Opening number is a group fanfare from Vedi, Aida and La Traviata
Faiella & Scalli start off in a brief section of free dance. The Karel Zelenka, in all back, skating to Safri Duo. Kind of blah routine.
Now Silvia Fontana to Me Against the Music, in silver gray pants in gray bikini top with silver beads. Looking very hot. Nicely energetic program.
Denkova & Staviski to Sono Qui per Questo. He is in black, she is in pink, silver beading. Jazzy. Nice lifts and the typical slithery dance moves. That was a lot of fun.
Joannie Rochette to Like a Prayer. She is in light blue with a few sparklies. A few triples, nice spins. Nicely skated but she ends a little late.
Inoue & Baldwin to Do Ditty. He is in yellow and black, she is in two piece orange dress. She falls on throw triple loop! No triple axel today. Lots of energy from them tonight. The audience is really getting into it.
Johhny Weir to My Way. He is in the black half tux costume. Kind of flat tonight. Getting into it a little more half way into it. Some nice skating, but only the tricks are getting an audience response. Decent response from crowd at the end.
Delobel & Schoenfelder to Diego. He is in clack with sleeveless shirt, she is in blue and red dress. Starting out slow. Big dramatic music like they like to use. A bit too slow and ponderous for my taste. Their usual dramatic lifts are impressive.
Fumie Sugurie to Quidam. She is pants and lavender on top, with violet and clear beading. Slow intro, then the Quidam we all know and love ... or at least know. Mostly back and for the skating. Missing most of the jumps. Not really expressing the music all that much. She had a red ball for a prop, but I don't get what it' about/for.
Petrova & Tikhonov to Ave Maria. They are both in white, with lavender bleed in hem of her skirt. A new age approach. Cool "lift" rolling her up and down. She misses a jump. Throw triple Salchow is great. This music doesn't appeal to me at all. They have great line and match each other's movements so well. Super lift. End a little late.
Evan Lysacek to Sway. He is in black. Music cuts out after about 1 sec (or less). On again now. Steps out of triple toe. He moves very well to this kind of music. This is more of a solo dance routine on the ice than a skating program (which is a good thing).
Grushina & Goncharov to the Albinoni Adagio. Modern version with vocal. They are both in white. He has some black detailing. She is in a skimpy white dress. Life is good. Languid and smooth. Not quite the passion it needs, but pretty nice.
Irina Slutskaya to So Many Things. She is in black dress with red and silver beading, and long sleeves. Not much of an effort. Not much content to this routine. She could have phoned this in. BORING. This routine did nothing for me.
Intermission
Fusar Poli & Margaglio to Unchain my Heart. He is in black. She is in bright yellow, long string skirt and bikini top (yellow for one, white with turquoise beading for the other) and a yellow feather boa. Life again is good. Very energetic. Entertaining.
Carolina Kostner to Ave Maria. She is in white trailing shreds of fabric from arms. Nice movements to music and use of ice. Very fluid. Sets a nice mood. Nicely done.
Pang & Tong to Gira con Me. He is in black pants and white shirt. She is in black pants and white and black top. Slow and romantic music. Very togther. Well skated. Not projecting much passion though. A few nice big tricks keeps it going.
Jeffrey Buttle to Feelin' Good. He is in black, with false white cuffs and collar showing. A few geometric details. Nice tricks, but better yet, some real skating in between and good movement to the music. Someone else who knows how to dance on ice and sell a program even without tricks.
Belbin & Agosto to La Rossa. He is in She is in black. She is in red with silver beading along cleavage and waist. Thank God not that routine from Nationals! A nicely skate segment of a free dance. Music doesn't do much for me, but they use it very well and show off that they know how to dance.
Sasha Cohen to Don't Rain on my Parade. She is in blue with sparkly beading. Unlike Irina, she is here to skate. No half hearted effort. Lots of personality with the music. Nicely skated with energy.
Shen & Zhao to Impossible Dream. He is in black with back and orange design on shirt. She is in white and orange. Nice tricks and lifts. Not so much in between to keep my attention. Very slow piece. Well skated, but putting me to sleep even with the huge twist, etc..
Stephane Lambiel to You Are so Beautiful. He is in black with turquoise on sleeves. Another expressive program from the guys tonight. Splendid spins and connecting moves. A captivating program. A huge audience response. And I liked it too.
Navka & Kostomarov to Incantations (from Cirque du Soleil) &
Brickhouse (encore). He is in back, jungle looking costume, with bare
chest. He starts on the ice first, for about 12 second. She is
in a leopard skin like costume with miles of nude fabric (damn). Very
rhythmic music. Timing and movements right on. An exotic piece of
music well performed. A little slip in a pull through.
Shizuka Arakawa to You Raise Me Up & Variations on a Theme of Paganini (encore). She is in dark blue dress with crisscross fabric across the bust. Long flowing edges. Lovely movements. Expressive and gorgeous.
Totmianina & Marinin to Melodrama & Romeo and Juliet (encore). They are in ruby, she in a very short skirt. Very passionate, dramatic music. Not matched all that well by their choreography, though it got better as they went along. A kind of so so routine. Some fine tricks, well skated. For the encore Edvin Marton pretending to play the violin while they skate (just like at Worlds).
Evgeni Plushenko to Tosca & Caruso (encore). He is in black, and apparently will also skate with the violin guy. A little slip in footwork, but this routine demonstrates what a great technician he is. Nevertheless, all his convulsions and twitching through the step sequences do nothing for me. This Tosca routine deserves the fate of Tosca herself. Encore: Pavarotti "Caruso". Another lame program in terms of choreography. If only we could graft Plushenko's jumps onto Lysacek, or Buttle, or Lambiel!
Big group finale, and Plushenko is the last trick with triple-triple-triple.
My work here is done!