Worlds 2005
Original Dance
As a St Patrick’s Day bonus to you all, you
get my thoughts on the original dance – there is no school today as it’s a
public holiday, and don’t I intend to enjoy all the
So you miss my thoughts on the following -
1 Christina BEIER / William BEIER GER 21 27.24
2 Alexandra KAUC / Michal ZYCH POL 22 26.58
3 Judith HAUNSTETTER / Arne HÖNLEIN GER 27 22.91
4 Olga AKIMOVA / Alexander SHAKALOV UZB 24 24.25
5 Julia GOLOVINA / Oleg VOIKO UKR 23 25.24
Warm-Up Group 2
6 Daniela KELLER / Fabian KELLER SUI 29 21.05
7 Anna GALCHENIUK / Oleg KRUPEN BLR 30 13.36
8 Natalie BUCK / Trent NELSON-BOND AUS 28 21.85
9 Alessia AURELI / Andrea VATURI ITA 26 23.83
10 Laura MUNANA / Luke MUNANA MEX 25 23.95
Except to say that the Mexicans set the crowd alight, are coached by Klimova and Ponomarenko, and are in 5th place at the moment, dead unlucky in my opinion, as they’re just going to miss out on the free dance. What they did they did well, and I really enjoyed their program.
Warm-Up Group 3
11 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabien BOURZAT FRA 16 30.00
She’s in a dress with a pink sparkle halter neck tuxedo effect on top with black skirt, he’s in sparkle black waistcoat, hot pink shirt and black pants….charleston, slow fox, quickstep... lots of energy to begin as he pulls her around the place… steps and turns into the boards for the midline step… and she falls down on the start… and then they go mad out of step when she tries to catch up with him…Chris says she did well to get back into it as quickly as she did… music changes as they go to steps in dance hold, lift with her in splits against his waist and then change position as someone sings that her heart belongs to daddy… dance spin is nicely centred… move where he’s on one knee and she leans back on him and slide… music changes again to speed for the diagonal step… well marked at one end… quite close together on that, nice changes of hold and rotation… rotational lift to centre ice and they’re done right on the music. And she looks heartbroken around the eyes… she can hardly look at him… one point ded for the fall, Chris says if it had taken her more than 5secs to get back in, they would have had another deduction but she was back into it quickly, even if they lost unison – and that last bit was mine… she just had the weight too far back, nothing she could do, but she bounced up… and they sold the rest of it well…
Marks TE 16.15 PC 25.56 for 40.71 and 70.71 overall and they are 4th… strongly marked down.
12 Natalia GUDINA / Alexei BELETSKI ISR 19 28.40
Bright orange dress mostly for her, with bands of black in the chest area, and his is mostly black outfit, with orange half to the shirt on the right hand side and then on the cuff and on parts of the left… and they’re in no danger of getting lost, you’d see them miles away… start with quickstep I think… little running steps… plenty of eyeing up the judges… step into rotational lift with her in splits at shoulder level, and I can hear Nicky grinding his teeth form here… dance spin is nicely done, well centred again… steps around, lots of gliding to the boards for midline which seemed to start a little far out? Not quite in synch on the twizzles and worse on the second… music changes … diagonal step…and maybe this the quickstep, I’m not sure any more, and this does not augur well for me! Well steps went end to end… and it’s dancing fool as he carries her on his shoulder from a flip entry in, and she comes out of it wrapped around him and down, and then they’re done…Simon mentions they dropped last year to 15, and are 19 here, judges don’t seem to have them in their thoughts and they need to stop the slide…. Linichuk is wearing an ugly hat that does nothing for her, I just feel you all need to know that…Chris thinks they’re not pleased with that, second half of the program, he thinks, esp on midline step, it all seemed to fall apart… diagonal step he thought, over a third was done on one foot and unless you bounce on the foot and use the knee you lose momentum and by the end they were hardly moving…see what you miss when you watch on TV?
Marks… and these are not the happy faces of happy people… TE 17.88 PC 24.97 for 42.85 and 71.25 overall and they’re first on the OD and overall.
