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Worlds 2010: Ladies' Free

The very last portion of these World Championships finished up yesterday with the ladies' free program, and the event was almost as bizarre as the short. I'm still getting over the fact that our brand new world bronze medallist, as much as I love her, earned that medal with a three-triple program.

Gimazetdinova somewhat set the tone for the afternoon with am absolute mess of a skate. I'm not a fan, but it wasn't a nice way for her to finish her career and it was sad to see her looking so devastated at the end. Sonia Lafuente skated well, aside from a fall on her first jump, and finished up in 18th on the free and 20th overall, so not bad for her. I wish she'd be a little more expressive in her face, though.

Little Min-Jung Kwak wasn't bad, but she wasn't as impressive as she was in Vancouver, which is completely understandable. She seems to have changed coaches since the Olympics, because I'm sure she wasn't with Orser then. She has really nice spirals, but she got a lot of under-rotations. Definitely a lot of potential, though, and isn't she just adorable?

Manouk Gijsman looked huge after Kwak. She stepped out of almost every single jump, but still, good for her for qualifying and for at least staying on her feet, for the most part. She has nice presentation and spins and I liked her spirals with the music, and she's pretty, too. Apparently she's the first Netherlands lady to qualify for the free in some ridiculously long amount of time.

Glebova was having a great skate and hit all her jumps, and then fell off her last spin, literally ten seconds before her program ended, which has got to hurt. I like her, but my God, I will not miss that dress of hers. She finished 21st, which is disappointing for her.

Suzuki looked a million times better than she did in the short, as we'd expected. It wasn't perfect, but there were no major mistakes and she finished in eleventh, which is quite a comeback from 20th. She absolutely sold the hell out of her steps, and that red dress is so much better than the orange thing with the white jacket she was wearing earlier in the season. I've heard that she isn't planning to retire, which is good to hear. She's grown on me a lot over the season.

I actually really enjoyed Sarah Hecken, much more than I have done previously. She fell on the lutz but was very clean otherwise, and she's doing a much better job of presenting herself and not getting distracted by mistakes/falls, as she did at Euros and in Vancouver. She looked very happy with her scores and so she should be; she finished up in twelfth.

Leonova was even messier than ever. She definitely peaked too early, which is a shame to see given that she was so fresh and fun and perky last season. This will probably be the last we'll see of her what with all the junior talent coming up in Russia, although I'm not sure how many of them will be age-eligible. It's clear that Makarova is already sailing ahead, anyway.

Kiira was hard to watch. Her jumps appeared to have completely left her, but bless her, kept performing it and kept smiling the whole way through. At least her pops were kind of pretty.

I don't know what Jenna & KVDP have been doing lately but they should definitely keep doing it because that girl was on fire today. Even her hair looked better than usual. She came in 14th, which is her best ever Worlds result, and a great way to make up for the epic disaster that was Vancouver. I was kind of assuming she'd be retiring after this season, but apparently she says that she'll definitely be back next season and is even hoping to do four more years.

Cheltzie Lee is lovely to watch and had a couple of mis-steps on landings, but other than that, it was a good skate for her. She needs to use her face a little more though. She didn't look too impressed with her scores, but they weren't bad at all, and she finished seventeenth.

Elene G started off fairly strong but it all fell apart towards the middle and she ended up falling out of her spin, too, and then stumbling in her ending choreography. She didn't seem to have her usual spark, either, and at times she was really just skating right through her music. She ended up eighteenth.

Miki Ando gave one of the few clean performances of the night and I actually enjoyed it. She hit all her jumps and she was actually engaging and had lots of attack, so that was nice to see. She did have a hell of a slow sit spin though. I have no idea what was up with these girls and their spins yesterday. It was lovely to see her so happy at the end, she usually looks so miserable, and she finished fourth, so Japan easily secured their three spots; they were actually the only nation to do so this year.

Yu-Na looked like she was absolutely back on track and it was all going perfectly, I was convinced she was going to take back the world title, and then she fell on a 3S, and it was obvious that it threw her completely off for the whole rest of the program. She has no idea what to do when she falls, does she? She pulled off an easy 3Lz right after the fall, and then completely popped a 2A, and all of a sudden things looked very, very good for one Miss Nagasu. Still, she still got silver, which really is an indication of the quality of the rest of the girls.

Viktoria Helgesson has had the competition of her life. Once again, she skated really, really well, and I actually found her blonde hair/hot pink dress/Barbie doll aesthetic kind of refreshing and cute. I loved her music, too. She made the top ten, earning two spots for Sweden next year, which will likely go to her and her sister, Joshi, which is great. Fantastic job from her.

