And skipping of the first two groups - I could've done the second one, but after three hours of pairs, and knowing there'll be about four of men's tonight, I needed the break!

Therefore, we start "Memories of A Grand Ball" with a choice from the waltz, polka, march and gallop.

Natalia Gudina & Alexei Beletski ISR

Pale green dress from her, white shirt for him, black waistcoat and pants for him, green tie to match her dress. She's 25, he's 23, they are married...used to skate for ukraine... that's some blue eyeshadow on her... circles to begin... dance spin... waltz... drinking song from la traviata... nice speed along the ice... can tend to be quite far apart from one another as they go around. lift wehre she's on his shoulderand he spins her..and stop and we go into a gallop by strauss... lots of little running steps... and its very fast but also very messy looking... striaght line step... good unison but I would'nt have siad much in the way of difficulty... lift where she jumps on him, well they are married, and he spins her around...and they're done. Went for fun and got it is Simon's view on it, and it was good, but I just get teh sense that this OD is not going to be my cup of tea. Chris agrees with me on the lack of content, esp on teh steps... also thinks hands were a little high on the first lift. midline step was all done anti-clock, natural direction...

marks 4.4-4.8...another linichuk pair... 4.5-5.1 they lead.

Kristin Fraser & Igor Lukanin AZE

Waltz and polka in bright pink for her, and black morning coat for him with matchign trousers and white shirt...6th in their comp group... circular setp to begin... very nicely done, even chris thinks so. into dance spin, and lots of speed and crispness as they move along the ice.. lift ..steps to the boards straight line step much more turns in both directions, ok on teh unison utnil they get to the end... steps...diagonal step is nice, plenty of expression from her, and she nearly stumbled tehre...lift where he carries her..and they're done. simon thinks she oversold it slightly... but there was much to admire... chris admires her extension and their lightness around hte place in that order...genrich stretenski is their coach,also liz coates ... he's married to Daria Timochenko, former world junior champ...15th last year, 19th the year before... simon notes that the judges like them and they're on their way up...

marks 4.5-5.0...4.6-5.1..and they are in the lead. one has them second.

Federica Faiella & Massimo Scali ITA
tangeriney peachy purply mixture for her, with pinks there too...he's in tails and white tie....at least one of them was kind to me! waltz and gallop... move with him in spireal and her in spread to begin...and steps... where you can really hear their blades as they go around...plenty of speed... circular step to begin.. and into dance spin.. those tails are really distracting I've gotta say... and she's got a sash on her dress that is the same... lift and spin... to the boards...straight line step.. nice unison, much of it done in one direction... more steps and it all looks very rushed... move where she jumps on his back and he lifts her like that. and they're done. Simon liked it...as I say, I'm just not feeling the love for this combination of dances...Simon thinks her personality shoots across the ice... technically it was difficult chris notes, loads of footwork in it...a natural sell simon calls it, from the heart, and he looked happy at the end of it. massimo, not simon

marks... 4.8-5.2...5.0-5.4..wow! they lead.

Megan Wing & Aaron Lowe CAN
As the Canadians whoop and so do I...she's got a fabulous gold dress on, his shirt is cream, black waistcoat with gold design and black pants. Nice cosutmes! waltz and polka... and they have a lovely flow along the ice into this dance spin... steps, nice changes of hold and position... circular step likewise... and changing directions as well... lovely picking out of nuances of the music...rotational lift with her in front of him...and music changes... she twizzles in front of him and stirahgt lines tep... this is excellent... and that's one of the best I've seen so far! and steps to the centre and they're done. Million miles an hour simon calls it and I loved it...simon thinks it was too quick, nothing finished off enough... chris enjoyed it...thought it got better as it went on... but both preferred the italians... igor spilband and I know I'm spelling that wrong, and Natalia Annenko coach them in Detroit...

marks 4.4-5.1...4.5-5.2...2nd - they should've been third, so moving up above the aze...