13 Melissa GREGORY / Denis PETUKHOV
Bright pink for her, with leafy effect skirt that has lilac underneath it… white shirt for him, black waistcoat, tie and trousers… he looks well. Classy and elegant. C/SF/C is the music... coached by Nikolai Morozov… pinstripes in his suit… all that jazz… wow he’s been tangoed… sorry… little running steps to begin… lots of speed to the boards for the midline to begin… nice picking out the nuances of the music and good steps too, mostly on one foot and good unison as well…twizzles and she comes out before he does on the first pass, and not in time on the second and such a shame… splits lift with her at his waist level… and stop to razzle dazzle… he kisses her hand… she vamps for all she’s worth… blows a kiss to the judges, which is one way of making them forget the twizzles…. Lift with her leaning back in the splits and him in besti… and then goes to rotational lift at waist level… very easy flow into dance spin and change of music…. She does Y position with nice position… diagonal step to hot honey rag… seem to have lost speed to me? A move where she’s going back squatting and leaning and he’s on top of her, not as pornographic as it sounds, and really effective looking, the crowd love it… and I did like that. Plenty of speed and energy, real shame about those twizzles… Simon says there was something special about it from first to last, Chris calls it super, quick across the ice with loads of presentation… says ice on the corner doesn’t look very good… Simon tells the story of how Denis found a new partner (Melissa) via the internet, and they got married then, he says it’s a great story… Simon’s a bit of a romantic, can you tell?
Marks TE 19.40 PC 30.82 for 50.22 and 84.62 for a 13point lead.
14 Sinead KERR / John KERR GBR 12 32.63
Long canary yellow and sparkle dress for her, tails for him… Chris is hoping that they’ll move up, gets in a verse of the Melancholy Aria of Lack of Movement just in case… thinks tenth might be asking a lot, but is hopeful for one place… the lads break out the flags, and wave them for all they are worth, and I find myself doing the same as I like these….St Patrick’s Day and a good Irish lass is rooting for a Brit pair… that funny sound you hear? My granddad turning in his grave... SF/Q the music, we see John Hamer in the audience…. Spin to one another… and they’re really selling it from the off… it’s cold outside is the music… lots of flow and deep knee bend from these two… and did he nearly skid there? Don’t do that! It wasn’t a near fall…’twas a deep edge! Down the ice we go… lift with her at his waist level... and carry and hop up to bracelet lift… and slide to stop and change of music… quickstep steps… this is nice and the crowd clap…to the boards for midline… good unison thus far… and lots of it on one foot… and we get close up on the twizzles but I think they were ok, someone needs to slap the director… carry lift with her leaning away from him and him in besti… nice! Steps around we go and down to dance spin slowing down at the end, more quick step steps and they’re done and I loved loved loved that (sorry Grandad, but they’re Scottish! Does that help?) – mr pinstripes suit was the second music…. Simon praises the step sequence, full of difficulty…Chris is optimistic, calls it fabulous… they’re in trouble so… wonderful interp, lots of tech content, a dance from start to finish and he loved it… MamaNicky hugs them coming off the ice… yes, and I’m sorry that was a near stumble that he saved very, very well! And the lads either didn’t see it or are gamely ignoring it… Chris is in full gush mode talking about the good vibe around them…
Marks… TE 20.19 PC 30.52 and they lead! 50.71 leading on the night, and 83.34 second overall - not moved up but have closed the gap. I can live with that!
15 Fang YANG / Chongbo GAO CHN 20 27.57
All in black for both, her dress having a
kind of Proud Mary effect, silver tips at the end, he’s all in black, with
sparkles on his shirt, and short sleeves too… Dubova sends them out… she has
gloves on her arms, SF/C is the music… sleepless in
Marks 19.47 TE PC 23.20 for 42.67 for 70.24 and they’re in fifth place with 15 to go so are in their allotted place of 20th.
Interview with Sinead and John rink side… performed it better than at Euros she says… they felt really good out there, crowd warm and appreciative, kept them going… he says scary moment in midline step… but kept going. Gwendal asks them what they want in the comp, she says there’s a friendly rivalry with Kulikova, so she wants to beat them! Happy to be leading OD at the moment… G asks them if they want a special score, J says that you always want a personal best, always want to look at your tech and to see the scores on the lifts, so they’re going to be looking at that.
