Dateline, Charleston, SC: 9/26/98 - In the rules of the Grand Slam, men were limited to a maximum of four triple jumps in each interpretive program (no technical programs). The programs must be within 3-1/2 to 4 minutes in length (no longer).
Ilia Kulik skated first with his new tango program (choreographed by Ilia and his girlfriend Maria). He landed a beautiful triple axel, but doubled the lutz, popped the flip and did not attempt his fourth possible triple. His technical scores were 5.6s across the board, but presentation scores (one 5.7 and six 5.8s) were strong enough to allow him into the next level of competition.
Viktor Petrenko was next with his new "waiter" routine to Harlem Nocturne. There is some sense that Viktor should have been marked higher, but he did in fact double a huge axel that should have been a triple. He completed two other triples, a toe and a salchow. His technical scores were 5.4 to 5.7, presentation 5.5 to 5.9. Viktor did not progress to the next level.
Todd skated third to Il Mare Calmo Della Sera in The Grand Slam elimination round. Todd did fall on his triple lutz during his elimination round performance, but it was one of his "artistic falls" in which he bounced right up and continued skating. One Todd fan commented that it looked like it was part of the program, especially since the body slide followed immediately after. He landed a gorgeous triple axel and he did a double toe/triple toe, and a shaky-landing triple loop.
Todd's Elimination Round Scores Judges: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Skating Techniques 5.8 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 Presentation 5.8 5.7 5.9 5.8 5.7 5.8 5.8
Yvgeny Plushenko was fourth, skating to that cute Russian folk music routine he performed on the Champions on Ice tour last spring. He played well to the judges, actually having them laughing! He landed a triple axel, hand-down on his triple lutz, doubled his loop, landed a triple salchow. And his scores were 5.6-5.7 for skating techniques, and 5.6-5.9 for presentation. Scott Davis led off the second group of men with a performance to music from The Mission. He only landed one clean triple, the triple lutz (the first clean triple lutz of the night!). Scott landed a double axel/double toe, a double flip, a double loop, and tried a triple salchow but put a hand-down on the landing. His skating technique scores ranged from 5.2 to 5.6, and presentation 5.3 to 5.8.
Next was Takeshi Honda. He skated to I Believe I Can Fly. He popped the triple axel, but landed a gorgeous triple flip with his arms crossed on the landing (an interesting move), a triple salchow and triple toe/double toe combination. Despite this excellent technical content with scores ranging from 5.4 to 5.6, his presentation scores (5.2 to 5.5) held him in last place. Kurt Browning followed next, and skated to That's Entertainment. He landed his triple salchow/double loop combination (nice to see), fell on the triple axel, popped the triple loop, but managed to land a triple toe. Skating technique scores ranged from 5.5 to 5.8, presentation from two 5.7s and five 5.9s. Eric Millot was the last to skate. He skated his Hunchback of Notre Dame routine. He landed a triple flip and a triple toe. Skating technique scores ranged 5.2 to 5.6, presentation 5.3 to 5.8.
Elimination round standings (top four proceed to next level) 1. Todd Eldredge 2. Kurt Browning 3. Ilia Kulik 4. Yvgeny Plushenko 5. Viktor Petrenko 6. Eric Millot 7. Scott Davis 8. Takeshi Honda
The top four skaters will compete with an interpretive program to determine the top two finalists. Skaters who did not make the cut will perform in the exhibitions between the second and third rounds. The third round will be the top two finishers in a head-to-head competition. More later!
Dateline, Charleston, SC: 9/27/98 - For possibly the first time in professional skating, a clear, full page of rules were not only used and provided, they were adhered to by the judges throughout the competition. Scuttlebutt after the competition was that this was one of the best competitions ever, with a great skating lineup, clear rules, and an entertaining structure. Breaking up the second and third rounds with an exhibition was a definite success, giving all the skaters who didn't make the cut a chance to perform for the audience, and the audience a chance to see some great skating without benefit of scores.
The four men came out on the ice to do their drawing for the skate order. Todd did the drawing to determine which of the two pairs would go first - he drew first for his pair, second in the pair for himself. They went immediately into their warmup afterward. The guys seemed to be having a really good time.
