Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay (Canada, Music: Grand Canyon Suite): It's interesting how different the colors look on Universal Sports than they did at the Olympics. Stuck with the double twist here...probably all for the best. She can't hold onto the side by side triple salchows. Flawed landing in the throw triple salchow. Aand she falls on the side by side triple toes. This is not good. The program is not really special even when skated cleaner..it's nice but cannot be judged on the level of the pairs we'll see later. score: 100.32, total score 154.72. They are in second for now.
Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov (Russia): Joined mid-routine. Nice throw triple twist. I hate these costumes! Throw triple lutz was very nice. She falls on the side by side double axels. This lift is so crazy how it keeps changing direction. Nice spins. Good throw triple loop, good death spiral. They still have a style where they seem to be checking off each move in their heads, but you can tell they'll get better at interpretation in a few years. Score: 112.26, overall score: 172.04. They are in first for now.
Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang (China, Music: Sheherezade): Side by side double axels/triples toes - i'm impressed that they do that combo. Not perfect...triple loops a bit better. Great split triple twist. Nice difficult lift. Ugly entrance into the death spiral but the spiral itself was fine. They are looking a tad slow but the spins good until the end....kind of putter out. Great throw triple loop. They are really solid tonight. Impressive couple of lifts towards the end here...Score: 126.58, total, 195.78, ranked first for now.
Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison (Canada, Music: The Way We Were): Not great triple twist. Double axels are good. Nice lift. Here come the dastardly salchows - ugh, she popped and he screwed his landing up. Spins are fine. Very good death spiral. She hands onto the throw! Nice. Another pretty lift. This is a very pretty performance of this program. I was not feeling it at the Olympics but I'm back on board. WOW that throw triple loop looked terrible and she just landed it perfectly, impressive!! Nice ending....augh until he puts his foot down in the pair spin. Oy. Score: 117.71, overall score: 177.07, second place. They seem thoroughly confused by the score...
Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett (USA, Music: Sheherezade): YAY so hoping they can follow up that amazing short program with an equally amazing free skate. Throw triple twist, fine. UGH Barrett fell on the side by side jumps, sad! Throw triple lutz is just GIGANTIC. And landed well. Double axels are good. Death spiral is ok but runs out of speed. They are not quite on the attack anymore. Spins are fine. Carruthers is pointing out some flaws in their lifts and stuff and how they can improve in the future. The boyfriend says: "I hate when they talk about the future. Show me some good skating now or go the eff home." Hmm...maybe I have forced him to watch too much this season. Great throw triple loop!!! They regrouped well, but they are going to get hammered for their mistake. Sad face. Score: 111.95, overall score: 172.47 overall. They are in third place for now...guaranteed 7th place at least, which is an improvement on last year, so Bravo!
Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski are in the studio. Certain people I am watching with are annoyed that Weir is in the room when he is not on the ice, heh. I like whenever Weir is on tv, so I don't mind. They are in awe of Moskvina. Weir likes Bazarova and Larionov...they have the Russian characteristics. Weir also thought Denney and Barrett are fantastic. Lipinski loved the Russians also. Weir is stressing that American pairs don't stay together long enough to get really good...they split too easily. These two pretty much like everything. Weir gives Dan Zhang's hair a shout out. Now I'm bored and want more skating. They are both very excited for the last group. I am fast forwarding now.
Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov (Russia, Music: Valse Sentimentale, On the Blue Danube): Will they or won't they quad!?? We'll see. OUCH why does anyone try that quad salchow?!? It is terrifying. They tried, I guess. Great sid eby side jumps. Fine throww triple twist and good side by side spins. I like the positions. Party time means the heart is out on her costume! Their side by side sequence is great. This is fun. AUGHHHG she falls on the throw triple loop. Ugh. These two just cannot pull it together for a free skate, it seems. I shudder to think of the devil stare Moskvina will give her later. Amazing lift at th eend, although they are out of speed! I wonder if they'll truly pay for those falls in the scoring. Not really ...130.67. That's kind of high considering Zhang and Zhang's score, but this pair is superior in many ways, I guess. 203.79 overall. 1st for now.
Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov (Russia, Music: Love Story): Nice throw twist, but not perfect. Beautiful side yb side triples. Ugh, their triple toes were weird so she singled the next jump. too bad. This lift looks very difficult but is done very well. I fear the botched jumps may have been it for them. Beautiful throw triple loop. Andrea Joyce is asking if they're likely to stick around for Sochi. Carruthers says it depends on their ambition. ARGH she lands the throw quad sal and HE falls. That is annoying! Death spiral is good. This team is another that just can't get through a free skate with error. Out of unison on spins. Carruthers is now dissing their throw technique, which I suppose is valid, since he fell. That lift is not too difficult as Carruthers points out, then he says they look slow. I think their mistakes took a lot away from the program, which isn't always the case. So, they might not have a chance to get on the podium. Score: 127.91, overall 197.39, in second place for now.
Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (Germany, Music: Out of Africa): My hope is that can skate better than they did last night and skate this program to its potential - it's so beautiful. Side by side triple toes, butr she doubled it, they got the second triples. Ugh. Beautiful throw triple flip, nice rebound. This spins are so fast...just so crazy when you think how slow Kavaguti and Smirnov's were. Great pair spin. Throw triple twist is good - very difficult entry. Everything they are doing is just such a high level of difficulty. Maybe a spot of trouble on that lift for a second in changing positions but overall this is turning out nice. Carruthers is criticizing the death spiral. Still I think they're selling the program a bit more than they did the other night. Their last lift is great. And they are ending with a throw triple salchow...great! I would say they should definitely be in first place at this point. Score: 137.60. Overall 204.74.
Qing Pang and Jian Tong (China, Music: Impossible Dream): Great double axel sequence to start off. Crap, she doubles the side by side toe loops. Great lift. Their side by side spins are a little off. Throw triple twist is nice. They are doing fine, not quite the energy or clean program they had at the Olympics. Gigantic throw triple salchow. and the throw triple loop is good too. Final two lifts...this was a solid skate. They looked a bit weak at the end but there were no errors. Great job for them - I think I might give them the title. 136.11, overall 211.39 - They got it! Your world champions - Pang and Tong. This is the second world title for them.
Not the cleanest competition, but pair skating rarely is! Happy to see Pang and Tong come away with the win, since they've been skating so well.
The podium
1) Pang and Tong
2) Savchenko and Szolkowy
3) Kavaguti and Smirnov