Warm-Up Group 4
16 Anastasia GREBENKINA / Vazgen AZROJAN ARM 18 28.53
Crimson feathery effect on skirt, sparkle on the chest for her, he’s in navy pants and crimson and pink sparkles on the top… Q/SF/Q the music. Start with her leaning back on him…and spin under his arm… off they go in dance hold… steps in a dance hold and I think that’s diagonal… to the boards for the midline… good unison… get further apart as they do twizzles, and they made sure that it went end to tend… and dance spin… music changes as they do that… more steps in dance hold… lift with her leaning on him diagonally in bracelet hold and him on one foot going backwards, nice change of position there… and now glide where she’s leaning back against him… change of music and speed and this is the diagonal step… lots of changes of hold, places where they’re quite close… another bracelet lift where he’s rotating…and they’re done. Chris thinks they missed the point a little bit with the construction of the program… good lifts, fast rotation he says, that’s looking at the last one there… thinks higher first mark than second…
Marks TE 20.43 PC 25.59 for 46.02 for 74.55 and third overall, their allotted place.
17 Nora HOFFMANN / Attila ELEK HUN 15 30.17
White dress for her, with long skirt and blue sequins and black accents at the end, and crikey, there’s some billow on that dress! He stands too close to her in a twizzle, it’s going to cut him in two! Made of feathers the black ruff is.… he’s in tails, with natty black bow tie… SF/Q the music… huge promise says Simon, but someone needs to talk to Attila about the proper application of blusher… singing in the rain the music… lovely flow and speed from the off… lift with him in shoot the duck and her lying on him, then up with still holding her, into her in bracelet hold and him turning…nice… diagonal step is lovely… plenty of turns and really close together… and into dance spin with him nice and low in sit position… change of music now… she just lost a feather to putting on the ritz… nice steppy steps to build the mood … here we go on midline… he stays well apart from her! Really fast twizzles and he falls off the first set, gets it back for the second but still doesn’t look quite secure… and lift with her in one foot bracelet hold resting on his shoulders as he spins, and they’re done. Really classy Simon calls it, says lots of people in the sport have them marked out for a meteoric rise…they ooze class he says, and Chris calls it fabulous… he not a fan of longer skirt but it worked … we see the lift at the end again... and Chris says that if he was spun like that, he’d never be able to stand on his feet after… to which Simon replies that he did it all by himself in the bar last night… to which Chris replies that that was unintentional… ah the banter, I love it so…
Marks TE 17.91 PC 27.43 they’re moving up… for 45.34 and 75.51, 3rd overall, 4th on OD
18 Nozomi WATANABE / Akiyuki KIDO JPN 17 29.20
Fluorescent yellow for her, with black accents on it, and he’s also in tails… with matching yellow bits glued onto it… and a big swath of yellow showing on his shirt… cut of her dress is fine, not so sure about the colour… his, not so much. Very baggy on the sleeves… she’s 34??? Does not look it! Q/SF/Q… crowd are clapping… as Simon says Chris was singing this in the bar last night… lots of speed… diagonal step… music is girls, girls, girls… stop at centre ice as music changes, nearly kiss… cold outside… dance spin… all done in the one spot, you can see that clearly… move where she does back spiral… and then he does spiral… steps t the boards… then down the rink for rotational lift with her at waist level and it’s all very messy looking… die mir best du schon… to the boards, midline… twizzles are good on first set, second more ragged… good unison to a terrible version of this song… lift where she just seems to be very high up at first, what’s the rule on where his hands should be? Then rotating with her at shoulder level… Chris talks of incredible improvement for these two over the last two seasons, talks of his fabulous personality… fun to watch he says…
Marks TE 20.46 OC 26.11 for 46.57 and 75.77 and 3rd.
Hungarians at rink side… small mistake at the end she says, but for last time it was ok…not best in season but they did what they can do, crowd v good…he hopes they can do a better free tomorrow.
