Warm-up Group 1
Klara Bramfeldt (SWE) - 3flutz2toe, flutz was half a turn underrotated, flying camel to layover; 3salchow landed at a standstill; layback; circular steps; 2axel hard fall; serpentine spirals with change edge and slide spirals; combo spin. 3.3 to 3.8, 4.2 to 4.3. Music was Summertime and It Ain't Necessarily So.
Anna Wenzel (AUT) - 3loop2toe stepped out; 3toe just held; into flying camel; spiral into 1axel; layback; serpentine spirals, great position, almost a 180 degree split; straight steps; great combination spin, fast and good positions. 3.2 to 4.1, 4.0 to 4.6, first on a 5-4 split, she looks very happy with her marks.
Anja Bratec (SLO) - 3salchow fell; steps into 3toe; 2axel; circular spirals; flying sit, had some trouble on landing and had to put the free foot down; straight steps; layback; into combo spin with back part first. The music was described as Blues by Elvis Presley, which turned out to be an instrumental version of Heartbreak Hotel...3.1 to 4.3, 3.9 to 4.6, third except for one first.
Darya Zuravicky (ISR) - 2loop hard fall; steps into 2toe; flying camel; serpentine spirals; 2axel; layback; circular steps; combination spin with great catchfoot layback position to end. I was pretty impressed, actually, she has a nice style. 2.9 to 3.8, 4.1 to 4.6, first to fourth, into fourth place.
Olga Vassilieva (EST) - 3toe fall; 3loop half a turn underrotated; flying camel; serpentine spirals; straight steps, not a lot of content; 2axel fall; layback; combo spin. 2.6 to 3.4, 3.8 to 4.3, fifth.
Group 2
Zuzana Babiakova-Paurova (SVK) - Soundtrack of White Blue Rose. 3lutz2toe, lutz two-footed; 3loop, bit of a pause after the steps; into flying camel; circular steps; 2axel, just, she doesn't step up into it; layback spin, not a good position; serpentine spirals; combo spin. She looks delighted at the end - yay for Slovakia, another great performance! 4.1 to 4.8, 4.5 to 4.9, first across the board.
Lenka Seniglova (CZE) - Love Story, nooo...Flying camel; really nice spirals, hardly any pushes between them; 3toe2toe; 2axel put the free foot down immediately and stumbled out; layback; straight steps, not many steps and easy turns; 3loop fall; combo spin. She wore a lemon baby doll dress, and all that flying chiffon was very distracting. 3.5 to 3.9, 4.3 to 4.8, second place, three judges had her in fourth.
Julia Vorobieva (AZE) - Murder at the Cotton Club. 3flip landed forwards on two feet turns 2toe, there was a long, nervous-looking approach; 3toe fall; flying camel didn't fly; circular steps; 2axel; layback; serpentine spirals; very good combination spin, fast and long. 3.0 to 3.8, 3.9 to 4.7, third to seventh, into fourth place.
Hristina Vassileva (BUL) - 3flutz fall, a very ugly flutz with a high picking leg; 3flip; flying camel; circular spirals, held the first one for a very long time; 2axel, a little bit of a struggle on landing; combo spin rather slow; circular steps, Joanne says the circle is very small, I thought the circle on the spirals was small as well; layback, not a good position. 3.4 to 4.2, 3.8 to 4.6, second to fourth, second on the short, third overall.
Roxana Luca (ROM) - Ballad for Two Strangers. 3loop step out 2toe; 3toe step out; into flying camel; straight steps; 2axel step out; combo spin; serpentine spirals; layback, another one with an unimpressive position. 2.6 to 3.8, 3.9 to 4.5, fourth to tenth, eighth on the short, seventh overall.
Karen Venhuizen (NED) - Violin Fantasie on Puccinni's Turandot. Steps into 3loop; 3toe2toe; circular steps; into flying camel; 2axel hopped out, very swingy entry; combo spin; serpentine spirals; layback. 3.9 to 4.5, 4.3 to 4.8, second, one judge had her first.
Group 3
Vanessa Giunchi (ITA) - 3flip landed forward on two feet; 3salchow2toe; flying camel, fast and with cool variations of position; circular spirals; into 2axel, nice; combo spin, good positions. 4.1 to 4.7, 4.8 to 5.1, first to third, into first place. I think the music was Swan Lake, cool black and white outfit with black tights.
Alisa Drei (FIN) - 2lutz, looked very slow and tentative on the approach; 3flip; layback; 2axel fall; serpentine spirals; combo spin rather slow; circular steps; flying camel. She left the K&C before her marks came up. 3.1 to 3.8, missed the second set of marks as I was distracted by watching Stadlmüller stroking round the ice...
Susanne Stadlmüller (GER) - 3lutz2toe; layback; 1flip, takeoff was just all wrong; serpentine spirals; flying camel; 2axel; circular steps; combination spin. Lots of gushing from Chris and Joanne, wheee! I cannot tell you how much I love her skating, I think she's wonderful. 4.3 to 4.6, 4.7 to 5.2, first but only on a 6-3 split, hmph...
Tamara Dorofejev (HUN) - Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. 3lutz fall; 3flip fall; spin combo; serpentine spirals; axel ended up as a waltz jump with a step out; flying camel; circular steps; layback, lovely position. Her spins looked slower than usual. 3.0 to 3.9, 4.6 to 5.4 (! Went with a 3.3), fifth to fourteenth, eighth on the short, sixth overall.