To me, Phaneuf was mildly uninspiring, but she was completely clean and perfect and I always like seeing skaters skate their absolute best. She definitely stepped up to the plate in Joannie's absence. I know there'd been some question over whether or not she would be able to hold onto Canada's two spots, especially since Samson bombed, but she ended up in fifth, so good for her.

Sebestyen did not have a great skate. Her KnC was very emotional and was probably very bittersweet, because that will have been her last competition performance ever.

By her standards, Carolina actually went clean, which was a lovely way for her to end the season, and she placed in sixth. Hopefully that, paired with her European title, will be what she needs to get right back on track next season, although honestly, like Jeremy, I feel like I am just losing patience with that girl.

I am seriously delighted that Mao won gold! She was definitely on yesterday, and I'm so glad that she was able to 'beat Yu-Na properly', like she said she wanted to. If you think about her form at the beginning of the season and on the Grand Prix circuit, it's amazing that she was able to come back and get a silver Olympic medal and then win the world title. I will definitely not miss that free program of hers, though. Apparently she will not be coached by Tarasova next season, and hopefully she'll be able to use much lighter music that really lets her shine more.

I don't think I've ever seen Rachael Flatt pop a jump before, but she did yesterday. She didn't really look sure of herself the whole way through, like she wasn't over her skates properly. I feel sorry for her; you have to wonder if all the negativity that surrounds her generally, and her winning of the National title, is finally getting to her. She says she's thinking of deferring her college entry for a year but I wonder how limited her time at the top is, because there are a lot of younger, more dynamic girls - Christina Gao, to name one - coming up who will probably start to overtake her pretty soon, and I like Rachael's skating.

You know what, I'm gonna stick it out there and say that Laura Lepisto is my current favourite ladies' skater. She is absolutely gorgeous to watch. She nailed the 3T-3T, great speed going into that, and the 3Lz, and then doubled the loops and the salchow, but who cares, because apparently that is good enough for a medal. I find it vaguely hilarious that our new world bronze medallist had three triples in her whole program. She is lovely, though.

From the sparkle in her eye at the beginning, I thought Mirai was going to be on, but she wasn't. She had a step out on the 3Lz, tight landings, and a fall on a 2a. It must have been pretty much downgrade central as well, because she dropped all the way down to seventh. That means that, with the two US girls finishing in 7th and 9th, they only earned two spots for next year. I thought three was a done deal after their 1st and 6th placements after the short, but there you go. I'm hoping Wagner gets a shot next year.

I love Ksenia Makarova. She is beautiful. After Flatt, Lepisto and Nagasu, I thought she was basically a lock for the bronze, but she ended up all the way down in eighth. She needs better choreo - and better dresses - but otherwise, she has a lot of potential. She seemed pretty delighted with her scores, anyway.

And that's it! The season is really over! I feel like I'm not entirely sure what to do with myself anymore. There is, of course, already a few exciting things coming out about various teams and various rules, so hopefully it won't be too long until September rolls around and the 2010/2011 season can begin!

Worlds 2010: Free Dance

The FD just wrapped up, and there were no huge surprises, which is probably a good thing, because I don't think the skating world is quite over its collective shock at the ladies' short earlier this afternoon.

Samuelson/Bates skated nicely as ever and finished in ninth place, which is great news for them and also means that the USA retain their three spots for next year. I love their energy and I love the way their lines match so nicely.

I had to miss Carron/Jones, but I saw Hoffman/Zavozin, who ended up in tenth place and earned Hungary two spots for next year, so good for them. Their music is hilarious. I absolutely live for the random thirty seconds of Everybody Dance Now at the end, and I love that they completely do their own thing with no regard for everybody else's endless Adagio programs.

I absolutely love Navarro/Bommentre's FD. I think it's really expressive and they look like they feel every note, and they look great together. Kim looked absolutely delighted afterwards, even if they were a little disappointed with their scores, which was really nice to see. I'm glad they were able to come to Worlds and skate well after missing out on the Olympic place. I have basically no technical knowledge at all when it comes to ice dance so I tend to judge which programs I like on how much I like watching them, and this one rates pretty highly.

On the other hand, I find Bobrova/Soloviev kind of dull, and I didn't like her black trousers under her dress. She's pretty, though, and again, it was nice to see them so happy with their performance and especially their scores.

