Nicky is backing Plushy even though he's first in the final group.....but
Yags will know what he has to do he notes....but he's still backing Plushy
if his stamina holds....but his new training facility is high in the
mountains which might also help. www.eurosport.co.uk if you want to ask
them questions ...or nickyslater@iceskater.co.uk Apparently Abt had minor
sinus surgery at the start of the week....Nicky isn't sure how that works
vis-a-vis drug testing, but notes that he only barely got through the short,
so the long might be hard. He's looking to get through the long and hold
onto the bronze medal.

They're not going to show any of group 1 on British Eurosport (grrr) so this
is group 2 on.

Nicky thinks Todd could surprise us at worlds.

I'm not in front of the computer for the first three men so you'll have to
rely on my scribbled notes, stained as they are with pieces of my
dinner.....who can eat when there's skating on???

Vitaly Danilchenko UKR
Skating to Volcano in red trousers and a multicoloured top.....he went down
on the 4toe and 3axel...did a nice flying camel...3lz, ...3loop...steps with
a nice back spiral thrown in....not much in between the jumps Joanne
said.....3 ax 2toe....2f.....change foot spin to upright.....3 flip, then
3sal then 3 toe...with very little time in between them, it just looked as
if he threw them in...spin combo to finish.
marks 4.7-4.9 ...4.3-5.1.

Silvio Smalun GER
Wearing blue inserts in otherwise black unitard....Rhapsody in Rock by
Robert Wells......down on 3ax, singled the lutz, did a nice triple toe, then
3flip 2toe.....3sal....3loop....nice linking movement and steps between the
jumps....nice step sequence although with bestisquats galore.....3lz2
toe...sit change sit....fell out of triple flip...serpentine step
sequence....popped out of another jump....sit spin to end.
Marks 4.3-4.9 / 4,5-5.0

Alexei Kozlov EST
He's wearing what should be basic black. Should be. Kinda netty top which is
obscured by a gold cape, that someone obviously saw sense and cut in half,
but he insisted on keeping the remaining portion. Polovetsian Dances (sp?)
.....clean 3sal to start, then down on 3ax - he literally sat on the
ice....3flip....3lz....flying camel to upright spin....2ax2toe....camel
change foot camel...kinda slow.....2loop, then right across the ice to a
triple loop.....steps...3toe...combo spin with interesting changes of
position.....3sal 2toe...combo spin to finish
marks....4.4-4.9 / looks like he'll move up to third......4.5-4.8...and
third he is, slovak judge has him 1st

Konstantin Kostin LAT
He's in black apart from a white stretch on his trousers...in 14th
place.......the white actually goes down most of one side....3
something.....and he pops the triple axel to a single ...huge single and it
never looked on.....hand down on the quad toe........camel change camel to
sit...nice camel position......he's flying around the
ice......3lz.....Joanne thinks it was flutzed....circular step.....2sal
2toe.....flying camel with a hop to change and hop to sit.....Joanne and
Chris agree that he's rushing the jumps esp the edge jumps....I tend to
agree, the axel in particular.....he did an open axel there which we think
was intended, but he got it all wrong on the 2flip and did a double...rather
than a triple....flying sit......steps....crowd clap along.....double axel,
2footed landing and turn out....triple toe......finale of butterflies and
stars, into back sit spin says Joanne...and it was nice.....Paginini's
Violin Concerto No 1 and Chris thinks that musical interpretation was zero,
that it was focussed on the jumps....Joanne agrees, no light and shade. I
agree. Chris stattoes that he's a jumping machine and does the quad jump of
Kostin checklist, also putting in the horrific inury stories...broken leg
etc. Joanne tells us that he throws himself into the jumps, Chris cliches
bull in a china shop.
marks....he was 24 at worlds last year....4.2-4.7 / 4.3-4.8...from second to
seventh on ordinals....second overall ...and on the night.