Idora Hegel (CRO) - Something by Vanessa-Mae, I missed the name of it, the same programme as she had last year. 3lutz2toe, lutz underrotated and two-footed; 3flip spun/stepped out; layback; combo spin; serpentine spirals rather sluggish; spreadeagle into 2axel; flying camel; circular steps. She gets very little height on her jumps.They're talking about how she didn't interpret the music - the odd thing is, when she skated this last year, she did...3.3 to 4.0, 3.9 to 4.7, oops, missed the ordinals again...
Zoe Jones (GBR) - Music is Heart Still Beating, cue the bad jokes... 3flip fall; serpentine spirals; steps into 3lutz fall, underrotated; flying camel; 2axel; layback; circular steps; combo spin a little slow. Waaah...3.6 to 4.4, 4.6 to 5.0, third to ninth, fifth on the short, into third place.
Group 4
Viktoria Volchkova (RUS) - Desert. 3lutz2toe; 3lip; layback doesn't actually seem to lay back; serpentine spirals; 2axel; circular steps; combo spin. 5.2 to 5.5, 5.3 to 5.6, of course she takes the lead.
Silvia Fontana (ITA) - Flamenco. 3flutz2toe flutz was half a turn underrotated, landed at a standstill; 3toe; butterfly into back sit, some travel on landing; serpentine spirals; 2axel; layback; circular steps; combo spin. She's in tears at the end. 4.7 to 5.1, 4.9 to 5.3, second, three judges have her third, wheee!
Vanessa Gusmeroli (FRA) - Er, interesting use of flesh fabric, stripes of it making up half the dress...3lutz2toe; circular spirals; 3flip, just; layback; 2axel, I still find the way she throws herself into the axel so scary; combo spin, great positions but a little slow, did the back part first; straight steps; flying camel, good position and really fast. 5.0 to 5.5, 5.4 to 5.6, second on a 5-4 split - four judges had her first...
Galina Maniachenko (UKR) - Schindlers' List. 3lutz2toe from a mohawk entry, a bit of a struggle; 3flip; flying camel; circular spirals; 2axel spun out; layback; one-foot step sequence; combo spin. 4.9 to 5.2, 5.2 to 5.5, third across the board, she doesn't look particularly happy.
Julia Sebestyen (HUN) - Culture. 2axel, fab; 2lutz; circular steps; 3flip; into flying camel; into layback; serpentine spirals; wonderful combination spin, I just love that transition from the donut gradually up into the Biellmann. 4.3 to 4.7, 4.9 to 5.2, fifth to seventh, fifth on the short, fourth overall. Hmm, I definitely would've had her ahead of Fontana...
Elina Kettunen (FIND) - Soundtrack of The Gods Must Be Crazy. 3lutz2toe; 3loop; flying camel; 1axel; layback, interesting position; circular spirals; straight steps; combo spin looked a bit of a struggle. 4.3 to 5.0, 4.9 to 5.3, fourth to seventh, fifth on the short, fourth overall.
Group 5
Sarah Meier (SUI) - Something or other by Vanessa-Mae...3lutz2toe; 3flip; into layback, beautiful; serpentine spirals, good; 2axel; flying camel; straight steps; combo spin. I can't figure out why I find her so boring when she's skating so well...5.2 to 5.4, 5.2 to 5.5, first to fourth, third on the short, second overall, and she looks delighted.
Sabina Wojtala (POL) - Tango from Cirque du Soleil. 3lutz fall 2toe; layback, fast; 3loop fall; circular spirals; straight steps; death drop; 2axel; combo spin, a fair bit of travel. 3.9 to 4.3, 4.8 to 5.1, eighth to thirteenth, eleventh on the short, eighth overall.
Maria Butyrskaya (RUS) - 3lutz2toe, a bit of struggle on the landing of the lutz, leaning forward; big splat on the 3flip; combo spin; 2axel, another dodgy landing; flying camel; straight steps, good; serpentine spirals; layback. 4.9 to 5.3, 5.6 to 5.8, first to fourth, second on the short, first overall, lots of whistles from the crowd. Hmm, I agree with the crowd - it wasn't like it was a good performance with one fall, she was really off all round...
Irina Slutskaya (RUS) - Culture. 3lutz2toe, landed at a standstill; 2axel, lovely; 3flip; fabulous layback, great position and so fast; great straight steps, nearly all on one foot; flying camel; spirals, ooh, Joanne says how good the stretch is, cool; combo spin wonderful. 5.7 to 5.9, 5.7 to 5.9, first.
Julia Soldatova (BLR) - 3lutz2toe; 3flip, a long wait after the steps; into flying camel; some horrible Spanish guitar music; 2axel; serpentine spirals; layback; circular steps; combo spin. She gets very little height on the jumps, none of them seemed quite rotated, and her skating's as scrappy as ever...Much as I dislike this kind of music, it does suit her style a lot better than the softer classical stuff she has used in the past. 4.7 to 5.5, 5.2 to 5.6, third to eighth, seventh on the short, sixth overall, she doesn't look overly happy...
Elena Liashenko (UKR) - Violin Concerto by Philip Glass. She has a spider's web on the back of her costume, hmm...3lutz2toe; 3flip just held, a long pause after the steps; layback, nice; serpentine spirals, nearly tripped and looked a bit wobbly on all of them; 2axel; into flying camel; circular steps; combo spin. 4.9 to 5.3, 5.1 to 5.5, fifth to eighth, sixth on the short, fifth overall, she was shaking her head and looked pretty disappointed.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable afternoon. There's more depth in this field than in the men's and pairs, and the skating was much better than in either of those disciplines, I don't think anyone was really spectacular, but most of the skaters performed pretty well, and it's turning out to be a very tight competition.