Crystal Skate

Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker's Tango Romantica The biggest news about the NHK Trophy this season was the withdrawal of superstars Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, due to his having injured his back. As sad as this left all figure skating fans, the media immediately filled headlines with the opportunities their absence brought for other couples. Boy, were they right! With none of the big names attending, the rhythmic dance left the ice rink wide open for up and coming skaters. Tiffani Zagorski/Jonathan Guerreiro  had the most to gain from the absence of the French, Although I personally think they still have a lot to learn about presenting anxious music, they were super fast throughout the routine and displayed great basic skating skills. They took the lead with 75.49  points, which was a season's best for them. Right after, with 70.71  points, came Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker . The two had the tinniest trouble when he stumbled during the first ...

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, ...