Crystal Skate

The men's short programme was without a doubt the most thrilling in Helsinki. Not only did we watch top skaters compete against each other, but we also saw how easy the leader can change at this level. It all culminated of course with Yuzuru Hanyu being first at a very comfortable distance from Michal Brezina, who is on second with also quite a gap between himself and Boyang Jin, who is third. I'm sure the final will provide some equally exciting action. We're not off to a good start, I'm afraid. Philip Harris  doubles out of the 3Toeloop, Flip and Loop, puts a hand down on the second 3Axel and falls on the 3Toeloop. The song he skates to, Coldplay's Fix You , is one we've often seen in figure skating lately. Score: 123.67  -> 182.66 . Valtter Virtanen  is a slight improvement both from the Brit and from his own performance yesterday. He steps out of the 4Toeloop and singles the 3Axel. Choreography-wise, I really like the storytelling approach to La Strad...

Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu set a very high standard with his programme The Grand Prix of Helsinki is undoubtedly the most exciting one for a lot of figure skating fans. One of the reasons is the presence of the Olympic champion, Yuzuru Hanyu. Another is the fact we get to see Michal Brezina and Junhwan Cha skate again. They both achieved great results at Skate America, so I hope they manage to keep up the same level here. Philip Harris  is first to go, with a self-choreographed routine set to Bloodstream . He double-foots the landing of the 3Lutz and doubles out of both the 3Flip and the 3Toeloop. His spins are not the most flexible, but the programme is enjoyable. Score: 58.99 . Andrei Lazukin  impresses today with no mistakes and a charming interpretation of I Put a Spell on You . I love the way his step sequence matches the different nuances of the music, slowing down and speeding up with the song. Score: 82.54 . Alexei Krasnozhon  is another newbie to perform wel...

The men's short programme ended after a few pleasant surprises and, at least for me, interesting scores. The final seemed to have brought some order back into the universe by re-establishing the value of some skaters who have been around for quite some time. These were the top five men of Skate America 2018: I don't think there was ever any doubt in anyone's mind that Nathan Chen  was going to keep the gold in the US. He skated to Land of All , which is apparently a song that always asks for grey costumes. 😊 With three quads, two of which were in combination, he didn't have any difficulties in becoming the new Skate America champion. Score: 189.89 . Overall: 280.57 . The crowd loved Michal Brezina  and for good reason. You could feel his rock routine suited him like a glove. I always say it's obvious when the skaters enjoy their music, and it definitely was here. He's known to have some of the best step sequences out there and he didn't disappoint in Ev...

Watching a competition after it ended without knowing the results is not easy. There is information about what happened everywhere on social media; and I'm not just on social media in my free time, I work in social media, so it's double the effort. Luckily though, Everett, Washington is so far away from me, said competition happened while I was asleep. So as I'm writing this blog, I literally have no idea who finished on which position. Exciting! Jimmy Ma  started the shot programme. I've never seen Jimmy skate before, but I liked his enthusiasm. The tango-turned-latino routine set to  Mi Gente , helped a lot, no doubt. He fell on the 4Toeloop, but otherwise made no notable mistakes. Score: 71.53 . I got really excited to see a skater from Malaysia, because that doesn't happen very often. Julian Zhi Jie Yee  did a great job, which made it even better. Loved the arm details of the camel spin. It was quite an expressive rendition of Patrick Watson's To Build a...

The men's short programme is one of the most exciting events of the European Championships even when the winner is pretty much already decided. It's all about the jumps, the speed, the extraordinary stamina the boys possess. This is my first time seeing Matteo Rizzo , as it is for most, I'm sure. This is his first European appearance and he doesn't do a bad job at all. All the jumps are beautifully landed and the presentation, although not necessarily passionate, is alright. I appreciate the way the transitions fit the rhythm of the music. His score: 74.91 . P.S.: That right there is an eruption of happiness. I expected a funny character from Mikhail Kolyada  today, but I didn't really get that. He tries to be funny, but it just looks like he's going through the motions instead of being genuine. It's probably because of the mistakes: fall on the quad Toeloop and a hand down + step out of the triple Axel. He gets 77.58  points. This is the last compet...

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...

From the beginning of times, mankind has enjoyed two things when it comes to entertainment: stories and music. People used to gather around the fire and sing or tell tales long before the first theatre opened its doors or the first musical instrument was invented. So it was only a matter of time before someone, allegedly Jacopo Peri, an Italian composer, combined the two and created the first opera. The opera evolved as a genre throughout four centuries, but as the music scene changed, a new form of entertainment emerged: a hybrid between opera and theatre - the musical. There is a lot of debate over the debut of the musical as a genre. Charles M. Barras' The Black Crook  is still widely considered the first musical despite critics saying that it was just a play with songs and dance. Some say Charles M. Barras was the creator of the musical. Photograph: www.wikipedia.com In figure skating, operas and musicals are both under-used and over-used at the same time. There are s...

