"Welcome to viewers of British Eurosport, I hope Nicky Slater has enlightened you with his comments - anything's possible." - Simon Reed. (The thing I like I about this is he said it as if he meant it, rather than as if he was joking...)
Lots of schoolchildren in the crowd on a free trip.
Warm-up group 1.
Vakhtang Murvanidze(GEO) - 3axel fall (underrotated); 2 flip; 3 lutz; flying camel; massive triple axel (height) barely held; another spin that I missed; 3loop; 3salchow; 3toe; combination spin; fell on 3flip (two-footed then fell); death drop. Didn't leave his marks up long enough to read!
Patrick Meier (SUI) - 3axel2toe; badly popped lutz; 3flip; sit spin; 3lutz spin-out; circular steps - nice; 2loop; flying camel; 3toe3toe - fell out of second; 3salchow fell out; deathdrop; spin combo.
Andrejs Vlascenko (GER) - 3axel2toe; fall on 4sal; popped flip; 3lz; 3ax; fell out of 3lp; layback-esque spin; 2flip; serpentine steps; 3sal; 2toe. Chris said the axels were best he'd seen him do in competition.
Chengjiang Li (CHN) - massive 4toe2toe; 3axel2toe; flying camel (didn't fly); 3lutz; sit-sit; spin combo; 3axel; 2loop; 3sal; circular footwork; deathdrop-upright spin. Crowd loved him!
Alexei Yagudin (RUS) - 2toe; 4toe!; 3axel (just); death drop; 3flip; 3axel3toe; 3loop; 3sal ("landed with his head nearly on his toe" (!)); flying sit; spin combo; spread eagle to besti squat thing; 3lutz; spin combo. I thought this was encouraging - not at his best, but crumbs, does he want this! Chris said footwork is amazing in this programme.
Group 2.
Panagiotis Markouizos (GRE) - 1axel; fall on 3sal; 2toe; flying camel; 1axel; lovely spreadeagle outside to inside; very tiny double something, I think; 1axel; spin combo; 2lutz landed fwd; fast sit to upright spin; scratch spin. Very skinny his camels are small but the line looks impressive! Greek judge gave 2.2 and 2.5, more than 1 point lower than the other judges!
Robert Kazimir (SVK) - flying camel; 3flip; horrible, hard fall on the axel; spin combo; 3lutz; 3sal; camel-camel; 3toe; fall on 3axel, glad to see him try it; 3lutz-2toe combo, some kind of a mess on the lutz landing; 2axel; sit-sit. CW.
Dmitri Dmitrenko (UKR) - 3axel spin out; 3toe; camel spin; 2lutz; 2flip; spin combo; two footed 3axel; 3salchow; 3loop; 2flip; huge deathdrop.
Stefan Lindemann (GER) - 3axel3toe; 3lutz; straight steps down centre of ice; sit-sit; 3axel; 3loop just held; spin combo; 3flip; 3toe; 3salchow just held; deathdrop; flying camel. The jumps were either perfect or very off-axis, leaning in the air and only just landed. Third, some judges gave second. I would've!
Angelo Dolfini (ITA) - 2axel; sprawling fall on 3toe; fall on 3flip, lots of turns into it; sit spin (flying(?)) fast; 3sal; spin combo; besti squat into some kind of messed up loop 2or3?; spin combo; 3toe and another toe (3?); fall on something else I didn't see; back spiral into 2axel; butterflies/stars (don't know which); sit-sit. Creative entrances into jumps, pity he couldn't land them. Loved the music, don't know what it was.
Markus Leminen (FIN) - floating 3lutz; 3axel hand down; sit spin probably flying, I missed the entry; 1loop; 3salchow2toe; 2flip; sit-sit; 2axel; 3lutz2toe, lutz two footed; flying camel; 3salchow, may have been two footed; death drop to fast scratch.
Group 3.
Szabolc Vidrai (HUN) - 4toe; fall on 3axel; 3loop; flying camel (slow); 3axel; spin combo; 3lutz; 3flip; straight line steps without many steps; 3salchow I think; deathdrop travelled badly; 3toe2toe; sit spin. I do like this programme, and I love the music.
Kevin van der Perren (BEL) - 3flutz two-footed landing forwards; 2loop (I could've sworn he did a quad loop in the warm-up but I must surely be wrong); 3 flip; flying camel to sit; 3salchow2toe; 3lutz; 3toe; straight steps; spirals; spin combo; layback.
