It seems the board had some problem after V/M, so I was not able to post the last comment from Klara Engi (and myself, lol), she said VM were one of the best on the night, most balanced, skated very close together, but preferred D/S expression though, and agreed with second place and placements in general except for French D/S.
I also think D/S deserved first on this dance and V/M second, and this margin between them is not very big and fair enough. To me D/S were the only ones who looked like they were dancing, and V/M were also much better than the rest from this aspect, but not as good as D/S.
I miss the old days of ice dance, this is very subjective of course, but for most couples I'm not feeling the dance quality that was present in CDs before, it's hard for me to explain this in words, but if you look at the Argentine tangos of past great couples like Klimova/Ponomarenko or Torvill/Dean or G/P (all are up on youtube) you can see what I mean by "dance" quality. Not that I mean to diss today's couples, but I much prefer the interpretation of those "old" couples, and D/S came closest to that for me.
I completely agree, with the whole post. I still think G&Ps Tango the best OD of all times and as I do Tango Argentino myself it strucks me whenever I see it how exactly they met the character of the dance.
About DomShabs - they really were impressive tonight, both in regards of edges and in regard of the "dance"-factor, as you mentioned. Ballroom and balletic at the same time, they really danced with one another and they has perfectly stretched and exact lines. Her dress was the best of the night, IMO, very sophisticated and no fuss, with Faiellas a close second.
Whoever posted that Max looks like Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy - I never noticed it before but you are right!