Gheorge Chiper ROM
Oh my. He's wearing a tv test card....tangerine and red and lime and he's
skating to Black Cat White Cat soundtrack....explain it to me.
Please...trousers are black with something on the ankle. Kinda panpipey
music,,,,,doublefooted the quad toe and then down on it.....triple axel with
a turnout .....different choroegraphy......triple lz huge but
leaning....3loop.....flying camel.....3lz 2toe....crowd clap...into sit spin
to upright.....slow part as he gets his breath back for the 3ax....his wife
Sandra does all his choreography....leaning all over the 3ax and down he
went....2sal half loop triple sal just falling out of both....flying
sit....having trouble with the landings all over.......down on the
3lz.....music speeds up and he does steps into combo spin.....interesting
changes of positionand he finishes with ,I think, his back to the judges.
Chris thinks he changed his program to accomodate the quad which he didn't
do in qual, and he changed from 3sal/3toe to 3ax/3toe and that that may have
upset him. Joanne coachspeaks about the dangers of changing things this far
into the season......dwelling on the jumps far too much.....and what he did
didn't have controlled running edge on the landing. I could say much but
they're saying it for me.
marks...4.0-4.9....he's going tobe in third of ten....4.3-4.9...ordinals of
10 4 5.8.1.5.5.2 and 4!

Sergei Rylov AZE
In his tux-like unitard....gold piping around waist and down the
legs...little skinny tie.....Bizet's Carmen.....arm gestures to the
music....down on teh 3ax......crowd clap to Toreador.....2lz.....sit spin to
upright with foot caught in front of him, nice and fast and
centred......nice movements to slow himself down....2ax 2toe.....2loop with
hand down....into flying spin to sit....hop to change sit......music speeds
again....more steps and the crowd are quiet.....Joanne says he needs to get
them behind him.....2flip with the foot down, falls out of it.....steps
nicely tied to music but no real expression behind them.....his heart's not
in it and the crowd get behind him....2lutz....3flip....and
3sal....3toe.....did he hear me J&C.....2loop...flying camel to change of
positions in spins...and he's done and as Chris says there was more in the
last thirty seconds than there was in the last two minutes! It really looked
like he'd given up and then bam! three triples!
marks....he looks shattered in the kiss and cry....3.9-4.6....he's going to
be 5th...4.1-4.7......ordinals from 4th to 11th.

Danilchenko Kostin Chiper Smalun Rylov Kozlov....Grzegorczyk Shmerkin
Berntsson Tupikov Van der Perren are the current standings.

Marcus Leminen FIN
Drool bucket? Check. Spare? Also check. Mark-in-the-studio calls him the
Finnish Flash....if only babe, if only......they've just said that he still
trains at Mariposa with Doug Leigh.Black trousers, white shirt, black
waistcoat....very nice....bluesy kinda music to start....3lz2toe made it
look easy.....3ax next.....woohooo!!!! yes! nailed it!
3toe......steps.......music isn't blues but I can't place it...he
stops.....kisses his hand..oh, to be that hand...steps...flying
sit.....nice......3loop!....camel to sit..to upright...change sit....could
be more centred.....crowd clap....2flip....shut up chris he says he looks
tired...double axel landed with arms folded, was planned 3ax.....slow
steps.....spirals.....twizzley things....flying camel.....nice
position....goes to upright.......2sal got it all wrong! 2 sal when he did
it again,,,,,flying sit...........to upright....crowd holler......he opens
the waistcoat, touches his heart to finsih.....keep going, don't stop there!
If Philippe can do it so can you! Chris is raving about the triple axel at
the start...then it looked like he just ran out of steam....huge triple axel
right out of the top drawer......Joanne says he didn't miss anything until
he started to get tired.....
marks...4.5-5.1.....we're hoping for top ten, he's 11th right
now.....4.7-5.3....all but RUS have him first.

Robert Kazimir SVK
Hometown boy......Jozef at the boards.......Black trousers, white shirt,
dark blue waistcoat......SDTK Dragonheart....I'm not going to make an Elvis
related comment......flying camel spin to start....3flip....very
nice....3ax, just held onto it!...scratchy landing and he has anice back
spiral....camel...he rotates the other way I notice......3lz3toe....and the
crowd roar! 3sal......he's flying!...camel to sit change camel to
sit......slow part.....2ax......slows to a crawl and does a triple loop
which he doesn't get around on ....then a double lutz.....getting
tired.....triple toe.....sit really low!...change sit......circular step and
the crowd clap and clap some more......and he's done! I have rarely heard a
louder crowd but he absolutely deserves it, it was great! Not Elvis great
mind you, but pretty good. He's in 10th at the moment, so this is bad news
for my dear Marcus, cause he won't overtake Kazimir. There's no way he'll
drop out of the top ten after that......but how high will he be?
marks.....4.9-5.4.....they've really gone with him!... 5.0-5.5... and they
all have him first. Well done!

