This review is brought to you somewhat belatedly due to seven hour time
differences, lack of live coverage, and a one day sci-fi convention, which
meant I had to tape it and review it when I came home....it may be coherent,
but I make no promises!

We have Simon Reed and Chris Howarth in doing commentary, as we will have
for the whole competition, unless I'm live, because then it's Auntie Beeb
with Robin Cousins and Barry Davies. Yes, I don't think Eurosport are doing
live coverage. I could be wrong

Bestandigova and Bestandig SVK
She's still in the black dress with the pink hari...him in white shirt and
black trousers, silver spangles on side....Michael Jackson....miming to
music on centre ice....the stands are empty....she singles her axel, he
doubles his....split double twist is nice....were into thriller
here....throw...triple sal and she was leaning all the way on that ...s/s
ssit to camel to sit spins and you could hear him call the change, good
unision and timing....lift as we go into earht song and she didn't look
happy all the way up there! straight line step to billie jean....I wish
there were more people here for this....slight loss of unison but it got it
back well....death spiral as Chris tells us the steps weren't that
difficult...nice low death spiral though...pairs psins which are quite
slow....and the door is closed and they're done. Tentative start says Simon
and I can't disagree...this would have done better later on with more people
here, and Simon too comments on the half full arena....Nicky postulates that
they're still trying to get in because of security!....throw, just hung onto
it, turn straight out of it, but didn't she do well!
marks 3.6-4.1....4.1-4.5

and we go to a break and this is where I begin to appreciate video tape....

Bereshnaia and Sikharulidze RUS
She's in a lovely pale cream dress, he's in matching top and slightly darker
cream trousers.....Sdtk Lady California Ennio Morricone.....you see the
flwo and power from the start....and clean on the s/s triple toes...turns
going into them....spirals....throwclean as you like, triple loop....huge
huge split double twist....s/s spins.....not great unison at first but got
it back just before the change and kept it well.....lift...with a menosand
flippy dismount...steps....lots of little hoppy turns....and did he just
stumble slightly there? steps into death spiral....and she's not very low at
all there, and i've seen way better...pairs spin to end....and they're
done...Simon is in raptures...outstanding he calls it....technically it was
good, artistically it left me cold, but that's just me...Chris praises the
choreography, and it really was lovely...but just didn't do it for me....and
that death spiral was woefully woeful. throw was huge - she was two feet in
the air when she was opening for the landing....
marks 5.7-5.8 (7)....5.8-5.9(1)...

Ponomareva and Sviridov UZB
She's in grey dress, him in matching shirt and black trouses....very
nondescript clothing I must say...Turandot....and she doubles the toe and he
falls out of his...his was a triple ....split double twist with a heavy
landing....throw triple sal and she was leaning and touched down with the
free foot....s/s spins that started off horribly...got it back in the middle
and lost it badly on the exit....lift she didn't look happy at the start but
it got there and went to one hand nicely....pairs spin....very slow pairs
spin....he drags her backwards by the foot...that's charming
that....steps...very simple and it still looks as if he can't do it...death
sprial...which is very pretty...albeit slow...and that's the end of that
then! he did get three turns but couldn't get the landing...and the throw
was badly double footed...chris tells us that they didn't dwell on the
mistakes which is important....Simon remarks that they sold what they had...
marks 2.9-4.0....3.9-4.5...3rd place at the moment.

Totmianina and Marinin RUS
My lilac lovlies once again...pale with flowers for her, darker with black
pants for him....star and death is the cheery title...d/s to start...and
that was lovely....he dips and slides her....goes round the houses....throw
triple loop....nice and high and long...and around for the triple
toes...both clean if snow did fly up....s/s spins...camelchange to camel
nicely done but quite far away....split double twist...liftwith her right
leg bent and comes down in the smae position as she was in the
airs.....stesp....pairs spin to finish with her in biellman at one
point....and they're done. Not the overall quality of B&S says Simon, and
Chris and I agree...B&S had better flow and speed overall, choreography was
also better for them (although neither one of them blew me away I have to
say) (and aren't the spectators far away from the ice?)
marks 5.4-5.6...wave to Oleg everyone (Vassiliev) ....5.4-5.7...solid
second.

