Crystal Skate

From the beginning of times, mankind has enjoyed two things when it comes to entertainment: stories and music. People used to gather around the fire and sing or tell tales long before the first theatre opened its doors or the first musical instrument was invented. So it was only a matter of time before someone, allegedly Jacopo Peri, an Italian composer, combined the two and created the first opera. The opera evolved as a genre throughout four centuries, but as the music scene changed, a new form of entertainment emerged: a hybrid between opera and theatre - the musical. There is a lot of debate over the debut of the musical as a genre. Charles M. Barras' The Black Crook  is still widely considered the first musical despite critics saying that it was just a play with songs and dance. Some say Charles M. Barras was the creator of the musical. Photograph: www.wikipedia.com In figure skating, operas and musicals are both under-used and over-used at the same time. There are s...

It's a Russian world at the ladies' free skate this year as Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Elena Radionova have set themselves up to occupy the first two positions of the podium. Japan is close behind though with all their three skaters currently on places three, four and five. Gracie Gold  looks more confident today than she did in the short programme. Her only mistake is stepping out of the second triple Lutz. She makes such good use of her body language too. The music is from Phantom of the Opera . Her score: 128.23 . Overall: 188.96 . France's Mae Berenice Meite Source: Xiaolu Ghu/Getty Images Asia Mae Berenice Meite  is experiencing some issues with her knee, which is why so many of her jumps look sketchy. The only big mistake though is double-footing the landing of the triple Loop. Presentation-wise, I'm not convinced by the costume - it looks rather generic and not entirely fit for the music. She gets 105.67  points. Overall: 162.75 . Ashley Wagner 's M...

One of the most anticipated events of these championships is the ladies'. Two of the youngest superstars to ever emerge out of Russia will be battling it out with the more-experienced Ashley Wagner, who is determined to give her best shot at winning the title. Polina Edmunds  comes here fresh from her surprising victory at the Four Continents Championships, and proves that her winning the title was not about luck, but about talent and hard work. I absolutely love the blue costume and her spins. Her presentation is not as spectacular as other skaters', but she's got time to improve it. Her score: 61.71 . If they gave fashion awards in figure skating, Polina Edmunds would win one for this gorgeous blue dress Source: Xiaolu Ghu/Getty Images Asia Zijun Li 's elegance is a natural extension of her delicacy, two attributes that Waltz of the Flowers  helps emphasize. She waltzes around the rink beautifully and with no technical mistakes. She gets 61.83  points. Kan...

The ladies' event in Osaka might feel like a second-hand competition given that none of the superstars are skating here, but it shouldn't be undermined. This is going to be influential for the future of Japanese figure skating as it will help decide their next leading lady. Anne Line Gjersem 's rendition of Celine Dion's Fly  is simply beautiful. The choreography lacks detailed content, but she lands all the jumps cleanly. Her score: 49.09 . Norway's Anne Line Gjersem Photograph: Kevin Lee/Getty Images Asia Anna Ovcharova , who is Russian-born, made a clever choice when she opted to skate for Switzerland, a country which needs individual skaters as of late. She falls on the double Toeloop. She gets 45.83  points. Riona Kato , Japan's host pick, is one of those skaters who interprets with her body, but shows no emotion on her face. She also falls on the triple Flip. Her score: 50.87 . It's a shame, but I've learnt to expect bad programmes tech...

The short programme of the ladies went on just as predicted, with Lipnitskaia and Tuktamysheva fighting for first place and the elegant Kanako Murakami right behind them on third. Evita  is a roller-coaster of emotions (happiness, excitement, sadness, desperation), but Ashley Cain  doesn't portray any of that despite the fact that the songs she chose go through them all. Frankly, I believe she's not doing the musical any justice. Biggest mistakes are the fall on the triple Lutz and the step out of the double Axel. Her score: 85.01 . Overall: 124.81 . Anne Line Gjersem  struggles with the jumps today - two falls (triple Flip and Toeloop) and two step outs (second triple Loop and second double Axel). Presentation wise, I am a purist and so I think she should have worn white with a song such as Un ange passe  ( An Angel Passes ). She gets 80.85  points. Overall: 122.78 . Hae Jin Kim, eager to fill in Yuna Kim's skates Photograph: Kevin Lee/Getty Images Asia...

After four impeccable performances, Mao Asada, Carolina Kostner and Julia Lipnitskaia are a stone's throw away from each other. It will take an absolutely flawless performance to win this gold medal. Nyah  by Hans Zimmer is quite a happy song to skate to and Valentina Marchei  enjoys every moment. She's elegant, charismatic and knows just how to dance to a guitar. There is no real mistake here. Her score: 107.37 . Overall: 157.64 . Anne Line-Gjersem  chose a very difficult part of the West Side Story  soundtrack and it hurts her. There's no trace of the romance in there and she's not really following the rise and fall of the music. Technically, her only mistake is the fall on the Triple Loop. Not a big fan of the costume! She gets 80.55  points. Overall: 130.03 . La Bayadere  is a beautiful song and Natalia Popova 's pleasant style can only improve it. Unfortunately, the technical errors bring the interpretation down. She falls on two jumps and double...

Carolina Kostner seems to be the obvious answer to the question "Who will win this year's Worlds?", but if there's one thing that can be sure about figure skating is that there is no such thing as "will", there's only "is likely to". Will the Asians re-claim their gold medals? Can't wait to find out. Most comebacks are disappointing, but Yuna Kim is not known as "The Queen of Ice" for nothing. As gracious as ever, and solid in her technical elements, the Korean obtained 69.97 points. She finished on first place. Gracious, but not yet worthy of the gold medal, Gracie Gold manages to impress with an energetic program, but gets only 58.85 points. Elene Gedevanishvili is far from being the skater she was two seasons ago. She failed every single important technical element, which made her lose focus on the presentation. This was a disastrous program, dangerously close to making her lose the qualification for the Olymp...