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STANDARD DISCLAIMER
These are my own opinions and observations. I may not always be
100% accurate and my ideas are certainly open to debate and criticism.
I prefer the Russian style of skating and may not be as enchanted with
the "popular favorites" in North America. I hope that these reports are
enjoyable to most readers, but I do not apologise for stating my own
feelings.
The pairs short programs began with Yeltsova & Bushkov doing a new program to "Stray Cat Strut" (NB: This music is actually called "Sixteen Tons") in red and gold costumes. Marina squeaked out the triple toe, which she had been struggling on in practice. It was a cute program with an excellent double twist and a simple but nice hip lift. Next up were Kristy Sargeant & Kris Wirtz of Canada, doing last year's blues program. There is one move in there that I find very irritating. During the spiral sequence, Kris skates backwards with his free leg in front and sort of jabs his arm foreward. It just looks dumb. I hate it. But otherwise, I enjoy this number. Their SBS triple toes were excellent and their twist looked much improved. However, the dismount from the overhead was clunky and they lost unison on the spin combo. Sarah Abitbol & Stéphane Bernadis of France skated next to "Bolero." They hit the SBS triple toes, but were scrapey and sort of slow. I felt that they almost came to a complete stop whenever they had to perform an element.
Next to skate were Michelle Menzies & Jean-Michel Bombardier, who skated to Debussy in icky teal costumes and treated us to the usual SBS triple salchow falls. They pulled off their overhead despite a poor entrance. It's a shame they can't jump, because the choreography for this number was quite lovely and they both are very sensitive to the music. Jodeyne Higgins & Sean Rice of Canada were next skating last year's short to Yanni, with a beautiful lift with (at least) 3 changes of position. They have good unison, but major jump technique problems. He fell on the SBS sal, while she two footed and badly underrotated it. Leslie Rogers & Michael Aldred of Great Britain skated next in rust and brown costumes, both falling on the SBS triple toes. Their double twist was very unusual.
Kyoko Ina & Jason Dungjen of the US skated their new short to "tribal" sounding music in black costumes with day-glo purple accents. They seemed very slow and cautious. They did hit the SBS triple toes and their SBS spins seemed improved. Next up were Mandy Woetzel & Ingo Steuer, who had looked very solid in practice. In performance, Mandy two-footed the triple toe and was a little short of the full rotation. Their overhead lift was also better in practice; in competition they lost a bit of speed. The new program is great on them, though, and Ingo was a hit in vinyl. Last up were Peggy Schwarz, who apparently has had a child (these pairs skating women!), now skating with her new partner Mirko Müller. They skated to irritating piano music and he fell out of the SBS triple toes. They had incredible SBS change camels, however; Mirko has gorgeous extension. Their lift was a bit unattractive, but strong. They are potentially a very solid #2 team for Germany.
For the long programs, Menzies & Bombardier skated first to their old Big Band program. It was a typical performance for them, some good (SBS double axels, a neat lift from a spiral entrance), some bad (barely got out the 3 twist or either throw jump). Rogers & Aldred skated a slow and simple program. She put a hand down on both throw jumps and doubled the SBS triple toes. Higgins & Rice were next skating to "Spartacus." They did a split triple twist and then a double twist immediately afterwards, which in practice almost launched Jodeyne beyond the boards. Their lifts are lovely, but she doesn't even seem to be a strong enough jumper to get the throw jumps.
Sargeant & Wirtz had some nice expression and speed in a program to "The Mission," but Kristy fell on the SBS triple toe as well as the double axel. Their throw triple sal was huge and the double axel was great too. When they hit it, I think they must have the biggest throw double axel in the world. Their lift set-downs tend to be clunky. Next up were Abitbol & Bernadis, who had good height on their triple twist and an excellent throw double axel. After nailing the SBS triple toes, Stéphane did a "power move" of swinging Sarah down between his legs and then lifting her into an overhead with one hand. They had some original lifts in this program, but lost some steam near the end. She fell on the throw triple loop, which cost them.
Schwarz & Müller were up next, but had to stop their program after only the second element, because a collision on the split triple twist had cut Mirko above the eye. Unfortunately, the cut couldn't be properly closed, so they had to withdraw. Their long as seen in practise was much more fun than the short. It was to music from "Pulp Fiction," fulfilling the Mirko Muller-John Baldwin Jr. connection. (Canadians may not recognize this name - he is an American skater of little international stature who did a very entertaining long program at the '95 Nationals to "Pulp Fiction" and "A Fifth of Beethoven" and looks very similar to Muller). Muller wore a black "wetsuit" and Schwarz wore a bright neon green outfit with a sizeable keyhole in the *front*, prompting a little flurry of activity in the photographers' nook. The tautness of the fabric created the sport bra "uni-boob" effect, but with a cut-out for a view of Peggy's cleavage.
Ina & Dungjen had a struggle with a nondescript new long program to "Grand Canyon Suite" worn in outrageously ugly velour costumes... hers a vivid red, his a long, bright yellow top with a zipper down the front over rust-orange pants. Kyoko fell on the throw triple sal and put a hand down on the SBS triple toes. She had looked unhappy during most of the practices and may have been under the weather. They seemed stiff and slow and had little use of the music in this program. Next up were Wötzel & Steuer, skating another bland new long program to music called "In Memory." Their expression was good, but I found the music less than inspiring. They skate with so much speed and attack on every element. Mandy was having some jump troubles on this night and they completely missed the throw triple toe, skidding into it and then not doing it at all. Last up were Yeltsova & Bushkov, skating last year's abomination of a long program, with a lot of nice new moves integrated into the choreography, making it a richer program to watch. They both fell on the SBS triple toes, but hit both throw triples (sal and toe) perfectly and also had a much stronger split triple twist than W&S. Nevertheless, it was only enough for the silver.