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eight-edges · 5 years

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Evgenia Medvedeva: Program Review (All Senior Competition Programs)

Soooo I haven't seen a post like this yet that breaks down all of Zhenya's (or anyone's) competitive programs, and it's midnight so I have no impulse control. So what have I done? Broken down all of Zhenya's competitive programs from her senior career.

Let's go!

2015-16 (Her Breakout Season)

Short Program: "Melodies of the White Night" (Choreo. By Alexander Zhulin)

I can't say I was ever a fan of this program. It wasn't particularly bad, nor was it memorable. If you played the music for me, I would never be able to recall any stand out elements or choreography to go with it. It is also the program that I watched the least from her, mostly just because I couldn't keep my interest for the entire thing (and it was only 2 minutes so that is saying something). It also featured, in my opinion, Evgenia's worst dress from her Tutberidze days (burgundy is not her colour).

Long Program: W. E. (Choreo by Ilia Averbukh)

I believe that this is the beginning of Evgenia's 'pantomime' phase. This program tells the story of a girl who suffers from hearing loss (a reference to Diana Davis, Tutberidze's daughter), and while Evgenia took a lot of slack for the story element of the program, I actually quite enjoyed the choreo and setup of it. There were tons of little moments and tiny choreography choices displayed that caught my interest and helped me to get past the pantomime. It was probably the most subtle and layered her choreography would by under Tutberidze. Her jumps were spot on for most of her preformances of this program, and it was just pleasing to watch. Her dress was lovely, as well. The music is beautiful, too!

2016-17 (Zhenya's Golden Year)

Short Program: "River Flows in You" (Choreo. by Ilia Averbukh)

I LOVED this program!! Maybe it's just my personal sentimental connection to the music (I stayed with a family in Japan who would play this song on car rides), or maybe it's the fact that this was the first of Evgenia's programs I watched (and fell in love immediately), but this program moved me to tears almost every time I watched it! It's "story" is about maturing from a child into a woman, which was very relvant to Evgenia that season. Yes, the pantomime was annoying at times, but Evgenia brought personality to it apart from that. It moved me so much that I used the same music as my own program music last year lmao. It's still not my fave from her, but it's up there for sure!

Long Program: "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" (Choreo. by Ilia Averbukh)

This was, to say the least, a MESSY idea. A program about 9/11 with audio from news reports and ambulance sirens? Skated by a Russian?? What was Ilia thinking??? Zhenya has stated herself that she didn't like this program and only tolerated it because she won with it! Needless to say she took a ton of hate for this program (even though she had 0 say in it) and it was just a bad idea.

However, the choreography was simply beautiful to me, and Zhenya was able to interpret it beautifully (pantomime aside)! Her dress was one of my favorites, too! And it didn't hurt that she was incredibly consistant this season, so it was always secure and relaxing to watch events with her.

2017-18 (Olympics!!)

Short Program: "Nocturne" (Choreo. by Ilia Averbukh)

I liked this program okay. It was Zhenya's only warhorse program, so some instant iffy vibes, but she skated it well every time and it had very minimal pantomime. Yes the creepy breathes and heartbeat sounds were a bit Much, but overall, it didn't really feel like your typical annoyingly, extra Averbukh program. Her dress was simply gorgeous! My favorite SP dress from her Tutberidze days (second overall to Rhinestone Suspenders but oh well)! It felt like an Olympic program to me, and she sold it like one!

Long Program: "Anna Karenina" (Choreo. by Danill Gleichengauz)

This was the perfect program to round out Zhenya’s career with Tutberidze. I thought it was definitely the most subtle choreographically and although she went through about three dresses for it, all were lovely. It’s not my favorite, but Zhenya clearly enjoyed skating to it (which I cannot say for most of her Tutberidze programs) and made it her own! Just like her SP, this program was perfect for the Olympics, and her finishing off the entire competition with it and all of the emotion she left in the ice, moved me in so many ways. She wasn’t clean with it for a long time, mostly due to her injury, so it could get frustrating to watch at times, but this is ultimately one of my favorite Zhenya programs!

2018-19 (New Coach, New Zhenya)

Short Program #1: “Orange Colored Sky” (Choreo. by David Wilson)

I had so much hope for this program. She performed it spectacularly at AIC, but could never really grasp it during the Grand Prix. The theme was just so different from anything we had seen from Zhenya before. She was sassy, she was energetic, she had spunk! But when she couldn’t deliver a performance, it just seemed out of place. Murderface Medvedeva murdered this program, unfortunately. It featured my all time favorite dress (RHINESTONE SUSPENDERS!!!!!), too. It was just too much change too soon. If she brings this back in a few years I will be ecstatic! But until then (and I think Zhenya realized this too) she needs to just focus on bettering what she can already do.

Short Program #2: “Tosca” (Choreo. by Misha Ge)

Tosca was a much more “Zhenya” choice of music. She only performed this program three times (it was made as an emergency backup program halfway through the season), but it was just leaps better than OCS in terms of how she performed it and the amount of comfort she exuded when skating to it. A great SP to round out her season with! And while I’m not always a fan of Misha’s choreography (it tends to be pretty bland), he worked really well with Zhenya and created a really captivating program! I wish she would have kept it for next season, tbh.

Long Program: “Libertango” (Choreo. by David Wilson)

Well, it would be false advertising to call this a “tango”, but it’s a great program nonetheless. It also got much better as the season progressed. While more classically “Zhenya”, I think it offered enough challenges that she really was able to push herself. Evgenia has said that she wanted to do a Libertango program for a long time, and you can tell that she actually liked skating to this! Not my favorite choreography wise, but it’s a mile better than what she might have gotten with Danill has she stayed in Russia (but that’s a post for another day...). Also, all three dresses were very pretty!

#figure skating #evgenia medvedeva

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