Joseph, choreo by Akiko Suzuki FP: Jeux d'eaux, choreo by Pasquale Camerlengo Rika Kihira SP: Claire de Lune, choreo by David Wilson FP: Mercy in darkness (x), choreo by Tom Dickson Satoko Miyahara SP: Song for the little sparrow by Patricia Kaas, choreo by Lori Nichol FP: Invierno porteno by Astor Piazzolla; Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "Winter" (The Four Seasons by Vivaldi), choreo by Tom Dickson Marin Honda SP: Seven Nation Army by Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, choreo by Shae Lynn Borne FP: Lovers (Chinese movie), choreo by Lori Nichol Wakaba Higuchi SP: Energia FP: Hymne a l'amour, choreo by Yuka Sato Mai Mihara SP: It's magic FP: Gabriel's Oboe from The Mission (last year's program), choreo by David Wilson Kaori Sakamoto SP: From my First Moment by Charlotte Church, choreo by David Wilson FP: The Piano soundtrack by Michael Nyman (Be My Secret; Deep into the Forest; Roberto Cacciapaglia; Tree of Life; Wild Side), choreo by Benoit Richaud KAZAKHSTAN Veronika Sheveleva NEW SP: La Esmeralda by Cesare Pugni FP: The Bloody Mistress (soundtrack) by Dmitri Dankov Azhar Zhumakhanova NEW SP: The Show Must Go On performed by Ademi FP: Smile by Arina Danilova; Rendez-Vous by Kelly Joyce KOREA Dabin Choi SP: Don't cry for me Argentina FP: Carmen Eusoon Lim SP: Somewhere in Time OST, choreo by Jeff Buttle FP: Chicago OST, choreo by Akiko Suzuki Su Been Jeon NEW SP: Kissing You ("Romeo and Juliet" soundtrack) FP: The Point of No Return (from "Phantom of the Opera") by Andrew Lloyd Webber Gyo Hee Jeon NEW SP: Paint It Black performed by Ciara FP: Avatar soundtrack MEXICO Andrea Montesinos Cantu NEW SP: Swing Da Cor by Daniela Mercury FP: Jeux d'Eau (from "O" - Cirque du Soleil) NETHERLANDS Lenne Van Gorp NEW SP: Tango de los Exilados by Vanessa Mae, Walter Taieb FP: Prince of Egypt (soundtrack) by Hans Zimmer, Stephen Schwartz ROMANIA Ana Sofia Beschea NEW SP: Vogue by Madonna FP: Un giorno per noi (Romeo and Juliet soundtrack) performed by Josh Groban RUSSIA Stanislava Konstantinova FP: Anna Karenina (last year's program) Alina Zagitova SP: Phantom of the Opera, choreo by Daniil Gleikhengauz FP: Carmen, choreo by Daniil Gleikhengauz Maria Sotskova SP: Latin music, choreo by Peter Tchernyshev (x) LP: "Summertime", choreo by Peter Tchernyshev (x) Anastasiia Gubanova NEW SP: Take Five by Dave Brubeck choreo by Peter Tchernyshev (x) LP: Liebestraum by Franz Liszt choreo by Nikita Mikhailov and Tatiana Tarasova (x) Anastasia Tarakanova NEW SP: Querer performed by Francesca Gagnon FP: Believer by Imagine Dragons Anna Tarusina NEW SP: Winter in Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzolla FP: En Aranjuez con tu amor performed by Katherine Jenkins Viktoria Vasilieva NEW SP: I Put A Spell On You perfomed by Joss Stone feat. Jeff Beck FP: Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saens Alexandra Trusova SP: Kill Bill soundtrack by Tomoyasu Hotei (Bang-Bang performed by Nancy Sinatra; Battle Without Honor Or Humanity) FP: Kill The Target by Tomoyasu Hotei; Katana Groove by Tomoyasu Hotei; The Fifth Element by Eric Serra (Lucia di lammermoor; The Diva Dance) Alena Kostornaia SP: Leftovers OST: Departure (lullaby); November - by Max Richter FP: Romeo and Juliet soundtrack; (Kissing You by Craig Armstrong; Forbidden Love by Abel Korzeniowski; Love Theme) Elizaveta Tuktamysheva SP: Assassin’s Tango - John Powell FP: You Don’t Love Me - Caro Emerald; Petite Fleur - The Hot Sardines Evgenia Medvedeva NEW SP: Orange Colored Sky by Natalie Cole FP: Mumuki; Libertango - by Yo Yo Ma Kseniia Sinitsyna NEW SP: Batucadas performed by Mitoka Samba; La Vida es un Carneval peformed by Celia Cruz; Mujer Latina performed by Thalia FP: Trio Elgiaque No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninov Anastasia Kostyuk NEW SP: Three Preludes by George Gershwin