Crystal Skate

It was all about the Triple Lutz this season for Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford. They did it side-by-side and as a throw-jump, and it's no wonder medals started raining down on them (gold at the Canadian Championships and the Four Continents, silver at Trophee Eric Bombard and Skate Canada, and the big bronze at Worlds). This was the pair's best season so far and they were some of the season's best. Their short program music was La Boheme , a famous opera written by Giacomo Puccini. Although their costumes are sometimes a bit of a let down because they're not very expressive, this time Meagan accessorized her red dress with a flower in her hair and Eric's red scarf really made a difference. What they're best at, besides the Triple Lutz, are original entrances and exits into and out of elements. In the free skate, they skated on Philippe Rombi's Angel.  The music and choreography were gorgeous, but they should have worn something more angelic and less dinner...

Japan and Russia are in a serious competition for the gold medal. Will experience or youth win the day? Gabrielle Daleman has a lot of work ahead of her. Wearing a sparkling purple costume, the Canadian lands a dodgy triple Lutz, completely fails the triple Flip and the triple Salchow and ends with an over-rotated double Axel. The program doesn't say much artistically either, but Gabrielle can pull of some beautiful spins. She gets 92.00 points. Overall : 140.82 . Lenaelle Gilleron-Gorry 's geisha costume is the only beautiful part of her program. Failing all the Flip jumps and a triple Toeloop makes her lose energy and brings her presentation grades down. Her score: 72.39 . Overall: 121.80 . The distance between technical elements and presentation is huge today for Elizaveta Tuktamysheva . First she jumps a single Lutz, then she over-rotates the double Axel and falls on the triple Toeloop, and finally, she has a dodgy landing on the last double Toeloop. And yet, her pr...

The podium of the Pairs seemed settled before the SP even started, but one of the pairs decided to prove that they have a future together against all odds. Marissa Castelli/Simon Shnapir delivered an ambitious program with original spins and lifts. Their speed was great and the music ( Payadora  by Julian Plaza) suited them very well. The only big mistakes were the fall on the thrown quad Salchow (but hats off in front of them for trying it) and the lack of synchronicity in the side-by-side spins. They got 115.12 points. Overall: 172.30 . Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang have improved since the Worlds. He seemed a bit less over-protective of her, which means that she is slowly rising to his level. Even if she might not reach it while teamed with him, the experience can only benefit her.Despite her fall on the thrown double Axel, the program was enjoyable to watch. Their score: 115.78 . Overall: 174.40 . Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres got the crowd standing and che...

Figure skating is, before everything else, an unpredictable sport. Although more often than not, a Short Program can win a medal, sometimes the odds change in the last minute, as this final proved. Romain Ponsart did his best to express the tragedy of Swan Lake  and in terms of presentation skills, he has a bright future ahead of him. The only problem with this routine is that it was a bit too ambitious: he planned two quads, but touched the ice on the first and fell on the second. That single Axel didn't help his score either. He got 208.20 points. Overall: 165.59 . P.S.: Quirky ballet dance happening in team France's camp. If Yi Wang is a fan of Metallica or not is anyone's guess. Despite skating on their music, the Chinese didn't seem to put a lot of heart into his program. Technically, he failed the quad, but his best jump was the triple Salchow. His score: 125.27 . Overall: 183.57 . Han Yan 's routine was about a masquerade, which is why his costume...

Team USA finished the short dance on first position, against all odds. But will the relatively new couple manage to keep their position in front of the more experienced Canadians? And who will take their first International Bronze Medal home? Xiaoyang Yu/Chen Wang 's costumes looked so dramatic...and then the funny music started. As it turns out things do get a bit more serious towards the end of the program, although many people probably have no idea what the story is about as the Chinese couple are not so good at selling it. They get 68.61 points. Overall: 113.76 . P.S.: I still want a fluffy Panda cap. Le Chanson des Vieux Amants  really is the best FD Pernelle Carron/Lloyd Jones have showed us so far. If they keep on this path of original and difficult elements, while improving their presentation skills, they will reach a podium at some point. Their score: 84.24 . Overall: 138.97 . P.S.: Looks like team France decided to wear costumes outside the ice-rink as well -...

