Crystal Skate

The ending of the pairs' short programme was one of the biggest surprises we've received this season from figure skating. Evgenia Tarasova & Vladimir Morozov ended first, but I was somewhat expecting that. The real surprise were Vanessa James & Morgan Cipres, the French pair who are currently in second position. Theirs will be the greatest challenge of the night - hold their place against not one, but two couples who have already been on the European podium several times. Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini  are first to skate. Their music, Homecoming  by Thomas Bergersen, is breathtaking, and their lifts are original. There are two weird bits at the back of her costume that make me think it has come undone, but that's just an illusion. This is a great start of the night despite the double-footed throw triple Loop. Their score: 97.77 . Overall: 148.48 . Arina Cherniavskaia/Evgeni Krasnopolski  skate to a selection of Oriental music. Her hand touching the ice du...

The pairs short programme saw another unexpected result as the ones we all thought were going to win this without difficulties suddenly ended on second place. Here is what happened with the top five pairs yesterday. First of all, Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau , the winners of Skate America, ended on fifth place to everyone's dismay. They both fell on the side-by-side triple Salchow and she had a hand down on the throw triple Flip. Perhaps the pressure was too great going against the Germans. Their routine was set to Skokiaan  by Louis Armstrong. Their score: 61.72 . Aliona and Bruno's lift Kristina Astakhova/Alexei Rogonov  were another pair to under-perform in Moscow. They both double-footed the side-by-side triple Salchow and the side-by-side spins were not entirely in sync. The choreography for Io Ti Penso Amore  was so clever though - the lift was set to the highest notes and the death spiral to the soft part of the song. They got 65.61  points. Vale...

Privet, everyone, or  привет!  Think it's too early for me to Google how to say Hello in Russian? Well, so did I before discovering Rostelecom Cup had moved out of its usual place in the Grand Prix Series. The trip to Moscow comes early this season, but it's not leaving any of its drama behind. By drama, I actually mean, difficulty level and by difficulty level I mean, Hello, world medalists! Sorry, I meant Privet, world medalists! So, who to look for? In no particular order... Shoma Uno after his victory as Skate America 2016 Photograph:  Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America MEN Javier Fernandez  - the double World champion and his Elvis Presley routine pretty much have this in the back of his pocket if everything goes according to plan. Shoma Uno  - the future of Japanese male skating just got a new Personal Best Total Score (279.34), so he's in everyone's predictions for a spot on the podium. Mikhail Kolyada  - Russia's best known athlet...

Aliona Savchenko fought with all she had to be able to come back with a new partner and challenge her old rivals, Tatiana Volosozhar & Maxim Trankov. She and Bruno might be second after the short, but with only four points behind, they are going to give it their best to beat the odds. Kudos to Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres  for attempting a thrown quad Salchow at 11 in the morning. She steps out of it, but it is fully rotated. The other mistake is her double-footing out of the side-by-side Triple Toeloops, which were out of sync. The music is Romeo and Juliet , and I'm glad to see they are finally wearing costumes that fit the music rather than just being pretty. Love the exit out of the pair spin with him lifting her. Their score: 123.45 . Overall: 185.55 . Russia's best pair ever is back with a bang in Bratislava Photo:  AP Photo/Petr David Josek Valentina Marchei/Ondrej Hotarek  have sync issues both in the side-by-side triple Lutzes and the side-by-side spin...