Saturday Practice

I came in for the last group of ladies. Maria was having a rough time of it with lots of falls. I was immediately quite taken with Yulia Soldatova. Good speed and lots of personality. Lucinda Ruh, yet again, had the usual variety of amazingly creative spins. She was being coached by Oliver Hoener, whom I last saw on one of my old tapes doing an interpretive number to "I can do that" in hot pink leg warmers. He looked a bit different. In the pairs, Saurette and Fecteau were filling in for Sale and Pelletier and seemed a bit tight after their tough outing at Four Continents. Shen/Zhao and Sargeant/Wirtz both looked relaxed and confident, though Zhao seemed tired. This was the first time to see Schwarz/Müller's new programs and I liked them. The long program was very evocative and well choreographed. My first impression of Obertas/Palamarchuk was mostly at how tiny she is. The throw double axel is very pushed across and I don't feel like she is using much of her skating ability in it. The Hartsells looked as strong and confident as they did in Halifax. This was my first look at Handy/Binnebose. After seeing Scott/Dulebohn at Four Continents, I could see that they had the same coach but Paul and Laura clearly are a bit more skilled. The pairs elements were very polished but her lack of expression can be a bit distracting.

Sunday Practice

Diana Poth was working on triple lutzes, which I didn't recall seeing from her earlier in the season. Her good showing at Europeans clearly built her confidence. Julia Sebysten on the other hand, was having a terrible time, missing most of her jumps and looking very discouraged. Suguri was working with her new coach Audrey Weisiger but didn't look much better than at Four Continents. After her great showing at 98 Worlds, Anna Rechnio was not looking well and getting some competition from Sabina Wojtala, who has a very strong triple lutz. Lucinda Ruh still completely blows away the field with her spins and Maria looked much better than I had seen her the previous night. Today I got to see Totmianina/Marinin. Someone had described him as having a bit of an Artur complex and I agreed but overall I liked them very much. I was afraid that the depth was starting to go in Russian pairs but they looked very good here. I'm not sure the same is true in the US; Ina and Zimmerman were rather unimpressive. He managed to land only one triple toe in the practice I was today. Steve Hartsell had a nasty slip on a camel spin that nearly took his sister out too. Valerie Saurette looked less tense than yesterday and seemed to be enjoying being at Worlds a bit more. I had my first men's practice and the quads were flying. The first group had Honda and Guo landing them, then Tim Goebel did another jump exhibition. Here is what I noted: 3 loop - 3 loop, 3 axel - 3 toe, 3 flip - 3 toe, 4 sal - 3 toe, 4 toe - 3 toe. Trifun Zivanovic was not to be outdone and also worked on quad toes. Britian sent two skaters this year; Neil Wilson was having some troubles and even his spins seemed out of whack but Clive Shorten had a special figure in his program that was interesting. Neither Stokjo or Sandhu was skating well with Sandhu popping most jumps and Stokjo stepping out of his. Both Micheal Tyllesen and Patrick Meier landed triple axels, which struck me as a good sign. I had been prepared to not like Stefan Lindeman, since he beat Micheal Hopfes at German Nationals but he won me over with interesting programs and some very nice skating inlcuding a slightly tenataive but clean triple axel.

Monday Practice and Men's Qualifying Rounds

Dance practice before the rest of the day was taken up with Men's Qualifying Rounds. Krylova/Ovsiannikov look like World Champions, smooth and quiet skating. Today was an original dance practice and I liked the variety of dances I saw. The Swiss team of Elaine and Daniel Hugentobler had a jazzy waltz, Drobiako/Vanagas were entrancing with Val Trieste even in practice, Winkler/Lohse have a charming French song with great expression. It was my first viewing of Anissina/Peizerat for the year and they are even better than last year. The new waltz (I hadn't seen the old one) is very strong.