The Pairs Short Program's big absentees are the Japanese skaters, and the biggest names are Tatiana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov. It is nice to see Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang finishing a not so good season with a clean SP. She seemed to struggle a bit with the dance steps of the program, but otherwise it looks like Mr. Zhang's experience is a good influence on her. They get 58.62 points. Marissa Castelli/Simon Shnapir deliver a fun program, although their costumes could use some work (you just don't wear plain black clothes when you're skating on the Pink Panther ). Except for his fall on the Triple Salchow and the tiniest lack of synchronicity in the side-by-side spins, the elements were good as well. Their score: 57.18 . Safri Duo seems to go well with French skaters, even though Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres seemed a bit slow this time. Still, their clean skate got the audience cheering throughout it. They get 58.73 points. P.S.: Check out who stopped by to cheer f...

The Ladies' competition is packed with potential champions, and with Yuna Kim missing, it is now time for Japan and Russia to have a skate off against each other. Thrilling, right? It is not an inspiring day for Gabrielle Daleman . From the costume to the failed combination and the over-rotated Flip, the Canadian seems to be struggling with her Avatar  routine. She gets 48.82 points. Lanelle Gilleron-Corry (another new face) brings a bit more on the ice. With a lovely combination of two Triple Toeloops and a good Double Axel, the Frenchwoman gets a score of 49.41 points. P.S.: who else almost didn't recognize Brian Joubert with red hair? An original spin and perfect jumps will get Kexin Zhang the lead for now, but that choreography could have been delivered with a bit more heart. She gets 54.97 points. P.S.: Don't you want team China's Panda Bear caps? Kaetlyn Osmond recovers after the fall on the Triple Toeloop and what a recovery that is! Charming a...

The first day of men's competition is about to start. Canada, Russia and Japan have the strongest teams. Will they rise to their reputation? Yi Wan 's program cannot not be compared to Michal Brezina's given that they skate on the same music. Unfortunately for the Chinese, he does not have the skating or the presentation skills of the Czech. Comparison aside, this is a solid program even if it does not impress. Yi gets 58.30 points. Romain Ponsart lands a quad in combination with a triple, just to fail a jump later. The music doesn't help him a lot either, and the program does come off a bit dull. His score: 57.39 . Maxim Kovtun fails the test of patience and focus on his last jump, which is really  a shame because his quad was bloody perfect and his last spin was very original. He gets 76.67 points. Max Aaron 's legacy looks good so far. With one of the best jumping techniques out there, the American still has a lot to learn about presentation. His s...

With the Canadians being the only team to be in top five best ice dancers, the Short Dance starts with the results already being easily predicted. That doesn't mean though that we're not in for a show. Presenting the same music as Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat's SD, Ksenia Monko/Kirill Khavialin finally have the chance to represent Russia in a big international competition. Their program is elegant and pleasant to watch, but she messes up the first half of the twizzles. They get 59.47 points. China goes country! Xioayang Yu/Chen Wang are energetic (despite losing speed in certain parts), but their twizzles are far from synchronized. Their score: 45.15 . Cathy Reed/Chris Reed have great speed and deliver a strong performance (first perfect twizzles of the day), which sets the arena on fire.They get 56.35 points (and a cute cheer from Daisuke Takahashi). Madison Chock/Evan Bates are simply charming, and do not look as young a couple as they are (they have on...

What makes this year's WTT stand out (in the wrong way) are the big absentees: Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir, Meryl Davis/Charlie White and Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat (yeah, they're still one of the best couples even though they made a mess at Worlds). The ice-dance competition will suffer severely in quality due to these absences. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very much looking forward to it, but let's be honest: Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje are the only ones likely to be impeccable on ice, and if they don't take the gold medal, I'll eat my hat. So there's not much unpredictability there. Team France probably took the biggest hit. Besides Nathalie and Fabian, they also lost Florent Amodio, who is probably the most cheerful skater out there. As for the host team, Japan, there is no one registered in the pairs competition! Did anyone know you could do that in a World Team Trophy? Then again, I suppose Japan doesn't really have an option given tha...

Stefania Berton/Ondrej Hotarek finally found their true calling after years of unsatisfactory results as single skaters. In the process, they've also put Italy on the pairs skating map for the first time in history.The European Bronze Medalists have just got to be on the Best List this season. Both music choices suited them very well ( Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones for SP and Poeta en el viento  by Vincente Amigo for LP), which proves that they can interpret any role. They still have a lot to learn about executing their elements flawlessly and being synchronized in the side-by-side spins, but the Italians (or so to speak, given that Ondrej is Czech) are on their way to success. True, they may find an obstacle if Vera Bazarova/Yuri Larionov ever get back to the program quality that made them famous, but that only means figure skating will get even more interesting to watch. An honorary mention to their friendship with Michal Brezina, who has been helping them wi...