Cappellini/Lanotte, my favourite baby Italians, were absolutely tragic. Anna completely lost the twizzles and ended up crashing right into Luca, and then sobbed most of the way through the program and completely broke down at the end, and it was just heartbreaking. Luca was a real sweetheart with her, though. What a great partner. They ended up eleventh after a 14th-place finish in the free, and so just missed out on earning Italy three spots, which can only have made things more difficult for poor Anna. They have not had a good season this year; hopefully they can come back strong.

Crone/Poirier were nice enough but kind of dull. I remember liking them much more in Vancouver. I actually got distracted halfway through by a big crash in the cycling world championships, which I had on mute while I waited for Eurosport to start broadcasting, and I do not understand the appeal in Queen elevator music. Their reaction to their scores, though, was priceless, especially their coach's.

I think that there are very few girls that can pull off that lift where they curl right over their partner's arm, and Sasha Zaretsky is not one of them. She and Roman seem like really nice people, but I just cannot get into their skating at all. I love, love, love Schindler's List though. I think all teams should do what the Russian Juniors, I/K, do, and have the girl die at the end. I just am not a fan of those two. Still, good job to them for placing sixth. They also get Israel two spots. Do Israel even have another ice dance team?

I had seriously been looking forward to Pechalat/Bourzat's circus FD all week and they didn't let me down. Nathalie's outfit is too cute for words, I love the ruffles on her boots. Even her hair looked better than usual, although I still wish she'd go back to her natural brown. This is definitely another of my very favourite programs, I loved every second of it and their twizzles were perfect. I especially love the choreography during the last section of music. They had a fantastic skate that was well-rewarded by their score, and actually ended up third in the free, although it wasn't enough to pull them up to get the bronze. Eurosport are always interviewing them and I love it because I love the way they say 'circus'. I really hope they don't retire, if only because I will be seriously deprived of Nathalie and her fabulous white coat in the KnC.

Having Davis/White follow P/B was absolute ice dance heaven, as far as I'm concerned. I really hope that's not the last time we ever see that POTO FD, because it is fantastic. Charlie was really going all out tonight; in fact, at one point he looked so frantic that I was convinced he was going to lose it all and fall over. I love the way he leaps in front of Meryl in the opening steps and I love the colour of her dress and I love that amazing lift down the centre and the way everything becomes builds so wonderfully to the climax at the end. They were first on the free, but it wasn't enough and D/W had to settle for silver again.

Virtue/Moir's program is basically the complete opposite of Meryl and Charlie's; it's smooth and floaty and gorgeous where D/W's is dramatic and exciting and brilliant. However pretty they are, though, V/M were not quite as exquisite as they have been. Scott slipped up on the twizzles and just generally looked a little scratchy, and there was a definite hesitation on the goose lift. I actually thought that there was a distinct chance that Meryl and Charlie would take the title, but the margin that V/M had after the CD and OD was enough to keep them pretty comfortably in first position, and we said hello to our new world champions.

Faiella/Scali continue to bore me. A clean program performed on home ice led them safely to a bronze medal, although P/B beat them in the free. In fact, I found the end of their performance to be the best bit. Federica was visibly overcome and in tears, and the audience was absolutely in raptures. Eurosport kept showing this one woman in particular who was clearly a F/S diehard; she was screaming and screaming with delight for all she was worth. That same woman also threw some sort of stuffed cat down that started to cackle kind of maniacally as they sat in the KnC, which more or less made my night.

I hate to say it, but the Kerrs did look a little bit messy after the other four performances of the group. As ever, the twizzles were a mess, but it was likely their last performance and I suppose they must keep in with that career-long tradition. The audience weren't really going with them as much as usual, either, probably because they were all spent after F/S. As well as the lift where Sinead lifts John, I love the one where she does a handstand on his one knee. They ended up very comfortably in fifth, which is their best ever result at Worlds and puts them in the gala, which is fantastic, and what a lovely way for them to go out - although I'm still secretly hoping they stay in for a couple more seasons.

As much as I love Charlie and Meryl, Pechalat/Bourzat had my absolute performance of the evening. I love those two. I hope they come up with something equally as fun and brilliant for next season, and I hope they can finally medal at Euros or Worlds next year!

Worlds 2010: Ladies' Short

Okay, I thought the Men's SP was dramatic. It was not a patch on today's events.