19 Svetlana KULIKOVA / Vitali NOVIKOV RUS 13 31.21
Red sparkles on top for her, black skirt,
and gloves…no shoulders, very little back o the dress… and there is maia usova
looking much better, so it wasn’t her in K&C a couple of nights ago… and
he’s in tails with persil white shirt there… she shimmies to begin… tarasova
and platov put this together…and speed and attitude to begin… and also a
midline step… with both of the above… good unison, but is if off in the middle
just a smidge or is it me? Spin under the arm to
Marks TE 19.93 PC 28.79 for good news for the brits… 48.72 and 79.93, for third overall and on the night. There are boos and whistles but Chris and I think that’s fair…
20 Kristin FRASER / Igor LUKANIN AZE 14 31.16
Bright tangerine dress for her, with dark red accents and a cut out at the side… wing on the back…he’s in tails with white shirt collar on display… Q/SF/Q the music, and his undone bow tie matches her dress… lots of energy here… but I’m finding that wing very distracting when she turns… to the boards and a dance spin… camels with bent leg acing away from one another…change of position… midline step to Michael bublé it sounds like… and out of synch in first set of twizzles… better in second… diagonal step… they just seem a little far apart on the holds… lift with her in bracelet and him on one foot going forwards, then carry rotational lift with her leaning back on his arm… music changes… steps down the length of the rink… keep on swinging the music… and another rotational lift to end and they’re done and he punches the air, they were happy with that. Wonderful interp of music Simon calls it… eye catching costume he calls it… Chris liked it, transformation in the couple this season, he loves her new look (the short bleach blonde hair I’m pretty sure) – rhythm suits their style of skating and he loves their deep knee bend…tech not as demanding as the Brits he thinks… Sasha Zhulin greets them as they come off and the boys can’t believe that it was 12 years ago that he won worlds… can’t believe they’re working together this long… Simon says it feels like it was 1893, and Chris tells him that the way he looks, that’s possible… miaow!
Marks and she brings her engagement ring to her lips and kisses it… TE 20.42 PC 28.40 for 48.82 and 79.98, 3rd place overall… still Sinead and John have the best OD.
Break for the ice resurface. And Gwendal! Man alive he’s pretty! Sometimes difficult he says for people to realise how you depend on your partner…learn to accept your partner’s failure because it’s balance… might be you this time, you the next time… usually the French team, it’s him that falls, this is the first time that she fell, so it might help her to understand him better… someone emails in about Denkova and Staviski… he doesn’t know if judges think he can’t get a medal, obvious that their big force is their originality, have been watching them for what they can bring that’s new, maybe this year, in this OD they can’t express what they like, maybe this FD not their best… he spoke to them, they almost seem to believe that this season is not their season, have put a cross on it and are looking forward to next year, to Olympic year.
Big news! Plushy has withdrawn… with Evan and Jeffrey…oh no… oh no! Because what I’m thinking here, is that that puts it between Brian and Stephane for the gold, and God willing, and me shutting up now, Evan and Jeff for the bronze… and I love the four of them!!! There is no bad in this for me! (Unless they all screw up, and with my track record of backing skaters, that’s entirely possible!) This is going to be a long night of skating for me! Also shake-inducing!
OK, getting a tension headache already as I do maths on a post it note…time to get myself back together!
Warm-Up Group 5
21 Megan WING / Aaron LOWE CAN 10 35.11
Red and black for her, with lattice pattern in silver… and him in white shirt and black pants… SF/C… and he’s got a red waistcoat in sparkles on him…just in time from bobby darin to begin... lots of speed and flow from these two, lift with her in splits and him in besti, then bracelet lift at shoulder level, just below for them… diagonal step… really seemed close together in that… down the length of the ice to se up the dance spin… and stop right on the music…charleston moves to really set the tone… people are clapping… to tbe boards… midline is ok twizzles are out of kilter near the end, second pass better… and ending is fine… off they go again… selling it for all they are worth… rotational lift… and they’re done, also right on the music. Big hug at the end… good performance says Chris, mentions problems with synch in midline step… says it was a pretty good performance, emphasising performance… a lot to admire he says ,good lifts, good speed across the ice… they kept it through all the elements…
Marks TE (big long wait) 21.56 PC 30.96 for 52.52 and 87.63, first on the day and overall.
