Men's short program. Where I shake like a leaf and try to type at the same
time. Oh the fun just keeps on funning....can I just say it's WAY too early
in the morning for this? I haven't even had my rice krispies yet, and yet
here I am typing. Watching. Shaking. For you people. For YOU!

Sorry, where was I?

Pick it up with Anthony Liu AUS
Nice blue velvet soldier boy again....gold inserts.....classical waltzy
thing and there's a lovely flow to the routine already....yes! quad toe
double toe! hugeflying back sit....this was worth dragging myself out of bed
for.....triple axel or was it double, it's too early for this!!!.......step
sequence....circular....very nicely done I might add.....triple lutz and
he's flying now! lovelt sit change sit little bit of travel on the change,
but lets' call it even...straight line step....crowd begin to clap...it's
not just me!....camel to sit to upright change camel to sit to something and
he's done! Yes! Woo-hoo! Jeanine does the happy dance sitting in her
chair....a flying start Chris calls it.....that quad was a beauty.....smiles
in the kiss and cry....Christa Fassi alongside him....that was great, have I
mentioned I love this guy? Have I mentioned that I've just jinxed him for
the final? Chris confirms the doubleness of the axel
marks 5.0-5.4....best so far Simon tells me.....5.0-5.4....a row of ones....

I've missed Marcus....let us put away the drool bucket....Restencourt is
second then Chiper Skorniakov Dmitrenko and Leminen. Which means he should
make the long. Right? Right?

Third group is coming up now as Eurosport go to ads. Including one for
Eurosport.com All the latest news....just show skating! thank God this is
the last morning I'm going to have to do this....

Chengjiang Li CHN
He's in green. A horrible shade of green....oooh man that's yuck.....but he
flies into the quad....and it's clean and on its own....looked to be a
lean...triple axel triple toe and he just flew into it...the height the
speed the rotation....camel to sit nice...to upright change sit...travels
like mad....to upright....moves around the ice....serpentine step if I'm not
mistaken...much turns and kicks.....crowd clap as he goes by.....sit
spin...fantastically low...change sit, not as low but still pretty
good.....straight line step....double axel and we are going tosee some
marks!....camel, of the flying variety,illusion exit ,and he punched the air
as he finished! And look at the beaming smile as the crowd just scream for
him! here's the quad again...made it look easy!...triple axel was a
monster...high and long, just stunning. Chris calls him on the slowness of
the spins and the choreography let him down although the serpentine step was
great....
marks...5.3-5.7 and he likes those!....he stands up and waves....5.3-5.6...a
row of ones ....

Ivan Dinev BUL
Shiny black all in one...no, it's the thing with the flourescent veins and
body parts again...most unflattering, of a morning says I!...how did he save
the triple axel! Leaning on the air but got it, leaning also on the triple
toe and doublefoots it....steps..down into the triple flip....lean....ina
bauer in to flying sit...which is nice and fast and centred....double
axel....into camel..to sit change camel to sit..slow to shotgun
spin..ugly....steps....trying t obe circular... but taking a while to get
going.....straight line step...to sit change sit...little travel but not
much and that's him done. It's interesting Simon says,,,and he's not talking
about the costume. He's not come on the way I thought it would says
Simon...not the magic....not the costume either..that's me by the way, not
Simon....rink in Bulgaria burned down in the summer, practice
problems....Chris laments his loss of confidence....he (Dinev) was looking
for much more...and he ain't looking thrilled with life in the K&C...22
years old ,still has time Simon says...
marks....4.7-5.1 he shakes his head....5.0-5.3... second overall, but I
think he's third onthe short??

and more ads....I'm guessing we'll have chopped a few by the time they come
back...

but we don't!

Sergei Rylov AZE
Grey velour tuxedo...with wine inserts...oh no...triple axel double
toe....very late with the free leg on the axel...sit change sit is well
done....not fond am I of the suit...waltzy music..step to triple lutz
right in the corner..bit of a pause as well....straight line steps....all
the rotation anti clockwise...combo spin, nice change of position although
he too does the shotgun spin that no one should attempt....nice double
axel...flying camel......twirly steps....trying to sell it now....circular
step...again the rotation is all one directional....he battled back well
says Simon, but I don't think he looks too impressed....that axel actually
wasn't doublefooted, it was just late getting the free leg around....Dear
Sergei, please don't use that costume next year. Love, the world. Igor
Paskevitch, ie he who made Steven Cousins miss out on a Euro medal in 96,
sits beside him in the K&C....so that's what he's doing with himself now, as
we wait and wait and wait for the marks....
marks...4.5-5.1...4.8-5.2...he's 4th overall....