Frederic Dambier FRA
And now the French get in on the act....I must say, I'd hate to be in his
shoes right now! There's Stephane Bernadis with a camera in the
crowd......Dambier is wearing brown trousers and ivory shirt...those French
know how to dress....Waltz of Montrez...then Walk the
Reeds.......3ax2toe....spreadeagle....doublefooted the quad sal and short on
rotation......steps....3lz.....slide to a stop, then steps to flying
sit.....to upright....3flip.....camel to sit.....change with butterfly to
sit....nice spinner.....pops the ax to a single.....spreadeagle....and
another after steps.....3loop.....upright spin....straight line
step.....nifty footwork....triple sal double toe......3toe.....sit change
sit really quick...to upright and that's that ,and he's thrilled! Finished
right on the music....he gets a grin from Pierre Trent as he comes off the
ice....so close to the quad!...
marks....5.1-5.5....5.0-5.5...3 have him second, the rest first, he's first
overall.

Stephane Lambiel SUI
Wearing blue....white band around the waist, and under his arms and on the
sides.....Freton (SP).....3flip 3toe and it was huge!.....this kid is only
15....3lz 3toe!.....he's got one heck of a knee bend in the
jumps......double axel....sit spin....NO!! the butt spin run for your life!
this is the combo spin, with incredible positions and I'm getting stiff
looking at him!.....3loop......camel....to sit....wow! the speed! vchange
foot, still no loss of speed.......what do they put in the water in
Switzerland to make spinners like this?....incredible.....3sal....3lz....and
he can't miss!....how can he be 15?....steps and the crowd get behind
him.....2ax.....should've been a combo.....steps....stars into butterfly to
back sit and more amazing spins and oh my good grieg how does he do
that!!!!!!! And he's done, a little behind the music, but when you spin like
that, who cares???? People are on their feet...he was in 7th place....and
his first time out to skate like that...he has it all. THe only thing he
doesn't have is the triple axel and quad and at fifteen, he's got time. We
are seeing some serious skating here you know that?
marks...5.0-5.4....that's the lack of triple axel right there.....go
up...crowd whistle....4.9-5.4....he's second overall.....and on the
night..behind Dambier ahead of Kazimir.

Ivan Dinev BUL
In navy...white shirt...navy half waistcoat...he is in 12th.....showing a
little chest....hand down on the quad toe......triple axel.....flying
sit...dancing on the spot....steps.....3lz.....music there was hella
loud...quietening down now......thank God.....slow part,
steps.....expressive arm waving......spirals........incl mini spreadeagle
and ina bauer.....triple axel double toe this doesn't look good for my
finnish favourite....combo spin......3loop.....step
sequence.....presentation has dropped Joanne feels and I thought it was
me.....flying camel to sit...this is slow...Joanne agrees.....double
flip.....starting to tire.....triple flip....and he's down and down hard on
the triple sal....sit spin......steps butterfly and finish...behind the
music. Chris calls this the real Ivan Dinev, not the man we saw in the short
program.....Joanne calls it flat most of the way through...lack of linking
movements......
marks.....5.3-5.6......5.2-5.6....he leads.

Vakhtang Murvanidze GEO
Have I mentioned I love Vakhtang? Because I do. I really do. I think he's
great. He's in a white shirt, black trousers and suspenders.....bow tie
undone...Godfather sdtk......just held ont o3ax! worked hard for it! down on
the 3flip....camel...change camel nicely done.......back to the baords for
the straight line step......except he does a 2flip......slide
spiral.....bestisquat leaning back....ina bauer.....pops the loop to a
single.....flying camel.....I had to praise him didn't i?????? more steps
and emoting.....and a single azel and doublefooted...JOanne calls it a
double....triple lutz......triple toe......upright spin.....still keeping
the theme.....steps....and the crowd are eating it up!....3flip, on two
feet,,,,triple toe?another leaning besti squat and triple sal....camel spin
to sit......to upright.........to sit.....to upright...and he's
done....wonderful interpretation, great to watch, it wasn't his fault that
the Jeanine curse came along and hit him full whack.
marks....4.6-5.2.....eep....he's in 5th....4.9-5.3...
5th with 6 to go....so just outside the top ten....Marcus is 6th....