As ever, I missed the first seven and half groups, but I was glad to come in and see Cheltzie Lee with a nice solid Q by her name, as well as Jenna McCorkell. They are currently sitting in 15th and 17th respectively, which is great news for them both and a nice way for Jenna to come back after a disastrous couple of competitions. Having heard what happened to Sarah Meier, I'm not even sure I can bring myself to watch her performance. I feel so sorry for her, it seems like she just can't catch a break. I was also quite sad to see that Tugba Karademir didn't make the free. And Viktoria Helgesson must have had the skate of her life, because she's currently in ninth place!

Ksenia Makarova, on the other hand, was on fire, with a 3T-3T, 3F and 2A all looking lovely and solid. She is one of the few girls around right now that actually gets me excited; there is definitely just something about her. Her spins were looking much more centred today than they were in Vancouver, which is great, and she had a gorgeous Biellmann to finish. I love how light and easy her steps are. She is in 5th after the short, and given today's events, even has an opportunity to medal.

I've been interested to see Myriane Samson for a while now, but she had a disaster of a program and seemed to have no link with her music whatsoever. The whole thing was just kind of blah and boring. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and say it might have been better had she not missed the 3Lz and 3F.

Carolina got the 3F-2T and the 2A, but doubled the loop, to rapturous applause from the home audience. She looked a little wobbly in the first half of the spiral sequence and obviously her jump content is not breaking any barriers, but as Eurosport put it, 'it's not a nightmare', and she's actually currently in 4th place, so there's a big opportunity if she can hold it together tomorrow. She comes across as an absolute sweetheart in her interviews, which only makes me want her to do well.

Mao's 3A-2T, and everything else, looked easy as you like but it must have been downgraded because she was scored only eight points higher than Carolina, which is a joke. She skated wonderfully and it was just nice to see that joy back in her face. She's so light on her feet. I love the colour of her dress now; it's so much nicer than the monstrosities she was coming out in earlier in the season. She's in second and could just grab the title.

I can't wait to see the back of that fluorescent green dress of Kiira's. She fell on the 3Lz and then didn't put a combination on the end of the 3L, which was clean, and had a fall out on the 2A, so she's currently way down in 16th, just one spot ahead of McCorkell. Shame, because she is definitely a top ten girl.

Miki was the first of the uber-bombs; down on the lutz and no combo, as well as a tilt on the axel, and she's left in eleventh place after the short. Honestly, the woman bores me.

Laura Lepisto definitely does not bore me. I could watch her skate for about three hours solid, and there are not many girls I can say that about. She also is absolutely beautiful and even has pretty jumpface. She landed the 3T-3T and the 3L beautifully and then had a step out/hand down on the 2A, which is just a silly mistake, but it didn't make too much of a difference because she is gorgeous to watch and gets fantastic PCS. I love her music. She's currently in bronze medal position, so good for her!

I had my fingers crossed for Elene G but it looks like she peaked at Euros. I love her spirals though, it is amazing how she lets go of her boot and her foot just stays exactly where it is. I also love the entry into the 2A. She's in 12th, so not too bad, but still disappointing for her.

Mirai was the absolute star of the afternoon. She was absolutely on. I like her more and more everytime I see her, and I love her dress and I love her Ina Bauer into the 2A and her adorable little smile. I also love Frank Carroll more than life itself. These two were cute in the KnC, it took them forever to realise that she had gone into first place. She absolutely has a chance to take the title tomorrow and I hope she does, because she is all kinds of fabulous.

Queen Yu-Na was the absolute shock of the afternoon. After she skated and got her results, this kind of shocked silence just descended. It was crazy. She started off beautifully with a 3Lz-3T, then UR on the 3F, and it was all downhill from there, with a missed entry to the layback and a missed spiral, which, I think, meant that the whole sequence didn't count. I thought there had to be a problem with her boot, and she did keep touching her lace, but Brian Orser interviewed that there was no problem with her equipment, just that she is 'fussy' about how tight her laces are, and that she just lost her focus. She is left in seventh place and out of the final flight, which I seriously never thought I'd see.

Suzuki followed things up with an epic bomb of her down, and although she did a good job of keeping the energy up in the steps, she looked absolutely devastated in the KnC and struggled to hold it together. Poor girl. She's now in 20th place, below the likes of Cheltzie Lee and Sarah Hecken, which is crazy considering she was a potential medal contender. It's weird, I've never liked her too much but the second she did so badly I found myself wishing she'd aced it. She won't even make the 'A Final', and will skate in group 1, before the ISU's stupid forty minute break.