Veronika Moravkova & Jiri Prochazka CZE

Eeek! How blue are you! Bright blue skirt, with lacey sparkly top of blue and silver. another man in tails, but with white and blue shirt/tie/waistcoat combo...pick a colour and stick to it man! Waltz and polka...nice and smooth along the ice...big long carry lift... circular step.. is pretty much all going in the same direction... dance spin... and stop as teh music changes... dancing on one spot for a long time... she hops on him and he swing her around in a lift, adn carries her... striaght line step is nice... steps wehre he ducks and she kicks over his head... dacning to finish, and they're done. he kisses her hand at the end of it, and simon called it a really good performance... all the required elements were back to back chris notes, but on the whole very good indeed.

marks 4.3-4.8... 4.4-5.0 currently are 5th.

Oksana Domnina & Maxim Shabalin RUS

She's in lilac, he's in tails, and this dress is quite nice I gotta say. She's 18, he's 21. first worlds. big smiles to begin, current world junior champions...polka then a waltz... very trad polka hold... lots of changes in hold and quite tricky ones...straight line step... nice unison... steps along and lift wehre she jumps into him and ends up doing the splits while holding onto him as he spins...dance spin... this is the waltz now... flying atround into the circular step... and I repeat what I said earlier aboout some of those holds, he's twisting her about all over the place, and they're done, slap bang on the music... 3rd in russian nationals... chris echoes my turning inside out feelings , and thinks that they may have lost some of hteir elegance around the place...not the most difficult straight line step he feels...chris didn't like the splits-and-spin lift, called it ungainly. but he loves them for all that.

marks 4.3-5.-4.5-5.0... currently 5th

Nora Hoffmann & Attila Elek HUN

waltz and polka...17 and 20...first worlds....she's all in crimson, he's in white shirt, black waistcoat and pants. she's got matching glvoes on, no sleeves. second in world juniors... steps are nice as chris tells us to keep our eye on her, he thinks she's a talent... they're certainly flying... lift is nicely done, and fits with the music...which i think is my sweet and tender beast? I oculd be wrong but I know i know it... circular step.. dance spin... and stop to polka... dance on centre ice for a while, this is looking a little more messy...striahgt line step.. very close together...stumble from him, just a tiny one... more steps, nicely done, nice character in htem... and they're done. chris thnks it was a little uneasy, but tht she's very light on ehr feet...4cm in height diff which he doesn't think is enough for ice dance. (for americans, that's about 1.6inches - wehn math geeks and skating fans collide, eh!)

marks 4.2-4.7... hark, do I hear boos? .. 4.3-.48...judges of a mind...they're 7th.

Nozomi Watanabe & Akiyuki Kido JPN

White dress with black accents and sleeves for her, black jacket with deep v for him and pants, sparkly silver shirt underneath...linichuk pairing...first worlds...waltz and polka... 6years together...dacne spin to begin... she does back spiral, he kneels in front of her, as the strap of his trousers comes undone...they're flying around, the ref stops them, blows the whistle - he didnt't know what had happened. He does it up again - ah, the wonders of velcro! we think they'll have to pick it up where they left off...he gives a little wave as they come back out... circular step... glidely move, where she leans against him...steps.. lift .. music changes... steps... sitrahgt line step..kinda out of sequnce but they get it back nicely by the end.. certainly they're selling it... lift to end that's a little ungainly looking getting up, but they finish well. good that they've had so much experience says simon, a lesser couple might have freaked out. strap came undone on the first spin, you can literally see it go...ref did the right thing we are all agreed. chris thinks the brits program was better (they're currently in 8th,)

marks 3.8-4.6...3.9-4.8... and they are 9th. so the brits are happy. one has them 4th, the rest 8th to 11th

Weina Zhang & Xiaoming Cao CHN
Electric fuschia for her...arms with big floaty things coming out of them...he's all in white. waltz and gallop. 24 and 27. national champions in their fifth worlds. nice smile from her to begin... dance spin... steps... nice flow along the ice...glidey/pulling move.... circular step... again much of it done in the same direction...nice lift wehre she's upside down facing away from him...to the boards for the midline step... nice unison... good changes of direction too....simon says it ws good so it must be... more steps to stop and the music changes... nice steps but I'm not suer if they're really skating to the music...lift...where she's draped all over his front, and they're done. It was pretty, and the step was nice. Simon is waving his flag, wnats the brits to move up...and chris thinks they did skate to the music, oh well! we see the lift again, good speed across the ice notes chris, coached by dubova, and choreographed by her too. big smiles on the faces in kiss and cry.

marks 4.1-4.6... 4.2-4.7...it's close but they are in 8th.

