Crystal Skate

The men's short programme saw a lot of mistakes, but also a return to top form from Europe's favourite skater. There are therefore great things expected from Spain's national champion tonight, but also a redeeming from Shoma Uno, who could have done better yesterday. If they're both at their best, the battle for the gold will be tough to win. Vincent Zhou  is the first to skate. He falls on the 4Flip and singles the 4Lutz, but still manages two other quads. His spins are also not very graceful - his leg is bent throughout the camel spin and his low spins need to be a bit tighter. His score: 156.09 . Overall: 222.21 . Romain Ponsart  skates to the same theme as Vincent, Moulin Rouge , but to a different selection of songs. Unfortunately, the mistakes are similar to those of the American. He steps outs of the 3Axel, doubles out of the 4Toeloop and singles the 3Axel. He gets 134.31  points. Overall: 198.12 . Javier Fernandez's performance in Grenoble is miles b...

If the ice dance finale was unmissable to the host country of Internationaux de France, the pairs finale is going to be the second most anticipated event. France's national champions are competing for the silver medal, and they're in the perfect position to get it after the short. Lola Esbrat/Andrei Novoselov  are the first pair to skate. They struggle as she doubles out of the 3Salchow, he can't get her into the lasso position for the first lift and they can't perform the side-by-side spins completely in sync. Presentation wise, I'd like to see The Great Gatsby  come through more in the choreography. Their score: 94.82 . Overall: 146.72 . Zoe Jones/Christopher Boyadji 's first Grand Prix free skate is peppered with mistakes, a lot of which are probably due to her not feeling well. She falls on the side-by-side 3Toeloops and the throw 3Flip, doubles out of the 3Salchow and double-foots the throw 3Loop. The side-by-side spins are not in sync either. They earn...

The ice dance final in Grenoble will likely follow the lead of all the other ice dance finals we've seen this season. This means the gold is reserved for one couple only, while the rest of them can only fight for the remaining two positions of the podium. This will help determine some of the couples who can attend the Grand Prix Final. So let's get started: France's Angelique Abachkina & Louis Thauron made a great impression in Grenoble Natalia Kaliszek/Maksym Spodyriev  are first to go. They have a lovely style, but there's not as much storytelling as there is dancing to the soundtrack of The Great Gatsby . They're the second ice dance couple I've seen to do what I call the Sui/Han combo spin position. Their score: 89.19 . Overall: 147.77 . Lorenza Alessandrini/Pierre Souquet  have chosen a modern medley for the free. The contemporary style comes through in the simple costumes as well. A lot of their lifts are quite basic, compared to those of the o...

The pairs' short programme was a perfect example of what happens when technology goes rogue. For those of you who didn't watch this live, let me explain. Simply put, the scoring system crashed and there was a gap of about 10 minutes between Nicole della Monica/Matteo Guarise and Liubov Ilyushechkina/Dylan Moscovitch. This things happen though and once the problem was fixed, the competition carried on with no real damage. Here are some thoughts on the best four performances: Nicole della Monica/Matteo Guarise  drew a lot of attention at the Cup of China, but did even better in Grenoble. They had a really sharp step sequence, staying in sync throughout it, and no errors. They finished on 3rd place, same as in Beijing, but I think they have more chances at a medal here. Their score: 70.65 . Liubov Iliushechkina/Dylan Moscovitch  needed nerves of steel to get over the long wait prior the start of their routine. Their performance wasn't perfect, but it wasn't awful eithe...

The most exciting event of the competition for the host country is without a doubt the ice dance. They will keep the gold in France if nothing unusually unlucky happens, with the silver probably going to North America. And this is where the battle begins. Will the silver really go to North America or will it go east, to Russia? Here is where the short programme left us: The thing that stuck with me about Lorenza Alessandrini/Pierre Souquet  was how much their costumes reminded me of Gabriella/Guillaume's Woodkid ones. From their routine though, my favourite part was probably the transition between the first and second twizzle positions. Their score: 54.07 . Elliana Pogrebinsky/Alex Benoit  had a really sharp rhumba, but I wasn't a fan of how the three songs didn't seem to match each other. Nevertheless, I said it last year and I'll say it again, they have a lot of potential of becoming the next stars of American ice dance. They earned 60.64  points. Alla Loboda/Pa...

