Crystal Skate

Less than a point; that is the difference between two of Russia's most successful skaters: Elena Radionova and Julia Liptniskaia. With so little standing between them, they will both have to keep their wits about them if they want to win. More so as every mistake they make will be a boost forward for the magnificent Ashley Wagner. Laurine Lecavelier , the host's pick, is first to go. Her music is beautiful, but the interpretation lacks conviction. Technically, her biggest mistake is the fall on the double Toeloop, but there are lots of smaller mistakes too. Her score: 95.51 . Overall: 139.54 . Funny Girl  is a big theme for someone as new on the scene as Veronik Mallet  to perform flawlessly. I commend her, however, on her effort on choosing the costume and those tap dance moves from the step sequence. She gets 94.57  points. Overall: 139.64 . Giselle aka Haruka Imai Photograph: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images Europe Eliska Brezinova  is feeling better on Frenc...

Tonight's dance final will surely be a preview of the epic battles we'll witness in years to come, as all the top couples competing here have what it takes to become tomorrow's superstars. Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron might even achieve that status tonight if they manage to win the French Grand Prix. As for Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier versus Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, their countries' rivalry has been taking figure skating to a new level for years now, and there's no reason for them not to continue the tradition. Rebeka Kim/Kirill Minov  are still too fresh on the senior stage to pull off that vital chemistry that have made other Phantom of the Opera  routines mind-blowing. They also have a mishap here as she falls out of the blue during a transition. Their score: 70.29 . Overall: 115.95 . I'm still waiting for Alexandra Paul/Mitchell Islam 's breakthrough moment. I used to think it might be brought about by more daring routines,...

It's time for the new Chinese pairs to make a name for themselves, or at least that's what the short programme results seem to imply. Wenjing Sui and Cong Han are very close to winning their second silver medal of the season, while Xuehan Wang and Lei Wang would also like another bronze-worthy performance after Cup of China. The gold is undoubtedly going to stay in the hands of Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov. Failed death spirals are a rare sight in figure skating, but unluckily for Miriam Ziegler/Severin Kiefer , they add one to their luggage of technical mistakes today. The fault lies with her as she loses her edge. Their score: 88.91 . Overall: 139.92 . Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro 's costumes are fabulous, depicting disintegrating chessboards. Only one mistake here, his hand down on the side-by-side triple Salchows. They get 108.06  points. Overall: 159.13 . Nicole della Monica/Matteo Guarise  have the same presentation problem as in the short. She is j...

After defeating the world champions merely two weeks ago, France's new ice dance couple, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, are certain to win their first French Grand Prix gold in Bordeaux. The second and third places will most likely go to Canada and the US. Paso doble doesn't get more authentic than Sara Hurtado/Adria Diaz 's version. They know exactly what it is about, being from Spain and all, so it makes me wonder if his strange pants are how a toreador's pants should really look like. Their score: 57.64 . Alexandra Paul/Mitchell Islam  are amazingly fast, which makes their routine masterful and difficult. My only problem with them is that they do the same circular lift in every short programme. They get 55.17  points. Last time we saw Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri , they were close to disastrous. Their paso doble is much improved here, especially on the mirrored twizzles. Their score:  56.57 . Gilles & Poirier's gorgeous costumes Photog...

Tatsuki Machida is fresh off his Skate America victory, but Denis Ten and Maxim Kovtun have a lot to prove, so anything can happen in the men's event. Here we go: Adam Rippon  is much better today than he was at Skate Canada. Tuxedo Junction  suits him perfectly, offering him the chance to go wild without losing charm. Just one question: where is the tuxedo? His score: 76.98 . Denis Ten's Butterfly Photograph: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images Europe Chafik Besseghier  is using last season's short routine and it is still as brilliant as ever. The graffiti-ed costume is still a masterpiece and the breakdown dance moves are still impressive. He's flawless on a technical level as well. He gets 78.22  points. Konstantin Menshov 's Rotten Romance  has an air of desperation and angst about it that the Russian sells very well. His stamina must be incredible because there's not a single moment of rest in the choreography, but he doesn't look exhausted. His score...

Lipnitskaia and Radionova are as different as night and day, so this, their first direct confrontation of the season, is definitely exciting. Maria Artemieva  looks more experienced today than she did at Rostelecom. She can't do anything wrong here. Great start of the competition. Her score: 58.38 . From the yellow costume to the title of the music ( Butterflies Are Free ), everything announces an exceptional presentation by Anna Ovcharova . She doesn't fall far from our expectations, but her elements are not as sharp as they could be. She gets 50.15  points. Mae Berenice Meite 's short routine is just the right amount of delicate to balance the challenging bits. Delicate because of the gospel music, challenging because of the rhythm set by the drums. Her score: 57.61 . Latin music can be very difficult to express if you're a single skater because the elements don't give you enough space to explore the rhythm. However, Samantha Cesario  maintains the rapid p...

There wasn't a lot of groundbreaking action in the pairs' events at this Grand Prix, and the spell is unlikely to be broken in Bordeaux. Stolbova & Klimov have virtually no rivals, while the second and third places will certainly be occupied by someone who's never been on the Eric Bompard podium. But who exactly? Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro  start the competition with a visibly shakier Cell Block Tango than at Skate Canada. She falls on the thrown triple Loop, and he struggles with the exit of the second lift. Their score: 51.07 . Xuehan Wang/Lei Wang 's theme couldn't be vaguer. Their song title simply says: Romance. Overall, they are however better than the Americans because they have no technical errors. They get 63.25  points. Stolbova & Klimov's death spiral Photograph: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images Europe Miriam Ziegler/Severin Kiefer 's C'est pas l'amour  and Zydeko  couldn't be more appropriate for a French crowd...

The poster for the 2014 Trophee Eric Bompard looks like the cover of a best-selling novel. It's by far the most stylish poster of the Grand Prix series, and why shouldn't it be? France has always been the place where beauty and elegance thrive. Thus it's the perfect venue for a figure skating competition to be held in. The poster also boasts with 'the best skaters in the world', which might be a bit far fetched as the only World champions supposed to compete in Bordeaux, Cappellini and Lanotte, withdrew a week ago. But this is ice skating and 'best in the world' doesn't just mean World title holders. The Poster Photograph: International Skating Union The category that gets the closest to the advertised 'créme de la créme' is the ladies'. Julia Lipnitskaia and Elena Radionova are both competing here - yey, I'm getting my wish of seeing them face each other! Consequently, Ashley Wagner might be scowling at her lucky stars because it...