Julia Golovina & Oleg Voiko UKR
Black shimmery thing for her, and the chest area is unflattering to say the least. he is the very model of a modern major general, with a white army coat with tails, the big epaulettes, black trousers etc.she's got glitter in her hair. march and waltz. well, I could've called the march anyway! 20 and 22...strauss and shostakovitch... start with midlines tep...and way the hell off on the first pass.... get it back though... link arms and off they go... very smooth along the ice, good speed... lots of it seems very far apart at the moment... very open...lift.. good speed throughout... circular step... lots of it done in one direction, synch dodgy .. steps....dance spin... steps as teh music gets faster... spinny lift... and they are done. Difficult but not polished chris calls it and he hated the costumes. also notes that she hasn't cleaned her skates. we see the midline step again... yeah, she got off balance on the twizzles...rough around the edges and completely out of unison on circular step...

marks 4.0-4.4... 3.8-4.6... and they are in - 11th. they've dropped. we have movement in ice dance! shock horror!

ice resurface.

Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz CAN

Big white dress for her, white blouse and black trousers for him...love her new short hair cut! and also his, but we knew that anyway, didn't we gang? but as we see closeups, he does look good...and as we see closeups I note that there are elements of pale green....in deference to their irish fans perhaps??? hey, leave me my dreams! waltz and polka...here we go.... green eyeshadow!shae no! ....off we go... she skates around hm, would'nt we all??? hydroblade move... great flow along the ice... steps... ... lots of spins in the lift.... icrcular step.. smile baby smile.... stop... and dance spin... as someone shrieks on the sdkt...steps... great pickgin out of the high points in the music...to the boards...madlines step...this si great... great unison...and in the tiwzzles but not the second part? lemme see the slow mo...lift...and they're done...and that'll do me! pure quality, dazzling performance simon calls it, sets a new standard (this by way of saying it's not just me) Chris calls it brilliant, they gave it 110%...he aslo thinks as does simon that vic went off at the end of hte midline step...vic looks doubtful as well as he comes off.. she certainly sold it they agree... here we go with the slomo... so hard... yep, the tiniest of stumbles but hid it well and kept it going, felt worse for him than it looked and we see the footsie cam...just lost balance in the twizzle...

marks 5.6-5.8...5.7-5.9. a row of ones. cross your fingers!

Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon CAN
Yellow dress, and he's wearing what looks to be a variation on Elvis's dragon costume - I feel another march coming on...but no, it's a waltz and polka. you know, many people can't pull off canary yellow yet it looks fine on her. i'd ditch the gloves though. nice move - for an opening, he pushes one of the gloves all the way up her arm! steps to begin, nice turns from her... very nice moves here, one where she's cathc foot, and he skates through it...circular step is nicely done.. very fast and crisp... until he stumbles slightly...I'm shutting up now and this time I mean it! dance spin is really fast! midline step... another couple having unison problems, from her near the end? steps.. lift ...which did look a little ungainly on the way around, and thye're done. really fast and really quick, and simon thinks that quality may have suffered becasue of the speed...as does chris... rough around the edges are his words... thought straight line step was easy tech, and the dance spin travelled... he'd have them behind the italians. yeah, he knocked on her boot and that could've been nasty. with a capital N! and that last lift at teh end confirms my thoughts...

marks 4.9-5.3...their allotted place is 2nd.... 5.1-5.4... which is where they are.