FP: Alina by Aydar Gaynullin Alena Kanysheva NEW SP: The Show Must Go On (Moonlight Sonata) by Natalia Posnova FP: Dreams of a Winter Journey performed by Berliner Philharmoniker SWEDEN Smilla Szalkai NEW SP: La La Land (soundtrack) by Justin Hurwitz FP: Romeo and Juliet SWITZERLAND Maia Mazzara NEW SP: City Hunter (soundtrack) by Tasumi Yano FP: Down (Marian Hill) by Samantha Gongol, Jeremy Lloyd UKRAINE Anastasiia Arkhipova NEW SP: Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo performed by Ikuko Kawai LP: Imagine by John Lennon Anna Rakovych NEW SP: Desert Skies performed by Maksim Mrvica FP: New Day performed by David Garrett USA Star Andrews SP: Summertime - performed by Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, choreo by Derrick Delmore FP: Jungle Music Alysa Liu SP: Spanish Flame by Maxime Rodriguez, choreo by Cindy Stuart LP: The Witches of Eastwick film soundtrack, choreo by Cindy Stuart Amber Glenn SP: Gravity - Sara Bareilles, choreographed by Daniil Barantsev FP: Kill Bill medley Hanna Harrell SP: Bla Bla Bla Cha Cha Cha, by Petty Booka FP: "La Cumparsita" - by Ensemble Contraste; "Adiós Nonino" - Astor Piazzolla, performed by Forever Tango Bradie Tennell FP: Romeo and Juliet Karen Chen SP: Illumination - Fire Dance - Jennifer Thomas, choreographed by Massimo Scali Paige Rydberg SP: Paint It Black - Hidden Citizens, choreo by Drew Meekins FP: Theme song of "Supergirl" - Idina Menzel, choreo by Tom Dickson Ting Cui SP: Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation 18 FP: Giselle TAIWAN Amy Lin SP: Now we are free, Gladiator OST Coaching Changes: JAPAN Marin Honda will train with Rafael Arutunian KAZAKHSTAN Elizabeth Tursynbaeva will be coached by Eteri Tutbedridze KOREA Eunsoo Lim will train with Rafael Arutunian RUSSIA Anastasiia Gubanova will train with Elena Buyanova Serafima Sakhanovich left Plushenko's academy and will train with Angelina Turenko Elizaveta Nugumanova will train with Angelina Turenko Valeria Mikhailova will train with Plushenko Kamila Valieva will train with Eteri Tutberidze's group Polina Tsurskaya left Tutberidze's group and will train with Elena Buyanova Evgenia Medvedeva leaves Tutberidze and will train will Brian Orser Anastasia Gulyakova moved from Klimkin to Alexei Mishin Retirements CHINA Zijun Li FINLAND Joanna Kallela (x) NORWAY Anne Line Gjersem (x) SINGAPORE Shuran Yu (x) Other news:
KOREA Young You tried the triple axel-triple toe in practice (x) RUSSIA Alena Kostornaia tried the triple axel in practice (x) Alexandra Trusova is training the quad lutz (x) Anna Shcherbakova's quad lutz-triple toe-triple loop (x) SWEDEN Anita Östlund is training the quad toe-loop (x) USA Alysa Liu tried the triple axel (x) and triple axel-triple toe-triple toe-double toe (x)
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This is the second part of a compilation of promising junior skaters that competed in the 2017 Russian Junior Nationals. You can find the first part here. Sofia Samodurova I found Sofia out through her participation in the Junior Grand Prix Series last season. At 14, she is coached by Tatiana Mishina and Oleg Tataurov (from Alexei Mishin’s coaching team). She is another beautiful and delicate skater from Russia, with a great quality to her skating. She was 12th at junior nationals. Her best short program was at the mentioned competition while the best free program was the one she performed at the Grand prix of Japan. Observing her short, you can see she is one of the most beautiful skaters Russia has on the junior ranks. She also has lovely spins. And the opening combination of jumps was amazing. Her free program showed some great jumps as well. I find that she jumps not only vertically but also “horizontally” as she covers a lot of ice in her combinations. She has the potential to be at the top of the junior ladies.
