Crystal Skate

In my opinion, the scene stealers of the day were Spain's Smart & Diaz The top 5 ice dance couples at the end of the Rhythmic Dance were not quite whom I expected. The big disappointment for me were Gilles & Poirier finishing just outside of this group, but the exciting part is having two couples I haven't seen much before in it. Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue  are slowly, but surely heading towards the Grand Prix Final. They finished the Rhythmic in first place after winning the gold at Skate America exactly one week ago. They changed their costumes, or at least Madison did (sorry, can't remember his tango outfit very well 😅, and I have to say, I like the new red dress more. Score: 80.49 . Victoria Sinitsina & Nikita Katsalapov  came second, with an intense and sharp tango set to  Verano Porteno . Really good rotational lift, with the girl starting very high and then making her way down all the way to the ice. Score: 74.66 . In my opinion, ...

The ice-dance podium Photo: Getty Images North America The rhythmic dance was a pretty laid back affair. No drama, no shocking results. As I said previously, the top two spots are likely to stay as they are right now, while the bronze medal is up for grabs. Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom are all in positions to climb the third step of the podium, so we'll have to see who skates that extra mile to get there. Karina Manta & Joseph Johnson  are the first to skate. Their energy fills the arena, but most of their lifts are a bit slow and awkward, and they're not in sync during the twizzles. The repeating motive of their choreography seems to be cartwheels. Score: 84.44 . Overall: 139.33 . Robynne Tweedale & Joseph Buckland  skate to Ghost , the musical. The flow of their elements is better than that of the Americans, and they are faster too. Love her beautiful pink and gray sheer dress. I don't know if it's a reference to the film or gho...

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibon from Great Britain completely stole the scene for me Photograph: Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images North America First thing's first: someone decided to name the short dance, the Rhythmic Dance while I've been away from figure skating. I don't really have much of an opinion about it; ice-dancers have had their short routines changed so many times, it hardly matters what it's called anymore, in my opinion. It does help to differentiate it from the other short programmes, as the Rhythmic Dance is unique in its musical regulations. Now, moving onto Skate America 2018, the ice-dancers list was again full of relatively new faces. This is always the case after an Olympic season, so let's dive right into the five best performers of the newly-renamed Rhythmic Dance. Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue  have no rivals in Everett, so it's no surprise they finished in first place. Their chosen songs were Alevare and Tangata de l'Alba. Th...

The calm of the ice dance wasn't disturbed in the free skate. Luckily for this discipline, it is one of the most artistic, so it's often a lot of fans' favourite. So there's always drama even if there is no drama (I might have 'over-metaphored' here, but you get what I mean). Here is what happened to the top couples in Osaka. Penny Coomes/Nicholas Buckland  blew my mind with their extremely creative lifts. I'm not sure if some of them were not too long, but boy, were they extraordinary! As always with them though, they experienced trouble with the synchronicity in the step sequence. The song is called Battle Remembered . Unfortunately, they didn't match the technical prowess of other skaters and ended on 7th place overall. Free score: 92.51 . Total score: 158.15 . Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov  got the audience laughing thanks to Nikita's surprising fall. Luckily, it happened after the music ended, so they didn't get a deduction for it...

Comebacks haven't quite risen to expectations in the past two seasons, but Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's return is unlike any other. After breaking the world record in the short programme, they're looking more likely than ever to win the gold. On second, the Shibutani siblings have just finished ahead of World champions Papadakis and Cizeron for the first time in their career. Can they hold onto the silver medal? Madison Chock/Evan Bates  probably didn't expect to start the final as 6th place holders. They skate to Queen's Under Pressure , keeping the rock style they showed in the short. Their free is not smooth either, but they make no errors per se, just little moments of hesitation in lifts and such. Their score: 108.45 . Overall: 179.32 . Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev  have some original twizzle positions, but their lifts are not at all impressive when compared to the difficulty level of the others. Also, they didn't manage to get into the right posi...