Patrick Meier SUI
Red sparkley sleeves...long black waistcoat and trousers....not too
disastrous actually...triple axel double toe to start....and he's selling it
right from the start...piano, bouncy kinda music...triple lutz, very deep on
the knee to hang on to the landing....fabulous sit spin then change
foot....mimes running...striaght line steps....very nice, fast, fits with
the music....double axel...camel to sit...change camel and he goes off that
a little into sit!....more fast steps circular this time....stops,dances
jumps, does a litle more stepping into final spin, a flying sit and he's
done. That was heartening Simon says and I must say I enjoyed it. More
selling than we've seen from a lot of the guys, you could see him working
it. Chris has him short on the rotation on the combo spin and late
re-centreing the change foot combo...good footwork, and a nice choice of
music Chris says...Des Afina by Joaquin Cortez if you're interested and thre
e happy people are living in the K&C right now!
marks...4.5-5.1...judge are split says Simon....4.7-5.3...10th place up to
third and he's fourth overall

Stefan Lindemann GER
I love this guy! Black trousers, wine and gold top..First Knight....my
little Larry is getting all grown up!....hand down on the triple
axel..double toe...why do I do this to skaters???? steps into a clean triple
lutz....camel to sit change sit...to shotgun which doesn't look as heinous
on him....interp of the music arms a-waving...into the straight line step..
which is nice...and from one end to the other....double axel and there was
swing on that too....sit spin.. cahgne foot sit.....more
steps...serpentine...cheeks aflame, bless him!....little jumpy steps....into
the flying sit.......you count those rotations!...and he's done. andhe's
happy. Awww...bless him....Simon recounts the tale of his injury at Nations
Cup, and now the skateoff with Vlaschenko and Smalun....thank you skategods
for letting him get here...keep looking after him ok?? OK??? Majestic
performance when you consider what he's been through says Chris. He suffers
artistically because of his size says Simon. You tell Stojko that laughs
Chris. Touche concedes Simon. Oh the witty banter is why I love these two,
although the mention of Elvis induces the shakes as the marks come up..
marks 4.8-5.2...4.7-5.3...he's in 6th.

Yungfei Li CHN
Dressed all in grey....sequins along the collar...more waltzy kinda
thing.....huge quadtriple toe....Chris raves about his knee bend....triple
axel....straight line step and the music is made to get the crowd
going!...not very difficult is the step....long pause before the triple
lutz....flying camel which travels before he pulls it in....sit more travel
change sit, still more travel....serpentine steps.....again not very
hard....camel to sit to upright to sit to crossfoot and he roars at the
end! Simon raves about him, calls it fantastic...the jumps were just superb
says Chris, but he says the steps and spins need work....the spins in
particular say I travelled all over the shop,they weren't centred at all!
They tell the story of how this guy's music stopped in qualifying and after
the restart he was faultless from then on,. Big smiles in the kiss and
cry....
marks5.3-5.8...let's all go wow!....5.1-5.6..he's first....5/4 split though.

Emanuel Sandhu CAN
And the crowd just roar! He's in a pale blue shirt , with navy trousers and
suspenders..kinda got a Curly-from-Oklahoma thing going on..and as he takes
the ice, someone decides that they want to play indian to his cowboy and
lets loose with a whoop...whatever takes your fancy....and he's got the
blond tips too...god, he's antoher one all growed up!...I feel
old.....remember when he was a little fluffy flourescent blue string of
broccoli???...and he poses and shakes it and stop that! ....wrong
Canadian!...and he falls out of hte landing of the quad and you can hear the
groans!..overrotated Chris says....oh no! he pops the axel to a single...and
you could hear the pop almost! straight line step is nifty and the crowd
holler their approval....dlying sit...nice and fast....double axel....camel
change camel....to upright and out......running.....circular step.....he's
trying to selll it....and the crowd are buying...nice combo psin! eeek! the
butt spin, run for your life!...and he's done and he doesn't even hold the
ending pose, he knows. And while I'm here and thinking about his spins, I
must in fairness point out that his sit spin position right before he goes
into the butt-ugly butt spin is something to behold. Chris raves once more
about the footwork...and he's not a happy chappy...
marks...and we wait....4.0-4.8..the groans tell it all say
Simon....4.8-5.5....4th to 13th