22 Isabelle DELOBEL / Olivier SCHOENFELDER FRA 6 40.51
Gold dress for her, with sparkles and gloves, and the headband on it for a 20s style… he’s in white shirt, black pants, little waistcoat with pinstripes… open at the neck, looking very natty they are… esp him… C/SF/C are her skates pink? They’re definitely not white… he pulls her through his legs, maybe he wants to check too… that’s my baby the music again… they’re really selling this, very high energy and enjoyable… slide to the corner to mark the start of diag step… can’t tell how far apart they are but at times its looking pretty far… rotational lift with her in splits, transition to her upside down as he’s on one foot going forwards… c’est ci bon… another rotational lift where she hangs out of him… then leans back as he pulls her… dance spin… nice position… and well centred on the change… change of music again.. midline step…. Lots on one foot and little stumble from her at the start… twizzles are ok and she looks to go off again at the end of them… but they’re selling it, and S&C don’t seem to say anything about it… could be just me again… Simon comments on Olivier’s height, would have though that the fast parts would be hard for him…Chris praises the quality of their elements, their feel for the ice…for a purist, they’re an enjoyable pair, and I’m nodding my head here… their coach – not Muriel – is kinda pretty…Roman Haginah????
Marks TE 23.21 PC 37.04 for an 8pt lead… 60.25 and 100.76 and the lead.
23 Tanith BELBIN / Benjamin AGOSTO
Tails for him, with white bow tie and red pocket handkerchief, she’s all in hot pink with sparkles, and because I’ve spent too much time with Chris Nicky and Simon, I comment on the wonderbra… she can’t go to Olympics they tell us… her dress is fabulous… long at the back and gloves… C/SF/Q… and 100 miles an hour and he does the splits… and funky chicken from the two of them…. I’m getting tired just looking at them, my fingers are going to find it hard to keep up… midline begins… and it’s excellent… and so are the twizzles… woohoo! End to end as well… new york new york… dance down to centre ice… this is lovely stuff… lift with her in Y position, dropping down to spin her as she leans back in his arms… they make it look so easy… diagonal step… really close together… change of music now… cabaret the music… lift and spin with her leg on his shoulder… and dance spin so fast… great positions… and they’re stepping along the ice… false ending there! And done! Super…loved it! Simon says there were places where they weren’t quite in synch… where did I miss that? Chris thought they pushes themselves to the limits… sometimes arm alignment not quite there…see I was looking at their feet and from the knee down! Compelling viewing Chris calls it… Simon calls them the only serious contenders to N&K… runners up in ISU GP final… beaming from start to finish… see marina zoueva smiling…
Marks…TE 27.31 40.23 67.54 and 109.72 overall and they lead by miles. 9pts in front of the French.
D&S backstage with Gwendal… bronze medals at Euros, happy with that he says…have moved on from then…
24 Galit CHAIT / Sergei SAKHNOVSKI ISR 7 39.13
Lime green for her, cut out on the back, high neck and sparkles, long skirt… he’s in a navy suit with a matching tie, and white shirt… her hair is marina anissina red…Q/SF/Q… quickstep steps to begin…sing sing sing the music… midline step to begin… twizzles are good at start but second horribly out of synch… went end to end though…. Up the centre now and stop…change of music as he spins her around to smile… move where he spins her in dip… plenty of speed… and dance spin… right on the button… lift where she hops on him as she does splits and he does squat… and spin where she’s leaning away from him… nice… to the boards for the diagonal step and back to sing sing sing… good use of the music…rotational lift with her in the splits and building speed… and they’re done, after a spin under the arm… never knowingly undersold Simon calls it… they delight wherever they skate he says… Chris mentions the speed of the footwork… wonders how they keep their balance out there… always something going on, good changes of position and hold and intricacy… I’m not a fan of these two as most people know, but that was very watchable and enjoyable… the slo-mos look like normal speed from anyone else!
