Crystal Skate

Victory somehow seems sweeter when the winner is an underdog. That being said, the power of a superstar should never be underestimated. The fact that these two rules co-exist in figure skating, only makes the sport more thrilling. Who will take the lead in the men's short programme? Max Aaron  is having a particularly great start of the season. He's completely pulling off the tragedy of Nessun Dorma  and acing every single element. He may not be the most graceful of skaters, but I don't see that as a problem. Everyone has their own style, and I appreciate his efforts to improve his artistry. His score: 86.67 . The white top and black pants are becoming Max Aaron's trademark style Photograph: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images North America Russia's male skaters are struggling to catch up to the ladies' fame and ability right now. Aidan Pitkeev  is no different. He is good, even flawless technically at times, but he's just not feeling the music. His ca...

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...

After winning the short programme, Javier Fernandez is halfway through to victory, but any mistake he makes might be an advantage for Takahito Mura and Konstantin Menshov. However, the same can be said about them and the guys waiting in the wings for a chance to step on the podium. Let's see if any of them manage to exceed our expectations. Adam Rippon  makes good use of his flexibility, but his triple Axels are giving him a hard time. He misses two and barely lands the third. I'm afraid this isn't a major improvement from yesterday. His score: 139.09 . Overall: 201.92 . You can see the exact moment when Liam Firus  draws his breath in and gets into character. His routine proves that the change in musical rules was a good idea. Instead of just skating to the soundtrack of Moulin Rouge , he skates to the story itself as it is narrated by one of the actors. His biggest mistake is over-rotating the triple Axel. He gets 133.97  points. Overall: 198.91 . There's a smal...

There are many skaters who could climb the men's podium at this year's Skate Canada. Unfortunately for the hosts, none of them are actually Canadian. Instead, we've got athletes from Europe and Asia ready to battle it out, metaphorically of course, for their first Grand Prix medals of the season. Let's see who gives it their best in the short programme. Although Liam Firus 's routine isn't exactly fascinating, it is a decent start to the competition. He can't control the landing of the triple Axel and falls, but the rest of the jumps are quite strong. His score: 64.94 . Andrei Rogozine  brings back a song we haven't heard in a while: Mozart's Lacrimosa , this time with lyrics. The Canadian interprets it with that dramatic fierceness you'd expect from a Canadian-trained Russian-born skater. He is here as Kevin Reynolds' substitution, but with a programme as good as this, he's already overcome that status. He gets 70.95  points. S...

Sergei Voronov and Tomas Verner have returned in the spotlight when no one expected them to, but will they manage to keep up with Javier Fernandez, the skater who has already proved there is nothing he cannot do? Chafik Besseghier 's Passion of Christ is all over the place. In the first half of the programme, he misses every single jump, then recovers slightly in the last half. The story of his routine is not as obvious as it seems - there's no mention of Christ in the choreography and his Egyptian costume doesn't make much sense, at least at first glance. He earns 127.22 points. Overall: 198.07 . La vie en rose looks awfully blue for Florent Amodio . The only jump he managed to land perfectly was a Triple Salchow. Artistically, it is almost painful to see him trying to keep up a happy, carefree face. His score: 111.53 . Overall: 190.13 . Jorik Hendrickx 's Rhapsody comes in a warmer shade of blue than the Frenchman's, but it doesn't shine. His mistake...

Figure skating is, before everything else, an unpredictable sport. Although more often than not, a Short Program can win a medal, sometimes the odds change in the last minute, as this final proved. Romain Ponsart did his best to express the tragedy of Swan Lake  and in terms of presentation skills, he has a bright future ahead of him. The only problem with this routine is that it was a bit too ambitious: he planned two quads, but touched the ice on the first and fell on the second. That single Axel didn't help his score either. He got 208.20 points. Overall: 165.59 . P.S.: Quirky ballet dance happening in team France's camp. If Yi Wang is a fan of Metallica or not is anyone's guess. Despite skating on their music, the Chinese didn't seem to put a lot of heart into his program. Technically, he failed the quad, but his best jump was the triple Salchow. His score: 125.27 . Overall: 183.57 . Han Yan 's routine was about a masquerade, which is why his costume...