Warm-up Group 1
Abitbol/Bernadis (FRA) - Red outfits, Oriental music. Sbs 3toe; big 2twist; throw 3loop, she stepped out fairly early; circular spirals; lift with a takeoff similar to Meno/Sand's signature lift, change to one hand; sbs spins; BO death spiral; pair spin. A really cool programme, great choreography, and I liked the way they carried the theme into the elements, with the positions in the lift and the spins.
Totmianina/Marinin (RUS) - Sbs 3toe; throw 3loop; back press lift; sbs spins, perfect; spirals. I was distracted during this programme and didn't catch all the elements, but what I did see was gorgeous, and apparently they skated really well because the commentators thought they should've been in first. They were second.
Zagorska/Siudek (POL) - Soundtrack to Kolya. 2twist; sbs 3toe; sbs spins well together; throw 3salchow hands down; pair spin; spirals; that lift of theirs where she puts her hands between her legs and then she kind of unwinds upwards as he lifts her, change direction into hip lift; BO death spiral, she gets really low. Third from all but one judge.
Group 2
Chuvaeva/Palamarchuk (UKR) - Sbs 3toe, she doubled; 2twist a bit dodgy, he barely caught her in time; spirals; loop lift; throw 3salchow fell out; sbs spins they had a close-up of her, grr..; BO death spiral; pair spin. Fuchsia and black costumes, I think the first part of the music was Harlem Nocturne, then something faster. A nervy performance. 3.6 to 4.3, 4.5 to 4.8. Fourth, of course.
Petrova/Tikhonov (RUS) - Sbs 3toe she fell out, there was a really long wait on the entry; big 2twist; throw 3salchow perfect; loop lift with somersault dismount; sbs the change of foot wasn't together; spirals; BO death spiral; pair spin. 4.9 to 5.4, 5.3 to 5.7, into third. He walked out of the K&C before the second set of marks came up.
Kautz/Jeschke (GER) - Songs From the Victorious City. 2twist, not terribly big, but very clean; sbs 3toe she fell; back press lift, she leans back to horizontal; fall on throw 3toe, it was slightly underrotated and her feet were still crossed on landing; BO death spiral, wobbly; pair spin; spirals; sbs spins, lost unison in the final sit position. A nice programme. 3.6 to 4.1, 4.2 to 4.8. Sixth, two judges had them fifth.
Savchenko/Morozov (UKR) - Adagio from Spartacus. Sbs 3toe; 2twist, lovely; throw 3salchow, massive height; back press into one handed lift, with her almost draped backwards; sbs spins I think lost unison, but once again they zoomed in on her; serpentine spirals (I think everyone else so far has had circular spirals), really nice; BO death spiral; pair spin. I like this pair a lot, and this was a really gorgeous programme. 4.5 to 5.4, lots of muttering and then whistles from the crowd, 4.7 to 5.4, fifth except for one judge who had them second, the commentators thought they should've been fourth.
Group 3
Bestandigova/Bestandig (SVK) - Odd kind of folk outfits, and of course she has the *really* red hair...Sbs 3toe he stepped out; 2twist; throw 2axel; sbs spins good; front press change to hip lift; serpentine spirals; BO death spiral; pair spin, a little slow. A huge roar from the crowd! They looked so happy and comfortable out there, they never looked nervous, just excited. Yay! Modern music but with a definite folk feel, and a really cool programme. 3.4 to 4.4, some whistles, 4.1 to 4.9, sixth.
Lefrancois/Blanchard (FRA) - The Summer Knows. Sbs 3toe, a long entry; a trip from him on nothing in particular; 2twist; throw 3salchow; BO death spiral; lift started off as a loop lift, then she leaned back to horizontal; spirals, really nice; sbs spins. They're a nice pair, but I couldn't get as excited about them as the commentators did...4.8 to 5.3, 4.8 to 5.3. Fifth, mixed ordinals with a a fourth and some sixths.
Rodionova/Kroukov (AZE) - Time to Say Goodbye. Sbs 3toe he fell, she stumbled out; throw 3salchow she fell out, a long wait before takeoff and she was leaning in the air; sbs spins yet again we only got to see her; 2twist; lift with similar takeoff to A/B's, change to one-hand lasso position; spirals; BO death spiral; pair spin with Natalia position to end, nice. She was on her own in the K&C. 3.4 to 4.3, 4.3 to 5.0.
Krutska/Sedlmajer (CZE) - 2twist really messy; sbs 3salchow he fell, she fell out, they were miles apart; sbs spins OK, pretty fast; throw 3sal; another lift with that same takeoff as A/B and change to one hand, twisted dismount; pair spin; serpentine spirals; BO death spiral she fell. Black and dull gold costumes, dramatic synthesiser music that was probably from a soundtrack. 2.5 to 3.7, 3.8 to 4.6.
Group 4
Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze (RUS) - Sbs 3toe from turns, perfect; 2twist, great; throw 3loop, really nasty fall, she belly-flopped onto the ice and slid into the boards; serpentine spirals; sbs spins, apparently the timing was off but once again we weren't allowed to see; loop lift with cool twisty dismount; BO death spiral; pair spin, good. Deep red costumes. 5.2 to 5.5, 5.6 to 5.9, first on a 5-4 split, some whistles.
Shklover/Mintals (EST) - Fiddler on the Roof. 2twist; sbs 3toe, she fell; throw 3salchow two-footed; sbs spins; loop lift with somersault dismount; circular spirals; BO death spiral, she doesn't get very low; pair spin, fast. 3.7 to 4.5, 4.2 to 5.0, into tenth with ordinals from eighth to twelfth.
Krasiltseva/Znachkov (ARM) - Throw 3salchow hand down; 2twist; sbs 3toe he fell out, she doubled; sbs spins really off; loop lift into some variation; BO death spiral; pair spin. I recognised the music, some kind of Russian folk or similar, but couldn't place it. 3.3 to 3.9, 3.9 to 4.6, thirteenth.
Durin/Maximov (YUG) - Also Sprach Zarathustra, black and white costumes. 1twist; sbs 2flip, nice; loop lift; throw 2salchow; serpentine spirals; sbs spins with a scary entry for her; BO death spiral; pair spin. 2.8 to 3.8, 3.0 to 4.0. Last from every judge...
There were a few really enjoyable performances tonight, but overall this was a really weak competition, and such a small field, too...