Crystal Skate

The one discipline the Chinese are acing at their own Grand Prix is the pairs. Leading are Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang, followed by Xuehan Wang/Lei Wang, who are ahead of Xiaoyu Yu/Yang Jin. But Vera Bazarova/Andrei Deputat's fourth place is just close enough to snatch a place on the podium. Arina Cherniavskaia/Antonino Souza-Kordyeru  are first to go with a fun Glenn Miller song. However, what should look like a window into a 1930 party, is just elements done to a song. No worries though, they are a new couple and they've got plenty of time to improve their chemistry. Their score: 86.71 . Overall: 133.45 . Lots of passion from Nicole della Monica/Matteo Guarise  as they skate to The Mask of Zorro . They have lots of errors though; in fact every single element has some sort of flaw. They get 102.42  points. Overall: 155.90 . Jessica Calalang/Zack Sidhu  have plenty of technical errors in addition to the interpretation of Romeo and Juliet  not being anywhere near ...

This season's Cup of China, taking place in the slick Oriental Sports Centre of Shanghai, will introduce us not only to new routines from top-of-the-pile skaters, but also to some intriguing new pairings (ahem, the Ilinykh-Katsalapov Affair). Elena and Nikita's last free skate together Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images Asia So let's begin with ice dance. Last season, there was a crazy rumour circling around the World Championships that Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov were calling it quits. They didn't deny or admit it at first, but they did give themselves away pretty easily (unless rolling your eyes at your partner's mistake is a friendly gesture). When they finally confirmed their partnership was over, it was clear that this was no sudden decision. They had both already procured for themselves brand new partners: Ruslan Zighanshin for Elena and his partner, Victoria Sinitsina for Nikita. Now, I don't know what strings were pulled backstage to mi...

DANCE Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron  put the mishap from the short in the past, and did a terrific job in the free. Their somewhat futuristic concept features the music of Woodkip ( Iron  and Run Boy Run ) and Olafur Arnalds ( Brotsjor ). Their score: 79.78 . Overall: 124.27 Siobhan Heekin-Canedy/Dmitri Dun  skated on one of the most beautiful tangos, El Tango de Roxanne . Her dress was gorgeous, but his shirt looked a bit like a waiter's. The real problem was that although she tried her best to express the music, he was not feeling it at all. Where there should have been anger and passion, there was nothing. They obtained 78.57  points. Overall: 123.57 Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier  have really struck gold with their Hitchcock  theme. Unfortunately, Paul lost his balance in the twizzles. The costumes were superb and the way his is both symbolic for Hitchcock and makes hers stand out is brilliant. Their score: 82.52 . Overall: 133.66 Ksenia Monk...

It was all about the Triple Lutz this season for Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford. They did it side-by-side and as a throw-jump, and it's no wonder medals started raining down on them (gold at the Canadian Championships and the Four Continents, silver at Trophee Eric Bombard and Skate Canada, and the big bronze at Worlds). This was the pair's best season so far and they were some of the season's best. Their short program music was La Boheme , a famous opera written by Giacomo Puccini. Although their costumes are sometimes a bit of a let down because they're not very expressive, this time Meagan accessorized her red dress with a flower in her hair and Eric's red scarf really made a difference. What they're best at, besides the Triple Lutz, are original entrances and exits into and out of elements. In the free skate, they skated on Philippe Rombi's Angel.  The music and choreography were gorgeous, but they should have worn something more angelic and less dinner...