Warmup for final group!

Evgeny Plushenko RUS
In black ...sparkles....much chest please make it stop..gold gloves.....and
cut your hair. 4toe3toe2loop! nailed it! drums start....another quad!
steps....including posey steps on the ice.....sharp movements....little
crook of the finger there.....triple axel triple toe......flying
camel......hips swivel and the crowd go wild......steps...very well
done...and he's selling it more than the last time isaw him......triple
sal.....sit spin to upright to half upright......3lz.....panpipes
begin......he catches foot in a biellman spiral........fast
footwork.....nails the 3flip.....and leaning on the loop but gets
it.....drums come up and the crowd clap......combo spin incl a
biellman....he shakes his arms.....does a butterfly into another combo sin
and he's done! and I am actually sittinghere, having taken a break from
typing to applaud him. Yes, you read that right. He was awesome. And he
knows it. And if that is going to be beaten then I can't wait to see it.
Just incredible. Not a foot wrong...the power of him......no nerves, no
fatigue, no nothing. I'm telling you, I saw this at a GP event...not sure
which one, and my initial thought was that he wasn't feeling the music....it
was as if it had been choreographed for Urmanov and he said no thanks and
Plushy got it. But this time he sold it and sold it. It was much stronger
than it's ever been, he's so confident, he's feeling the music.....he's
improved so much artistically this year, it's unreal. And I'm telling you
right now, that if he improves again from this year to next, and keeps this
routine (and I think maybe he should) and keeps up the jumps, I'm telling
you, I can't see it being beaten in Salt Lake City. It was THAT good. And
I'm not a huge fan by any manner of mean, but yeesh!
marks....5.8-6.0! One 6! And he leapt to his feet! The Japanese does 6!
5.8-6.0 and 2 6s! Slovenia and somewhere else!


Stanick Jeannette FRA
Green/grey.....multicoloured dark tones at the top...and ruffles around the
v neck....kill the ruffles please......he knocks on the
door......interesting steps.....and he pops the triple toe to a
double.....3ax2toe....triple flip......flying sit...nearly lost
that!....look at that, free leg over his shoulder! still in a half sit
too!......steps.....great choreography.....triple axel, just held
it!.....slide along the ice....sit spin change sit.....linking steps are
great says Joanne...crowd clap.....3lz, easy as you
like......2loop.....3sal.....3toe....camel to sit change sit....waves arms
to get the crowd up...he's pushing himself...slides on the ice again,
another little jump....combo spin......variations in position are great! Snd
he's done and he's smiling! He's happy.....really enjoyed that, it was
great. He's got a good chance of third (or had, before I typed that) And
it's so different....he's going all the time, flat out.....
marks...5.3-5.6....good.....5.5-5.8....he's second across the board.

Sergei Davydov BLR
Dear me, that's a blue bolero jacket.....white shirt, skinny black tie,
black trousers....Mask of Zorro.....little slippy steps.....3ax3toe! builds
up speed for lutz....and he's down on the triple! no elevation....went too
soon.....sat on the loop a long time and has to turn out of it....camel
spin........2lz.....just can't get it....falling over as he turned
forwards......3lz got it, only just, turned out of it.....camel to sit to
layback change camel to sit to upright.......df on the triple
sal.....layback spin.....crowd getting behind him.....as he does the
steps....flying sit....which is nice and fast.....steps with wavy
arms.....spins around on one knee, holds out sword...the end. What a pity
says Chris and one must agree. the occasion got to him says Chris..this is
his first Euros and to be in the final group.....pretty overwhelming.
Started well...but....Joanne is on a rant again about changing the program
to try to get the jump in as he did.....a few have done that tonight.
marks....from here the jacket looks purple....I give up on the rink
lighting...I've made more changes in this week......k4.7-5.4.....he's going
to be 6th....5.0-5.9...I think the 9th judge made a mistake.....she still
has him 4th though....odd....

