Crystal Skate

The second short programme from Nagano, that of the boys, is bound to bring the home crowd on their feet because it features figure skating's golden boy, Japan's very own Yuzuru Hanyu. The Olympic champion hasn't had the best of seasons, finishing sixth after the short programme at Skate Canada. Still, he is undeniably the favourite here, competing against Maxim Kovtun, Takahito Mura and China's new star, Boyang Jin. There's a softness to Grant Hochstein 's routine that not many boys can interpet. The music, Due Tramonti  by Ludovico Einaudi, is absolutely beautiful. His use of arms is quite balletic, but he doubles out of the triple Toeloop. His score: 74.30 . Elladj Balde  has a lot of swagger, but double-foots the quad Toeloop. He skates to Duke Ellington's Echoes of Harlem , which would fall flat in the hands of other skaters. He gets 69.47 points. Keiji Tanaka  is the first Japanese of the day. The choreography is full of accurate tango moves, wh...

Scott Moir was once asked what the atmosphere was like in the men's locker rooms. He replied that there is a camaraderie between the boys most of the time which springs from them making fun of each other's costumes. Even though Scott could only speak for the ice dancers, it's not hard to imagine that single skaters are also having a laugh at their opponents' (and their own) outfits. Most men, as a rule, don't give as much importance to fashion as women do. So you can imagine that with no partner fussing about what they are going to wear, most male skaters don't stress too much over their costumes. A lot of them settle for a plain jumpsuit or a black tie attire - something comfortable that makes them look decent. There are certain themes though for which 'decent' doesn't do it. That's when things get interesting. Can't you just picture some of them cringe at themselves in the mirror? Soundtracks, musicals and operas are usually the genres ...

It's no secret that after scoring medals out of the blue both at the 2013 Worlds and the Olympics, Denis Ten has become one of the golden boys of figure skating. Still, he has yet to win a gold medal or even climb on the podium of the Four Continents Championships. This is his chance to do both things at the same time. THE SHORT PROGRAMME One of Joshua Farris' more peculiar spin positions Photograph: Chung Stung-Jun / Getty Images Asia I love Joshua Farris ' Give Me Love  routine, but an Ed Sheeran song is challenging to compete on. Because of the nature of the music, he has to work extra to make it look less like an exhibition and more like a serious programme. He does it though by acing every single element and going into some original spin positions, the likes of which you only see in the ladies' event. Great job! His score: 84.29 . Despite being fifth at Japan's Nationals, Takahito Mura  is his country's best chance at the gold in Seoul. He's...

Finally, we have arrived to the short programme Barcelona has been waiting for most impatiently: the men's. All of Spain will place their bets on Javier Fernandez, who has never before skated on homeland against such powerful rivals. Will that help or deter his performance? We wish him, and all the other skaters, the best of luck. Yuzuru Hanyu  seems to have recovered from the accident that made him skate first here, at a competition where he would normally skate last. His music is a frantic piano ballad by Chopin, but he manages to express every single change in the music. He loses his axis on the triple Lutz though, which prevents him from aligning the Toeloop right, which is why he falls. His score: 94.08 . Sergei Voronov  has nerves of steel, which is why he seems unaffected by Hanyu's amazing performance. Still, you can tell he's being extra careful with every move because he's slower than usually, too slow to match the rapid pace of  Danse Macabre . He gets 84...

The results of the men's short programme were quite surprising. Not only did half the world gasp in surprise at Yuzuru Hanyu's score, but they were also amazed by Daisuke Murakami's astonishing debuting performance. Still, all hope is not lost for any of the skaters trying to get to the final as Murakami cannot qualify. Who will most certainly qualify though is Takahito Mura. Let's see who joins him. It's hard to watch Joshua Farris 's free skate. He entirely loses his focus after the fall on the quad Toeloop, so the only good jump is the triple Axel from the very beginning. This is one of those moments when the feel of the music ( Schindler's List ) matches the skater's own state of mind for all the wrong reasons. His score: 111.53 . Overall: 169.88 . Ross Miner from the USA Photograph: Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images Asia Ross Miner  fares better despite not being able to jump a quad either. His song is Romanza  by Andrea Boccelli, which gives him ...

Last time we saw Yuzuru Hanyu, he got our attention for all the wrong reasons. Let's hope this time skating in his home country helps him get over the nasty incident in China, because if it doesn't, his own countryman, Takahito Mura, will hurry to snatch the lead from him. Jeremy Ten 's start of the competition is not pristine. He struggles with the triple Axel and falls on the triple Flip. His score: 65.81 . South Korea's Jim Seo Kim Photograph: Kevin Lee/Getty Images Asia From the hairdo to the name, Daisuke Murakami  is a look-alike of his more famous countryman, Daisuke Takahashi. His style though is not as well defined as Takahashi's, but he is perfect technically, and his future looks good. He gets 79.68  points. Whenever Ivan Righini  skates, we have a show on our hands. His Michael Jackson routine always gets the crowd going and rightly so. On a technical level though, he has a hand down on the triple Axel and one of the spins. His score: 70.27 ....

After winning the short programme, Javier Fernandez is halfway through to victory, but any mistake he makes might be an advantage for Takahito Mura and Konstantin Menshov. However, the same can be said about them and the guys waiting in the wings for a chance to step on the podium. Let's see if any of them manage to exceed our expectations. Adam Rippon  makes good use of his flexibility, but his triple Axels are giving him a hard time. He misses two and barely lands the third. I'm afraid this isn't a major improvement from yesterday. His score: 139.09 . Overall: 201.92 . You can see the exact moment when Liam Firus  draws his breath in and gets into character. His routine proves that the change in musical rules was a good idea. Instead of just skating to the soundtrack of Moulin Rouge , he skates to the story itself as it is narrated by one of the actors. His biggest mistake is over-rotating the triple Axel. He gets 133.97  points. Overall: 198.91 . There's a smal...