Rinkside with Tanith and Ben – she says
they had a great time, program suits their personalities, have fun when they
skate, looking forward to rest of events…. He says looking forward to fun free
dance, thinks theme will go over well in
Marks TE 24.43 PC 36.76 for 61.19 better than French… 100.32 overall and 3rd place…
25 Albena DENKOVA / Maxim STAVISKI BUL 4 40.81
She’s in a black dress with sparkles and shimmer, little red sparkles on it too, black net gloves on her arm… he’s all in black, with a sparkle V on his back, and sparkles to look like suspenders on his chest… C/SF/C… he’s actually navy… perhaps she is too, hard to tell… steps to the boards for midline… out of synch badly on twizzles…second set are better , and they got it back well for the second half of that seq… change of music now… they’re selling it well… you’ve got a friend in me… nice changes of hold between them… lift with him in squat and her braceletted around his neck as he spins…nifty… dance spin… and change of music to dance steps… diagonal step… good changes of direction there… just seems to be losing a bit of speed? Lift with her in splits at waist level… and they’re done. Big beat from the big beat band at the end, and he gives her a big hug… so little prep because of her illness, Simon would never have known it, and we see those first twizzles again and it looks worse on the slows… Chris thinks that the lack of training will come into play in the free dance… good lifts he says…they did look sharp, gave it their best shot…
Marks TE 24.55 PC 38.24 for 62.79 second overall above French… 103.60 they’re happy.
D&S with Gwendal, got level 3 on steps, so are dancing… she says they’re relaxed, want to show good quality of skating, ready to prep for next Olympic season… he says they don’t care about PB, reaction of public most important thing…
Warm-Up Group 6
26 Marie-France DUBREUIL / Patrice LAUZON CAN 5 40.51
Long floaty baby pink dress for her… white shirt for him, navy waistcoat and trousers… singing in the rain if I remember rightly, and I love this program… can I just say I love her dress? For I do…the cut, the colour and it looks great on her… SF/C/Q … start leaning over poised to kiss, then mime raining on them… and dance they do… little hopping steps back… and spin to the boards… steps the length of the rink… and I love their flow and knee bend… this just makes me smile…lift where he holds her out and spins her, don’t think Nicky would like that one! To the boards… midline… and she stumbles out and I wails oh no and they get it all over the place there… oh no no no no no …. A couple of bobbles there… off we go now… lift with her upside down in splits and him in besti leaning in, change position to her hanging form him and that did not look safe gong down… more steps… I knew I should have kept my mouth shut… diagonal step… come on now, you can do it… that was better…dance spin… nicely done… and stop. Oh dear me. And bugger. Simon calls it very pleasing to watch… Chris says needed no mistakes, and the step seq he calls disaster, and he had to slow down at the end to get back in synch with her… big problem that took long time to recover from… and she looks devastated… not what they were looking for… Simon loved the beginning, Chris calls concept beautiful… great quality of skating… ok, that second dismount looked better on slomos… and we don’t see mistake on steps… Chris now not sure that it was on twizzle, could have been on one of the turns… out of synch and all over the place on maybe 75% of the element… he’s holding her hand quite tightly…
Marks TE 21.48 PC 36.82 for 58.30 have been
overtaken by
27 Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI ITA 9 36.19
Pale green dress for her, with cross straps around her neck, and long gloves… he’s in tails with a big long tail on it… and a matching bow tie to the colour of her dress... their luggage got lost on the way, with it their skates… SF/Q the music… start at the boards… music Sinatra… down the length of the rink… glidey move at the end… midline… lovely flow… and good unison… he looks untidier than her, but kept unison… rotational lift… nicely done… good speed along the ice… dance spin… facing one another in kneels, change to her doing Y spin against him…change of music now… lots of speed… diagonal step… they are in pretty much one hold right the way through and quite far apart from each other… and to centre ice and little dancing steps… off we go again… lift with her in bracelet leaning back through his arms, and kinda inelegant on that, a little, I think… Bestemianova and Bukin choreographed it…Simon liked it… Chris wonders if the Canadians have left the door open… thinks it might have been weak in places… need to get into the ice as much as they possibly can, but always pleasing to watch, they really are characters he says…
Marks TE (big long wait) 22.71 PC 33.42… for 56.13, so they’re 6th with 92.32
Rinkside with the Canadians… didn’t miss one step seq this week, so she doesn’t know what happened, lack of focus on that section, very costly… he doesn’t know what happened, crazy mistakes, hopefully do better tomorrow. 2 disappointed people…
28 Elena GRUSHINA / Ruslan GONCHAROV UKR 3 41.30
Bright pink for her, with J-Lo like V to navel… lots of silver sparkles, and a pink headband with a pink fluffy thing at the side of it… he’s in pinstriped waistcoat and white shirt, pinstripes are whiter than white… big cut out on the back of her dress… very 20s look, so I think we’ll see a charleston…. C/SF/Q…Cabaret the music… start back to back... him kneeling behind her… and away we go… arm flapping steps… miles of go in this to begin… to tbe boards and midline… lots of work on one nfoot wihich I admire as does Chris… twizzles are g reat, have Simon commenting on the synch… slow section now… looking really shapr here… carry lift with her in bracelet at waist level, him going f/w in one foot… and change position to rotational lift with her leaning back in his arms… nice… dance spin… good speed… and change position to Y spin from her… and stop… change music to diagonal step… and the cabaret theme… and split rotational lift that I know nicky is going to deem inelegant…and ends with her doing the splits… and Simon says it was wonderful, nailed it big time. Fantastic from them and I really did enjoy that… attention to detail and accuracy has Chris calling this the best we’ve had so far… both are blown away, as I am, by the unison in the midline step… he could see no mistakes… Nikolai greets them on the way off… Chris is thinking level three for the lifts…
Marks TE 24.00 PC 39.17 for 63.17 and 104.47 and second place.