Vincent Restencourt (FRA) - 2toe; flying camel; 1axel; straight line steps of a sort (skipping about on toe-picks); 3axel3toe; backspin; 3axel; 2lutz; 3flip2toe; 3lutz; 2loop; 3salchow.
Cornel Gheorghe (ROM) - 3lutz2toe; 3loop; 3something I missed; camel to sit spin; 2salchow; 3lutz; 3flip2toe; camel-camel; fell out of 3salchow; spin combo; 2toe; flying camel; 2toe2toe; back upright scratch (?). Strange, tuneless music.
Takeshi Honda (JPN) - 3axel3toe; 1toe; 3salchow; camel, flying jump thing into sit; 2flutz; fell out of triple axel; spin combo; 3loop; 3flip; flying camel; flying sit.
Michael Weiss (USA) - 3toe; 3axel3toe; flying camel; 3flip3toe; 3axel; flying sit; 3loop; 3salchow; 3lutz; spin combo; as he broke the Zayak rule, what happens? They don't count the last toe? Marks from fourth to first, three 5.9s for presentation.
Group 4
Clemens Jonas (AUT) - 3lutz two footed half loop 2toe; flying sit; 2axel; 3toe hand down; 3 loop, two-footed landing kind of sent his feet up into the air and he landed heavily; 2flip; spin combo; 1salchow; flying camel; 1loop; got distracted and missed the end! (doesn't seem that I missed a whole lot, they placed him second to last
Ricky Cockerill (NZL) - fell on 3axel; 1loop; 3flip messed up; 3toe I think; spin combo; 3lutz; deathdrop; 3salchow I think, was busy starting the video up again after it stopped, another triple something with a fall out; flying spin combo; 2axel; spin combo; 3toe1toe; fast backspin.
Michael Tyllesen (DEN) - 1axel; 3lutz landed fwd; back camel; fell out of 3flip; 3toe2toe; variations on an upright spin; 3axel; flying sit; 1loop; 3salchow; 3toe; spin combo. Pity. He's had this programme for a while, of course, he performed it in Nagano, but it is a lovely programme, and a really great choice of music. Danish judge placed him 14th, lowest of any of the judges.
Patrick Schmit (LUX) - lutz, very high picking leg, mess on landing; 2axel; spin combo; 3flip; flying camel; 3loop; 2sal; fell out of 2axel; deathdrop; 3lutz turn out 2toe; flying sit; 3salchow; almost a layback. Very cool 70s type costume, flowery flares and a long sleeved t-shirt with print on front.
Yuri Litvinov (KAZ) - 2axel; 3flip hand down but that was impressive considering how it looked in the air!; spin combo; 3loop; 2axel; 3lutz just held; flying camel; 3axel; 3toe; spin - backspin entry and I think into a combo, I looked away and missed it; 3salchow; deathdrop. "And it looks like he's going to qualify, which is not what you thought at the beginning - you thought he might not live in the first minute!" "I couldn't believe it when he landed that flip, and then he went on and did it four more times!" He was very, very wild in the air, it was unbelievable that he landed anything at all. The commentators were speechless until the replays, and then they just kept on a about how amazing it was that he'd landed all those jumps with no technique at all!
Jordi Pedro (ESP) - 2axel; 1lutz; 3flip hand down 2toe; flying camel; 2salchow; fell on 3loop; fell on 3lutz; spin combo; 1flip; 3toe hand down; deathdrop; spin combo.
Alexander Abt (RUS) - 4toe two footed; 3axel twofoot turn 3toe; 3axel; spin combo; 3lutz; spin; straight line steps; 3loop; deathdrop; 3flip; 3salchow; flying spin.
Yevgeny Plushenko (RUS) - hard fall on 4toe; 2axel; flying camel; 3axel3toe; 3lutz; 3flip; sit spin; 2salchow; 2loop; backspin; spin combo;
Elvis Stojko (CAN) - 3toe; backspin; 3axel a turn at the end but probably held just long enough to count; deathdrop; 3lutz; 3axel3toe; backspin; 3flip;3toe; 3loop; cool spin combo; 3salchow foot down just afterwards; fast spin.
It was mentioned Guo had landed quad sal, Goebel 4sal3toe.