Vancouver 2010 - Free Dance

I have officially crowned the Ice Dance competition 'Best Event of Vancouver 2010 (so far)'. The OD was fabulous, the CD was even vaguely interesting, and last night was just absolutely amazing. I could not be happier with the result (unless the Kerrs had somehow landed on the podium, of course).

- First off, once again, I loved Coomes & Buckland. They have great lifts; she needs to fix her twizzles and they sometimes have a couple of synchronicity issues, but I definitely think these two have potential. 20th place is absolutely not a bad result for them, especially as the Olympics is only their second major international competition, as far as I am aware.

- I was distracted by my dying laptop during the Reeds, but what I saw looked good. I didn't see Crone/Poirier's OD and I was wondering why they were down so low, but they definitely made a good 'comeback' last night. Her posture is a little off, but other than that, I loved their program. His smile and some of his mannerisms remind me a lot of Adam Rippon, which is no bad thing!

- I wish that Anna Cappellini hadn't dyed her hair that shade of red. It looked so nice last season. LOVE these two and their program though, they are fierce. I think it's actually possibly my favourite Requiem program. Was his shirt ripped at the beginning or did it happen during the skate? Same question for that ladder down the back of her tights? Anyway I'm thinking that these two will benefit from the rash of retirements that we're sure to see from the top teams between now and Worlds/next season.

- Hoffman/Zavozin's program is a lot of fun and I like it but it just seems kind of like an exhibition. I think it was probably a risky choice for an Olympic season but it got the crowd going, and the judges seemed to go with it, too, so good on them for doing something different and fun.

- Samuelson/Bates have grown on me a lot this season. I love Emily's flexibility, extension, and her general charisma. She looked so overcome in the KnC, which reminded me what is so special about the Olympics and how much it means for these athletes even to have made it to the Games.

- I love Schindler's List, it's one of my favourite pieces of music ever, but I just cannot get behind the Zaretskys. Especially not now Alexandra decided to cut all her hair off.

- I love the Kerrs. I never ever want them to retire. John dropped his foot on his twizzle and he looked so angry at himself in the KnC, but the program as a whole was just wonderful and a lot better than at Euros. Also, words cannot describe how much I love Sinead for lifting John. If they can hold it together in Turin - if they're going, and I really hope they are - I think they could possibly land top 5, depending on who else is there. Sinead Kerr is another one that needs to go back to her original hair colour, though; her, Anna C and Nathalie P should all get together and dye their hair dark brown again.

- I also love P/B a lot. I think they could be Euro champions next year. They did have one hell of a scary exit to a lift, but apparently it was supposed to be like that. I just love her and her brilliant presence on the ice. In fact, I love French dance teams in general; I wished that Blanc/Bouquet could have been here, because I love their FD. Hopefully/presumably they will be at Worlds, though.

- Wow on DelSchoes. I loved that program. They were skating like they didn't really care about the competition, just the performance and the fact that it was their last ever, which I think was probably the perfect way for them to approach it. This event turned into another where I would really have liked them to award a medal to each of the top ten. It's really sad to think that that was the last we will see of them, but what a lovely way to go out.

- K/N's Firebird is fabulous. I couldn't believe that they stayed behind the Kerrs; I thought that their program had something truly magical about it. Jana in particular is just brilliant, I love her.

- Davis/White = PERFECTION. They had a deduction but wow, what a program. Twizzles were gorgeous, that lift is wonderful...I just love, love, love them. I loved Meryl's smile when they finished, too. Robin Cousins, commentating for the BBC, calls her an 'exquisite creature' and he is absolutely right. They may have wanted gold, but to go from not even having a World medal to having an Olympic silver is pretty amazing in itself, and I can't see that they won't be happy with their performance and the overall result. Just stunning.

- I liked F/S more than at Euros but I still think it fell a little flat after D/W. Also I have gone off them even more since reading Massimo's comments since last night on how Tessa and Scott should not have won gold as they are not 'real ice dancers', which is an absolute joke. [EDIT - an article by Lynn Rutherford of Ice Network has since cleared up that these comments were taken way out of context and that Massimo seems to be a bit of a sweetheart, so now I feel bad.]

- Speaking of Virtue/Moir - they were, of course, absolutely incredible. I wish they could have skated last so we could have ended on that high. They were absolutely foot-perfect throughout the entire thing, the program could not have been better, they are both gorgeous (especially Tessa, who looked stunning), and they were absolutely beyond adorable right after they finished - especially Scott saying 'thank you so much' to Tessa - and in the KnC, not to mention at the very end when it was confirmed that they'd got the gold. I wish British TV showed the medal ceremony, I would have loved to have seen it. I actually don't think I have ever been so happy for a team as I was for these two last night.

- I liked Belbin/Agosto a lot more than I thought I was going to while they were skating, but then I could hardly remember anything about the program afterwards. Tanith's twitter a little while before the competition suggested that that would be their last skate ever, i.e they are retiring before Worlds. If that is true, I'm really pleased for them that they had such a good competition, even without a medal, and they both looked more than happy in the KnC.

- I have huge respect for Shabalin for even skating. I'd almost award D/S a medal just for that. I hadn't even noticed the Requiem sneaking into their program before. They got bronze, which I'd definitely agree with. I'm also kind of glad that they got a medal with what is presumably their last performance, because to go out on a low note, with pretty much everybody hating on their OD and not even a medal to show for everything they have gone through, would have been pretty horrible.

What an incredible competition. I think it surpasses men's as my favourite event of the Olys, because I was absolutely satisfied with the podium. The ladies competition starts tonight; it's sad to think that the Games are drawing to a close and that this time in three days, all our medallists and champions will have been crowned.

Finally, I just want to note this down so that I don't forget it. One of my absolute favourite quotes of 'Be Good Johnny Weir' actually came from Stéphane, when they showed him explaining his 2006 costume: "It's a zebra, like a magical zebra. With wings." I honestly don't know what I will do next season without these guys.

xxx