Crystal Skate

You simply cannot analyze this season and overlook the Olympic Champions who may be the first skaters in a while to have high chances of winning their second Olympic gold medal. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir had two beautiful routines this year that I simply can't go on without talking about. In the other corner we've got two Russians who switched to team Azerbaijan and whose debut was brave though a bit junior-ish. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir started the season with a waltz composed by Sir Anthony Hopkins ( And the Waltz Goes On ), showing us a side to the famous actor that few knew about. Tessa's two dresses for the waltz were absolutely gorgeous, even though the first one caused a few technical problems (remember Skate Canada where Scott got tangled into Tessa's dress?). The programme had a great flow to it, the choreography was very beautiful and the polka steps were so smooth it didn't bother us that they were performed on a waltz. But the real piece of re...

You've probably noticed how figure skating is changing every year; the rules get a little less strict (who else is excited about lyrics in single and pairs competition starting 2014/2015?), programmes get a little riskier and skaters are trying new elements each year (remember Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy's thrown triple Axel?). Ice dance in particular is an area where you can bring as many innovations as you'd like, but some skaters take that opportunity and dress it up in something ridiculous they then call originality. Others know that innovation is like pepper: you use a teaspoon and it adds flavour, you use a fistful and it sets you on fire. Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje are no strangers to using new regulations in their programmes; whether they're using a prop (i.e.: Kaitlyn's scarf for the 2007/2008 original dance) or using iconic words to set the scene (Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman's voices at the start of their Moulin Rouge routine back in 2010/2...

This season was, above everything else, about change, whether we witnessed it happening or we wished we had. Two ice-dance couples in particular proved what a difference change (or lack of it) can make. Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat from France put on quite a Moulin Rouge show on ice. Being French definitely gave them the advantage of choosing a cultural-rich theme they probably grew up with. The music ( Gaite Parisienne  by Jacques Offenback; Sous le ciel du Paris  by Yves Montand) was delightful and the short dance was cheeky and very enjoyable (definitely top 5 best short dances of the season). The award for best performance has to go to Nathalie though because she played her role every second of the program, while Fabian often seemed a bit empty-eyed. As good as the short was, their long program was way below expectations. Fitted more for shows than competitions (especially if you're talking pre-Olympic season), the Rolling Stones Medley was nothing more than danci...

Wonder-children are not rare in figure skating, as Russian ladies have been proving this season, but being one of them is a great challenge that most often than not skaters can't cope with. Both Denis Ten and Artur Gachinski know this a little too well, but while the Kazakh seems to have outgrown his problems, those of the Russian are in full bloom. For most of the season, and when I say most, I mean 90% of it, Denis Ten was nothing more than a skating disaster. He seemed to be going nowhere but down, and that bright future everyone predicted for him just a few years ago, was slowly, but surely dying out. And then suddenly he came in second in the World Championships, and not only that, but the truth is he should have won it. His choice of skating both the SP and the LP on the soundtrack of The Artist  instead of going for two different themes was mature, original and very classy. The difference between the two programs is a bit blurry, especially if you haven't seen t...