The second final of these European championships belongs to the boys. After the short skate, Javier Fernandez leads with over eight points ahead of Sergei Voronov. Michal Brezina managed to take the third place, but there are only two points separating him from Maxim Kovtun, who is on fourth. Let's see if the standings remain unchanged. Adian Pitkeev is at the start of his career Photograph: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images Europe Adian Pitkeev  shouldn't be stressed tonight as he's not up for any medal, but the amount of talent that has recently emerged out of Russia has surely put pressure on him to prove himself. He shows us he's good enough to be here, but there's nothing unique about him yet, probably because he's only sixteen. Also his interpretation of a heavy song like Sarabande Suite  is not as profound as an experienced skater's would have been. The only real mistake is the stepping-out of the last jump. His score: 141.09 . Overall: 210.87 . ...

Someone once said about Stockholm that here "everything works. Everything looks good." As it prepares to host its first European championship of figure skating since 1912, we can only hope that the saying can be applied to the skaters' performances as well. We start off with the men's short programme, where the favourite is Spain's Javier Fernandez, followed by Maxim Kovtun, Sergei Voronov and Michal Brezina. Let's see how it all goes down. Florent Amodio hasn't quite returned to his best form, but he's getting there Photo: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images Europe Alexander Majorov  gets the crowd on their feet despite the fall on the triple Loop. He chose a famous Pink Floyd song for the short, The Great Gig in the Sky . His score: 68.10 . Pavel Ignatenko  from Belarus chose to skate on a cover of Adele's Skyfall ; this version is more energetic than the original, but it lacks the sophistication associated with James Bond. He falls on the tr...

Last time we saw Javier Fernandez, he was slightly short of his best performance. Let's hope this event will give him the opportunity to prove Skate Canada was just bad luck. And what about Max Aaron and Jason Brown? They are fresh from their minor victories, but it's hard to say if they can keep it up in Moscow in front of the array of talented competitors they must face. Moris Kvitelashvili  makes for a wonderful Lestat from Interview with a Vampire . He's funny, looks like a young Dracula and is just accurate enough technically to leave us with a good impression. He falls on the triple Axel though. His score: 62.24 . Misha Ge impresses once more Photograph: Kevin Lee/Getty Images Asia The soundtrack of W.E.  is growing in popularity among skaters. Jeremy Ten  joins the group of skaters who have used it, and his version might be the first that sticks with me. You can see all the elements of the tempestuous love story and many fabulous jumps. He gets 73.91  ...

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...

All bets are on Yuzuru Hanyu for the Gold! The question is, now that Chan is out of the game, who will occupy the other two podium steps? Today's event might give us a clue. Kevin Reynolds  has rock music in his veins. Despite the fall on the Quad Toeloop and the step out of the Quad Salchow, this is a fabulous routine. He feels every beat of the drum and enjoys himself out there. We might have just got a glimpse of Kevin's persona when attending AC/DC concerts. His score: 68.52 . Misha Ge 's routine falls short of what we expected. He lands the Triple Axel awkwardly, then falls on the Triple Toeloop and after that, the music only seems to emphasize the failure. He gets 60.34  points. Last time we saw Jeremy Abbott  skate this programme, our hearts almost stopped (remember that nasty fall in Sochi?). This time, although he still falls on the Quad Toeloop, he gets up quickly and things go smoothly from here on. He has a great posture and this music sure brings o...

After breaking his own record for a short programme score, Yuzuru Hanyu seems unstoppable in his quest to win the Olympic Gold Medal, but another record-breaker, Patrick Chan, is just a step behind the Japanese. On third and fourth, are Javier Fernandez and Daisuke Takahashi dueling for the Bronze or are their eyes set on a bigger prize? Zoltan Kelemen 's first presence in an Olympic final is nowhere near his best. He has three falls and a step-out of the Triple Axel. His score: 98.35 . Overall: 158.76 . Abzal Rakimgaliev 's re-enact of Once Upon a Time in America  comes in a somewhat curious costume (is that a scarf?), but seems awfully long. Technically, he has a couple of mistakes and a hand down. It's good to see Kazakhstan is pushing forward in figure skating. He gets 110.22 points. Overall: 174.40 . Viktor Romanenkov falls on the first Triple Axel and things go downhill from there. The story of Carmen  simply fades away in the light of such a mistake-filled ro...

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...