Monday, May 17, 2010

2009-2010 Pairs: Part Two

2009-2010 Season in Review: Part 10 of 16
Pairs: Part 2 of 4

It turns out it's a lot harder to find good photos of pairs costumes than singles costumes. We apologize for the fact that some of these photos don't show the costumes as well as we'd like.

Adelina Canac/Maximin Coia. Current World Ranking: #16
Short Program: Once Upon A Time in the West (soundtrack) by Ennio Morricone 
We're confused by these costumes. The story of their SP seems to be about a bride who runs away with a biker dude. We hate those leather pants, and we don't understand why Canac's tights are only half over her boots. We've seen a few other skaters do this and it never looks good.

Free Skate: Samson and Dalilah by Camille St.-Saens
Originally our opinions on these costumes differed, but the truth is neither of us felt strongly enough either way to actually fight. Bee thinks these are the costumes of two singles skaters rather than a pair, and Elle thinks Coia borrowed his shirt from Brian Joubert. Elle doesn't mind Canac's dress, but also doesn't like it enough to defend it when Bee says she hates the neckline.


Amanda Evora/Mark Ladwig. Current World Ranking: #21
Short Program: Portugese Love Theme from Love Actually (soundtrack) by Craig Armstrong 
Just because same-sex pairs aren't allowed doesn't mean you actually have to color-code to make sure the ISU knows you've got it right. And really? That's the only explanation for these costumes. They aren't bad; they just don't go together at all. This would be wonderful and commendable if Ladwig put on a different color shirt. Grey? White? Light pink? We don't care, just something that goes with Evora's dress. Her dress is pretty nice, actually.

Free Skate: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor by Sergei Rachmaninov 
Elle really hates these costumes. She thinks it's Ladwig's shirt being skin-tight and spandex and v-neck, but whatever it is, it's not working for her. She really doesn't like the ocean theme. Bee is undecided. She's not a fan of the ocean theme, either, but she thinks this is an amazing color for them both. If only Ladwig's shirt were a tiny bit looser and their costumes weren't carbon copies of each other.


Rena Inoue/James Baldwin. Current World Ranking: #20
[Grand Prix Final]

[U.S. Championships]
 Short Program: Tango de los Exilados by Walter Taleb and Vanessa Mae
Bee is kind of indifferent to both of these costumes. Elle thinks they should never have changed from their GPF costumes. She thinks the GPF costumes look really designed, like someone put a lot of thought into the placement of the fabric strips, and it paid off. Bee likes Inoue's collar in the GPF costume, but she's not a fan of onesies on men in pairs. Bee also doesn't really mind the Nationals costumes. Elle thinks they're tacky and too marching-band.
 
Free Skate: Concert for Piano No. 1 by P.I. Tchaikovsky 
Sometimes, when one of us gets around to looking up costumes before the other one does, we can't help talking about them a little before we're supposed to. In this case, Elle checked out the costumes for this post first, and said to Bee, "I can't wait for you to see these. There's one that is so gorgeous." A few minutes later, Bee said, "I know you like Inoue and Baldwin's FS, Elle, but I don't." What it all comes down to is that skirt. Elle loves that kind of ombre skirt and hemline. Bee hates it. There's no rhyme or reason either way, it's just a taste disagreement we can't resolve. Bee appreciates the classic cut of Inoue's dress, and thinks they both look fine, although she's bored by Baldwin's shirt. Elle appreciates that Baldwin's costume is understated enough to let the dress shine, and the dress is her favorite of any of the pairs skaters' so far. She thinks these costumes are even better than the Langlois/Hay costumes we liked so much in the last post, which Bee thinks is basically blasphemy.

Narumi Takahashi/Mervin Tran. Current World Ranking: #10
Short Program: Farrucas by Pepe Romano / Chano Lobato, Maria Magdalena, Paco Romero (Flamenco)
We have very little to say about these costumes. They're not very interesting, but they're perfectly fine. They look good. Bee thinks Tran in particular looks fierce.

Free Skate: Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini / Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto performed by Vanessa Mae 
Sorry, did we just step into Claire's? We think we both owned shirts just like this in elementary school. Elle really likes the halter neck filled in with black mesh, but that is not enough to save this disaster. Tran's shirt is a mess too, but it's just the unfortunate icing on the disaster cake.


Lubov Iliushechkina and Nodari Maisuradze. Current World Ranking: #19
Short Program: Yesterday by The Beatles 
Every so often, we come across a costume where the only thing we can say is "YOU ARE BANNED FROM WEARING COSTUMES FOR LIFE." It's costumes like this that make us want to enforce mandatory black practice clothes until you can prove you know how to dress yourself. This costume has made the world a worse place for us. Everything we look at is going to seem uglier from now on.

Free Skate: Conquest of Paradise (Soundtrack) by Vangelis 
After the nightmare that was that short program costume, it's pretty difficult for us to formulate a response to anything Iliushechkina and Maisuradze wear. Both of us only wanted to talk about one thing and we couldn't even agree on it. "The best thing about this is Iliushechkina's tights! I love them," read a message from Bee, sent at the exact same time as one from Elle that read, "What is that on her tights!? Horrible." After that short program we didn't even have the energy to argue about it. Sorry readers.

[Photo Credits: Evora/Ladwig SP1, SP2&FS, Iliushechkina/Maisuradze SP1&SP2, Inoue/Baldwin SP1, SP2&FS1, Takahashi/Tran SP2: Getty. Canac/Coia SP1, SP2&FS, Iliushechkina/Maisuradze FS1&FS2, Inoue/Baldwin SP3, Evora/Ladwig FS2, Takahashi/Tran SP1&FS: Reuters. Inoue/Baldwin FS2: AP.]



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