Alexei Yagudin RUS
Here we go.....same costume as all season.......he's going to have to go
some to beat Plushenko.....Gladiator......first is quad.....quad triple!
nailed it! and he looks focussed......and just hangs onto a second...it
waasn't flawless......he was leaning on it....C&J have called it second and
he pops the axel into a single and now they say it's definitely
second........slow part......he stops throws his hands to
heaven.....3flip....3ax3toe and pumps the hands...he needed that!
Steps.....3loop......flying sit.....sit....to combo spin......which is slow
it must be said.....he's working hard and you can see
it......spreadeagle.....3sal.....3lutz and he's
thrilled...spin.......steps....now he can sell this and he is...that was the
last jump and I can hrdly hear the music as he throws himself around the
ice...final combo spin.......finished! and he covers heis face with his
hands and he's nearly in tears......the crowd are standing....and he is in
tears......Chris has tingles up his spine....7triples 2 quads and they love
him........he is pumping his fists at centre ice.....it was a great skate,
but there were a couple of errors...artistically, Joanne thinks we can see
6s but she still can't see anyone other than Plushy taking the gold...and I
agree with her.Although Yags would've won any other competition.....he put
his heart and soul into it...
marks...will we all be wrong...what a night........5.6-5.9....mostly
5.8s....all five nines and one 5.8....2 have him first but the rest
second.....he can't believe it, but he's standing and smiling....he didn't
see Plushy skate.

What a night

Alexander Abt RUS
Judge Dredd goes Red. Gladiator. What can he do? and he's down on the quad
toe.....triple axel which may have been two footed, double toe loop
combo.....and he's down on the 3lz......camel spin......Chris says what I am
thinking re Stanick......combo spin from Abt........steps across the
ice.....raises hands to heaven.....and he's a hand down and down on the
triple axel.......crowd try to get behind him....spiral......triple
flip.....flying camel.....3loop....flying
sit........steps......3sal...........steps.....he looks tired.....double
toe.....flying sit to upright........and he's down on one knee and he looks
wrecked! ......He did well...he collapsed on his way back to the dressing
room after qualifying what with the sinus thing....he was running on fumes
today...but he kept trying........Chris has just annointed Stanick with the
bronze......god forgive me, but do you know how hard it is to type with
crossed fingers??? He's been through so much this week and I must say, I
feel so bad for him....fair play, he didn't stop trying.
marks......5.0-5.5...I can hear the French commentary from the next
booth!....he's got his head on his coach's shoulder...he's
ashen.....5.3-5.7....he's white....the coach is calling over the
doctor...he's not well at all....
and he's fourth!!
Stanick has the bronze...

Andrejs Vlascenko GER
4th in the short, 5th overall....can he win a medal? Can he hold his
nerves...several thoughts.....Oooh! Notre Dame de Paris, I love this! Navy
outfit...understated by his standards......with a silver cross I spoke too
soon..and he pops the axel to a single.....anyone remember the last time he
skated last at Euros???? and he does a nice triple sal.....FYI last time he
skated last was 97..the year of the messy marks that helped bring in
OBO..skating late in the group does not suit him at all, he did the same
thing skating late in Helsinki..he's much better going early....another
single axel.....and he getss the lutz all wrong.....does a triple
toe......sit spins......music slows.....he joins his hands in prayer......a
little late methinks but hey! Nice combo spin.....good changes in
position.....spreadeagle......Joanne likes the choreography.....triple
flip......triple loop...the slow music has calmed him....flying
camel.....bells ring......music speeds audience clap.....steps......straight
line step....innovative steps as Joanne calls them.....triple sal double
toe...into butterlfy....into final combo spin including a layback........and
he's done.......he redeemed something says Chris although not the
performance he was looking for. Joanne liked it...very graceful.....I liked
the music....the choreography wasn't bad either, although I"m not a big
fan.....
marks......4.7-5.3...there are whistles but it's fair......he's gonna be
6th....4.8-5.6.....3 10ths, a 13th....3 7ths a 9th and a 4th.
he's 6th

Plushy
Yags
Jeannette
Abt
Davydov
Vlascenko
Dinev
Danbier
Lambiel
Kazimir
Murvanidze
Leminen
Danilchenko
Kostin
Chiper
Smalun
Rylov
Kozlov
Grzegorczyk
Shmerkin
Berntsson
Tupikov
Van der Perren