The Ice-Dance Version of a Ballroom

Beautiful ladies in elegant dresses dancing with gentlemen wearing military uniforms and dinner jackets...well, not quite. Waltz and Polka might be the compulsory rhythms of the season, but originality is the middle name of ice dance. So take everything you know about ballrooms and throw it out the ice rink, for the dancers' short program is about to start.

• Impressive costumes, but not much more for Federica Testa/Lukas Csolley from Slovakia. They get 44.73 points.

• As expressive as always, Charlene Guinard/Marco Fabbri deliver an enjoyable program. When it comes to costumes, the Italian couple pays attention to the smallest of details. Their score: 57.89.

• Siobhan Heekin-Canedy/Dmitri Dun's program is a bit dull, but not bad technically. They get 59.20 points.

• The first original approach of the day is Isabella Tobias/Deividas Stagniunas' Oklahoma program. The twizzles were messy and they were too far away from each other in the polka sequence. As far as presentation goes, while Isabella sang along with the music, Deividas looked very much in pain. Their score: 57.39.

• Irina Shtork/Taavi Rand stay on the country side of the polka/waltz, but they fail to deliver an impressive or even good program. The Estonians get 45.29 points.

• Lucie Mysliveckova/Neil Brown tried their hand at some difficult elements, but still need to work on their presentation skills. Their score: 51.82.

• Zsuzsanna Nagy/Mate Fejes would have had a pretty good program if it hadn't been for him messing the twizzles. The Hungarians get 45.60 points.

• Who would've thought a Eurovision winner could be music for the dancers' short dance? Alisa Agafonova/Alper Ucar did. A good skate and decent presentation for the couple from Turkey, but they got a deduction, probably for the lift. Their score (with which the audience loudly disagreed): 43.98.

• Unusual costumes and many mistakes (but what a lift!) for Viktoria Kavaliova/Yurii Bieliaiev. The couple from Belarus gets 32.50 points.

• Madison Chock/Evan Bates deliver an interesting dance that is almost good enough to stand on its own as a FD. The Americans know how to sell a program! Their score: 66.74.

• Silly costumes, silly music, but great skating skills and presentation. Julia Zlobina/Alexei Sitnikov know how to strut their stuff, but they'll need more sophisticated programs if they want to climb to the top. They get 57.80 points.

• There's only one thing wrong with Cathy Reed/Chris Reed's beautiful program: his twizzles. Oh, and bronze and pink are not two colours you should put together...like ever! Their score: 53.95.

• I predict a gold medal in Ekaterina Riazanova/Ilia Tkachenko's future. The Russians still have a lot to learn to get it, but they're very elegant and never deliver a disappointing program. They get 59.52 points.

• The French know how to pick a costume! Pernelle Carron/Lloyd Jones perform with more heart and skill than they've ever done before. Maybe they're finally on their way up. Their score: 60.58.

• Meryl Davis/Charlie White are not good, nor great, but bloody brilliant. The Americans seem to love skating under pressure, and take the lead with 77.12 points, an almost impossible-to-beat score.

• Penny Coomes/Nicholas Buckland seem a bit tired compared to the Europeans' performance, but overall, the program is entertaining and their choreography is always a delight to watch. They get 63.66 points.

• Another delightful program is Nelli Zhiganshina/Alexander Gazsi's, although he struggled a bit with the twizzles. Their score: 60.59.

• A fabulous skate from Kaytlin Weaver/Andrew Poje makes the entire arena go wild! The fact that she's just recovered from an injury makes this performance even more worthy of standing ovations. The Canadians get 67.54 points, but I personally think they deserved more.

• Why, oh, why? Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir have dodgy twizzles. The rest of the dance was absolutely beautiful, but at the level they compete at every mistake counts. Their disappointing score: 73.87.

• Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat did a good job today, but they didn't shine. They skated this program a lot better in the Grand Prix events. They get 69.65 points.

• Ice dance would be a lot duller if it didn't have Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte. The Italians are the most charismatic couple. Their performance today was flawless and got them 67.93 points.

• Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani have the second oddest SD music of the season - Native American rhythms. Their program would've been fantastic (best twizzles of the day) if the music hadn't drawn attention away from the polka/waltz sequences. The Americans get 66.14 points.

• Here it is: the oddest SD of the season - Elena Ilinykh/Nikita Katsalapov's Uzbek dance. The Russians have great skating and presentation skills, but Nikita did a couple mistakes today, especially in the twizzles. Their score: 66.07.

• Changing styles did wonders for Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev. The European champions proved that winning the title in Zagreb was not caused by Pechalat/Bourzat's absence. They finished third and with high hopes for a medal. Their score: 70.05.

Although peppered with twizzle mistakes and daft music choices, the ice dancers' short program was as glamorous as always. Davis/White obtained a score that might have already won them the gold medal, but Virtue/Moir's Carmen is not a rival they want to underestimate. As for the Bronze medal, right now the odds are in favour of the Russians, but who knows what can happen in the free dance?

To see the full results, go to: http://www.isuresults.com/results/wc2013/