I was pleasantly surprised by the skating in the ladies short program at Cup of China yesterday. It felt to much cleaner. Yu-Na Kim took the top spot with a 63.64, which is about five points lower than she scored in the Skate America short program; apparently she underrotated her triple lutz, which I could not even tell just watching with the naked eye, so that's why she got less points than before. I guess even Kim is not perfect. Japan's Miki Ando was second, much like after Skate America; she had a 59.30. I hate how front-loaded Ando's program is; I feel like a skater of her technical caliber can do better. I hate all front-loaded programs, but I guess I expect more from her. She botched her triple flip landing but her presentation score helped her secure the second place spot.

There were two Fins in the top six, and not one of them was Kiira Korpi. Weird! Laura Lepisto was third with a 58.60, while Susanna Poykio was sixth with a 50. The judges seemed to really like Lepisto's presentation, and she did have a nice bit of tension in the program.

I was very impressed by Ashley Wagner's look and program, despite the fact that she fell on her triple lutz. She still managed to get fourth place with a 55.40. She was a lovely little pink dream. The arms on her step sequence were a bit distracting, but I was impressed by the entrances to her jumps. Hopefully she'll do well in the long.

We had another American, Katrina Hacker, in fifth place with a 50.80. Hacker's program was not very difficult but she was able to capitalize on other's mistakes. Also, she looked like she was dressed for a tryout at Radio City Music Hall for their Holiday Spectacular. I was going to say the bow was overkill, but I died of adorableness so I couldn't. She was quite lovely, but I think I blinked and missed her step sequence, might have to work on that.

Sarah Meier of Switzerland is in seventh place with a 48.10. It was not a good day for her; she fell on her triple flip and screwed up the combination connection. I give her points for trying to sell the performance at the end.

Note to the technical director at Cup of China: I think I got motion sickness. I enjoy the aerial shots very much during spins. During jumps, they look cool but I can't tell how clean the jump is. And during footwork, the skater keeps going out of frame and then you jerk the camera around to keep up with her. That is the part where I got sick. Fix that please.

OK, hopefully I can get some more recaps out soon.