Warm-up Group 1
We saw them introducing the judges at the beginning - they were announcing each of them as "ISU", which seemed rather pointless, and it quickly became irritating hearing it announced over and over with precisely the same intonation each time...
Krasiltsev/Znachkov (ARM) - "Lucky Star of the Exiled", a Russian film soundtrack. 2twist; sbs 3toe he stepped out, she doubled; press lift into star position; throw 2salchow; BI death spiral; throw 2loop nasty fall; lasso lift; sbs 1axel into 1toe not together into double something she fell; sbs flying camels, timing way off; sbs 2flip she singled, and not together; circular spirals, they're just crawling across the ice now; pair spin, stumbled; loop lift hardly seemed to travel across the ice at all. Chris is reading out the judges' nationalities, wheee! 3.7 to 3.8, 3.7 to 3.9.
Krutska/Sedlmajer (CZE) - Spartacus. Sbs flying camel, not together until the last few revolutions; sbs 3salchow messy, both stumbled; throw 3salchow, nice; one-handed lasso lift with twisted dismount; throw 2loop stepped out; 2twist, low; sbs 2flip into 2loop she fell; pair spin; and now the music is the Rachmaninov that Chen used in '96; circular spirals; star lift didn't stay up long; pair spin; back press lift; now the music is some ballet music I recognise, I think it's Sleeping Beauty; straight steps 2toe she singled; FI death spiral. 4.0 to 4.3, 4.0 to 4.4, into the lead.
Durin/Maximov (YUG) - Cool costumes, black and shiny silver. Phantom on Ice (Slutskaya's '97 free music). Sbs 2axel he stepped out she singled; 2twist, low; throw 2salchow; star lift; sbs 2toe she singled into 2toe he put a hand down; back press lift, he looked like a weightlifter; FI death spiral; serpentine spirals, they look really slow; sbs flying camels didn't fly, he nearly tripped during the spin and they didn't exit together; platter lift into some upside-down variation, very scary; throw 2flip, cool!; sbs 2salchows; kind of straight steps, seemed to go diagonally and then down the centre of the ice, hmm..; pair spin, didn't finish with the music. 3.0 to 4.1, 3.3 to 4.2, all thirds apart from two seconds, a few whistles.
Group 2
Shklover/Mintals (EST) - Grease (last year's programme), the crowd were clapping along within the first few seconds. 3twist; sbs 3toe she fell, lots of turns in the entry; throw 3salchow; one-handed lasso lift with twisted dismount; flying camels, well together; one handed hip lift with twisted dismount; sbs 2salchow she fell heavily, he went into 2toe, she didn't; serpentine spirals; throw 2axel she touched down the free foot; back press carry lift; BI death spiral, nice; loop lift; pair spin, fast, had a Natalia position but she didn't get her leg very high. They looked a little tentative compared to last year, especially going into the jumps. They're announcing Cinquanta and he gets lots of applause, grr...4.4 to 4.8, 4.4 to 5.0. First place from every judge.
Kautz/Jeschke (GER) - First section of the music is apparently "Blood and Shadow". 3twist underrotated; sbs 3toe he fell, I thought he'd got it; one-handed lasso lift, strong and good position; throw 2loop; pair spin, really nice; sbs 2axel, good; spirals; throw 3toe two-footed; back press lift; FI death spiral; straight steps; front press lift looked like it was supposed to change position but they aborted it; sbs 2toe into 2loop; pair spin, again very nice; sbs flying camels perfect, lovely positions and they kept them going for longer than most. I really like this pair, they have a lovely style and a real strength to their skating. 4.3 to 4.9, 4.6 to 5.0. First on a 5-4 split, hmm, I would've had them clearly ahead...
Rodionova/Kroukov (AZE) - Bolero, the fourth Bolero I've seen this season, I don't know why everyone's using it all of a sudden...Sbs 2axel; sbs 3toe she fell; 2twist; throw 3salchow, long approach; sbs 2axels into 2loop; star lift, nice; sbs combination spins, timing a little off; throw 1axel; lift from a spiral, went to one hand; FI death spiral, very low; circular spirals; pair spin with interesting positions. 4.3 to 5.1, 4.3 to 4.9. First to third, second on the free but first overall.
Group 3
A huge roar when Bestandigova/Bestandig were announced for the warm-up, lots of air-horns, too. A close-up of a banner with scary drawings of the Bestandigs LOL
Bestandigova/Bestandig (SVK) - Soundtrack of the Fifth Element. Sbs 3toe he stumbled out, she doubled; fall on throw 3salchow; one-handed lasso lift; sbs flying camel, good; 2twist; serpentine spirals; BO death spiral, seemed to be a little bobble at the end; sbs 2axel she singled into 2toe; front press change to hip lift; throw 2axel; he fell on the pair spin; star lift; BI death spiral with her holding her foot in front of her, "I've never seen that performed before" says Joanne of the variation - hmm, they did it last year...Chris says there's been loads of media attention and they've coped with it well. Constant cheers, throughout the programme and afterwards.Very cool choreography, as ever. 4.4 to 4.9, lots of whistles, 4.7 to 5.1, and cheers again...first to fourth, into first overall.
