This looks to be the year of Stephane Lambiel.  He was the point leader among all skaters in both qualifying rounds and in the Short Program he kicked major butt.  His only error, and a minor one at that, was a control problem on the landing of a solo triple Lutz.  His triple Axel and quad toe - triple toe combination both received positive GoEs.  His performance to George Winston's "Spanish Caravan"  was energetic and enthusiastic, though the judges were restrained in their response, limiting his program component scores mostly to the mid-7s with one as low as 6.75.  His point total after the short program is 118.28, a nearly 5 6 point lead over Brian Joubert who is currently in second place.  This is not an insurmountable lead, but is a nice healthy cushion going into the long program.

Joubert placed second in the short with a clean program that had no negative GoEs.  He landed triple Axel, triple flip and a quad toe - triple toe combination.  His program to music by Blue Men Group was well done, though lacked the energy of Lambiel.  The judges rated these two skaters equal in program components (within 0.01 point, which is about as equal as it gets).

Fifth in the short and third in the current standings is Evgeni Plushenko.  He fell on his opening quad toe - triple toe combination, and the remainder of the program was at best adequate.  At worst,  it was flat and tentative despite the enthusiastic support of the audience.  He currently trails by 7 points.  This still leaves him within range of the gold medal, but given his not risking the quad in the qualifying, and his failure to come even close on his quad in the Short Program (as well as a lackluster performance overall), it appears at this point he will need a major turn around in the next two days to move up from a potential silver or bronze.

Though he did not attempt a quad, Jeffery Buttle had a clean skate with decent expression and fair speed to place third in the Short Program, putting him fourth overall.  He is only one point behind Plushenko, putting the silver medal within his grasp.

Evan Lysacek remains the leader among the three U.S. men.  He placed fourth in the short and now stands in fifth overall.  Like Buttle, he did not attempt a quad, but skated a clean program with decent speed and expression.  He has an outside chance for the bronze, but he has company in Chengjiang Li, Johhny Weir, and Daisuke Takahashi, all of whom are also within range of the bronze.  Of these, however, Lysacek seems to have the best chance.

Although he numerically is within range, Weir has his work cut out for himself after falling on triple Axel in the short program.  He otherwise received respectable marks for his other elements and for the program components.  He will have to skate his best in the long and hope for a few of the other men to fall down to make his way into the medals.

Stephan Lindemann, who placed second in his qualifying group was a dismal 23rd in the short.  He fell on his opening quad toe - triple toe combination and a triple Lutz, and singled his planned triple Axel.  Throughout the program he had that "deer in the headlights look" as he wiped up the ice.  He has no chance now to medal.

The third U.S. man, Timothy Geobel placed 14th in the short and is now 14th overall.  He also fell on his attempted quad toe - triple toe combination and gave a lackluster performance which received program component marks in the mid-6's.  He too has no chance for a medal at this point.