Delobel and Schoenfelder Hold On to Ice Dance Lead

On Day Two of the Ice Dancing competition at Skate America, the dancers performed their original dances. World Champions Delobel and Schoenfelder of France managed to hang onto their top spot going into the free skate tomorrow.

The French had a fun routine to "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," (and another song I don't remember) and I'm a sucker for 40s era swing dancing. I didn't particularly think they were as good as Belbin and Agosto, and she almost appeared to nearly fall at one point towards the end, but they managed to outscore the American champs with a 58.26, they got a higher presentation score than Belbin and Agosto but lower technical.

Belbin and Agosto did not do swing like many of the couoples. They had a tap dance effect going. It was a very sweet routine, although she seemed to be at a different energy level than he did towards the beginning, but they got it together. Amazing section of dancing at the end of the progam, which just did not let up. The pair scored 57.47. They have one more dance to try to bridge the small gap between them and the French couple, but the way things are going, I'm not sure they'll be able to.

Great Britain's Sinead and John Kerr were very high energy (seriously, I want to know what they drank before performing), couldn't help but smile watching them, and there was definitely a lot of difficulty in their steps and edges. She even got to lift him, very much a crowd-pleasing move. A 57.74 kept them in third place.

Americans Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates were adorable. He was dressed as a Navy boy. Such theatricality and a really fun program got me on their side. I hope this pair can keep improving and move up the ranks. I'm pretty sure Samuelson deserves some extra points for the gartered stockings - how risque! They got a 55.05 and actually edging out France's Carron and Jost for the fourth place spot.

By the Numbers:

Number of Military Themed Programs: 3

Number of Pairs skating to "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy": 2

Number of Misguided attempts at 20s-era headpieces: 4