Shen and Zhao CHN
Blue dress for her, black top blue shoulders for him...Kismet....Lea Ann
Miller did the choreogrpahy....she looks so much more confident this
year....huge throw triple loop! enormous! wow!....yes! s/s tripel
toes.....s/s besti squats in a slide...lift....made it look easy, good fluid
change of position....nice changes of hold and position in the steps....d/s
she's facning the ice and it's nice and low///s/s spins....great
timing...gretting further apart as they go though....and loosing synch on
way out....huge split double twist....pairs spin....and they're done and
that was great! Technically fantastic, and so much more oomph than I'm used
to seeing from them, and I didn't expect that at all! Chris raves about the
energy of these two, and I can't fault him on his remarks...to me, this was
much more arresting than the Russians....Chris talks about the mistake on
the timing of the spins...Simon talks of the quad sal that they want to put
in the free...has been coming off time after time in practice we
hear....loved it. so they're screwed then.
marks 5.6-5.8...5.5-5.7...second at the moment.

Sale and Pelletier CAN
And I bless Eurosport for taking a break at this point, that I can better
hyperventilate and not miss anything. I also resist the urge to log on and
find out how they skated before looking at this footage...She's in a grey
dress with squares on the front of it....he's all in black.
Yum....yum.....he's got lipstick on his collar....and as I try to get that
infernal song out of my head for the rest of the night, I wonder where I
can get a job like that....this is the tango..yes throw triple sal....look
at that look!...yes! little out of synch but triple toes are fine...and
she's smiling now! split double teist.....pairs spin.....great interp of the
music there....he does his little boucney thing...s/s spins.....great timing
on the change....and on the way out....this is great this is.....littles
teps, prefect unison....was that a little kiss there? lift....great changes
of position and upside down dismount.....death spiral...which is better than
B&S....and she adjussts him finishing pose...and thye fall down! he was
bending her back and she just overbalnced and they do it again right! And
I'm reminded of Artur Dmitriev doing much the same thing...big smiles from
the centre ice, and that for me was better than the Russians....and Chris
tells us that if the judges need an excuse that fall at the end will be in
the second set of marks.....but I loved it.This is not a big surprise I
know...aand we see the fall from the other angle...kept smiling
marks...5.6-5.8....5.8-5.9(2) better on pres, not on first and they're in
second. 1sts from Can and Ger.

Zagorska and Siudek POL
She's in the bright pink number, he's in tux less the jacket and bow tie
undone....and he's down on the triple toe and she doubled....oh dear...split
double twist....nice and high plenty of air there....s/s spins....not great
at start or on change....loose it every time they get in a new
position....throw...triple sal and she couldn't hold it, hand to put a foot
down...straight line step...bell rings in the middle of it, and they stopa
and start again...d/s....nicely done....pose on the centre ice as we go
into sing sing sing....lift....with a meno sand flip out taht has the crowd
oohing...pairs spin....and that's that. And she just looks devastated. He
kisses her hand...and they take their bows...she was leaning all over the
place in the toe...opened up too early in the throw....she looked happy with
the flip out on the lift...nice facial expression there....
marks 4.7-5.0 might I just say ouch ouch ouch? 5.2-5.4...5th place.

Petrova and Tikhonov RUS
White dress with blue grey inserts for her, he's in hte white blouse with
blue grey waistcoat and trousers...nutcracker is the music...starts with s/s
tripel toes....and they were fine...little over the toe from both on
landing....loss of unsison in s/s spins at the start...got it back....split
double twist with a heavy catch....throw triple sal...lift with a brief stop
at the tuck position....her skate touched his neck simon tells us....she
goes under his legs....round we go ...in long sweeping glides and
crossovers, into the death spiral...and then into pairs spin....and they are
done. It was good Simon tells us, as he praises the choreography. For me, it
didn't have the inbetween stuff of the other Russians or the Canadians,
certainly not the Canadians! Chris tells us that there were little flaws in
each element...the landing onthe toes, stutters in the lift, not quite the
speed across the ice of the otehrs.....weight rocking on the landing of the
throw as well...
marks 5.4-5.6....5.4-5....5th place at the moment.

Ina and Zimmerman USA
He's all in black...looks like leather trousers . She's in silver
dress....flamey pattern on it...and white bits on it...and I don't like it
much...he looks fine though not as fine as David...Shine on you crazy
diamond by pink floyd...I take it she's meant to be the diamond then? lots
of speed...and high split double twist....he has to work hard on the teiple
toe but he got it...really had to work to get the freee leg around....steps
to throw triple loop and she nailed that one....s/s spins and it looked like
he lost it for a sec on the camel...but they got it back really
well...great unison...lift...as confident as you like and she lies on her
stomach in the middle of it....straight line steps....death spiral.....low
as it could be...pairs spin..and well might the crowd roar because this is
something else...natalia death spin done as well as ever I've seen it done,
and that includes by natalia and that was great....and I'm as surprised as
anyone because the lord above knows that I am not a fan of these two....but
that was something special....don't know how he hung onto that triple
toe....that throw was gorgeous nad the expression on her face on the way out
was a picture! lift was great too...kept the speed up...and she's beaming at
the end!
marks 5.3-5.5...5.3 is from America...I kid you not!.....5.5-5.7...they're
in fifth.