Men's Qualifying Group A

Qualifying this year counted in the standing and seeded the short program so the standards seemed a bit higher. Markouizas of Greece was unable to successfully land any triples. Szabolcs Vidrai had an uneven program and I later learned he injured himself during it. No quad attempt but 5 clean triples. Unbelieveably, the representive from Romania was still Cornel Gheorge. He was skating much better a few years ago and it's probably time to retire. He never managed the triple axel and only two other clean triples in a rather lackluster program. Guo began the quad count with a lovely quad toe after a popped axel and then continued with more clean triples. Not great presentation but well done. Litvinov managed the triple axel but not much else. Stokjo still seemed out of sorts with a possible two foot on a quad, a fall on a second quad attempt, and steps outs and doubled jumps. Not a good way to start out trying to win another world title. As the third and partially forogtten American, Trifun Zivanovic seemed to have something to prove and did with a great qualifying skate, two triple axels and five other triples. I tend to agree with Dick Button (and that is a shock) that Trifun doesn't always have the carriage or pristine technique but he skates with a passion that is very exciting. Dinev was some what lackluster with a program that I want to like much more. The music is interesting but he really doesn't present it well. Plushenko was skating for the world title from day one with a new agressiveness. He pulled out the quad toe and two triple - triples with conviction and lots of shameless mugging to the audience. Clive Shorten had a nice special figure but not much else in a rather lumbering performance. Mike Weiss, after how many years of trying, added another quad to the count and two triple-triples as well but a fall on the second triple axel. Neither Beliaev nor del Pozo made much of an impression on me and Markus Leminen tried his best for the hometown crowd but was clearly not as good as last year. Roman Skorniakov landed some nice triples but was very low energy and possibly still had some of the flu of Halifax. I enjoyed Robert Kazimir a few years back but he was thoroughly unimpressive here, as was Chestnik, a non triple axeler. Dmitrenko had not been having a great season but qualified fairly easily here with another incredibly creative and interesting program to Romeo and Juliet. A non-descript program by Garcia followed by another addition to the quads from Anthony Liu (he did have a slight step out). He followed up with a clean triple axel and three other triples in a program that petered out at the end but was the best I had ever seen him skate. Murvanidze landed the triple axel but not much else to end Group A.

Mens Qualifying Group B

This group started with Emanuel Sandhu in a less than inspiring skate. No quad attempt and flaws on both triple axels. I'm begining to wonder if he can only skate well at Canadians but at least he did manage to qualify this year. Tim Goebel landed the first quad sal at Worlds and then added triple axel - triple toe, triple sal - triple toe and a few more triples. Yes, his presentation skills still need work but his jumping skills are quite amazing. I know some fans find him lacking but I see a great deal of improvement since I saw him win juniors back in 96. I hope he keeps working on presentation and I look forward to seeing what the next few years might bring. I was completely suprised to see Hernits try and nearly land a triple axel and then move on to many other successful triples and great flying spins in a very well done program. Telenekov landed a few triples in a very sloppy program. Danilchekno showed why he placed well at Europneans with a good triple axel and nice stroking. I'll look forward to seeing what developments he makes in the next few seasons. In one of the more surreal moments, Angelo Dolfini wore what might only be described as an Elvis impersonator costume and skated a truly strange program with lots of odd choreographic moments. We had more fun watching Robin Cousins facial expressions in the BBC booth. Lindeman lived up to practice with a six triple effort including a great triple axel-triple toe. Gregorczyk is a lovely skater with a program that went nowhere and was very uneven. Vlascenko pulled out 5 triples in a lackluster program but managed to end strong. Lee of Korea was much stronger than his compatriot Jin from Four Continents with a creative and enjoyable program that I believe was to music from Titanic. Neil Wilson is a lovely skater but trying to land the triple axel consistently in competition seems to be taking something away from his overall skating. He struggled a great deal here and didn't manage to qualify, which left Britian with no singles skaters in the main competition. Takeshi Honda continued his winning ways with a hand down on the quad attempt and 7 triples. It's been very exciting to watch him develop over this season. Cejvan fell and barely pulled out jumps in a very messy performance and it wasn't much better for Pliuta. Tyllesen had a gorgeous and creative program to Man in the Iron Mask that begin with a few messy jumps but finished stronger. It's so wonderful to see a skater with such attention to details. The final group of men wrapped up with Rylov in a messy program. Urmanov was not completely back to his best but was still a joy to watch. Really a unique prescence. I'm not a Laurent Tobel fan and the program was pretty much typical of what I expect from him, a few big jumps, a few big falls and lots of two foot glides while playacting. Rakowski wasa bit outclassed with no triple axel. Yagudin didn't add to the quad count but skated like a World Champion. I thought the move to Tarasova was showing benefits already with far more personality in the program. Patrick Meier wound up the competition by landing his triple axel and continuing with a good program to easily qualify.

