This might be hard to follow...Eurosport are showing highlights right now,
but I caught some of this on ARD live this afternoon....so whoever was out
of the Eurosport show, but I saw on ARD, I'll do from memory at the end.
Opening ceremony with the local skaters.....with someone else on the ice,
singing in French. Warmly received by the 10,000 capacity crowd....Chris is
talking about relaxing on the beach before the skating....I look out the
window at all the rain we've had today and grind my teeth.....

Sale and Pelletier
Prince medley.....Cream /Kiss...matching vinyl trousers, she in a black
halter top...him in a loose black shirt which just begs to be ripped of
him......Jeanine goes to a happy visual place as they do a great
lift......I'm back, as he chases her about the ice....she should be chasing
him....oh no, that's me....throw single sal.....great light show from
Nice.....split single twist, meant to be....lift with her upside down, him
in spreadeagle...as the music changes to Kiss....going back to the happy
visual place......step sequence, and I love their unison! spins....and
they're done. Great fun says Simon. Impressive one handed lift there in the
slomos........

Plushy comes out as they go to commercial.....he was in his white LP
costume, which he was in when he did the russian shtick in the gala at
Euros.....Eurosport might be doing me a favour here and cutting with a rusty
hatchet....hoping! Nothing against the kid, but I wasn't mad on the russian
thing the first time around....two years and umpteen reps later, it loses
it's shine altogether!

And we're back....and they didn't!! PLsuhy....OK, I'm in trauma....that is
way too much of his chest than I ever wanted to see!!!! And might I just add
in here.......GET A NEW PROGRAM ALREADY!!!! triple toe.....crowd
clap......I yawn.....he singles the axel, puts in a double...flying
camel.......steps.....hands a-flutter.....pose pose pose......move arms
expressively to the music.......double axel......music speeds up as he flaps
about like a demented chicken......this has so little appeal for me, this is
the only way I can get through it, sorry fans of Plushy.....triple lutz, not
bad .......inside spreadeagle......more looking at his hands
expressively......biellman position in the spiral.....triple flip......sit
spin...change sit....again, he wonders if he washed his hands as he stares
at them expressively.....crowd clap....he triple toes.....triple
loops.....how long does this thing go on....the crowd cheer as he
poses.......camel to sit to biellman....cit....upright....thankfully the
music ends and so does he. Smiles from him....and Simon says it was his
free, slightly modified.....explains the length.....Chris says it'd be
interesting to see him do something different...he's stuck in the Russian
folk theme. Amen!!!!!!

Lobacheva and Averbukh
Tutti Frutti......again, more of his chest than I ever wanted to
see....she's in a flourescent peach number....get a new program! He's in
vinyl trousers as well...was there a sale on them???? To be fair, this isn't
the worst program ever......it's just they've had it for three years,
including competitions.........and he does sell it...... I don't mind it as
much since I've seen it in person....and at least it moves and it's short!
And we get to hear Simon gush about Irina which is always fun.....

Maria Butyrskaya
Habanera...apologies for spelling.....yellow barely there top with black
polka dots, and the trousers which I am still convinced they stitch her
into...with the yellow flames out the back. Triple
toe.....2loop.......spin.....stops right on the music....moves back to start
the straight line step which is bang on in time with the music, and I can
almost hear Simon and Chris drooling as she nails the double
axel.......illusion spin.....and she sells it for all she is worth......more
steps....spiral....little hoppy steps as the music nears an end....little
shimmies as she goes along....spin, more steps and shimmy and she's done! I
like it! And so do Simon and Chris...oh what a surprise!!!

Abitbol and Bernadis
OK. That's an ugly dress she has on. Mask of Zorro...picture your spanish
dress, all white...that's it. Does nothing for her. She's on her own on the
ice....spiral from her, and I'm still stuck on how uglythat dress is.....ina
bauer, which she does well.....about a foot of length and 6 ruffles need to
come off that skirt! Bells ring....she points....here is our masked man!
LIterally! Smoke, black cape, hat mask the whole bit!! you flap that cloak!
sword at his hip, the whole bit! they irish dance in the centre of the ice,
as he whips about the sword....and off falls her dress to reveal a much
more flattering gold number as we go into I want to spend my life time
loving you.....he has lost the cape and hat and sword.....keeps the
mask.....lovely lift......as Sarah sings along.....this is fabulous....they
did a jump which I missed......spin.....where he's swinging her
around........lift....she spins alone as he watches. then runs to her...they
skate....throw axel...double and it was a beauty.......another lift.....into
a platter lift.........fantastic!! Super!! If I was there I'd be standing!
And a little dog runs onto the ice and it can't get a grip!! Oh my god, that
was so good! Amazing! Fantastic! I've said that already, but it needs to be
said again! 7s on a scale of 6! 11 on a scale of 10!! And now Mambo No
5....Stephane has lost the shirt...unfortunately there was a white tshirt on
underneath....one armed lift....now he spins her around....headbanger in a
split position.....that wasn't choreographed, the music was just
playing....oh that was great!!! The crowd have gone wild! Oh that was
terrific!