Rachael had one hell of an opportunity here and to my eyes, she skated great, aside from the fact that she did 3F-2T instead of a 3-3, but the judges didn't agree, and evidently downgraded something. I really love the hand and arm movements she has to her spiral sequence, especially the part where she puts one hand to her ear, and I love her steps and her ending position. That program just makes me happy. She's currently in sixth so still has the chance to match or better her 5th place from last year.

Sebestyen gets the luckiest skate-order draws I have ever known. She is just quite dull but more or less clean, so good for her. She surely must be retiring after this season.

Alena Leonova's had her hair cut. I'm not sure if I like it. She had such a good start to the season and she used to be so consistent, but not any more; she was just kind of a mess. That chicken dance in her spiral sequence gets me every time. Who on earth thought it was a good idea? Anyway, she is sure to all but disappear when the new crop of Russian juniors come up, not to mention Makarova, and she's buried way down in 14th right now.

Really, it's all to play for tomorrow. I have to assume that Yu-Na will come back just as her normal self and if she does, she can still take the title with her eyes closed, but if she doesn't, the title looks to be a battle between Mao and Mirai. Then we've got Lepisto, Kostner and Makarova who'll all be fighting hard for a medal, maybe even Flatt...I can't wait. The final group will be Kostner, Asada, Flatt, Lepisto, Nagasu and Makarova, in that order, so things should definitely be exciting. Julia Sebestyen managed to get a great draw once again and will skate at the end of the penultimate group; Yu-Na will skate fifteenth, just before Viktoria Helgesson, which strikes me as mildly hilarious.

It's the dance final tonight, and this morning, Khokhlova/Novitsky withdrew. This is good news for the Kerrs, who look more or less sure to hold onto fifth place as long as they keep it together tonight, but I am beyond sad that we won't get to see K/N's Firebird again, because I love that program.

Worlds 2010: Men's Free

Apparently I am destined never to see Ryan in a Worlds competition because I had to go out for all of group 1 and half of group 2. From what I hear though he did pretty well other than a fall on the quad, so good on him. I also missed Kevin Reynolds, who sounds like he had a great skate, so I definitely need to catch those on youtube. Got back in time to see the end of Amodio, who looked a tiny bit messy, but I love his music and his outfit and his program so I will forgive him.

Viktor Pfeifer looked a little off today; he doubled what was presumably an attempt at a quad, and had several step outs. When he lands jumps, he lands them beautifully, and he has nice posture, but he didn't do that much for me tonight. Always nice to see Priscilla Hill in the KnC though. He ended up in 20th.

Kovalevski was wearing a strangely fitting suit. Not a meltdown by any means, couple of off landings and a singled something, but nice attack and some nice moments in footwork. He finished a little after the music. The whole program was kind of hilariously OTT, like the skating version of a Mills and Boone novel.

Pirate Fernandez! He also had a couple of mis-steps on landings, but other than that, great program. Both of those step sequences are seriously inspired. Kept his lead over Amodio and ended up eleventh, which is pretty damn good. I will miss those drunken steps.

Denis Ten had a rough time of it, but seriously, he has my respect for even being able to stand up after the packed season he's had. Slots in behind Fernandez and ended up out a long way out of the top ten in thirteenth. Hopefully he'll take some time to get some rest and come back strong next year.

Voronov also didn't have the skate of his life, but once again, respectable effort given the circumstances. Landed quad but popped and fell on both 3As, which meant that he missed out on the top ten, so only one spot for Russia next year.

I love Contesti's spin where he moves his hands up and down. This is actually one of my favourite frees this season, and it really got the crowd going here, as can be expected in front of a home crowd. He missed first combination though and was messy as ever, but I do find him charming with it. He is a real fighter; I have no idea how he pulled out a 3A-3T after a hand down on the 3A. I love the steps, but I wish he'd get a little more speed. He had a bad fall on the end of a three jump combo, which was a real shame. It always surprises me when he speaks French in the KnC. Eurosport interviewed him and he does seem lovely.

Oh, Adam. Such a pretty program and such a pretty guy. I love the twinkly bit of music right before the combination spin, and the majority of his jumps were just gorgeous. The Eurosport commentators surprised about the step out on the 3A; they've clearly never seen him skate before. His second attempt was perfect though. I absolutely am in love with his 'tano lutz and his Rippon lutz, and oh, the entry into that is stunning. His steps are so lovely and light. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I love that the spin at the end goes so perfectly with the music. We didn't get to see his KnC properly because they were interviewing Contesti, but he looked happy in the split screen they gave us.

