Rostelecom Cup: Ladies short program LIVE blog

1) Gracie Gold (USA)
  Music: Hernando's Hideaway

• Who doesn't love Hernando's Hideaway?
• Nice 3-3 Gracie, I love the speed
• So far so good, but I feel like she's speeding through the choreography and just ticking off the elements
• Now that's she's put down a clean short on the GP, that's a huge step
• Our girl looks thrilled
• 34.92 (TES) + 27.24 (PCS) = 62.16

2) Caroline Zhang (USA)
  Music: Rushing Wings of Dawn

• I love everything that she does with her face at the beginning of this piece
• I love this music so much
• Uh on, pupped the first jump, not a good sign
• That stretched out camel is wonderful, but the bent leg position looks rough
• The step sequence is lovely in this piece, it perfectly fits the tone of the music
• 21.84 (TES) + 324.31 (PCS) = 46.15

3) Polina Korobeynikova (RUS)
  Music: Romeo & Juliet

• I'm loving this braid into the bun
• I actually really love this dress
• Her body type reminds me of Alissa Czisny
• She seems like a very introspective skater to me, which is coming back to me now from the Junior GP
• 26.42 (TES) + 25.03 (PCS) = 51.45

4) Agnes Zawadzki (USA)
  Music: Sex and the City

• Agnes honey, what is this odd costume situation we've got going here?
• So, are you Carrie Bradshaw in Abu Dahbi?
• Well  I guess you can be whomever you want to be when you are jumping like this
• She is looking so slick today, so in a zone
• This is a great piece for a short program, it suits her energy
• I love all these arm variations in the combination spin
• 33.01 (TES) + 27.17 (PCS) = 60.18

5) Valentina Marchei (ITA)
  Music: Esperanza

• This program suits her fiery personality
• I feel like her spins and body positions are so improved this year
• Those swing programs last year didn't show of any of these wonderful things we are seeing from her this season
• The technical content is not at the level of the youngsters, but this is still a very solid program that will receive a good score
• 20.48 (TES) + 25.77 (PCS) = 46.25

6) Adelina Sotnikova (RUS)
  Music: Capriccio Espagnoi

• Nice 3-3
• Uh oh, baby popped her flip
• She is killing it in this footwork, you can tell that being at home helps her energy
• 29.11 (TES) + 18.00 (PCS) = 57.11

7) Kanako Murakami (JPN)
  Music: Prayer for Taylor

• Baby girl is killing it today
• I love that she reinvented herself into an artist, this is a beautiful piece
• Darn that fall, but still she's becoming quite the lovely skater
• 29.01 (TES) + 28.77 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 56.78

8) Viktoria Helgesson (SWE)
  Music: Poinciana

• I remember when it used to flip back and forth-who was better-between Viktoria & Joshi, but honestly it's not even close anymore
• That was just okay, iffy technique
• I like the short hair much better that last year's poofy up-dos
• Wait, doesn't her mom coach her anymore?
•  26.67 (TES) + 27.43 (PCS) = 54.10

9) Kiira Korpi (FIN)
  Music: The Girl with the Flaxen Hair

• This is my favorite costume of the season
• This is so delicate and soft
• That was pure enjoyment to watch
• 31.51 (TES) + 30.04 (PCS) = 61.55

10) Alena Leonova (RUS)
  Music: Slumdog Millionaire

• I never quite know what's going to happen when this one steps out onto the ice
• 
  
• (TES) + (PCS) =

Cup of China: Men's Short Program LIVE BLOG

1) Yi Wang (CHN)
  Music: Peer Gynt Suite

• My feed started a little late
• He looks a little reckless, flailing a lot
• I don't think he's conditioned enough to keep up with the music
• Very good effort though in trying to keep up with the music
• That was a pretty rough program, not going to even lie at all
• 29.40 (TES) + 28.85 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 57.25

2) Sergei Voronov (RUS)
  Music: Yablochko

• These Russian guys are all over the place, this should be interesting
• This music is much more intense and heavy than I though; I was expecting something whimsical
• Ooo we have our first Quad combo!
• 3a wild in the air, but catlike on the landing
• This music in the footwork section is wild and his movements match...but not in a good way I'm afraid
• Very bent leg on that last spin, don't do the catch foot if you can't straighten the knee 
• 39.44 (TES) + 34.14 (PCS) = 73.58