The Shibutani siblings are on a roll after the extraordinary season they had in 2015/2016. They're leading the ice dance competition here at Skate America, with co-nationals Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue hot on their heels. On second, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, whom I'm happy to see back in competition. It's bound to be tough tonight with this three going head to head, so let's get on with it. Yura Min & Alex Gamelin  start us off. Having seen Cinema Paradiso  recently, I can tell you the love story is not as dramatic as the music might imply, but they present the angst well enough. The twizzles are slightly wobbly, but altogether not bad. The stationary lift is my favourite element from this. Their score: 85.25 . Overall: 141.50 . Kana Muramoto & Chris Reed  skate to music by Vincente Amigo. I really like the flamenco details they added to the spin, and the lifts are all innovative. Again, his twizzles are a bit shaky. They get 91.18  p...

The Four Continents usually get overlooked by a lot of top skaters because they'd rather 'focus on the Worlds.' This is why in recent years this competition has proven to be the place for the underdogs to shine in every discipline but ice-dance. Ice dancers, no matter how high they get on other podiums, seem bent on not over-looking the Four Continents, and thank God for it. It provides them with a chance to compare their routines against some of their toughest rivals' and therefore polish whatever rusty parts they may still have. For the people in the stands (and in front of the screens), it's a spectacle not to be missed. Couples like  Emi Hirai/Marien de la Asuncion  are one of the reasons I enjoy watching the Four Continents. It gives me the chance to become familiar with some skaters I otherwise rarely see on ice. She loses her balance during the twizzles, which is probably why she seems rather rigid during the Ravensburger waltz section. Their score: 47.09...

After more than 150 years since its official appearance, figure skating finally caught up with modern times last season when the International Skating Union (ISU) decided to allow all disciplines to skate to music with lyrics. This decision was seen by many as the perfect opportunity to bring modern music into the equation. After all, it's been ignored for far too long in competitions, always kept at bay by how much of an impact the lyrics have over it. Joshua Farris took the Four Continents Championships by storm last season with his Ed Sheeran routine. Photograph: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images Asia The assumption that the new rule - which kind of translates into 'there are no rules' when it comes to the choice of routine - would encourage more skaters to turn to contemporary tunes was right. There has been a noticeable increase in this type of programmes last season. Some feared that this would take something away from the lyricism of the sport, but anyone who has...

Tonight's dance final will surely be a preview of the epic battles we'll witness in years to come, as all the top couples competing here have what it takes to become tomorrow's superstars. Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron might even achieve that status tonight if they manage to win the French Grand Prix. As for Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier versus Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, their countries' rivalry has been taking figure skating to a new level for years now, and there's no reason for them not to continue the tradition. Rebeka Kim/Kirill Minov  are still too fresh on the senior stage to pull off that vital chemistry that have made other Phantom of the Opera  routines mind-blowing. They also have a mishap here as she falls out of the blue during a transition. Their score: 70.29 . Overall: 115.95 . I'm still waiting for Alexandra Paul/Mitchell Islam 's breakthrough moment. I used to think it might be brought about by more daring routines,...

After defeating the world champions merely two weeks ago, France's new ice dance couple, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, are certain to win their first French Grand Prix gold in Bordeaux. The second and third places will most likely go to Canada and the US. Paso doble doesn't get more authentic than Sara Hurtado/Adria Diaz 's version. They know exactly what it is about, being from Spain and all, so it makes me wonder if his strange pants are how a toreador's pants should really look like. Their score: 57.64 . Alexandra Paul/Mitchell Islam  are amazingly fast, which makes their routine masterful and difficult. My only problem with them is that they do the same circular lift in every short programme. They get 55.17  points. Last time we saw Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri , they were close to disastrous. Their paso doble is much improved here, especially on the mirrored twizzles. Their score:  56.57 . Gilles & Poirier's gorgeous costumes Photog...

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje have made their home country proud by effortlessly taking the lead in the short programme. They were followed by Ksenia Monko and Kirill Khaliavin. On third came Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue. Let's see if the standings change after the free dance. Elisabeth Paradis/Francois-Olivier Ouellette  have a better skate than in the short, on Un peu plus haut . It's a pretty routine with great lifts and open movements. Their score: 84.13 . Overall: 134.48 . Every bit as unique as always, Nelli Zhiganshina/Alexander Gazsi  skate on something called Swan Lake Reloaded . It looks like a modern, rather disturbing version of the ballet, filled with drugs, violence and sex. They have troubles with the twizzles, which is not new for them, I'm afraid. They get 85.60  points. Overall: 140.95 . Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier  are picture perfect on rhythms of blues and jazz. They have such difficult balance points on the twizzles and a lot of difficul...