Scott and Dulebohn USa
Black skirt for her trousers for him, blue tops....hers is shiny. His is
not. Heartbreak Hotel...ah....Elvis.....sigh....s/s triple toes and down she
goes....looked fine in the air....shes' still smiling
though...lift....change to star lift and flip over and out...and she does a
splitty thing as he holds her....throw triple sal and shes down agaon on the
landing and that was a bad one...she thought she had it...split double twist
and that didn't look great either...s/s steps...diagonal...nice
unison....s/s spins....good good good.....into pairs spins....and areound we
go into the death spiral.......she shakes her hand but would have been
better employed trying to go lower.....she was fine in the toe, could've
made it....throw has too muhch outisde edge on the landing and she thought
she had it and just slipped down which is why it looked like such a bad fall
and was....his left wrist looks bandaged...
marks 4.4.4.6....5.0-5.3...8th place. Could've been worse

Langlois and Archetto CAN
Red dress for her, red shirt and black trousers for him...nice dress for
her...one of the nicest of the night.....spanish music....nice presence form
the start.....throw triple sal and that was low! Did the foot stay
off...split double twist not much height on that either....s/s toes and she
doubled and he double offted....s/s spins....lost it on the change...and do
they spin the other way ...not on the pairs spin I don't think.....or do
they? steps...nicely done to the music....and again where she's leaning back
and he's spinning her...they do that a lot....lift.....never went to one
hand....d/s....change of position midway through....and they're done...that
was nice actually. Troubles with the jumps, but it was a nice routine, lots
to admire in it....Simon tells us the story of how she fractured her skull
when they just began to skate together, practiced in helmet...we see replay
of throw...foot did touch down, but there was no weight transfer there...but
it was just no control there....
marks ...as we see Josee Picard and get the edited highlights of the career
of Brasseur and Eisler.....4.2-4.8...4.8-5.2. 9th place.

Pang and Tong CHN
Great skies of blue! Which is what the outfits are...all kinds of shades of
blue, from the dark at the bottom to the light at the top...kind of abstract
and geometrical, and kind of blinding.....and men should not wear puff
sleeves...really....they won 4CC??? Not much height diff I notice as the
piano tries to soothe me...and fails.....as does he at the triple toe...on
the two feet did he land it but hers was fine....huge throw triple
sal....chris tells us there was time for another turn in there....huge huge
huge split double twist...she could have cleaned the lightbulbs when she was
up there....s/s spins....not too sure of the timing at times....s/s
steps...circular pattern, but at times it looked messy...in unison but
messy....lift very slow...she was lying on her side up there...pairs
spin....and skate for a little. death spiral...nice and low...and they're
done. Simon notes the crowd has filled out now...he seemed to open out too
early on triple toe....throw was incredible...what do they put in the water
in China to make them throw like that? They just fly, the two pairs do....
marks 4.8-5.1...and the crowd do not like those at all....5.0-5.3..and
they're in 8th

Chuvaeva and Palamarchuk UKR
She's wearing her ragamuffin dress, with the criss-crosses and the black and
the pink, and he's in the black trousers with the manly hot pink tshirt and
the manly black sashy-tunicy thingummy there....bluesy music...which I will
name in amoment....s/s jumps...and she got the take off all wrong on the toe
but did it....timing all off, but both landed it...huge split
2twist....throw 3sal not quite, had to step out of it....lift...good speed
but the exit looked too rushed...steps ....and s/s camels to sit....he's
spinning faster than her, change sit...position nad timing was off....death
spiral...and that is low! Shes almost lying on the ice...pairs
spin....nicely centred....and they're done. And yeah. It was okay, nothing
special. For me, he doesn't have the spark with her that he did with Julia
Obertas....and yes, the timing on the toes was wildly off,,,and Chris points
out that thye have different techniques going in...he points out the
dodginess of hte death spiral...she was trying to get the hip was all the
way...
marks 4.5-4.8...4.8-5.0...11th place