Pairs Short Program

I was completely shocked to see Bereznaia/Sihkarulidze skate a clean short program after the many troubles of this season. Shen/Zhao had only a slight hand down on the throw triple loop. Zagorska/Siudek were clean with less difficulty( a throw triple sal) for third place. Sargeant/Wirtz skated an abosolute personal best with everything clean and a huge throw triple sal to land in fourth place. Rounding out the top five were Petrova/Tikhinov with only a slight stumble by him on the triple toe. Amongst the other teams, Saurette/Fecteau skated cleanly although a bit tenatively and didn't quite get the marks from the judges. Schwarz/Müller were very off, even missing the unison on the side by side spins. Both Steve and Danielle Hartsell fell on the triple toes in a tough outing. Handy/Binnebose had a few minor faults but skated very well also in their Worlds debut. Totmianina/Marinin were very impressive with just a few miscues that showed that theu haven't been skating together or as pairs very long. Once again Abitbol/Bernadis had a chance to make a big impression but couldn't quite do it with a fall on the throw triple loop. Ina/Zimmerman were very overmarked with a sloppy program and fall on a throw triple sal that should have placed them out of the top ten and behind Saurette/Fecteau but somehow got them a lucky 8th.

Tuesday Practice, Compulsory Dance, and Mens Short

Ladies practice took up the morning. Suguri continued with her troubles, popping and falling on most jumps. The same was true for Poth. Wojtala kept on nailing triple lutzes and Rechnio was a little more on than before. Lautowa was almost unrecognizable from the skater I saw at Skate America in 96. She had grown up alot and has a very mature prescence on the ice, although many of the jumps seem to have abandoned her. I learned that Kwan has a slight headcold and she did seem off. This was my first view of Sarah Hughes and I thought she had a great deal of potential as well as a very good approach. The programs suit her, she works hard, and she hasn't lost any of her exuberance and love of skating. Or maybe I just like to see another clockwise skater out there! Nikidinov was working with new coach Richard Callaghan but it seemed to early to know what the result might be. Jennifer Robinson seemed uncharacteristically tight. It was still hopeful that Laetitia Hubert would be there but this was the last chance. Gusmeroli was there and looking very good. She was back on form with an interesting long with a story line about a jewel thief.

I didn't take notes during compulsory dance, just photos. With Paso Doble and Tango Romantica, there were plenty of great costumes and poses.