3) Jinlin Guan (CHN)
  Music: Danse Macabre

• I already like how theatrical this is from the start
• I love his asymmetrical hair cut already
• Unfortunate fall right away, I was getting interested in this program
• Big time 3A, he really uses the music well
• I like the choreography and composition of the program
• He has some nice qualities to his skating, but the jumps aren't happening today for him
• He seems to be concentrating really hard, he needs to let himself go
• Some of these movements are very Weir-esque
• 25.86 (TES) + 31.11 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 55.97

4) Nan Song (CHN)
  Music: The Middle East Side

• I like this choice of music for him, very nuanced
• Unfortunate fall from such a skilled jumper
• Huge 3A to recover, very tight rotation
• His spins have improved, still on the wild side, but better
• He's losing me in the footwork, I liked the music at the beginning, but now it's not holding my interest
• 39.53 (TES) + 32.22 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 70.86

5) Kevin Reynolds (CAN)
  Music: Chambermaid Swing

• He fell hard on that opening jump
• For somebody so skilled at landing Quads, he's struggled a lot the last 2 seasons
• Very wobbly 3A
• I still don't like this choreography, even after a 2nd year
• Advertisements came up in the middle of my feed, so I missed the 2nd half 
• 36.48 (TES) + 34.39 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 68.87

6) Brian Joubert (FRA)
  Music: Genesis & Aerodynamic

• Yay, please do great!
• He looks stunning in that all black number with the sheer and metallic accents
• He makes it look so easy, he's been doing this for so long
• I love this program, it's classic Brian
• The speed and smoothness is wonderful
• He reminds me so much of Yagudin, even more so now that he's older
• This program has too many throw away moments for IJS, but the step sequence is thrilling 
• 27.20 (TES) + 36.07 (PCS) = 63.27

7) Adam Rippon (USA)
  Music: Nessun Dorma

• Yay Adam, please be awesome!
• This costume is very simple, let's see if it works
• That is a very Todd Eldredge opening pose
• I love that we start with that beautiful laid out camel
• I see we borrowed the Denney/Coughlin Nessun Dorma remix
• Oh man, rough splayed out fall on the 3A, and it looked so solid going up!
• Very tight combo, good air positions
• He excels at the in-between moments
• His strength is in putting a full, complete program out there for us
• Very hard lean on the landing of the Rippon lutz, but he held it up
• This version works for him because he keeps it simple so it doesn't go to the Punk Rock Prom Queen place that Caydee Denney took it too
• Regardless of that fall on the 3A this should still score well due to the program composition, steps, and spins
• Not sure I love that ending, it was a little abrupt and could stand to be smoothed out
•  (TES) + (PCS) =

8) Tatsuki Machida (JPN)
  Music: F. U. Y. A.

•  (TES) + (PCS) =

9) Daisuke Takahashi (JPN)
  Music: Rock n' Roll Medley

•  (TES) + (PCS) =

My Favorite Program of the Season!

This is the best new program of the figure skating season in my opinion. It is so effortless and dreamy. It is so smooth! When I watch it, I feel as though they are floating through snowflakes and feathers.

2012 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Schedule (EST)

Hi guys, I've converted all of the Grand Prix Event Schedules into Eastern Standard Time. Happy watching!

SKATE CANADA
Friday October 26th
2:05pm-Ladies Short Program
3:45pm-Pairs Short Program
7:30pm-Men's Short Program
9:10pm-Short Dance

Saturday October 27th
10:45am-Ladies Free Skate
1:05am-Pairs Free Skate
4:40pm-Free Dance
7:10pm-Men's Free Program

CUP OF CHINA
Friday November 2nd
4:00am-Short Dance
5:30am-Ladies Short Program
7:30am-Men's Short Program
9:15am-Pairs Short Program

Saturday November 3rd
3:00am-Free Dance
4:40am-Ladies Free Skate
6:35am-Mens Free Skate
8:35am-Pairs Free Skate

ROSTELECOM CUP
Friday November 9th
6:00am-Ladies Short Program
7:40am-Pairs Short Program
9:45am-Mens Short Program
11:25am-Short Dance
Saturday November 10th
5:00am-Ladies Free Skate
6:50am-Pairs Free Skate
8:30am-Mens Free Skate
10:30am-Free Dance

TROPHEE ERIC BOMPARD
Friday November 16th-Sunday November 18th
*Full Schedule Coming Soon

NHK TROPHY
Friday November 23rd-Sunday November 25th
*Full Schedule Coming Soon

GRAND PRIX FINAL
Thursday December 6th-Sunday December 9th
*Ful Schedule Coming Soon

