Crystal Skate

Every sport has a defining element without which it cannot survive. Football has the ball, tennis has the racket and figure skating has the music. Yes, not the ice, not the skates, but the music because without it there'd be no figure attached to the skating. I've been meaning to talk about music for a while now, but never really got around it before. So now I am dedicating the next five posts to this wonderful invention that gave colour to the world and helped create our favourite sport. Patrick Chan performing his 2013/2014 free skate Photograph: Robert Cianflone / Getty Images Europe There is only one genre of music you can begin this discussion with; the father and mother of all melodies, the king and queen of grace, the god and goddess of sophistication: classical music. Classical music started it all. If today we have the likes of Rihanna, Coldplay, Adele and millions of other performing artists, it is because hundreds of years ago, people like the Italian name...

If season 2014/2015 has taught us anything about figure skating, it's been that this is an unpredictable sport. From Javier Fernandez winning the World Championships, to Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov not winning the European Championships, we've been fully reminded that it's never safe to bet in figure skating. Skaters who are now on top can abruptly drop tomorrow and rankings can change like the wind. This changeable nature of the sport is also reflected in the costumes. Just because a skater has the best costume in the short programme, doesn't mean they must also have the best costume in the long one. That is certainly true for this next pair: Ksenia and Fedor skated to Notre Dame de Paris  by Richard Cocciante Photograph: David Ramos / Getty Images Europe Their music was sung in English, French and Spanish, depending on the country they were skating in Photograph: Jamie McDonald / Getty Images Europe I decided to begin with the worst costumes this ...

The pairs' final is undoubtedly the one China has been waiting for the most. Pairs is, after all, the discipline in which they thrive. If that's not enough of a reason, today is the last competitive day of Qing Pang and Jian Tong. The whole of Shanghai is going to be willing them to retire with a third World title, but it is more likely that they will finish their careers with a second World silver medal. The gold medal looks to be heading to Canada, in which case we will witness Duhamel & Radford's first World victory. Harry Potter on ice, but not really Source: Xialo Ghu/Getty Images Asia Amani Fancy/Christopher Boyadji  bring an all-British story on ice: Harry Potter. It is a story I never thought I'd see in figure skating despite the gorgeous soundtrack, because it's too complex to condense in three and a half minutes. There's barely any elements of it in the choreography, which proves my point. They make a mess of it on a technical level as well:...

The pairs competition looks to be more predictable than the ice dancers'. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are untouchable technically, so unless something goes awfully wrong, they have this in the back pocket. Maria Paliakova/Nikita Bochkov 's Corpse Bride  looks good on paper; this is a Tim Burton story, after all, and it should look fabulous on ice. In actuality, it falls short of my expectations. They have no mistakes technically, but the presentation is just not accurate enough. The costumes are good, but the story is filled with gaps; for one, where is the sadness of the woman who falls in love with a man she can never be with because she is dead and he is alive? Their score: 46.17. Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres  manage to transmit the angst of Tango de Roxanne  through variations on elements such as the broken leg side-by-side spin. Their phasing is clever too with the death spiral performed on the frantic last bit of the song. She doubles the side-by-side triple ...

The pairs' competition is bringing back on ice two accomplished skaters who decided to keep going after last season despite early reports claiming they wouldn't. Yes, I'm talking about two of China's greatest: Qing Pang & Tong Jian. But how will they fare against their younger country men and, especially, against the record-breaking Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford? THE SHORT PROGRAMME Pang/Tong's tango routine Photograph: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images Asia Qing Pang/Jian Tong  decided to return to competition because the Worlds will be organised by their homeland this season. For the short, they prepared a selection of tangos which stands out by being romantic rather than passionate. They are dressed impeccably, as always, her in a fiery red dress and him in a dashing vest and tie ensemble. Technically though, he puts a hands down on the triple Toeloop and they can't keep their side-by-side spins in unison. Their score: 66.87 . Meagan Duhamel/E...