Schultheiss was seriously hitting tonight! 4T-3A combination to start. I seriously live for the evil laugh preceding the hilarious music change, and the scream at the end too. He did seem to be skating a little small though. Gorgeous 3A. This was one hell of a penultimate group, especially when you look at how depleted the field supposedly was. He had just a couple of messy landings and finished in ninth, so Sweden get their two spots back!

Have to say, my performance of the night goes to KVDP. I'd literally just commented that I hope he retires after this season, as I fear for his health, when he started his program with one hell of a 4-3-3, and he was skating to the Disneyworld IllumiNations soundtrack, which is my favourite music ever. Unfortunately I got so excited by this music that I didn't really take the jump in, but I rewound it afterwards to fully appreciate it. As ever, he looked near-death at the end, but wow, he really pulled it out tonight. His face at the end was absolutely priceless, and I actually started involuntarily clapping him. What a way for him to go out.

Jeremy looked back to his Vancouver-self with a fall on the quad and then a fall on the 2A, of all things, but actually, the program wasn't all that bad. He used to be an 'all or nothing' kind of skater but lately he has just seemed kind of so-so. Still, maybe the fact that he doesn't bomb entire programs anymore is a sign that his mindset is improving. Maybe. He had a hell of a travel on first part of combination spin; Not great, but we'll take it. He ended up fifth, which is a heck of a jump given his 11th place finishes the last two years and also his Olympic performances, and which also meant that the USA kept their three spots. He said in interview that he is proud of himself for keeping with the program and not popping anything, which is a very good point.

Kozuka is just a dream to watch. Fall on the quad. Popped axel. Pressure too much, maybe? 3lz-2T-2L but apparently 2L is UR. Honestly though I think I prefer to watch him than Jeremy, except on those occasions where Jeremy is really, really on. Lots of lovely spreadeagles. Hell of a wonky 2A that was practically horizontal. Nice 3F and then nice 3L though. Nice LTz. Some gorgeous moments in there. Liked his stuffed toys in the KnC but drop, drop, dropping. Tenth place at best.

I concentrated all my energies on sending good vibes to my boy Joubert. 4T-2T to begin, nice and easy, and he just hung onto the second, although looking at his marks, were they downgraded? We were spoilt in the Olys by instant protocols. He seemed to be struggling to keep it together a little and there were some messy landings in there, but well done to him. You can tell he's been working on his transitions, and I do like his step sequences, even if they are all the same in all his programs ever. Not quite the spectacle of yesterday but he should be proud of that after Vancouver. He had the most adorable enormous stuffed dog in the KnC and looked happy at least, as he should; bronze medal for Joubidoo! He confirmed in interview that he will be coming back next year. I love listening to Brian talk. He looked delighted on the podium, which was lovely to see.

Messy start for Patrick Chan. When he's not being all beautiful like yesterday I can go back to disliking him immensely. Nice footwork though. I had a horrible feeling he was going to get gold until he went down, at which point I thought it was fairly likely that Brezina would end up at the top of the podium.


Obviously, he didn't, but I do love Brezina and his wonderful American in Paris. That sparkly peach vest is hilarious. His jumps are absolutely stunning; they look like they require zero effort. I feel like he could do with a little more expression, some more complex choreography and more speed on his spins, but really, he is lovely to watch.

He finished in fourth, third on the free, and looked delighted, as he should be. His coach's glasses never fail to make me laugh. The crowd heartily booed his scores and he told them all to calm down. What a debut!

After Chan's messy skate, I was really hoping that Daisuke Takahashi would bring it, and wow, he definitely did! Quad flip, which nobody has ever done before, and it was UR and double footed but it hardly seemed to matter. I love the music to his step sequence, and the tightrope moment; it is just fantastic choreography. Daisuke Takahashi, new world champion, and what a way to do it!

Worlds 2010: Original Dance

I really only got to see the last two groups of the OD today. I did start to watch the first group, but I kept getting to about the forty second mark and being extremely bored. I guess there are only so many mid-level European folk dances a person can reasonably watch. It was nice to see Chitwood and Hanretty pull up, but I prefer Coomes/Buckland who are just adorable and I miss their Riverdance already. Chitwood does have lovely long legs and nice extension though. I really wanted to see Navarro/Bommentre but Eurosport took a random break to show the Biathlon world championships and so I will have to catch them on youtube or something.

