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Wednesday November 22nd

Hi guys !

I managed to get my accreditation today so I was able to sneak during some of the practices sessions.
As I was not that in need to watch everyone, and since I also had to meet some people from different boards, I just attended a few practices, the ladies and some of the men.
A lot of the skaters didn't show up, so I didn't miss too many things. I'll try to attend to most of the practices tomorrow, but let me tell you I want to have some sleep fist, before the competition starts....

All the skaters arrived today, lot of them like the Russians were just wondering about and having lunch or talking to one another. Tarassova was seen talking with the Canadian pairs of Jamie SALE and David Pelletier.

Let's go to practice sessions.
Ladies Group 1 : present skaters : Vanessa Gusmeroli, Diana Poth and Silvia Fontana.
All of them chose to do long program run through.
Random notes before they went through the routines : Vanessa was attempting a lot of 3-3 combos (loop-loop, lutz-toe loops, toe-toe). She looked really confident and on, and told us she was doing and feeling great for the Lalique, and it sure did show on her speed and spins.
Silvia Fontana had trouble with her jumps like the flip and the lutz, but was smiling all along wich is really nice to see from a skater.
Poth is as beautiful as ever. She landed some 3 toes-3toes combos but had problems with her other triple jumps. She looks much better than last year at the same period.

First on the ice : Vanessa Gusmeroli - Joan of Arc.
She walked through the first seconds of her program, starting from the lutz that she singled, omitting the combination planned. She then landed a beautiful 3 flip-2 toe. The music, which started really slow and lyrical went into a heavier mood, more dramatic, to bring the war character. Content of this portion is a camel spin on an outside edge (from where I sat in fact :) ); 3 lutz out of reverse spiral portion,a very nice ina Bauer into other spiral attitudes (a small spread eagle) another spin sequence and then her final Biellman.
The music wasn't as bad as I first thought, and is a bit dramatic in places. If she builds her speed during the program, it could become a breathtaking one.

Second on the Ice : Diana Poth - her LP
Her beginning is really slow, where she tries to put some character into her program. She did 3 lutz, 3 toe-3toe, 3 loop, combination spin, 2 flip, spiral sequence, 2 lutz two footed, flying camel, 3 salcho and a stiff 2 axel. There is nearly nothing in between the jumps and she lost some of her speed. I didn't get the character of hher program at all, I just thought it was *nice*.

Third on the ice : Silvia Fontana - Con te Partiro, instrumental version
Well all I marked down about this program is that she smiled all along, that she did not attempt jumps in it, and that she hasn't a lot in between skating moves or difficulties. She has wonderful centered spins, and is really attractive looking.

Ladies Group 1 : present skaters : the japanese girl, Jenny Kirk and Dirke Baker.
All of them did LP too, thought this group looked like junior skaters. I loved Jenny Kirk skating, she has a lot of flair and could tun into great skater in my opinion. The japanese girl is powerful while Dirke Baker still has a lot of wok to do

First on the ice : Arakawa - Flamenco music
First of all, this girl is a great and powerful jumper, but she has little musicality. She did 3 lutz with a lean aspect to it, a 3 loop-2 loop, maybe underrotated on the second jump, a 3 flip (well it was a lip in fact, her edges on this jump are really bad looking), spiral and spins, flying camel into a circular step sequence, then she stopped for some secons, and then did 2 toe, 2 axel and 3 salchow. I have nothing more on her sorry !

Second on the Ice : Dirke Baker - ?
She didn't do a full run through. The music sounded to heavy and dramatic for her and she didn't give me a strong impression in the artistry department.She has really nice salchows, toes and flips, and her double axel looks good. The lutz and loop are missing from her practice or it was maybe while I was talking to someone else so ....

Third on the ice : Jennifer Kirk - Evita soundtrack (?)
The music starts with a funky beat, then goes to the original "Don't cry for me Argentina" before coming back to a techno beat. It's a good program for her, and as I said earlier I quite liked it :) She is really thin and tiny but does have command upon all her jumps. Her spins and spiral looked really great to me, and the only department where she has to improve is the artistic one, IMO.
She only attempted the flip, the lutz and the doubel axel, during the LP I mean.
She did attempt and succeed 3toe -3 toe combos, and tried some loops too. The other thing I noticed i that she has problem straightening her back when she tries to gain speed. I will look closely at her performances during the actual competition thought.

Only two men showed up so I didn't take notes since they were really sloppy :the japanese, the corean and the letton one. I think Kostin could be a good entertainer but I'll see more of him tomorrow afternoon, since I won't go to morning practices.
I didn't stay to the dances compulsories, sine only two couples showed up. (the chinese and the russians)

I don't know what I will see tomorrow, but I can tell you I will miss the pairs and the ladies practice morning.
I prefer atend the draws, and the afternoon practices but I hope nobody cares too much :) And sorry for the no russian and no pairs reviews, I was having a talk with some crazy skating fans :):):)