Germany and Russia are famous in history for their rivalry. Tonight they're going to compete head to head, skate to skate in the most glamorous of sports for the biggest prize of all: an Olympic Gold Medal. There is hardly any difference in quality between Tatiana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov and Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy, so let's wish them good luck, knowing that whoever takes the title home, is fully worthy of it. The start of the competition is in good hands with Felicia Zhang/Nathan Bartholomay . Skating on Les Miserbales , they finish with no error and stand out with some amazing lifts. Their score: 110.31 . Overall: 137.86 . Paige Lawrence/Rudi Swiegers need a bit of help from the Wizard of Oz today, as their routine is peppered with flaws. They both mess up the second Triple Toeloop and she can't hold the landing of the thrown Triple Loop. They are lovely to watch, but could have interpreted the characters a bit more, maybe even have the Wicked Witch make an ...

MEN Alexander Majorov never fails to find original stories for his programmes. Skating on Archangel  by T.J. Bergersen, he double-footed the Quad Toeloop, singled both Triple Lutzes and fell on the Triple Flip. His score: 120.90 . Overall: 180.62 Nan Song 's mission in France can be ticked as a success, although he could have used a bit more emotion in the interpretation. He also had a hand down on the Quad Toeloop and double-footed the Triple Loop. He obtained 133.37  points. Overall: 204.73 Michal Brezina  is once more battling his inconsistency demons. Although he did a tremendous job impersonating the infamous Sherlock Holmes , his jumps were rusty at best. He over-rotated the first Quad Salchow and completely failed the second, fell on the Triple Toeloop, singled the Triple Flip and Triple Salchow, and doubled the Triple Toeloop. His score: 134.31 . Overall: 206.22 Florent Amodio 's life might have lost a shade of pink after this performance. Although he stil...

MEN Nan Song 's Guitar Concerto  on ice didn't go as planned here. He had a hand down on the Triple Axel and a faulty landing on the Triple Lutz. The costume he wore, although fit for the music, looked a bit too much like a pair of pajamas. His score: 71.36 Jason Brown proved why skating on music you like is a great advantage. His confident and passionate interpretation of Prince's song left no question about his abilities. Neither did his perfect jumps and incredibly difficult spins, most of which showcased his amazing flexibility. He obtained 84.77  points. Alexander Majorov  went back to roots with Korobushko , but was not his usual charismatic self here. He doubled the Quad Toeloop, landed the Triple Toeloop messily and fell on the Triple Axel. He was too slow throughout the first half of the routine to be able to do any of those jumps properly. His score: 59.72 Han Yan  needs to work on his facial expressions. The choreography was obviously comedic, but...

MEN The first out of three Chinese skaters, Yi Wang  skated on A Beautiful Storm . Overall, it was a good, enjoyable skate, but he double-footed the Triple Axel and singled the second Triple Flip. His score: 63.27 . As beautiful as the music was, Peter Liebers'  routine lacked smoothness. The jumps were perfect though, except for the Triple Toeloop. He got 69.34  points. China's national champion, Nan Song , brought his inner rock star on ice, skating beautifully on Guitar Concerto . Unfortunately, his Quad Toeloop was messy and the Triple Toeloop ended up being a Single. His score: 68.68 . Maxim Kovtun  proves he's worth a lot to the Russian team with two perfectly landed quads and a 'spot on' interpretation. His silly fall at the end was a mistake that took us all by surprise. He got 81.84  points. Charming, funny and in perfect control of his elements, Han Yan  probably had the best skate he's had so far in his entire life. The music was Viper'...

When Tatiana Volosozhar joined Maxim Trankov, Aljona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy decided they were no longer going to train together with her. That decision previewed just how good Volosozhar and Trankov were going to be and shows that Savchenko always knew the day would come when both couples would become favourites for the Olympic gold. Tatiana Volosozhar & Maxim Trankov  - by defeating the Germans both in the World and European Championships last year, they take the lead, at least for now. They've been showing us amazing concepts ever since their debut in 2010/2011, and this year won't be different. Their short programme music is called Waltz Masquerade  by Aram Khachaturian ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCoLUMURunQ ). Having already seen it in action at Nebelhorn Trophy, I can say it is absolutely fabulous. Doesn't Trankov look dashing in that uniform? The long programme is even more intricate: Jesus Christ Superstar  by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Aliona Savchen...