2012 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Assignments

Skate America
Men

1. Michal Brezina (CZE)
2. Tomas Verner (CZE)
3. Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)
4. Takahiko Kozuka (JPN)
5. Tatsuki Machida (JPN)
6. Konstantin Menshov (RUS)
7. Alexander Majorov (SWE)
8. Jeremy Abbott (USA)
9. Douglas Razzano (USA)
10. TBA (USA)

Ladies

1. Mae Berenice Meite (FRA)
2. Sarah Hecken (GER)
3. Valentina Marchei (ITA)
4. Haruka Imai (JPN)
5. Alena Leonova (RUS)
6. Adelina Sotnikova (RUS)
7. Viktoria Helgesson (SWE) 
8. Rachael Flatt (USA)
9. Christina Gao (USA)
10. Ashley Wagner (USA)

Pairs

1. Dube & Wolfe (CAN)
2. Pang & Tong (CHN)
3. James & Cipres (FRA)
4. Kemp & King (GBR)
5. Volozozhar & Trankov (RUS)
6. Denney & Coughlin (USA)
7. Donlan & Speroff (USA)
8. TBA (USA)

Ice Dance

1. Weaver & Poje (CAN)
2. Zhiganshina & Gazsi (GER)
3. Alessandrini & Vaturi (ITA)
4. Tobias & Stagniunas (LTU)
5. Bobrova & Soloviev (RUS)
6. Davis & White (USA)
7. Kriengkrairut & Giulietti-Schmitt (USA)
8. TBA (USA)

Skate Canada
Men

1. Patrick Chan (CAN)
2. Liam Firus (CAN)
3. TBA (CAN)
4. Florent Amodio (FRA)
5. Takahito Mura (JPN)
6. Nobunari Oda (JPN)
7. Denis Ten (KAZ)
8. Artur Gachinski (RUS)
9. Javier Fernandez (ESP)
10. Ross Miner (USA)

Ladies

1. Amelie Lacoste (CAN)
2. Kaetlyn Osmond (CAN)
3. TBA (CAN)
4. Elene Gedevanishvili (GEO)
5. Kanako Murakami (JPN)
6. Akiko Suzuki (JPN)
7. Ksenia Makarova (RUS)
8. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS)
9. Gracie Gold (USA)
10. Carolina Zhang (USA)

Pairs

1. Duhamel & Radford (CAN)
2. Lawrence & Swiegers (CAN)
3. TBA (CAN)
4. Savchenko & Szolkowy (GER)
5. Berton & Hotarek (ITA)
6. Gerboldt & Enbert (RUS)
7. Marley & Brubaker (USA)
8. Vise & Baldwin (USA)

Ice Dance

1. Zlobina & Sitnikov (AZE)
2. Gilles & Poirier (CAN)
3. Ralph & Hill (CAN)
4. Virtue & Moir (CNA)
5. Carron & Jones (FRA)
6. Cappellini & Lanotte (ITA)
7. Riazanova & Tkachenko (RUS)
8. Hubbell & Donohue (USA)

Cup of China
Men

1. Kevin Reynolds (CAN)
2. Jinlin Guan (CHN)
3. Nan Song (CHN)
4. TBA (CHN)
5. Brian Joubert (FRA)
6. Samuel Contesti (ITA)
7. Tatsuki Machida (JPN)
8. Daisuke Takahashi (JPN)
9. Artur Dmitriev (RUS)
10. Adam Rippon (USA)

Ladies

1. Bingwa Geng (CHN)
2. Kexin Zhang (CHN)
3. TBA (CHN)
4. Yretha Silete (FRA)
5. Miki Ando (JPN)
6. Mao Asada (JPN)
7. Carolina Kostner (ITA)
8. Julia Lipnitskaia (RUS)
9. Joshi Helgesson (SWE)
10. Mirai Nagasu (USA)

Pairs

1. Moore-Towers & Moscovitch (CAN)
2. Pang & Tong (CHN)
3. Peng & Zhang (CHN)
4. Sui & Han (CHN)
5. Takahashi & Tran (JPN)
6. Kavaguti & Smirnov (RUS)
7. Stolbova & Klimov (RUS)
8. Yankowskas & Reagan (USA)

Ice Dance

1. Weaver & Poje (CAN)
2. Huang & Zheng (CHN)
3. TBA (CHN)
4. Pechalat & Bourzat (FRA)
5. Guignard & Fabbri (ITA)
6. Bobrova & Soloviev (RUS)
7. Sinitsina & Zhiganshin (RUS)
8. Chock & Bates (USA)