Savchenko and Morozov UKR
And oh my God what is he wearing? Crimson trousers (skirt for her) and
flamey goldy inserts on the top which might be seethrough....she's the same
but it don't look as bad on the dress ...and the top is seethrough with gold
and crimson flamey things...cripes....that's scary looking....music is Sabre
Dance....triple toes were good....ooh! almost a lateral twist there ands he
almost got away from him....and that throw was all wrong...only a single
sal....lift....and he didn't look confident in the steps as I reflect that
one cannot do justic to this music unless your name is Scott Hamilton
....s/s spins were miles apart slow and not well timed....s/s steps...see
earlier Scotty comment....and she loosk in danger of overbalanceing on
them...death spiral...scrappy looking...pairs spins....one with her in
biellman....and they're done and he runs a hand through his hair...as does
she....her hair that is, not his....he nearly lost her on the landing of the
twist....she just took the jump too early on the throw chris tells us and
she did good to stay upright at all....she's almost in tears in the kiss and
cry...
marks 4.2-4.9... 4.6-5.1...they're 12th

Kautz and Jeschke GER
Shes in black and crimson with sparkles, him in black and crimson...wild
things is the music...straight to jumps...and they nail them...s/s triple
toes....split double twist, not very hight at all....throw triple toe didn't
look the best in the air but she made it count....lift ....goes to one
hand...looked kinda slow but the crowd liked it...death spiral....she has to
work to get down but she does it....steps...pairs spin.....into s/s
spins...and that's all wrong that is...got it back on the change...he was
late going into the initial camel...and that's the end of them and they look
happy. Not the style and charisma of some of the other pairs, but they did
the elements and did them well....she was leaning on the triple toe but kept
the hand off....
marks 4.4-4.9...4.4-5.1...10th and an unhappy crowd.

Zhang and Zhang CHN
Red and black from both...3rd at 4CC....I know this music...I do....throw
triple sal and stright into triple toes! wow! s/s spins....just a little out
of synch in the spins...straight line step..Chris says they had trouble with
the tech of camle spin...nice steps here though..not tricky but well
done....lift....went to one hand really early adnd stayed there....death
spiral...stop, and dance on centre ice...pairs spin.....moving all over the
place.....and some of the positions looking a little ungainly....split
double twist with a huge delay....and she waaited a long time before
rotating, and I desperately hope that my "oooh" on that didn't wake my mum
up....cause it could have done...and the crowd are standing...not the
choreography of the others but the technical is so wow you won't believe
it...throw to s/s jumps...lift, he never lost his speed all the way
through....the delay on that twist was something else....wow....there are
tassles on her dress if you're interested..just saw them now...
marks 5.0-5.3...and the crowd are not happy campers....4.8-5.3...8th place.

Berankova and Dlabola CZE
Pink dress for her..very little back to it. All black for him, save the
ruffly thing on his shoulder....birds cheep in the musci.....triple toes are
well landed but the timing at the start was a little off....split double
twist...throw teriple sal and that was good...she did well because he took
her around the corner on the take off...lift....and again, nicely
done...looked hardo nthe take off but got it...pairs spins are well timed
but scrappy looking....she's flapping her arm every now and then...death
spiral is nice...straight line step....losing his footing...a little not a
lot....pairs spin....and that's that. 15th in Nagano they were.....triple
toes were solid although Chris and I both note that they drifted apart a
lot....throw she really had to work on...length wasn't graet because he took
her so far around the corner...she says hi to her mammy, you gotta love
that...
marks 4.9-5.3... 4.9-5.1...7th place. and they're happy.

Lariviere and Faustino CAN
Nice lilac dress for her, nice and simple. Darker for him...start facing one
another...Elgar Salute D'Amour <sp?> throw triple sal to start, bit of lean
on landing but it's all good....split double twist and I loved the extension
of her arms on landing....and they both go down on the triple toes, just as
Simon says they look sharp...no unison at all on the first spins however,
but they got it again on the cahnge.....and its a shame because thye looked
so nice...lift....that was better. they needed that. steps...death
spiral...around into pairs spins.....and stop...and you can see it in her
face, just for a second before they assume their ending pose....throw wasn't
high but made it....split twist was a beauty....triple toes set up from
choctaws and both seemed to swing at it...Simon says she was short on
rotation, and in the five billion replays that we see, he's right....
marks and they train in Mariposa! well, why didn't you say so? 4.4-4.9...and
a grimace from her....4.7-5.3...13th place.

And that's that for tonight...back on Monday night/Tuesday morning/ Wed
afternoon, whichever! Hopefully I'll be live for part of it, but we'llsee
what happens!