Lefrancois/Blanchard (FRA) - "The Bolt". Sbs 3toe she had a little trouble controlling the landing; 2twist; lasso lift; throw 3salchow, a little over the toe; BO death spiral; circular spirals, really nice; platter lift straight from the spirals; throw 2axel she only just held it; sbs combination spin; pair spin, not very vast and simple positions; sbs 2axel she fell, quarter-turn underrotated; circular steps; back press lift; FI death spiral; pair sit spin. The commentators love them, I can't get quite as enthused about them, but they're certainly a very lovely pair, really smooth and elegant. 5.0 to 5.4, 5.1 to 5.5, first across the board.
Savchenko/Morozov (UKR) - Man in the Iron Mask. Sbs 3toe into sbs 3toe, both stumbled out; 3twist; straight into throw 2axel; one-handed lasso lift, not in the usual position, she has both her legs to one side; star lift; sbs flying camel; throw 3salchow two-footed, really landed on two feet, not just a touch down; sbs 2axel she had some nasty mistake on takeoff and just ended up with her leg over her head instead of jumping; pair spin; lasso lift changed to one hand at the last minute, and one-handed dismount; FI death spiral seemed to go wrong, she grabbed his leg; pair spin. They have very fast rotation on their lifts, and I think their throws are about the highest I've ever seen. They looked a little scrappy and rushed throughout the whole programme. 4.8 to 5.3, 4.6 to 5.2, first to third, into second.
Much as I like these pairs, that didn't really feel like a penultimate group, and the withdrawal of Zagorska/Siudek didn't help...It's really disappointing to have such a small, and rather weak, field.
Group 4
Petrova/Tikhonov (RUS) - Transparent white costumes, hmm...Sbs 3toe, she stepped out; 3twist, just; sbs 2axel into 2toe he two-footed; throw 3salchow, lovely; loop lift with somersault and flip back up dismount; sbs flying camels started off well but lost unison; pair spin; FI death spiral from a cool besti squat move; that star into hip carry lift that I love; throw 2axel; star lift; Oh, this second part of the music is the music Nikolaeva/Lebedev used for their SP, I *love* it! In fact I love all of the music in this programme, the "Mr. Designer"/"Mr. Bureaucrat" stuff. I know I'm the only person in the world who doesn't hate it, but there we go...5.4 to 5.7, 5.5 to 5.7. It goes without saying that they take the lead...
Totmianina/Marinin (RUS) - West Side Story. Sbs 3salchow; 3twist; throw 3loop, perfect; sbs 3toe2toe; one-handed lift; one-handed lasso lift with one-handed dismount; throw 3salchow; FI death spiral; sbs flying camels into attitude spins, perfect; start lift into upside down split position, but I'm sure that second position is illegal, he has his hands on her legs; straight steps; circular spirals; pair spin. Wow! I've never liked them before, but they've skated so well here, I finally understand what everyone sees in them. Their jumps were amazing tonight...5.6 to 5.8, 5.7 to 5.9, first, of course.
Abitbol/Bernadis (FRA) - Tristan and Isolde. Lilac dress for her, didn't she have an orange one before? Sbs 3toe; 2axel he had a little trouble on landing into 2toe; throw 2axel, huge; 3twist, some problem on landing, he seemed to catch her a little late; star lift with the between the legs entry; FI death spiral; pair spin; throw 3loop hand down; that upside-down one-hand carry lift; lasso lift he missed his footing and had to put her down early; sbs flying camel into sit, not many revolutions; besti death spiral (another thing that only I like, it seems...). 5.5 to 5.8, a few boos and whistles, 5.6 to 5.8, seconds except for a first and a third - the first must surely be from the French judge...Oh, we seem to have lost the commentary, cool!
Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze (RUS) - Sbs 3toe; Waah, the commentary's back, not fair..; sbs 2axel she fell out; 3twist he seemed to catch her as she landed rather than before; throw 3salchow; flying camel into sit, perfect and gorgeous; crowd clapping along; flip-up press lift; throw 3loop; lasso lift didn't change to one hand, looked ever so slightly wobbly, not scarily so; FI death spiral with him changing to camel spin; into pair spin; carry lift. I really love this programme, it's great to see something a little different from them. 5.7 to 5.9, 5.9s and one 6.0.
I think this competition has redeemed itself, not enough depth, but great skating from some of the pairs who actually made it here and lasted the competition, especially in the final group.