Maria Talalaykina Maria is 14. I have never seen her before but as I was searching her I found out she is a fan of Evgenia Medvedeva, and you can clearly see that in her style of skating. She is coached by Evgeny Rukavitsin. She chose a tango for her short program. She did quite well. She can work on centering her spins more and improve her interpretation skills. Her free program reminded me of weaver & Poje and, of course, Medvedeva. Her jumps were good, but she was really focused on them here. A bit more of interpretation would have made this program more impactful. She finished in 15th.
Anastasia Tarakanova Anastasia Tarakanova was the second youngest skater at Russian Nationals. She is 13 and coached by Svetlana Panova.Being so young entailed no participations on the international scene, which meant I did not know her at all. She had an unfortunate fall right in the beginning, which led her to lose the combination. That mistake ended up giving a small impression of this program. The free program saw her interpreting throughout the step sequence. The jumps were out with the exception of the fall. My main problem with it was the music, which got four cuts and included very different styles. I would have liked to see her do something simpler. She finished in 14th place.
Anna Tarusina Anna Tarusina is 14 and coached by Sergei Davydov. She was supposed to have participated in the Junior Grand Prix Series last season but she had to undergo surgery after a bus accident in the JGP of France. This was the first time I watched her skate. I liked her flamenco short program, which was good overall. The free program was also good, with nice jumps, spins and interpretation. She finished in 10th place.
Alexandra Trusova Alexandra Trusova was a pleasant surprise for me and she is sure to make people talking about her in the junior grand prix this season. She was the youngest skater at junior nationals and finished in fourth, barely missing the spot for Junior Worlds. She is 12 and, no surprise, the coach is Eteri Tutberidze, the same coach of Evgenia Medvedeva. Firstly let’s look at her performances at junior worlds. The short program had a great music choice: a rather used song this year in ice dance, a blues. She did both jumps of her combination with the arms above her head which immediately strikes you. The spins and the remaining jumps were great and let me tell you, so young and interpreting a blues so amazingly! It was the first time I saw her and I thought I would keep an eye on what she accomplishes in a near future. The free program showed all her fierceness. She has so impressive jumps! Not to talk about how good the spins are.