The ladies' SP taught me one main lesson: hierarchy in Russian female skating is as fleeting as a castle of leaves in the October wind. Okay, maybe that's being a bit over dramatic, but the thing is a world champion finished last, Cup of China's winner is not even close to the podium and there is a third Russian lady in a silver position. So, here are some of the best performances that caused this ranking: I'll start with Nicole Schott , who was in no way a threat, but had a lot of grace which came through in the alignment and use of arms in her spins. She skated to Nella Fantasia . A fall on the 3Loop hindered her score, which was 55.54  points. Mae Merenice Meite  did a great job, but didn't quite hit the mark for me, probably because I couldn't find the conenction between her two songs, except, of course, for the fact they were both by Beyonce. She's bound to get the crowds going all season long with this theme though, so it's a great choice for t...

The Internationaux de France hasn't been the most glorious event of this Grand Prix Series so far. There were systems crashing (more about that in my post about the pairs' event ) and lots of mistakes from unexpected places (more about that in my ladies post ). So as we go into the men's short, I can't help but feel a bit apprehensive. Hopefully, the technical side of things has been fixed and it'll be smooth sailing from now on in Grenoble. Romain Ponsart  is unfortunately not off to a good start. He falls on the 4Toeloop, steps out of the 3Axel and makes a mistake on the 3Loop that might very possibly be interpreted as a second fall. He skates to  Je Suis Malade , but the errors massively overshadow the presentation. His score: 63.81  (and I was right about the 3Loop, the mistake is scored as a fall). Kevin Aymoz  has a lot of fans here tonight, but he still has a long way to go in terms of consistency. He over-rotates the 3Axel and doubles out of the 3Loo...

The calm of the ice dance wasn't disturbed in the free skate. Luckily for this discipline, it is one of the most artistic, so it's often a lot of fans' favourite. So there's always drama even if there is no drama (I might have 'over-metaphored' here, but you get what I mean). Here is what happened to the top couples in Osaka. Penny Coomes/Nicholas Buckland  blew my mind with their extremely creative lifts. I'm not sure if some of them were not too long, but boy, were they extraordinary! As always with them though, they experienced trouble with the synchronicity in the step sequence. The song is called Battle Remembered . Unfortunately, they didn't match the technical prowess of other skaters and ended on 7th place overall. Free score: 92.51 . Total score: 158.15 . Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov  got the audience laughing thanks to Nikita's surprising fall. Luckily, it happened after the music ended, so they didn't get a deduction for it...

When scores are very close to one another in figure skating, you know you're in for quite a ride. This is even truer in the men's event, where the technical score has a lot of weight, so in consequence, mistakes do too. The final in Osaka was a perfect example of this exact situation, so let's see how and why the top 5 changed in the free skate. Keegan Messing  was one of two skaters to maintain their short programme position. He skated to a medley of Charlie Chaplin soundtracks, which made me want to wish he had skated last week in Beijing, so we could have compared it to Javier's interpretation of the same theme. Keegan's got the silly act down, so this was a great choice of music for him. The quad was so low though, his free leg touched the ice. His free score: 155.67 ; his total score: 235.80 . Jason Brown   avoided the quad in the free skate, which was probably for the best given that there were so many errors in his performance. He fell on both 3Axels and ...