Min Zhang CHN
Good lord....blackvelvet...with white feathers....and classical music....he
wants to be Russian you can just tell.....and he gets the axel all wrong and
lands it going forwards.....but he didn't get that wrong..quad triple toe
but Simon says he cheated it...steps....stops....more moving into flying
camel.....slow....triple lutz, best so far says Simon... sit change
sit...travel....steps...circular...not very hard....into camel to upright to
sit change sit upright and the changes were disastrous, he kept looking as
if he was going to fall. Not good I'm afraid says Simon and what more can
we say really? CHris had deductions on combo spin, .3 off...and on all the
other spins....Simon says he almost started the quad going forwards...and
Chris says what I've thought all along, about the spins taking a long time
to get centred....
marks..4.5-5.2...not good...4.8-5.2...9th overall

Alexei Yagudin RUS
You know the costume....he's had injections before the warmup on the
ankle....and he too is blond...although it looks green on my tv....good boy!
nails the quad toe, landing not great, gets in the triple toe.....more
steps....triple axel!....amd the crowd roar!...huge flying sit!..... and he
grabs his free leg and leans in in that position...steps...circular...not as
out-there as I've seen him do this, I think he's probably holding back a
little but his holding back is still way more than most men and he throws
his hands up in triumph as he lands the lutz! fabulous sit change
sit....steps...runs and twirls and arms waving....and now he's relaxed and
he's going in the step!.. combo spin.....and the crowd are drowing out the
music and on their feet! They know what they've just seen!...Wow, wow
wow!...and he looks as if he can hardly believe is as Simon tells us that he
won't surrender the title without a fight...Chris tells that without his
skates he can hardly walk, but with the support of the boot he's
ok.....almost on the boot of the landing of the quad...leaning on the lutz,
but he got it.....spins were good, footwork brilliant...clenched fists at
the end...and there's Tatiana...she looks like a happy mama bear....
marks....a row of 5.8s, and one 5.6...3 5.9s and the rest 8s

Alexander Abt RUS
And hello to the sequins....lots of sequins....and sparkles.....the tin foil
costume of yore.....triple axel triple toe....no speed coming out of hte
axel less out of the toe...and the quad is doublefooted and short on
rotation...flying camel...circular step...and lots of leaning moves where
he's really on the blade...camel to sit..to half upright change camel to
sit...clean double axel....camel change camel....slow spins....and he shakes
and shimmys as trash cans rattle and he goes into the straight line
step...much turning and little hoppy things and he finishes in a glide with
a roar ..so he's happy!...yeah, the ending on the toe was scrappy....quad
toe had half a turn to go...and we see it twice, once with the footsie-cam,
just to be sure...Chris reminds us of his Bratislava bravery....as the
reflection from his sequins cut the eyes out of me....
marks...4.8-5.3...5.4-5.7...he's third overall but 4th on the short.

Evgeny Plushenko RUS
And you know my thoughts on the costume. It's too red, too tight, the gloves
have got to go, and did I mention that it's waaaaaay too tight? Couldn't
land the quad in practice we are told....Bolero...and cut your hair....arms
wave...goes for the quad...quad triple and he nailed it!...just incredible
Chris says....triple axel, deep in the knee....but there! flying
camel...into catch foot position....stops...hip swivell...stop
that!...circular step....arms wave some more....twizzles and turns....steps
into the lutz and his arms go up....camel to sit to biellman.....change
sit...upright....stops at the end , goes into straight line step which is
something else....sit spin....and he's done!...and you can almost hear him
thinking take that!...does he ever feel nervous? he orchestrates the crowd,
and the Canadians stand for him...we look at his jumps again, and fabulous
in the air..a little over the toe in some of them, but they all
count...loads of eye contact with the judges Chris says.....
marks...5.7-5.9...wow...3 5.9s and the rest 8s...3 have him second but he's
first overall.