It was interesting to see a seeded short program, which I don't think had happened since 94 or 95. In the first group, Micheal Tyllesen had a very rough time with step out on the axel combination and fall on solo triple flip. In the second group, Markus Leminen tried his best for his hometown crowd but a fall and step out didn't help. I thought Sandhu would finally get the Worlds monkey off his back with an opening triple axel - triple toe but then a double lutz and some dumped choreography for an overall lackluster program. Vidrai gutted out a good performance, holding onto his jumps by sheer willpower. Guo became the second skater to land a quad toe in the short, along with a triple axel -triple toe and everything else wonderfully done. Dinev also had a clean but less difficult program with a solo triple flip and axel combination. Goebel went back to an old short program with the same elements as Dinev and also well done. Vlashenko managed a good short program as in Minneapolis but no triple combination. Zivanovic was not a stunning as in qualifying, doubling his lutz from footwork. Liu stepped out of the axel combination but was otherwise clean. Unaccountably, Dmitrenko fell on his circular footwork but was helped out by the fact that his program was so difficult. Yagudin had a slight step out on the axel combination but really attacked the program. Urmanov didn't have triple-triple in the axel combination but more style and prescence than anyone else in the competition. Honda went for the quad in the short but fell. Mike Weiss, in his newly revised digest verision of the Beethoven program did the solo triple axel short program but everything else was clean and the spins were esp. good. It was up to Plushenko to take charge and he did with the traditional short program clean. Last up was Stokjo, but he was not up to the challenge with a clearly two footed quad attempt and a triple double axel combination.

Wednesday Practice, Ladies Qualifying, and Pairs Long

The pairs practiced in long program skate order. Olga Bestandig didn't show up so Josef ran through the program alone. Danielle Hartsell did not seem very pleased and I wondered if she were injured. Handy/Binnebose were fine on lifts but not so much on throws. Saurette/Fecteau were still having jump troubles as well as Schwarz/Müller. Petrova/Tihkinov were spot on. Ina/Zimmerman had a terrible time on throws, she was having more luck landing a solo triple salchow than a thrown one. Abitbol/Bernadis also were skating poorly. In the final four, everyone was skating great and it looks like a a great long program evening. Kris Wirtz, in particular, looked absolutely thrilled to be skating in the last group.

Ladies qualifying took up most of the day. Jung two footed a triple lutz. Gusmeroli gave a great performance with huge jumps and great spins to her jewel thief program to place herself in the final group for the short. Sebsyten popped or fell or doubled most of her jumps in your basic nightmare of a program. Laverenchuk skated poorly in a poorly constructed program to Titanic that, as was pointed out, also sunk grandly. Poth landed her triple lutz but no triple toe - triple toe. She did make a few photographers happy by wearing a shear midriff. Salas Visuet was outclassed with no triples. Vassiljeva started strong with two triple toes but petered out at the end. Lu tried a few triples but only got the toe. Trifancova was not spectacular but won us over by skating to an ABBA medley. She also had nice speed and extension. Chatziathanassiou didn't attempt any triples and looked to be more at an intermediate level. Dimova was unable to complete any triples and even stumbled from some doubles. Lucinda Ruh was absolutely spectacular in her spins, as usual, and attacked the jumps well, landing a triple toe and sal as well as double flips and axels. Andrade has been at each Worlds I have been at, here landing two different triples. Rechnio had a program completely unsuited to her style to Tchai. but pulled out some clean triples and has improved her inbetweens since last year. Volchkova was very lackluster with no expression and if I notice it, it's bad. Sarah Hughes kept her nerves together for her first worlds, skipping the triple loop - triple loop but landing the triple lutz. Yes, it's a poor picking technique but she does land it and there is time to fix that up. Hanevold failed to qualify. Fitze started out very strong with a flip and lutz but faltered at the end with some very hard falls. She is a strong skater but seems prey to nerves. Kwan didn't shown too many effects of her head cold but I found the program rather meandering. I think Lori Nichol can make interesting programs but I wonder often about her music choices. This music has some life in it, unlike Lyra Angelica, but not much direction.

