Maite van MULDERS / Robbe de VOS (BEL) | Junior Ice Dance Free Dance | Riga 2025

Our next team represents Belgium, Mette van Mulder and Robby de Vos. She's 19, he is 16. Just one competition in 2025. First time in the Junior Grand Prix. Well, you don't have to look far to guess what the music choice will be. Costume depicting Soundtrack to the Mask. Well, what a brilliant choreographic character step sequence to conclude the free dance for Mette van Mulder and Robby de Vos. I thought it was just so, so fun. Interesting. There are eight elements in this program, but seven permanent reviews. So the technical panel has a lot of work to do and they see some things they need to relook at just to verify exactly. Is it to require? Yes. And as we've discussed a little bit in the rhythm dance and certainly through the free skating competitions, that the requirements for the dancers in terms of level I think there's potentially more debate to be had on the tech panel. Yeah. And I wish right now I could just listen in. Well, you can. Well, I know, but we've got to talk about this brilliance. OK, I don't want to do nothing, but you know, you listen. Mark is going to listen to the technical panel work, which is really interesting. We talked about that, that we're able to hear the technical panel go through the process of during the program and then obviously in the reviews as well, which helps us understand why they came up with the decision that they have. And it's really, you know, it's transparency at the ISU. And it is so well done. I really want the world to be able to hear it because they're so good at what they do and they're so accurate based on one camera, one point of view and keeping it consistent throughout the competition. They do a great job. OK, there we go. Report back. It's interesting because I think this is why having listened and there to the panel who are brilliant, as you have said, you've been listening perhaps a little bit more to me on the review process, Ted. The professionalism of the tech panel is just amazing. And the lack of, I suppose, lack of emotion that they bring to it and in a way, in a very professional way, it's very matter of fact, it's very clear cut and clean. It's objective, as much as it can be. Yeah, and I was listening, you know, I was looking at the diagonal step sequence in my head, counting the number of cleanly called turns. And this is where I know that I maybe I'm not the right guy for tech panel stuff because I would I am too emotionally inclined to give. Yeah, you'd be totally distracted. I'd be level four for everybody. Costumes and the music and all that stuff. And you can't do that on the technical panel. You have to be like a mathematician, like a scientist. You're looking and you're dissecting the program based on the criteria that is pounded into your brain. That's what you do. And you have no idea what the program was about. So when you get to hear it, it's pretty impressive. And I think also when they were talking about the diagonal step sequence, which I had mentally assigned levels to in my head, I was thinking, oh, this is pretty good. I might give them a two or three and a level one came up. And I think that's further confirmation of what we have discussed previously, whereby the level of clarity and depth of edge required for the dancers to have the higher level achievement in a step sequence is greater. We've been watching single skaters and we've been watching pair skaters. And now in this dance event, maybe it's because my well, that's an excuse. My eyes have been watching single skaters, but the requirement, the clarity of turn is resolute. Yes, these dancers. Yeah, it's it's investigated with a microscope compared to perhaps the singles, right? So and now they're down on element number six of eight. This is why this is taking so long, because there are eight elements, but seven of them were under review. Now they finished number six. Now they're going on to number seven. The rotation live at the end of the program. They're looking at that right now. So, you know, you'll see this in the juniors. You will not see that many reviews in the seniors, not because they're told not to, just because the teams are better and more clear. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, I think the score, I'm not sure what this team were hoping for. They competed in an ice dance direct event last week. I've had a total of 100 to 100 points. So I assume they'll be hoping for similar again for us because of our awareness of the longevity needed for ice dance. I see beyond whatever this result is and think they make a great team. They're captivating. She is just so enigmatic when she was doing the choreography step at the end. They found a discipline that works for them. I think they're well suited to it. Yeah, it's such a long road. Yeah, it's a long road. Here it is. Fifty eight point six two for the free dance. Without a second. Second team out. Ninety seven point nine eight for the competition total competition score. And that'll put them currently for the moment, at least in the first place.