Crystal Skate

Out of the two Russian stars skating in Kelowna, Anna Pogorilaya was the one to finish the short on first place. The more experienced Alena Leonova had to settle for the third place after Ashley Wagner's phenomenal skate led the American to the second position. On fourth, Japan's wonder-child, Satoko Miyahara is more than qualified to advance and take the bronze medal. I don't think Courtney Hicks  is portraying Anna Karenina  accurately. This is after all, the tragic story of a glamorous woman who loses everything for the love of the wrong man. Technically though, Courtney is really good and I really like her original position in the last spin. Her only mistake is a fall on the triple Lutz.  Her score: 118.15 . Overall: 174.51 . Alaine Chartrand  is better at interpreting an equally complex story: Dr Zhivago . She pays special attention to details such as following her arm movements with her eyes. However, she is not as good technically, with several double-foot...

Skate Canada, held in the Orchard City, aka Kelowna, British Columbia, is going to be a treat this year because none of the former gold medalists are competing. Even more, except for Julia Lipnitskaia, all of them have either withdrawn or broken up. That means that winning is anyone's game. Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres, France's top pair Photograph: Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images Asia This might not be good news for the hosts, who are used to keep the men's gold in Canada thanks to Patrick Chan. With him "taking a break" and Kevin Reynolds having had to withdraw due to skates problems, it is likely that they won't even have a skater on the podium. But the Canadians are such fans of figure skating that I'm sure they won't let their disappointment shine through. Instead, you can bet they'll cheer their hats off for every and any of these four favourite contenders: Javier Fernandez, Takahiko Kozuka, Michal Brezina and Konstantin Menshov. Canada do...

Adelina Sotnikova is so very close to achieving her dream and winning the European title that slipped out of her fingers last year. But with Julia Lipnitskaia and Carolina Kostner breathing down her neck, the task is not easy at all. Natalie Weinzierl 's Rhapsody in Blue sounds grand and looks fabulous, but looks can be deceiving. She had a hand down on the Triple Lutz, stepped out of the Triple Loop, fell on the last Triple Salchow and lost her balance during the second-to-last spin. In terms of transition, there wasn't much there. Her score: 98.86 . Overall: 151.88 Julia Turkkila 's La Gazza Ladra migh sound funny, but it's quite a repetitive song. With a bit more imagination, she could have made a story for it, but as it is, the programme doesn't stand out. She missed a couple of elements, the most important being the Triple Salchow, which she fell on. She obtains 89.89 points. Overall: 140.31 I don't know if Elena Glebova builds her programmes arou...

Last season saw no less than 10 astonishing ladies competing for the podium at the world championships, while everyone had a tough time trying to set them apart. This year, their choice of programmes is more exciting than ever as they're bound to bring out their best, and then some, to win the most prestigious medal of them all: the Olympic medal. Alena Leonova  - although she's become one of the underdogs, always trying to reach the top, always failing spectacularly, this Russian skater has probably the best interpretation skills we've seen. Her new long programme, Carmen  by George Bizet, despite being the king of over-used programmes, is going to showcase her amazing abilities as an actress on ice. Gracie Gold  - with a predestined name and a brilliant debut, this petite American is a rising star already. For the Olympic season, she chose two powerful themes: Three Preludes by George Gershwin ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgJXIJKT-xA ) and Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky...