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 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 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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

The second short programme from Nagano, that of the boys, is bound to bring the home crowd on their feet because it features figure skating's golden boy, Japan's very own Yuzuru Hanyu. The Olympic champion hasn't had the best of seasons, finishing sixth after the short programme at Skate Canada. Still, he is undeniably the favourite here, competing against Maxim Kovtun, Takahito Mura and China's new star, Boyang Jin. There's a softness to Grant Hochstein 's routine that not many boys can interpet. The music, Due Tramonti  by Ludovico Einaudi, is absolutely beautiful. His use of arms is quite balletic, but he doubles out of the triple Toeloop. His score: 74.30 . Elladj Balde  has a lot of swagger, but double-foots the quad Toeloop. He skates to Duke Ellington's Echoes of Harlem , which would fall flat in the hands of other skaters. He gets 69.47 points. Keiji Tanaka  is the first Japanese of the day. The choreography is full of accurate tango moves, wh...

The NHK Trophy 2015, held this year in Nagano, was supposed to bring the most anticipated pair duel on the ice: Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford versus Tatiana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov. However, due to an injury suffered by Tatiana, the Russian skaters had to withdraw. This leaves the Canadians' way to the gold medal absolutely unobstructed, but raises a question as to who will climb on the other two steps of the podium. Amani Fancy/Christopher Boyadji  skate to La Vie en Rose , but the presentation is missing a spark. The dark costumes don't help with the mood either. Technically, she puts a hand down on both jumps. Their score: 42.52 . Vera Bazarova/Andrei Deputat  seem stronger than I've ever seen them, to be honest. The music is Nocturne No. 2  by Chopin. Love the transition out of the thrown triple Loop and into the death spiral. They get 64.06  points. Jessica Calalang/Zack Sidhu 's choreography is very clever. It's a Man's, Man's World  is a song ful...

The most exciting news about Rostelecom Cup 2015 is that Adelina Sotnikova returns to competition. The Olympic champion suffered from a nasty ankle injury last season which forced her to take the entire year off. Now that she's back, there are a lot of questions on everyone's mind. The most important is: how will she fare against Russia's fresh new stars? The first to skate is Hannah Miller from the US. Absolutely gorgeous purple costume covered in Arabic embellishments, as befitting Arabesque . She double-foots the triple Flip and steps out of the double Axel. Her score: 47.98 . Dasa Grm  is the first skater to perform on music by Hugh Laurie (Dr. House), as far as I know. She's also wearing an unusually long dress for the ladies' discipline, which makes her stand out fashion-wise. She's very nervous at the start, and singles the triple Lutz. All in all, I see potential. She gets 44.72  points. Riona Kato  is also very nervous because this is her first G...

The pairs' short programme is the third event of the competition. Historically, this has been the least prone to surprises from the four disciplines of figure skating, and today is unlikely to change that. There are simply no pairs on the list who can shockingly defeat Stolbova/Klimov or Kavaguti/Smirnov or even Peng/Zhang. The centre-rink battle, therefore, will be held among these three power houses. We're off with a brand new pair: Hayleigh Bell/Rudi Swiegers . I'm not sure their music, November Rain  by Guns and Roses, is very 'skatable.' The first half of the song seems hard to follow because of the monotonous pace of the music; the second has a lot more nuances. He falls on the triple Toeloop. Their score: 46.53 . I have to say I'm not as excited about Natalja Zabijako/Alexander Enbert 's routine as everyone else. Maybe it's because I don't understand Russian (although that's never stopped me before), but I find their song very disengag...

The men's short programme is set to bring less drama than the short dance on the ice. There is a clear favourite here: Javier Fernandez; and he hasn't got many direct rivals. In fact, the only one I can think of is Sergei Voronov, but last time these two met, the difference between them was of 50 points, which makes the Russian very unlikely to pose a threat in Moscow. The first skater, Mikhail Kolyada , has a very dance-like routine: a combo of tango and foxtrot. Not a lot of dance comes through though, but he does seem like a funny character. The crowd loves him despite the fall on the quad. His score: 79.64 . Did you know Ivan Righini  is from Moscow? The Russian-turned-Italian steps out of the triple Axel and falls on the quad Toeloop. Presentation-wise, I love how the intensity slowly builds to the climax, which is emphasized by the final spin - clever choreography. Much better than last time we saw him, when the performance was swallowed by the errors. He gets 68.90 ...

It's day one of the 2015 Rostelecom Cup, and as all the attention is directed at the skaters, Russian fans must be at a loss. Who to cheer for - Sinitsina/Katsalapov or Ilinikh/Zighansin? Past history aside, they're the best the host has got competing in Moscow, and the decision must be hard. Not that picking a favourite couple for the gold medal is any easier. Weaver/Poje and Cappellini/Lanotte have both been outstanding this season. The ruling will likely be in the details. We start with Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov , who are very literally at home in Moscow. Their routine is a classic Russian waltz with music by Tchaikovski and balletic costumes. Although elegant, it's not as sharp as at Skate America. The twizzles, in particular, are messy. Their score: 63.63 . Rebeka Kim/Kirill Minov  choose a Parisian theme for the short. Not good, not bad, they have a few cute moments in the choreography. Nice twizzles and rotational lift. They get 51.83  points. Elena ...

Russia has always brought great, sometimes outstanding, figure skating on the ice. It's no wonder then that every time the sport returns to Moscow, it feels as if it's returning to its roots. Lately, Russian figure skating has been all about young people doing extraordinary things. We're going to get a chance to see some of them this weekend. Let's start with the ladies. The biggest event of the competition is the comeback of Adelina Sotnikova. She's got a lot to prove in the eyes of many, as this is her first competition after the Olympic controversy. Personally, I just can't wait to see her back on the ice and I hope she can face the pressure with the same strength of character she's always had. She'll be competing against Elena Radionova, the happy, chirpy teenager who's also famous for knowing how to keep her cool in tough situations. The Olympic champion's second rival is Evgenia Medvedeva, who won Skate America, thus raising the number of...

Welcome to the 2014 Trophee Eric Bompard v. 2.0. This season, the event will take place in Bordeaux, in the exact city and venue (Meriadeck Ice Rink) it took place in last year. Even the hotel the skaters are staying at is the same. The poster still looks like a book cover and maybe the Kiss & Cry will be similar to last year's too. All in all, in terms of the event organisation, there is nothing new here. When it comes to the rooster of skaters, though, we will see some season debuts, but nothing too crazy. The event's beautiful poster Photo: ISU The most exciting to watch will probably be Tatiana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov. The undisputed Olympic champions are back swinging if we're to judge by their choices of programme: Bollywood for the short and Dracula  for the long. They're also newlyweds, so the chemistry between them will be off the charts. Artistically more impressive, it will be interesting to see how they fare on a technical level with the Canadi...

The free dance of the Cup of the China 2015 starts with a withdrawal: Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker from the United States have had to call it quits. In their absence, there is an opportunity for Testa/Csolley to make a lasting impression, although given that the Americans were never threatening the podium, the Slovaks can't possibly get a medal. Shiyue Wang/Xinyu Liu  are first to skate. This is the second time I see their Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon  routine, and I still really like it. You can tell they're more comfortable doing something culturally relevant than the Ravensburg waltz. The twizzles are out of sync though. Their score: 76.09 . Overall: 126.73 . Federica Testa/Lucas Csolley 's Malena  seems really long, but not in a bad way. The medley of songs make the routine complex and tell the full story from the merry beginning to the tragic end. They get 82.27  points. Overall: 136.17 . Elena Ilinkyh/Ruslan Zhiganshin 's costumes are great. You can i...