Mens SP

As most of you must know by now, Todd is currently second in the short (behind Yagudin) after having landed a triple flip/double toe, a triple axel (with hands down) and a triple lutz. Yes, he was lucky, but I think a lot of that was that the judges really, really seemed to like the new program!

By way of introduction to the topic of the new program, I have to say that Richard had us really guessing as to what it might be after dropping a giant hint the other night after I'd said something to the effect that I wasn't in the least bothered by skaters skating to music strongly identified with another skater, that everyone had their own distinctive interpretation, etc., etc. And he said, with twinkle in eye, "I'm certainly glad you feel that way." This made us speculate that what was coming was just that - music another skater had used. Consequently, when the opening bars of Carmina Burana sounded, Kellie and I actually started laughing.....but only for a second, mind you, as soon we were totally immersed in the new program. It is terrific, folks, very dramatic, with new, intricate killer footwork to match.

I really think this one is a winner.

For tonight he wore the old Pity the Child costume.....I suspect a new costume will be forthcoming eventually.

As you also may have surmised, a switch was made in the order of disciplines so that men went first, followed by the ODs, followed by ladies, followed by pairs. I have to say it was very odd to end what was a very long evening of skating (six hours with only assorted Zamboni breaks) with the pairs event! Hence by the time we returned to the hotel Richard and Todd were nowhere to be found (they have practice at the crack of dawn tomorrow, so this isn't surprising) - thus I was unable to learn the free skate order for tomorrow, and of course this is not information that was posted anywhere nor that was even made available to the media before I retired to my room.

Following Yagudin and Todd, the remaining men in the top six (in order) are Andrejs Vlaschenko, Min Zhang, Johnny Weir and Emanuel Sandhu. The men are the first discipline to go, starting tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 so we should know the results soon enough.

Expect a report from me at some point after it's all over.....

Mens LP

It is now coming on 3 am here in Paris, and I'm semi-conscious, but I thought before collapsing into bed I'd try to send off a quick report. As you all know by now, Todd did indeed capture the silver medal tonight, after a performance that was far from perfect but which was an improvement on his Skate Canada free skate. He tripled the quad and fell out of the first triple axel (and thus could only tack a double toe onto it) but he managed to land everything else, including the second triple axel. He was disappointed that he didn't skate better, but he was on the whole satisfied with his second place finish. No one exactly distinguished himself in the men's final tonight (Yagudin doubled three jumps and fell out of his second quad), and Andrejs Vlachenko really lucked into that bronze medal.

I can clear up one bit of concern that has been expressed about Todd's new short program. Several of you were worried about the so-called Latin lyrics in Carmina Burana, and had wondered if perhaps Todd had received a deduction for them. Well, I discussed this issue tonight with Richard, and, as I suspected was the case, he was able to assure me that the opinion of the ISU technical committee was sought before they went ahead with it and it was determined that everything was okay because the lyrics are in fact not those of a living language. So everyone can at least rest assured on that point.

The Gala begins tomorrow (or rather, later on today ) at 2:30 pm and I'll try to let everyone know how it goes as soon as I can.

Gala

Following a riotous and highly enjoyable Saturday evening when we closed down the bar after celebrating the successful conclusion of what should be Todd's final Grand Prix event (excluding the Final, of course) - but then I said that 4 years ago in the same place when the conclusion was not nearly as successful, we woke up the next morning saying "Where are we?" Seriously, though, Kellie and I spent our final morning in Paris looking for chocolates and mourning the end of what had been four days of sunny (if a tad chilly) weather.

You have not lived until you have experienced a Lalique Gala. AKA The World's Longest Ice Show. 3 1/2 hours of exhibitions, which this year featured not only the top six in each discipline, but also, as Richard put it to me afterward, "Every person in France who owns a pair of skates." Kellie and I had awesome seats for this extravaganza, front row center and elevated so you could see the whole ice surface - the only drawback being that they had been broken so they were on a slight slant and we were in continual danger of sliding out of our seats into the moat below. We had had the seats next to these for the finals at Saturday, a *really* awesome location since it was directly behind the judges and we could read the computer scores of the four judges in front of us before they went up on the monitor. And it was the perfect spot from which to see the Russian free skates, plus the Free Dance, and it was the first time we'd been able to see 1492 from that exact angle as well. I strongly suspect when the LPs and FDs are televised, Kellie and I will be very prominent - just look behind the judges! Specifically the judges that will be on the left hand side of the screen.

Anyway, to return to the Gala. At the beginning the ice was flooded with fog so when half the cast of skaters we were to see were introduced (if they'd introduced all of them and people realized how long the show was going to be they probably would have left), we couldn't see their feet. Floodlights made odd and wondrous patterns on the ice that changed with each skater's program, never repeating the same pattern twice. Each skater or pair of same was introduced by a MC in suit and skates and brandishing a microphone. The man definitely liked to talk, and told a lot of jokes totally lost on those of us in the audience who are less than fluent in French. This did not serve to cut down on the length of the show. The first half consisted of all the French non-medalists, plus the 6th, 5th and 4th place finishers; then a 20 minute Zamboni break, then the medalists.

For reasons best known only to the French, the bronze medal winning pair team (GO SARAH AND STEPHANE!!!!) were sandwiched in between the silver medal winning pairs team and lady (Ina/Zimmerman and Sarah Hughes). Sarah and Stephane debuted a brand new exhibition program, followed by an encore, that brought down the proverbial house (they are much beloved in France and in fact Paris is their home town and Bercy their home rink) and of course left yours truly breathless and mind blown. To have them followed by the Men's silver medalist (you know who ) was almost more excitement than I could deal with. Todd skated his new exhibition to Your Song (in the familiar Xotica costume), and although he did have the unenviable job of following Sarah and Stephane he rose to the occasion and received his own loud and appreciative reception. He doubled the loop, but landed an absolutely gorgeous triple axel and a nice triple toe, and concluded with spins that for some reason seemed faster than usual (I actually didn't think they could be faster, but there you go............).

Because the organizers were probably terrified the show might last less than three hours (considering the price of the ticket for the Gala was twice that for a ticket to one of the sets of LPs ), all the medalists were asked for an encore, and for his, Todd elected to do something I was hoping to see - which I last saw him do when he was asked for an encore at 1997 Worlds in Lausanne. He did 5 Russian Splits in a row, followed by a death drop and a scratch spin.

The skating portion of the gala concluded with Anissina/Peizerat's Suzanna, followed by a reprise of their Original Dance, and with the house once more coming down. After all the skaters were reintroduced (and you were able to come to grips with the fact that there were more of them than any COI cast I've ever seen, doubled), the Gala truly came to an end with a shower of balloons raining down on the Arena and various people in the stands battling balloons as they exited (a number of them were killed, in fact - not people, balloons).

We then returned to the hotel and a final farewell dinner with friends (at an Italian restaurant that featured profiteroles!) and a farewell celebration in the hotel bar afterward that lasted until once again the bar closed on us and we were ejected by the bartender blowing a very loud French horn (Richard and Todd had joined us by the time this happened). A lovely way to end a very satisfying week all the way around.

Finally, for those of you who wondered or are wondering, it was Richard's idea to take the quad out of the short program at Lalique because he figured Todd would have enough to worry about with such a new program (and the fact he botched a couple of elements anyway is testament to the wisdom of that). However, this will probably be the last time it's left out, as the game plan is to include it in all the competitive programs he does between now and Nationals, including the sps at Canadian Open and the GPF, as well as the Interpretive events at the Winter and Canadian Opens. Quite a few opportunities to land the jump remaining before Nationals.

Well, that's the final report from the Paris front. Now on to Ottawa!