Group B began with Lautowa. She fell on thelutz but managed the other triples and has great spins. Nikidinov was the same as I always see her long programs, started strong and then doubled nearly every jumo by the end. Human almost completely fell apart with only a clean triple toe. Soldatova managed one of the few triple-triples by the ladies with a sal-toe and the rest of the jumps were strong until the second lutz went astray and then a wild waxel. She pulled herself together for a triple toe at the end. Chi underotated her only triple attempt. Gülke fell on the harder triples. Suguri had a very mixed time, clean lutz, flip, and sal, others popped or step outs. The only error from Malinina was a doubled loop as she continued on her winning way. Drei qualifed but wasn't able to help herself much with some two foots and step outs. She did try the triple toe - triple toe but two footed the second jump. Paurova was very tight in the knees and her jumps suffered with two foots and step outs. Pajovic had a very painful looking program with plenty of hard falls. Bramfeldt tried a few triples but none clean, although her general skating seemed strong. Wojtala mostly lived up to practice with a good lutz and some other triples but she still seems like a junior skater. She tended to spin her backspins on the wrong edge. With the full weight of the CFSA on her shoulders, Jenn Robinson tried her best with some mixed results; neither lutz was good but she did get two salchows, a loop and a toe. Dyrtova started with a triple toe and then faltered on everthing else. Maria Butryskaya had almost a carbon copy of Skate America, a huge fall on the salchow and the rest fine. The judges seemed to give her the benefit of the doubt but given the competition in the group, the marks didn't seem too out of line. Fontana abosolutely had the skate of her life with a clean lutz and only a popped flip to mar it. When I first saw her at Worlds in 96, I thought she was very sloppy and I'm impressed with how much she has improved her skating and her presentation. Liashenko continued her great season with a strong program. Vorobeiva still has her great spins but not much else. Things seem to have really gone south for her in the past few seasons and I wonder if we'll keep seeing her. Krijgsman had a nicely choreographed program but only a few jumps and just one triple. Snieskiene had no triples at all and failed to qualify.

Pairs Long Program

It was announced that Handy/Binnebose had withdrawn due to illness. We saw them in the stands the next day looking fine so I'm not sure what happened. There was definetely dubious judging at this event and not just the much reported communication bewteen judges resulting in Bereznaia/Sihkarulidze's controversial win. The Hartsells came back strong from their tough short program with an almost flawless long but still finished behind a very flawed program by Ina/Zimmerman. He stumbled out of the double axel, the throw loop was doubled and a fall on the sal and then a lift completely collapsed at the end. I simply do not see why they merit such high marks. It was tough times for both Canadian teams. Saurette/Fecteau had problems with both triple toes and Sargeant/Wirtz needed to be perfect to stay in the top five but she singled a double axel and put her hands down on a throw triple sal in a performance that fell very flat. The bronze medal battle was bewteen Petrova/Tihkinov and Zagorska/Siudek. Petrova/Tihkinov skated early on in the second to last group but were perfect with triple toes and double axels, throw triple sal and toe, great lifts, and tremendous speed. Zagorksa/Suidek were less inspiring with her hands down on the throw sal and a fall out of death spiral but somehow managed the bronze medal. Abitbol/Bernadis were great on pairs elements but he stumbled through the jumps. However, the most blatant of the pairs misjudging was bewteen the top two. Bereznaia/Sihkarulidze skated first and the door was opened when she fell hard on the sbs double axels. Although both throw jumps were clean, she takes them on two feet. Shen/Zhao were perfect with a huge triple twist and throw sal and loop with one foot takeoffs. The audience was very vocal in it's dissapproval. The results seemed unbelievable and we heard about the judges communicating the next day. Although the judges were suspended, the results, of course, had to stand.

Thursday Practice, Original Dance, and Mens Long

Since it was getting later in the week, my notes in practice are getting shorter and shorter. No notes on the original dance practice. Tim Goebel was practicing as he did at Four Continents, skipping a good part of his run-through to do jumps. Zivanovic was having triple axel problems but Vidrai was having trouble with everything. Guo was landing quad toe - triple toe easily and Honda the solo quad with no troubles. We sat near some fans of Honda from Japan who brought Japanese flags and we got a few to wave for the evening's competition.

I only did music IDs for the original dance but I did take photos. Anissina/Peizerat skated after Krylova/Ovsiannikov with both skating very well but Marina and Gwendal skated faster than I have ever seen them. When the marks came up, Gwendal was jumping up and down in kiss and cry. It seems like they made a good decision to change the dance.

