I will be doing live blog updates of my As it Happens thread for the free dance tonight. I'm most interested in the final five pairs. The competition concludes with the free dance tonight.
I have a feeling that this is going to be a great night for Canada - Virtue and Moir are poised to win the first Canadian (heck, the first North American) ice dancing gold medal in Olympic history, and I cannot wait to hear the building react to their free dance. They have a lead of only two points and change, but they are scoring very well here and, barring major error, I see no reason why their beautiful free dance will not score just as well. The lifts alone are worth the price of admission.
My hope is that Davis and White can continue their momentum into a medal-winning performance. Their Phantom of the Opera free dance is one of the best-received skates of the year.
Perhaps the most interesting question is what will come of Russia's Domnina and Shabalin. I don't like their free dance but judging from their inexplicably high score from their Original dance, they will likely also score high in the free dance. Which means that Americans Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto might be left off the podium here, as I predicted.
I am also interested in seeing France's Delobel and Schoenfelder skate what they have promised will be an emotional free dance to a French version of The Impossible Dream. They are not really in the medal mix, but they are always worth watching.
Coverage begins on NBC at 8pm eastern time.
Start orders I'll be watching:
13) Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates (USA)
17) Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder (France)
19) Meryl Davis and Charlie White (USA)
21) Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Canada)
22) Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (USA)
23) Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin (Russia)