Elena Grushina & Ruslan Goncharov UKR
He's all in shiny white, she's in pale periwinkle blue and white, with a very deep and wide V on the chest...simon thinks she looks a picture! waltz and polka for them,...28 and 30... 6th last year... turns and steps to start into dance spin... move where eh's hydroblading... blue danube waltz.. rotational lift is very fast...close to baords too...steps... along the diagonal they look to be going.. to the boards midline step... nice unison right the way along... steps....and another lift and they're done. missed where the circ step fell, gotta lvoe those changing camera angles... faded away in second stage for simon...chris thinks it was oversold...speed and energy of footwork lacking he siad... steps in midline step were difficult, hitting every beat of the music... loved the first lift. they train with tarasova in connecticut... hydroblading move to finish...

marks... wow look at maia usova! 5.3-5.5 very solid... 5.4-5.7 a row of twos.

Irina Lobacheva & Ilia Averbukh RUS
Birhgt birhgt pink down to the ribbon in her hair... and he's in black with gold and pink accents...I have no way of describing what he looks like, but "busy" is one adjective for the jacket! and I'm not saying a thing. not a thing about the destination of hte gold. or that jacket. but good lord is there a gold sequin left in the world? there's just too much going on on it, I'm sorry! walktz and polka... start with him kneeling, her leaning on him... she leans back he spins her around... steps to begin... down the ice... good flow... move where she's holding her foot and he's holding her through it..dance spin... out of that into circular step... rotational lift wehre her foot is on his shoulderin the splits as he spins her...music changes and he runs about kissing her arms... steps... along the diagonal we go... lots of little running steps... to the boards..striaght lines tep.. I didn't think the unison was great but I'm ready to be wrong...and final rotation lift wehre she's at shoulder level draped acrpss his chest. and they're done. not as loud appaluse as for shae and vic... you know where I'd have them... simon didn't enjoy it as much as the canadians, chris can't choose tech...no mistakes here... that he could see...he'd also have the canadians ahead. so we three agree. therefore shae and vic are doomed. doomed I tell you! last 30 seconds won chris over...

marks...and I can hardly type through the slo-mos... so I won't... 5.5-5.9...they like them...5.7-5.9... 5/4 split and they're first. they were celebrating before we saw teh marks.

Galit Chait & Sergei Sakhnovski ISR
Another model of a modern major general, she's in very pale gold , almost lemon and white and it matches her hair ...and it leeches all the colour out of her face, it't not a good colour on her. march, waltz and polka for them. 28 and 27... 6th at euros... steps to begin nice sand speedy and in time with the amrch... dance spin...steps with turns...and stop while music changes... waltz hold to begin... and nice steps... circular step... more steps, including high kicking glides... lift... brings them to the baords.... qwuite a ways away from the boards but that could be the diff in size... ok on the midline step, twizzles were great.... and rotational life that is just blinding with speed...and they're done. Boy says Simon...Chris really enjoyed it, almost as much as L&A....midline step looks great on the slomo..

marks 5.2-5.5....5.3-57...they are 4th. not above the ukrainians.

Tatiana Navka & Roman Kostomarov RUS
She's in orange, with no back. he's a soldier with gold accents to beat the band...there's no back to her dress, and a large swath missing from the front..waltz and march...start by pressing hands together and skating around... she holds onto her skate as he spins her...spinny steps some more... lift where she's on his back and he's picked her up vrom behind...she goes under his leg in steps...circular step... more steps... into dance spin with her in almost a camle position..to the boards... turns to begin as the drums beat... nice inusons on the twizzles... this is great... love this step! and great close up of her... dance hold now athe length of the rink or near to...rotational lift wehre she's striaght as anything...and they're done and simon loved it. waltz was lovely, the march was something special altogether. magical they both call it. they have it at least third... slo mos of the midline are great... though chris thinks roman not as solid as he usually is.

marks 5.3-5.6...5.4-5.8... and they are in 3rd. 6/3 split above Grushina and Goncharov.