Rostelecom Cup
Men

1. Patrick Chan (CHN)
2. Michal Brezina (CZE)
3. Takahiko Kozuka (JPN)
4. Nobunari Oda (JPN)
5. Denis Ten (KAZ)
6. Zhan Bush (RUS)
7. Artur Gachinski (RUS)
8. TBA (RUS)
9. Richard Dornbush (USA)
10. Johnny Weir (USA)

Ladies

1. Kiira Korpi (FIN)
2. Kanako Murakami (JPN)
3. Valentina Marchei (ITA)
4. Alena Leonova (RUS)
5. Adelina Sotnikova (RUS)
6. TBA (RUS)
7. Viktoria Helgesson (SWE)
8. Gracie Gold (USA)
9. Agnes Zawadzki (USA)
10. Caroline Zhang (USA)

Pairs

1. Dube & Wolfe (CAN)
2. Lawrence & Swiegers (CAN)
3. Hausch & Wende (GER)
4. Vartmann & Van Cleave (GER)
5. Bazarova & Larionov (RUS)
6. Volosozhar & Trankov (RUS)
7. TBA (RUS)
8. Denney & Coughlin (USA)

Ice Dance

1. Virtue & Moir (CAN)
2. Zhiganshina & Gazsi (GER)
3. Coomes & Buckland (GBR)
4. Ilinykh & Katsalapov (RUS)
5. Monko & Khaliavin (RUS)
6. Sinitsina & Zhiganshin (RUS)
7. Nazarova & Nikitin (UKR)
8. Shibutani & Shibutani (USA)

Trophee Bompard
Men

1. Jorik Hendrickx (BEL)
2. Nan Song (CHN)
3. Tomas Verner (CZE)
4. Florent Amodio (FRA)
5. Brian Joubert (FRA)
6. TBD (FRA)
7. Samuel Contesti (ITA)
8. Takahito Mura (JPN)
9. Jeremy Abbott (USA)
10. Johnny Weir (USA)

Ladies

1. Kexin Zhang (CHN)
2. Lena Marrocco (FRA)
3. Yretha Silete (FRA)
4. TBA (FRA)
5. Carolina Kostner (ITA)
6. Miki Ando (ITA)
7. Polina Korobeynikova (RUS)
8. Julia Lipnitskaia (RUS)
9. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS)
10. Ashley Wagner (RUS)

Pairs

1. Duhamel & Radford (CAN)
2. Peng & Zhang (CHN)
3. Popova & Massot (FRA)
4. TBA (FRA)
5. Savchenko & Szolkowy (GER)
6. Berton & Hotarek (ITA)
7. Kavaguti & Smirnov (RUS)
8. Stolbova & Klimov (RUS)

Ice Dance

1. Gilles & Poirier (CAN)
2. Carron & Jones (FRA)
3. Pechalat & Bourzat (FRA)
4. TBA (FRA)
5. Cappellini  & Lanotte (ITA)
6. Pushkash & Guerreiro (RUS)
7. Riazanova & Tkachenko (RUS)
8. Hubbell & Donohue (USA)

NHK Trophy
Men

1. Kevin Reynolds (CAN)
2. Andrei Rogozine (CAN)
3. Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)
4. Daisuke Murakami (JPN)
5. Daisuke Takahashi (JPN)
6. Sergei Voronov (RUS)
7. Javier Fernandez (ESP)
8. Richard Dornbush (USA)
9. Ross Miner (USA)
10. Johnny Weir (USA)

Ladies

1. Zijun Li (CHN)
2. Elene Gedevanishvili (GEO)
3. Mao Asada (JPN)
4. Haruka Imai (JPN)
5. Akiko Suzuki (JPN)
6. Sofia Biryukova (RUS)
7. Ksenia Makarova (RUS)
8. Polina Shelepen (RUS)
9. Alissa Czisny (USA)
10. Agnes Zawadzki (USA)

Pairs

1. Moore-Towers & Moscovitch (CAN)
2. Sui & Han (CHN)
3. Vartmann & Van Cleave (GER)
4. Takahashi & Tran (JPN)
5. Bazarova & Larionov (RUS)
6. Castelli & Shnapir (USA)
7. Davis & Ladwig (USA)
8. Marley & Brubaker (USA)

Ice Dance

1. Orford & Williams (CAN)
2. Huang & Zheng (CHN)
3. Yu & Wang (CHN)
4. Coomes & Buckland (GBR)
5. Reed & Reed (JPN)
6. Iliykh & Katsalapov (RUS)
7. Davis & White (USA)
8. Shibutani & Shibutani (USA)