Mens Long

To start out the long programs, Markus Leminen made his best effort for the hometown crowd, although he couldn't manage a triple axel. Once again, Emanual Sandhu had a dissapointing Worlds with a fall on the second triple axel, step out of triple lutz, and a generally sloppy program. I was somewhat suprised at his second marks, esp. considering his speed, or lack of it. He has wonderful potential but I'm still waiting for him to skate well somewhere besides Nationals. The first quad came from Anthony Liu, a toe in combination with a double toe. He followed with triple axel, triple lutz- triple toe, flip, loop, sal, and another lutz. A tremendous improvement from last year. Trifun Zivanovic underotated a quad toe but attacked the rest of the program; two triple axels, flip to toe, sal, toe and a step out of a lutz. He needs some work but it was a great World debut. However, Tim Goebel stole the thunder of the American men, even Weiss's bronze medal, with a quad sal - triple toe, step out of quad toe and just about everything else. I guess I knew how to pick them when I liked Stefan Lindeman in practice. He finished up his great week with a well done program. Triple axel-triple toe, flip, lutz, loop, axel, lutz(hands) - double toe, sal(hands) and lots of footwork and connecting moves. I found Larent Tobel unbearable as usual but I seem to be in the minority and he did skate well for him with second marks I did not understand. I never thought that presentation was miming and gesturing. Dinev added another quad toe to the huge count for this event. He started with a triple axel - triple toe but then faltered badly at the end. Guo skated next and it ws another quad, two triple - triples, and four other triples. He doesn't have all the finese but his jumps are effortless. We all waved our flags for Takeshi next and perhaps it worked because skated even better than at Four Continents, axel, quad toe, lutz, axel - toe, loop, and sal. He was extremely happy at the end which is when I think I began to dub it the Worlds of screaming and crying. If he had skated a better short program, this could have been enough for a first world medal for him. And there was still a final group of men to skate. Vlashenko almost fell out of the top ten with an incredibly uneven program. Three popped jumps and only three clean triples, none in combination. Urmanov did not skate his best but I was suprised that he placed below Stokjo. Perhaps falling on a quad still gets a higher mark? He did land two triple axels but no triple-triples. Stokjo had a dissapointing program, yet again. Really the only good skate all year for him was at Nationals. He fell out of the quad toe and doubled a few more jumps in a program that got very messy by the end. Mike Weiss finally pulled together a good competition at Worlds with a two foot on a quad and all the other jumps clean, paired with strong spins. It was probably fairly close with Honda but a consistent competition helped him out. Pluschenko skated much better than in Minneapolis (no multiple quad attempts). A hand down on a quad toe, triple axel-triple toe, loop, axel, lutz -toe, flip, and sal. Not much to complain about. Yagudin only just managed to better it with a clean quad, triple axel - toe, flip - toe, loop, lutz, sal and a generally smoother and cleaner program but the gap is closing bewteen them. The top four in the free skate (Honda finished 4th in the free) all skated incredibly well and the overall level of skating for the men was impressive, both in jumps and interesting choreography. As we left the arena that night, carrying our Japanese flags, a Japanese fan appraoched us and said thank you for supporting Takeshi. I think that was one of the most memorable parts of the competition. This was my first Worlds outside North America and it seemed like a much more international event. The North American fans were certainly not the majority and it was neat to see fans with big Lithuanian flags and such.

Friday Practice, Ladies Short, Free Dance

I arrived late and only saw the last group of Ladies practice before the short programs. Only Soldatova looked calm, everyone else had some nerves and Volchkova seemed very tight. I finally got to see a Free Dance practice and enjoyed it with lots of pictures. There was an interesting variety of programs, which was a big change from a few years back when everyone was doing a Latin dance.