I did watch O'Brien/Merriman, of Australia, just because I was interested to see how much their aboriginal dance differed from DomShabs and the answer is, quite a lot. It was quite enjoyable really, and I'd not seen it before, which is a rare thing at this point in the season. These two were actually supposed to be at Nebelhorn but one of them, I think Gregory Merriman, had an injury and had to go into hospital right before it. I always support Australian skaters merely on principle and since I know nothing technically of dance I just liked watching them.

I will never object to seeing John Kerr in a kilt. He is lovely. Nice to see them get those twizzles clean, even if they looked a little laboured. Love their footwork sequence and the lift at the end. Nice to see them looking so comfortable and confident in their program. I just love these two. Also loved John struggling to find a modest way to sit in the KnC! Khokhlova/Novitsky dropped spectacularly so these two stand a good chance of holding onto fifth place. I will die if the Zaretskys overtake them tomorrow, but that shouldn't happen. I actually can't believe that, of all the 'bronze contenders', it was only the Kerrs, of all teams, to have clean twizzles!

Crone/Poirier were nice and sharp. I liked their outfits and I loved the flower in her hair. Like how excited they seemed in the KnC. She looks about ten years older than him.

I seriously never get bored of Meryl and Charlie's OD. I will definitely miss that this year; I am hoping they will bring it back as an exhibition next year. I just love the beginning. I love Charlie's little dance moves, but usually the camera focuses on Meryl's expression instead, so I was glad they didn't here. Their twizzles are just amazing, they're so fast. I also live for Meryl's little-girl voice that so doesn't go with the way she always looks so sophisticated.

Faiella/Scali had a mistake on the twizzles but weirdly, I actually liked it more this time than I have ever before. I definitely don't think they deserved such high scores though. I would have had the Kerrs above them on the day.

My girl Nathalie Pechalat, and Fabian Bourzat. I forgot to say after the CD, I live for that white bobbly jacket that she always wears in the KnC. She had even more bounce than usual today; these two are seriously the most fun team around right now. I cannot wait to see their circus FD tomorrow! He messed up the twizzles. Still, I never begrudge these two their placement. Loved her patting Fabian on the head in the KnC. Still, at this point it is going to take little short of a miracle to sent these two to the podium.

Virtue/Moir didn't seem to have quite the same sparkle as in Vancouver but we can forgive them that. I love that program. I'm glad that Tessa finally has a flattering length of skirt and I love the way she uses it. I love the clapping in the second step sequence. It doesn't quite excite me as much as D/W's OD does, but Tessa's fierce facial expression is great.

I really like Samuelson/Bates' program. It's really fun. They dropped a place, which is a shame. I really do think Emily Samuelson is a rockstar and I love their music.

Khokhlova/Novitsky had new costumes and were just generally looking a little slow and messy; he fell off the twizzles and then they just kind of lost it in the footwork. She looked sad in the KnC though. I felt sorry for them, dropping so much. Hopefully they can get it back together with their Firebird tomorrow, which is one of my favourite programs, but not enough to sneak back into fifth.

I somehow missed out seeing Cappellini/Lanotte's OD at the Olympics so this seemed extra fresh. Nobody was on the twizzles at all today and then a horribly messy lift kept them from moving up any. These two just seem to always be on the cusp of fabulousness, but I still think it's criminal to have them behind the Zaretskys, who are the most boring team ever to hit the ice.

I actually find the Zaretskys so boring that I didn't even watch them. Looked like he messed up his twizzles a little though. What is it with the guys and their twizzles today?

Worlds 2010: Pairs Free

Well, the pairs event just wrapped up, so it's officially the beginning of the end of the 2009/2010 season. There were some great performances tonight; not too many clean performances, but some great ones nonetheless.

The Swiss, Morand/Dorsaz, started things off. I do love their costumes, I will definitely miss those next season. Anais has lovely extension and she is a real little fighter out there, love her. Everything went kind of wrong for Antoine on the SBS 2As and their pairs spin at the end kind of ground to a halt, but it wasn't bad for them at all. They finished in 13th.

I always have such high hopes for Kemp/King and they never really deliver. She fell on her 2F, and they just looked slow and sluggish and boring out there tonight. Shame. Apparently they just got engaged, though, so congratulations to them. Hausch/Wende were much faster but had a lot of mistakes. I think she was injured not long ago, though, which could account for it. They share Brezina's coach with the hilarious glasses. Sulej/Chruscinski were clean but dull. I seem to remember them having an awful skate in Vancouver, so it was nice to see them doing well, at least.

