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.