In the first group of ladies, Gülke attempted a triple - triple but fell and Sebsyten skated mostly clean with only a step out on the double axel and a great combo spin. I finally saw Wojtala fall on a lutz and it seemed to unerve her as she stepped out of the loop and just held onto the axel. Nikidinov started out fine with a triple lutz combination but slipped in the footwork heading into the flip and doubled it. The spins were very well done. Lucinda Ruh, in a gorgeous red dress and tremendous prescence, nailed her short program with triple toe combo and loop out of footwork and the spins that no one else in the world can match. She is really unlike any other skater and not just because of her spins. If I were Dick Button I might call her something like exotic but I won't do that. The best adjective I can come up with is gamine but even that doesn't describe how exciting it is to watch her skate and skate well. Jennifer Robinson just plain looked scared the whole time although she skated fairly well with only a slight two foot on the lutz in combination and a clean sal. She wasn't very fast but the stroking was smooth. After a rather unispiring qualifying skate, Laverenchuk skated great to some flamenco music with a huge lutz and flip from footwork. Diana Poth pulled off a clean triple toe - triple toe with a sal from footwork. Liashenko was also clean with a lutz combo and flip from footwork but not much flow on the lutz landing. Sarah Hughes was slow into the lutz combination but a very good double axel and triple flip. Suguri fell hard on the lutz and stepped out on the flip, hardly looking like the same skater as at the begining of the season. Fontana couldn't quite carry the same spark from qualifying into the short with a fall on the lutz. Anna Rechnio two footed the lutz combo and landed a flip in another program that didn't quite suit her. Gusmeroli pulled out the lutz combo with little flow and the loop from footwork. Spins were very good. Butryskaya skated right after her with the same music. A little slow into the lutz combination but clean and a fine triple loop. Very well done. Soldatova followed with a good lutz combo and a flip from footwork. The layback was very fast and the spirals had good speed. Volchkova was not as fortunate with a two foot and hands on the lutz and 3 out of the flip. Kwan was showing the effects of the headcold with a sluggish lutz combination, a fall on a very wonky double axel and a small but clean toe from footwork. She was very lucky to stay in fourth place above the first falter I saw from Malinina, a step out in her lutz in the combination but a clean flip. I don't quite know why Kwan gets the higher marks with only a toe loop as her jump from footwork.

I don't have any notes from the free dance at the event. A few impressions. It seemed very close to me between Fusar-Poli/Margaglio and Drobiazko/Vanagas. Margarita and Povilas skated the best I have ever seen them. The crowd was with them (I hadn't thought that they would be sorta locals.) I think they could have passed FP/M if they hadn't skated so early. I found the Dracula program to be rather hokey but it perhaps more difficult than Sunrise at Alcatraz. I had been curious to see Winkler/Lohse since I saw the photos at Nations Cup but it didn't quite live up to what I hoped for it. Mostly the dance was a bit sloppy although the concept was interesting. I was surprised at how poorly Bourne/Kraatz skated and still maintained the bronze medal. They seemed very off with miscues in the lifts and a fairly major slip up right as the program ended. I talked with some Canadian fans after the event who were suprised that Lobacheva/Averbukh didn't pass them. I wasn't particularly impressed with either dance but Irina and Ilia appeared to skate cleaner. They did take three judges from Shae and Victor. Although the final dance results were not the audience favourite, I would have found it hard to choose bewteen the two dances. I didn't find Krylova/Ovsianikov's particularly engagaing but it was certainly difficult. Marina and Gwendal were incredibly exciting and the dance pulled me in from the opening seconds. With the exception of Bourne/Kraatz, the top dancers skated very well and the variety was interesting. Other dances I found interesting included Chalom/Gates, who seemed to be developing along an Anissina/Peizerat lines but had a rather unlucky fall near the end of their dance. The Hugentoblers went from a fairly non-descript team last year to a more avant garde dance to jungle music for this season. They moved to Linichuk and it seems to have been a good move.