The gap between the first group and the rest of the groups is really pointless and really stupid, I hope they get rid of it again. If they did Worlds anything like they did Euros, it can't be saving them any money at all, because they put on 'shows' for the audience in the gap. It also means that the first group gets a really sparse audience, which seems completely unfair. However, on this occasion it meant that we got to see the top six men again (courtesy of Eurosport), so it wasn't all bad.

Evora/Ladwig didn't exactly melt down but it wasn't great, with a stepout by him and then a fall and a missed sequence in the 2As on her part. They just didn't have that same sparkle they had in the short or at the Olympics, which is a shame. Lovely throw 3L though, and they ended up ninth, which is actually pretty great.

I feel like I have seen James/Bonheur's FP a billion times this season and tonight they were just not 'on. He had a hand down on the 3S at the beginning and then a huge 3twist with a terrifying landing. I do love their music, though. It was just a little messy all round, really, which is a shame for the end of the season. The lift right at the end was downright scary, I was convinced he was about to drop her.

Finally got a chance to see Berton/Hotarek but they didn't start off well, with a fall from Stefania on the 3T. Other than that, they were pretty good, with nice throw jumps towards the end of the program; there's definitely potential there. I also always tend to like girls that skate with ponytails, and I loved their outfits.

Langlois/Hay did not have a good skate. Actually, Anabelle Langlois did not have a skate; Cody was just fine. She did not look on it at all, fighting on every landing and then down on what would have been 3T combination. Shame, because it's a pretty program and I like these two.

I don't like Bazarova/Larionov's outfits. They look like they are borrowed from the German pair and I think she should wear a pretty pink ballerina dress like she does in the short. Messy sbs jumps, but their triple twist is just beautiful and their lifts are gorgeous. Nice throw jumps, too. It's amazing to think that these are the third-ranked Russians.

I think the Zhangs bore me more than any other team right now. They were very out of unison on the sbs, which Eurosport promptly declared the 'perfect way to start a program'. Er, okay. Nice 3twist though. Have they changed their costumes since the Olympics?

I like the simplicity of Dubé/Davison's costumes, especially his. They were looking more on form than they have been doing lately. Apparently they're keeping this program for next season, but I just find it kind of boring. They're very pretty together, though, and they pulled up nicely to 6th place. Nice to see Jess land that 3S for once.

Denney/Barrett messed up SBS 3Ts, he fell and she doubled, but were pretty clean on everything else. I just find them kind of messy and frantic. It works better in their Firebird SP than here. They scored under the baby Russians on the free but stayed just ahead overall, leaving them in seventh place. I also think that Caydee needs to fix her makeup and hair because she is 16 and she looks about 25 most of the time.

Eurosport showed an interview with Brian and his coach in the ice resurface and aw, they are both so cute. Brian says he is not bothered about winning, just about having fun and being relaxed, which seems a much better mindset than usual.

Tamara Moskvina really is hilariously tiny. She barely reaches over the boards. I had everything crossed for Yuko & Sasha, but she had a big fall on that throw 4S. Incredible unison on their SBS spins, they almost looked mechanical it was that good. They basically threw away their chance of gold with another fall on the throw 3L, and the program didn't seem to capture the same magic that it did in Tallinn, but it was enough to give them the bronze medal and even better, her shoulder didn't dislocate once in the whole competition. Which is always a bonus.

Mukhortova/Trankov have probably my favourite outfits of anyone. I just love the fabric of Max's shirt. She missed second half of the combination and then, bizarrely, he fell on the throw 3S, which I'd never seen happen before. I do love their program, I will miss it next year and I will also miss them and their sulky ways; I kind of live for how miserable both of these two are all the freaking time. It makes me want them to win.

Savchenko/Szolkowy didn't get off to a fantastic start, with Aliona popping the 3T, but they got it on the second time around. Robin has lovely extension for a man. Now this would be a program I wouldn't mind seeing again next season. It is absolutely stunning. Aside from that one mistake at the beginning, they were absolutely foot perfect, performed the best I've seen it all season, and I think they were seriously robbed of first place in the free.

Pang/Tong's Impossible Dream was nowhere near perfect; she doubled the 3T and they were really out of time on the combination spin. I'd have had them second to S/S on the night, but the judges didn't agree. Well done to them winning the gold, but aside from that one performance in Vancouver, they really do nothing for me.

Eurosport did an interview with Ingo Steuer at the end and he says he thinks S/S will keep going, so that's good news at least. Hopefully next season will be better for them than this has been!