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...