Eurosport have gone on a break so I can get my breath back!

And back we go....

Drobiazko and Vanagas
Sunrise at Alcatraz, but not in the usual outfits. He looks as fine as he
ever has in black trousers and a black tshirt....shiny black tshirt, there
must have been a sale on the material! She has a little black top on and
black trousers....and they are fairly motoring around the ice! And they
stop....and move slowely,,,and spin....I love the spins they have,they're
always so unusual and so difficult....as are the lifts.....and the
transition from one move into the next is seamless! so tricky....lift where
he's squatting she's right out in front of him...facing the same
way.....drum beats and intricate footwork.....and they end right on the
music! Again, terrific!
Simon and Chris tell us they've been grinning ear to ear since they got the
news....

Oh my God....and several other things which are deleted because people would
throw me off lists for improper language

Michael Weiss....in gold lame trousers (can't figure out how to get an acute
on the last e but you know what I mean) and a multicoloured shirt.....to U
Can't Touch THis (thankfully, I insert, I don't want to touch it) and
Superfreak (that he is) He's done jumps and spins but he started standing
on his head, and now he's gyrating his hips.....in those trousers......and
he's hopping around the ice to MC Hammer....oh god make him stop!! eeeee!!!
he's breakdancing! on ice!! eeew!!! being back Carmen!! he just gets a
triple toe...sit change sit.....oh good grief, make it stop!! back
flip...not long now!! and more breakdancing....and it's over.

I'll shut my mouth now.

Irina Sluteskaya
Free Yourself is the music...starts of with a layback spin....a beautiful
purple dress....and a triple something to start.....and the music goes all
beaty and drummy .....great back spiral....splits......as she vamps around
the place.....not sure about this....biellman.....single axel.....combo spin
incl biellman....double biellman!! to finish....lovely skating. Not sure
about the music, I must admit. But she looks great, and again, the quality
of the skating was great.

Shen and Zhao
Matching clothes! and eurosport decide to take a break.....and they come
back in the same place....shiny black trousers....what is it with them!
White shirts....Crazy by Julio Inglesias............and I like it already!
It's very gentle soft skating....lift where she's holding onto him upside
down.....pairs spin....ends with her sitting on his lap......huge split
double twist.....lift with her upside down him in spreadeagle, changes to
him in besti squat her horizontal in his arms.....footwork...this is so
sweet!! Lift where he carries her......throw triple loop and that was
perfect!! ooooooh.......the ending is so cute!! So sweet!! I love it! That
was just fantastic! Such a departure for them!

Elvis!!!
What I LIke About You....you got an hour???? He claps, I scream, the
lighting guy has a field day! He schmoozes the crowd, waves to
them........he's having a ball! 3lutz.....and he smiles.....mimes
dancing.....points to someone in the crowd.....and for the bazillionth time
I wish I was there!! double axel......footwork......I love this
program.....going back to the happy visual place once more......more miming
of dancing to "keep me warm at night.".....he hugs someone in the
crowd....hug me!! hug me!! points to someone in the
crowd...again...sigh.....and he finishes bang on the music!!! Simon gushes a
little more.....reckons Elvis got just as much enjoyment from the silver as
any of his world titles...."god, did he give that program some rice" says
Chris.....the whole chicken curry I reckon but what do I know???

And thankfully Eurosport pick now to go on yet another interminable add
break.....this is what I hate about tape delayed stuff on Eurosport....when
I think of the skaters we've probably missed so that they can have all their
ad breaks....grrrrrr.....

Fusar-Poli and Margaglio
She has her face covered in that veil thing....he's in his smocky top and
matching trousers......snakes are charmed with their arm movements.....he
grabs at her legs.....they begin to move.....low to the ice lift.....and
she uncovers her face....she flip over ...twice....he lifts her
finally,....think they were meant to do that earlier but didn't.....mores
steps, they stop, music speeds up....movement and they're done. This did
nothing for me....