Rink side with Italians… happy with comp dances, today happy too, good performance enjoyed themselves on the ice he says. Also a little sad because it’s the last time they’re doing this OD but they did a good job with it for the last time.
29 Oksana DOMNINA / Maxim SHABALIN RUS 8 36.26
Orangey red dress for her, big billowy skirt, no sleeves, but gloves with wings coming out of them… he’s in black, with bell shaped sleeves, a deep V on the chest to display red sparkles, also red sparkles dotted here and there on the jacket… SF/Q I think the music... and it is… wow, she’s shimmering…. Dance spin to begin… nicely done, and now steps as the flags wave in time with the music… diagonal step has lots of smooth speed… to boards for midline… quite slow pace but it’s suiting the music… they keep together well throughout… lift with him in besti and her pulled all around him, then goes to rotational lift from that… music changes now and quickstep steps on centre ice… it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing… diagonal steps… ok, mustn’t have had that earlier after all because this is definitely it… miles of speed… and somersault entry to rotational lift where she’s upside down at his side and they’re done… Simon calls it a sizzling performance and a rapturous reception… she has a character that shoots across the ice Simon says and they sold it well… Chris couldn’t see a mistake… UKR got level 4 for the lifts, he thinks these will get level 3, loved how they choreographed midline step into the program… gave the judges the chance to see the synch, because it was slower…
Marks TE 24.15 PC 34.71 for 58.86 and 95.12 and 7th overall.
Rink side with GrushGons…which we can’t hear because of tech problems.
30 Tatiana NAVKA / Roman KOSTOMAROV RUS 1 45.97
Black dress for her with diamond lattice pattern on it… there is no back to that dress. None. Also very little side. He’s in black tux jacket with white shirt and black bow tie? People are saying they’re not invincible Simon says… there are feathers on her skirt… Q/SF/Q… they take their time… start with her leaning against his back… attitude to spare to begin… sing sing sing… speed aplenty… diagonal step methinks… perfect. Up to the middle and spin and stop as we go into fever and you know she’s going to sell this one… and check out the eyeing of the judges… he moves under her extended leg… lift where she’s in bracelet over his shoulder facing down and him in besti, then spinning… big roar for that one… steps… into the dance spin … bit of travel on that… and boards and stop for the midline… very very good and I did not take my eyes off him for that one… steps down the length of the rink as we go back to sing sing sing… lift with her scissored between his legs at waist level, very fast and more steps and they’re done… and she claps at the end. Considering the pressure says Simon, that was astonishing… really excellent… people are standing… going to be interesting to see the marks, will the Americans eat into the lead? They knew what they had to do says Chris ,and they did it, even if it’s not the most enjoyable one for him this afternoon… but technically it was all there…she went straight into Sasha’s arms for a big hug when she came off…that’s kinda sweet…
Marks TE 26.36 PC 42.31 new PB for 68.67 and only just in front on OD but slightly extend lead… 114.64 and lordy me that was some scream from the crowd…is there a roof on the building still???
Free dance tomorrow, which I’ll be reviewing thanks to the middle of videotape, probably sometime next week, either Tuesday or Wednesday, so look out for that then.