Albena Denkova & Maxim Staviyski BUL
Oh my gosh...brown velvet morning coat with tails and gold brocade finish...and her ...russet and tangerine/peach...oh no no no...march nad waltz...no no no for the costumes... dance spin to begin... steps to follow picking out the music nicely...strraight line step has passings in ti rather than side to side the whole way, she stumlbes on twizzles, and i think again near the baords from him but bad angle makes it hard to see....steps... lots of turns from both of them...nice carry lift... put her down... steps... circular step... nicely done, very close together in places.... lift .. and they're done. and it was nice, flawed, simon says, but personally, I'm kinda meh about it all. Simon thinks this all captured the whole memories of a grand ball theme, got it spot on., but it's neither his nor Chris's cup of tea. we see a close up of hteir feet near the end and he was just near to the boards but it doesn't look like he actually stumbled. 'twas the camera angle 'twas!

marks 5.4-5.7.. 5.3-5.8...they're 3rd. 7/9 have them 3rd.

Isabelle Delobel & Olivier Schoenfelder FRA
Deep fuschia purple from her, he's in tails waistcoat, white shirt, black trousers. nice costume but not quite what I'd have thoguth for a ball. waltz and polka. turning steps to begin... nice flow and speed along the ice from both of them.... dance spin right in front of the judges.... this brings them into circular step...all done in one turning direction from him at any rate... nice interp of the polka from both so far....to the baord and the midline step... slight loss of unison... get it back... think she may have lost balance at one point... steps where he's turning her a lot....rotational life..and they're done with her blowing him kisses. Pretty good says Simon, and you can just sense that the americans are holding onto their applause for the next two couples! and the twizzles looked not as good on the replay... and we see it on the footsie cam just to make sure.

marks 4.9-5.3... 5.0-5.4... they are 7th.

Naomi Lang & Peter Tchernyshev USA
White lacey number for her, black major outfit with gold brocade accents for him. 24 and 32.... waltz and polka... he goes to her...and I'm struck anew by his blondness... nice and smooth thus far... turns in steps... picking out the music well... circular step... plenty of chanes of hold...nice lift with her behind him...and stop... dancing on cetnre ice... he gives her his hand, she takes it....dance spin....sitrahgt lines steps...nice and in character with the music... this brings them to the boards...midline step.. no mistakes on teh twizzles I don't think... nice timing... big smile from her... and rotational lift to finish...and they're done, to the beat of the music. and the americans like it. she's been injured this season, simon loves them....she conducts teh crowd, mimes that she can't hear them.... simon doesn't think they're as good as they were last year... not quite as sharp chris says...highlight for him was the straight line step. and they can;t get off the ice, the gate is shut! twizzles went off in the middle, he was quicker than she was... and she's mortified with the closeups of her conducting the crowd!

marks - 5.0-5.6...5.2-5.7...7th place.

Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto USA
Red dress for her with silver spangles, morning suit with matching red ascot for him. 18 and 21...waltz and polka for the last time and thank god! is that something on the ice there? yesa feather says chris....from her dress... directly in path of the striaght ine step...he thinks...anyhoo, steps are going fine.... there goes another one! circular step... well it's teh last competition... who cares if she moults? rotational lift with her leg on his shoulder...music changes... plenty of speed to being... to the boards for midline step... nice timing on the twizzles... and on the steps... very nice...and another feather goes... end to end that was! more steps back the way they came... and another rotational spin and then the dance spin...her ending in Y position...and we're done. and the crowd roar, and my video has lasted the pace, and that was great. the americans love it, simon and chris prefer this to L&T and I think that I did as well...wonderful performacne says chris, she has great character....nothign to do with her looks, huh boys? (Note to slef, people who drool over Victor Kraatz shouldn't throw stones) She ruffles her dress as she comes off, I think she wants to know will anything else come off! Fast and furious pace, but it never looked ragged... see midline again, and it's great..they just had a ball out there!

marks 5.2-5.7... that 5.7 is high, next is a host of 5.5.s....5.3-5.8... and they go to 7th. above the other americans.

so it's L&A, B&K, D&S (bul) N&K (rus) G&G (ukr) C&D (isr) B&A (usa) L&T (Usa) D&S (fra) D&L (can) are the top ten.