Michelle Kwan
Nice pale ivory dress...."Hands" by Jewel......lovely double axel to
start...I love her control on the landing.....triple loop......camel
spin.....triple flip and eep! down she goes! good job she didn't do that
yesterday! combo spin....right in time with the music......ina
bauer....backspiral....which she doesn't do enough of by the way....her
patented change edge spiral....god I love that move!! and she just hangs
onto the triple toe!! someone must've had a late one last night!
spin.....charlotte spiral....I also love that move! and she's done....that
was really lovely....even with the mistakes on the jumps, it was just
spellbinding.
Encore.....change edge spiral again,,,,as they play her short music....and
she does some footwork from near the end of it.....combo spin.......huge
round of applause...

Petrova and Tikhonov
OK what in the world is this! He is wearing tan trousers, a white tank top
and a reddy/pinky Hawaiian shirt....she has on a red bikini top and a white
blousy yoke, tied up at midriff and red hot pants and they're skating to
Verdi's Rigoletto....he also has a luminous yellow necktie.....patented
lift....funny bit where he tries to grab her and she elbows him......then
later on she kicks him....not sure if he's the nerd she's running away from
or running too......techno Verdi....lift with her on her side, him in a
spreadeagle.....death spiral....this is one weird program!! now she's
chasing him and swinging at him....throw 3 sal......and she calls him
over....he slides after slipping between her legs.....and thye hug and he
grabs her everywhere! A little peculiar....but it works!!!
they do an encore of a lift.

Simon reminds us of Dmitry Palamarchuk.....and says he's fine.

Alexei Yagudin
Comes out in his Tosca costume.....and that's just what he skates to.....the
ladies heartthrob Simon calls him......not this lady!! triple toe
......triple flip/toe?....triple sal a little off in the air, into a sit
spin......and he falls expressively to the floor.....the crowd gasp but he
meant it! spreadeagle.....triple flip....split jump....camel spin to
combination spin.....finito. Simon says no matter what he does, the women
would cheer him to the echo. Nothing like a sweeping generalisation. Chris
says he did a triple loop....which I may have called a sal.....Simon tells
us Alexei isn't short of female companionship....Chris says he works hard
and plays hard. Now we get "September Morning" as an encore......pops a
huge singleaxel and he travels all over on the camel spin.....triple flip or
toe.....runs along the ice....and he falls on the flying spin and smacks the
ice with a smile....as he wafts around the ice....double toe.....more
turnd.....into a sit spin, combo spin,.....and he stops...while the music
plays on.....he just got tired....and he's covering his face as if he can't
believe it....and he kneels down and kisses the ice.....

Anissina and Peizerat
And you should hear the roar!! (my mantra this week, but there you go!) A
standing ovation. And it's their Esmerelda <Dance L'Esmeralda>
program...which I raved over at Euros, and I see no reason not to repeat
every little bit of it, for the simple reason that it's SO worth repeating!
She basically plays dead for the whole routine....it starts off with her
lying "dead" in his arms, and him looking appropriately heartbroken. He also
looks fine, in a tattered beige smocky yoke, and white trousers.....artistic
dirt on his face...hair a-flying......the basic theme of the dance is that
(this is my interpretation, I'm open to correction) is that she's dead -
head lift there, gotta put that in- and he's dancing with her, begging her
not to leave him......and at the end, she does and skates away from him. But
the passion and the emotion through it....the movements.....just
amazing....and he kisses her......sje moves away from him and he
wails....was that a scream in the music, the audience or from him.....big
lift.......and there's the gender bender lift!! he grabs her, crushes her to
him....lifts her up as the music starts again......they do steps......he
lifts her high....she drapes herself down his back....he sets her down and
she skates away, leaving him broken hearted on the ice......oh I love it!!
Love it! A seriously fantastic routine....once you get past the necrophilic
overtones, which is kinda icky......but the crowd aren't getting that, and
frankly, neither am I. Just great.....if he wasn't an ice dancer, he'd have
been one hell of an actor.....his facial expressions here are great!
And we get the encore of the final part of their original dance....and
there's the Wave!!! and as Gloria sings, the two of them shake it up for
dear life....and this works so much better as an exhibition rather than a
free. And you know, Gwendal has an amazing smile.

Chris raves about the stage management of the gala, especially the lighting
director.

And another encore....last year's gender bender lift where she lifts him and
he does the splits.

Finale...all the guys....Li, Jeannette as well as the rest.....they all
stand aroudn to Tom JOnes and then do a step out... then out comesthe
ladies.....Vanessa in a nice red dress, and Sarah Hughes.....very nice clips
of Elvis dancing with Vanessa (the song is Sex Bomb by the way) OUt come
the apirs....including Zagorska and Siudek......simon says chris wrote this
song for diana! all the dancers including chait and sahkanovsku......this is
great!! nice shot of elvis grooving....simon says he's trying to decide what
girl to go for!! And they take their bows......