Timothy Goebel USA
The Americans hold up a wall of cards....nice black suit with gold
trim...2001 Space Odyssey....quad sal triple toe! foot stayed off then went
down on the toe but it'll count....goes around the ice....and nails the
axel!...back glide....into flying sit......steps....ending in spread
eagle....and the flip is clean...circular step with little hops ...into sit
...nice and low...change sit but needs centering....and moves across into
combo spin....sit change sit camel sit.....to cross foot upright and he's
done...and he shouts yes as he finishes!. The Americans are standing and
you're not going to get taht smile off his face for a long time! My only
complaint is the ending..the two spins were very close together and he
literally just moved across and went into the second one...it just didn't
sit well choreographically with me. But it was great....and S&C think that
it was the flip he was worried about more than anything else....Frank
Carroll is beside him and Simon says he can hardly restrain
himself...yeah...
marks...5.5-5.7...lack of running edge on jumps Chris thinks...5.4-5.7..he's
third overall says Simon but the little number says second, so I don't
know...

Takeshi Honda JPN
Waistcoat...black trousers,,,white shirt....waistcoat has tassles...Takeshi,
no!..looks western..as if he should be looking for his horse!..and he's down
on the quad....hard!...spreadeagle into triple axel and he's down
again...hand down anyway....camel to sit and there is much travel and then
the change and even more travel....steps...straight line along the side of
hte rink...triple lutz was ok and off steps, no pause...sit....change
sit.....steps serpentine...with a little leap...into flying sit.....and he's
done. And the look on his face, he knows. Oh dear says Simon and what more
can we say really? And a present whacks him on the blade as he takes his
bows!..there's Doug Leigh beside him....he's telling him everything that was
right..your focus was great too....it was....
marks...he looks heartbroken....4.7-5.1 and he can hardly
look....5.4-5.7...and he's 6th

Elvis Stojko CAN
And I try to control my shakes....it's not working but I'm trying!...Black
and white top, with gold buttons at the top of the sleeves....black
trousers...Eclipse....and he's down on the axel....and the crowd is
still....slow music, slow movements nad the crowd claps.....and he's down on
the quad too!...camel...to sit...change ist...lost his footing on the
spin...upright.....more steps....music speeds up....triple lutz from
steps....fast footwork.....serpentine steps...and hes using the whole
rink....that was great.....flying sit....and he moves into a combo
spin...fabulous sit, change sit....and he's done. And the crowd roar, some
stand but he knows....and he says sorry....I hate closeups....he waves to
the crowd......I have the tension headache of two lifetimes...at
least...Simon says it seems like he didn't believe it, Chris says his
technique was fine, just slow with the leg...he gets a kiss from his
mom.....can I cry now? He says I"m sorry into the camera....his head is in
his hands...shakes his head
marks...and we wait....he can't look....and neither can
I....4.6-5.0....5.4-5.7...he's 8th with two to go....

and Eurosport thoughtfully schedule a break so that I can get my stomach
back together....

but because breaks can't last 6 years, I'm back

Todd Eldredge USA
Sparkles ahoy! Exotica...is that the music or the sparkles? I"m just
wondering!..triple flip triple toe...he didn't go for the quad...Chris calls
it a wise move....steps...triple axel was a beauty....into a sit reaally
low...cahnge sit......triple lutz...more steps....into flying sit and
Phantom Menace....camel to sit to upright change sit...and fabulous scratch
spin and he's done and he smiles and whoops and hollers!...looks at the
Americans standing!...great performance (for those who are wondering, I'm
the muted one for once, he was great, honest!) the flip/toe was fantastic -
huge....the axel was late with the free leg but it didn't matter....lutz
again great,,,Chris enjoyed the step sequences, a wellbalanced program he
calls it....
marks...5.4-5.9..and the crowd boo, now there's disparity for you...Simon
thought they'd be higher....5.3-5.9....one first, one 7th, second
overall....behind Russians on the short.

Stanick Jeannette FRA
Still didn't kill the ugly white clown suit.....he looks like a paint
spotted Dalmation....really innovative moves to start....goes around for the
axel, nails it with a 2toe on the end....bells tinkle on the music....and he
doubles the lutz....of course he does, I like him....amazing flying sit,
with great position...he's wrapped all around
himself....steps...serpentine...double axel....sit change sit with way too
much travel although he did the back spin first so it's harder....circular
step...besti squat included and little runs to camel to sit change sit.. and
position where his free leg is on his shoulder...and he may have touched the
ice at the end.....and he did....a real character Chris calls him...that's
for sure, I'd say he's a hell of a lot of fun at parties, and why are we
seeing highlight of all but Stanick? ....doesn't seem as sharp here Chris
says....but Annik looks happy....
marks...4.7-5.1....5.2-5.7...9th on short 8th overall...

That's that gang...let's go get drunk.