Sometimes you need to sacrifice something in order to get what you wished for. That's how I feel about the ladies' final rankings in Osaka. I got what I wanted, but it's bittersweet because one of my favourite skaters dropped a few places in the process. The results have nothing to do with my wishes of course, but with  a lot of hard work from some brilliant skaters, some of whom I'll talk about in this blog post. Rika Hongo  was the bitter part of my 'bittersweet' emotions. She didn't make any catastrophic errors though - there was a 3Flip that was all sorts of wrong, but otherwise, the elements were alright. What hurt her more was the presentation - there were some blank spaces in terms of interpretation. Absolutely loved the black and red costume though, very Frida Kahlo-like. Her free score was 122.00 , her total score was 187.83  and her final rank was 7th. Satoko Miyhara  was the sweet part, but barely. I wanted her to move up to the top 5, and she...

The pairs' final was as calm as I had predicted, although there was an unexpected shift in the top 5 that I did not see coming - the swap between the Americans and the Canadians. Here are some thoughts on why that happened, as well as on the performances of the rest of the leading pairs. There was quite the contrast between the technical and the presentation of Alexa Scimeca Knierim/Chris Knierim 's free skate. The music, taken from the Ghost  musical, was gorgeous, while the choreography was breathtakingly fluid. However, Chris stepped out of the side-by-side 3Salchows and doubled out of the side-by-side 3 Toeloops. The side-by-side spins were not in sync either. Their free score was 126.65 ; the total, 192.51 , made them drop one place and finish fifth. Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau  simply didn't have the mistakes of the Americans. The choreography amazed me once more - they filled silences with elements and matched other elements with the words of Where's My ...

Ice dance at the Grand Prix Series has always been less dramatic than the other disciplines. It's quite rare to see obvious rivals in the same event, and the NHK wasn't any different. That doesn't mean there are no comparisons though. The biggest question on everyone's minds was how Virtue/Moir would perform compared to Papadakis/Cizeron, who set a new world record last week in Beijing. Here are my thoughts not just on the Canadians' routine, but some of the best programmes of the day. Penny Coomes/Nicholas Buckland  marked their return on ice in Osaka. Their routine was enjoyable, although it didn't necessarily stand out to me in terms of musical choice or style. Really difficult change of position for her in the curved lift. They finished the short on 5th place with 65.64  points. Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov 's twizzles were faster than those of the British although Victoria's first position was a bit wobbly. I particularly liked how the R...

The men's competition in Osaka started with a fiasco for Japan and sad news for figure skating fans worldwide. The sport's most iconic male skater in recent years and Japan's (and my personal) absolute favourite, Yuzuru Hanyu, injured his ankle during practice and had to withdraw. This also means he can't make it to the Grand Prix Final, which will be particularly upsetting for him as it's being hosted in Nagoya, Japan. Still, let's not dwell on the negative, but wish him a speedy recovery, and move our attention to what went on in his absence. The gold was suddenly and unbelievably reachable, and here are the 5 men who are closest to it at the moment: Keegan Messing  did not expect to come to Osaka at the beginning of the season. Patrick Chan's withdrawal is the reason why he could participate. I think he rose very well to the occasion, despite the fall on the 3Axel. His transitions were surprisingly difficult, peppered with the steps we all know from Sin...

Did anyone expect the ladies' short programme in Osaka to end as it did? Okay, okay, I don't mean the top spot, but the order of say...the next five skaters? I was a bit surprised when I found out the results, so I'm having a look at the top five ladies to catch up on what went on. Mirai Nagasu  has grown so much technically since I last saw her. Congratulations on landing that amazing 3Axel. After I saw it, it suddenly made sense why she looked rather stressed at the very beginning. She's one of the skaters who keeps growing every season, so it's always a joy to see her skate. She finished on 5th, with 65.17  points. I don't have a favourite Japanese skater at the moment, but Rika Hongo  comes pretty close. I have to be honest, I was so mesmerised about her performance, I forgot to take notes. Carmina Burana  was an amazing choice for her, the costume was breathtaking and the elements were extraordinary. Loved every second of it. Unfortunately, it didn'...