Now the off-season brought her to light for most people because she did a great combination in practice that was never before seen in ladies and that you can see below: yes it is a quad salchow with a triple toe-loop. I won’t be surprised if she attempts a quad in the grand prix next season. Polina Tsurskaya Polina is not an unknown figure at all. She has, however, been struggling with injuries. At 15, she is the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic champion, the 2015–16 JGP Final champion and the 2016 Russian Junior National champion. She is another lady that is coached by Eteri Tutberidze. She finished 3rd at the junior nationals of 2017 and was 10th at the world championships. Her best programs last season were the short program at the Junior Grand Prix of Russia and the free program of the Russian Junior Championships. Starting with her short program, I have to saw: she is skating to the soundtrack of Game of Thrones! So excited! I am hoping people do use it more often. Polina did great. She showed why she was Russia’s number 1 junior lady last season. Really, it has been unfortunate that injuries have been preventing her from fully delivering the programs as we know she can. She has great interpretation/performance skills (which russia’s number 1 now, Alina Zagitova, does not have yet – we can see her below. she gives tremendous height to her jumps and her spins are beautiful. Her free program showed more of those fantastic jumps. Her interpretation is really refined at this point. She is the complete package an another of the Russian ladies you should observe and actually quite soon. Her comeback is close and take notice of her for next year’s Olympics because, yes, she is going to compete as a senior this year, and we will already be able to see her at the Senior Grand Prix.
Victoria Vasilieva Victoria Vasilieva is coached by Viktoria Butsaeva. She is 13 and yet another unknown skater to me. I loved the music choice of her short program. It is really different from what most women bring and is good to see her having so much energy and enjoying it so much. She gave all that she had. I felt bad for the last jump, which she singled, but she was so expressive that people will pay attention to the whole program. The spins were really good. The free program showed she is a fun skater, showing us a fun personality, different that the usual balletic Russian girls. I believe she will go far, as she has nice jumps and spins and an great energy on the ice. She finished in 13th place.
Alina Zagitova She is the new Russian phenomenon and a name to memorize: Alina Zagitova. She is the 2016–17 JGP Final champion, the 2017 Russian national senior silver medalist and the 2017Junior World Champion, all in her junior debut internationally, coached by, yet again, Eteri Tutberidze. At the age of 15, she is going to compete as senior this upcoming season as is considered to be one of the ladies that will represent Russia in the Olympic Winter Games of February. Zagitova is the first junior lady skater to break the total score above the 200 mark, scoring a total of 207.43 points at the 2016-17 JGP Final. She finished 1st in the junior Russian nationals and second in the senior ones last year. You can see her flawless performances at the 2017 Junior World Championships below. She spins well and fast, there is a tremendous consistency on the jumps, not to mention she backloads the programs (she does all her jumps in the second half of the programs in order to get a 10% bonus for every single jump). I liked her free more than the short. I still think she can improve components wise, maybe with more facial expression. And in the case of the free program, as it is a ballet, she could work a little on making those lines really beautiful. These latter piece of advice will actually be important as she is keeping this free program for the Olympic season and she is using Swan Lake for her new short program.
BONUS: These two ladies were the ones that were replaced at nationals because they couldn't compete. However I thought it would be relevant to take a look at them. Alisa Lozko Alisa Lozko is 15 years old. She was coached by Tatiana Mishina and Oleg Tataurov. She is known for her incredible spins and artistry. For that matter, I think the choice she made of changing to ice dance was a good one. Her main problem in singles was the lack of rotation in some jumps. The intense competition in Russia among all these talented girls probably led to this decision, so you can check her programs from the Junior Grand Prix of the Czech Republic and keep in mind that we will be seeing her compete in ice dance.
Anna Shcherbakova Last, but not least, is 13-year-old Anna Shcherbakova, also coached by Eteri Tutberidze. I had never heard of her and she became, by far, one of my favourites. I am rooting for her to be given a grand prix assignment. Why? Well, she is one of the most promising talents to discover in Russia. Those who have seen her can’t stop talking about her (and yes, that includes me). She performs so intensely, the jumps and spins are so well executed and she makes you feel something at such a young age. You can see her performances below, of the short and free programs. Keep in mind she was 12 at the time. Such beauty and commitment to the program. The jumps are incredible. After watching her free I wrote: “better than Medvedeva”. Of course it is a subjective statement, but I like her more. I really can’t wait to see more of her and how she is going to develop. And, alongside Alexandra Trusova (above), she is pulling quite the combinations in this off-season: you can see a quad toe-loop triple toe-loop and, also, a quad toe loop, triple toe-loop, triple loop! Incredible skater!
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