Yvgeny Plushenko skated first in the second round, head to head against Todd. Kurt was to skate against Ilia. Yvgeny skated to a program many hope is not his new long program. The music was badly edited, doesn't flow. It started with 1492, then segued into some unidentified fast, jarring music. As for his skating, he popped his triple axel, landed the triple loop, then pretty much abandoned his choreograph to keep trying for the triple axel. He popped it again on the second attempt. His next jump attempt was a triple lutz but doubled, then caught an edge and fell on. He managed to land two more triples (flip and salchow) before the program was over - he attempted six triples, but landed only three, one less than the maximum allowed. His scores ranged from one 5.6 and seven 5.5s for skating techniques, and one 5.5 and six 5.6s for presentation.
Todd came out and skated flawlessly. Todd skated a rechoreographed, recut Gethsemane for his second round routine. The edits were cleaner than the last version he'd used, and the jumps were beautiful. He landed a triple loop, a triple axel, a triple toe, and he finished with a triple lutz/double toe combination. (Fran yelled at this point in the program: "Showoff!" but wasn't heard over the general clamor.) The audience gave him a standing ovation. (Answering the question about his costume, it looked like the costume he wore in the reception after Dreams on Ice, black pants and a standup-collared black shirt.) The judges' scores were booed by the audience:
Todd's Second Round Scores Judges: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Skating Techniques 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.7 5.8 5.8 5.8 Presentation 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.7 5.7
The routine apparently went slightly over, and suffered a slight deduction for exceeding the four-minute maximum for the competition. Todd won his head-to-head competition. The second face-off began with Kurt Browning skating first. He skated to Serenade to Sonia. He began with one of the worst falls on a triple axel, falling forward. Kurt, being the incredible trouper that he is, didn't let that faze him in the least. He immediately put it out of his mind and was fine after that. He landed a triple salchow, a triple toe, and a triple loop and at least four double axels in a row at the end. He received a standing ovation, too, from the audience. Vintage Kurt! Scores for skating techniques were one 5.6 and six 5.7s, for presentation, one 5.7 and six 5.8s. Ilia skated last to the Pagliacci number (half-black, half-white costume). He started with a perfect triple axel, finally hit the triple lutz, doubled the triple toe, then landed a triple flip, followed by a triple loop. Scores were five 5.8s and two 5.7s for skating techniques, and five 5.8s and two 5.7s for presentation. Ilia edged Kurt out for a spot in the final round. Exhibition numbers, Zamboni break, and the Ladies Final followed. Finally, out came Todd and Ilia to draw who would skate first. Todd drew first, and drew to skate first. They followed up with a six minute warm-up.
Skating to Il Mare Calmo Della Sera, Todd opened with a superb triple axel, then a double toe/triple toe combination, and then he came round for the lutz and doubled it. Better than falling on it! He then landed a really nice triple loop - overall, a much better skate than the qualifying performance. The audience went bananas, people rising to their feet before the music ended. The scores were 5.8s across the board for skating techniques, and 5.9s across the board, the exact same scores that Michelle Kwan got in her final round.
Todd's Third & Final Round Scores Judges: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Skating Techniques 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 Presentation 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.9
Ilia came out for his final round performance of his new tango program. He landed a gorgeous triple axel, then doubled his lutz, just as Todd had done. He then landed a triple flip and a triple toe. Ilia's scores were two 5.6s, four 5.7s, and one 5.8 for skating techniques, and two 5.7s and five 5.8s. One of the referees did confirm that Ilia's skating techniques scores were dropped 1/10th of a point because the routine was less than three minutes, thirty seconds.
Todd took every judge in this final round. In the closing ceremony, all the skaters were reintroduced in the reverse order of their finish. There were no medals given out. As the inaugural event for the ISU Open series, several skating dignitaries were in attendance, including USFSA president Jim Disbrow, ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta, and USFSA rep to the ISU Claire Ferguson. Looks like they're taking this series seriously, just as the skaters and the media did.
-Fran