The action in Osaka, Japan, took off earlier today (way earlier today - time differences are making me blog this closer to the free programmes than the short 😊 ) with the pairs' competition. Things kind of went according to predictions, at least as far as I'm concerned, but there were some routines I saw for the first time today and I'm excited to tell you all about them. I'll start with Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau , who skated to Lorde's version of  Everybody Wants to Rule the World . I love this song, which is why I'm very picky with the presentation for it. To me, it evokes a dark atmosphere that simply didn't come through in this interpretation. I did like their attempt at matching the landing of the throw twist to the sound of the shots in the song though. Unfortunately, Julianne singled out of the side-by-side 3Salchows. Their score: 63.98 . They finished on 5th place. Alexa Scimeca Knierim/Chris Knierim  skated to the romantic Come What May ...

I previously said the pairs' competition was the calmest out of all Cup of China events, but one could argue that title could have gone to the ice-dancers' instead. After all, the top rankings didn't even slightly change here; but as it is always the case with dance, there was drama behind the surface. In ice dance, there's always a battle for the silver medal between equally talented couples and newbies waiting to assert themselves. And that's exactly what we had at Cup of China. So let's have a look at the top dance couples. SHORT Lorainne McNamara/Quinn Carpenter  were one of the newbies to debut at senior level in Beijing. They've been together for over 10 years, but it's the first time I've seen them. My first thought was that they haven't found a trademark style yet. Also, their twizzles were not in sync and the elements were not that difficult. They earned 63.65  points, and finished on 5th place. The second newbie couple to stand ou...

The calmest discipline of this season's Cup of China was the pairs'. Although we didn't see a lot of drama or unexpected plot twists, the competition was a warm-up for what is sure to be a more tumultuous season for the pairs. Here are how the top five pairs in Beijing performed: SHORT Valentina Marchei/Ondrej Hotarek  finished the short programme in 5th place. They skated to Tu vuo fa l'Americano , a comedic song that went viral a couple of years ago. At first I thought the routine wasn't as funny as advertised, but they picked up the comedy in the second half of the programme, once the difficult technical elements were out. With a bit more practice, I'm sure they'll manage to spread out the fun throughout the programme rather than concentrate it in the second half. Their score: 68.48 . Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro  were in the perfect position to 'steal' a medal after the short. They skated to Sweet Dreams , a blues song that would h...

Remember the good old days when figure skating predictions were easy to make? Well, for the most part, those days are completely gone. What we're living at the moment are the even better days when medals are easy to grab for anyone with a technical prowess and convincing presentation. One of the disciplines where this is obvious is the men's. Cup of China 2017 wasn't any different. The podium was unexpected, so I've put together a few lines on how we got there. SHORT Max Aaron  finished the short on 5th place. His routine is set to Les Miserables , another programme that is part of a bunch of increasingly emotional choices we've seen from him in the past few seasons. There were a lot of big arm movements in the choreography, which I know some people don't like, but I'm always supportive of his attempts to up the artistry. Technically, his flying camel spin was a bit slow and he put a hand down on the triple Axel. His score: 83.11 . Keiji Tanaka  remind...

The ladies' competition in Beijing was a topsy-turvy affair, with quite the plot twists occurring in the free programme. They made the top five skaters of the short look quite different from the top five skaters of the long. Here are my thoughts on some of the best programmes of this weekend: SHORT Elizaveta Tuktamysheva  got me excited because this was the first time I saw her in quite a while. Her short seemed a lot more composed than last time I saw her (which was last season), but it still only managed to get the 5th place despite being technically flawless. Perhaps the heavy Pisando Flores  was to blame; some of the other skaters' themes were easier to connect to. Her score was 67.10 . Alina Zagitova  made her senior Grand Prix debut in Beijing. Her short was definitely notable, but I personally think she still needs to work on her facial expressions as she wasn't conveying the desperation of Black Swan . She's got great body movements though. It was a surpri...