Their Bat Out of Hell FD is the best Free Dance India & Eron representing Australia (I say representing as he's a Londoner) have ever had and it must've been gutting to get only 64 points when last season they had moved into the 70s. One wonders how much longer they can continue training?
It's great to have Joti Polizoakis back, the Announcer mispronounced his surname everytime, so I had to check it was him. Originally from Greece, formerly skated for Germany and now for Czechia with a vivacious blonde lady, Denisa. I wonder if they met on the German version of Dancing on Ice? I enjoyed both their programs and though there were mistakes, mainly with the lifts, they look a very promising partnership.
The most attractive part of the Brown's FD was their closing pose in a Lift. Excellent. However their FD, like their RD, is uninspiring, and not a patch on last season's Junior winning programs. Skating Lesson claimed after their previous event at Nepela it was because they had no connections with the Panel. No Dave, simply down to 2 dull programs.
Straight away when the Canadians Paul Ayer & Partner (having a brain fog) took the ice you could see their elegance and matching lines compared to the Brown's. I really liked their FD to Lewis Capaldi, apart from one move where he throws himself onto the ice in a somersault. Frankly he could break his shoulder if mistimed, but the Judges clearly didn't like it either and gave a 1.00 deduction. It broke the seamless nature of the choreography. They looked annoyed to be behind the Brown's on FD TES, but stayed ahead Overall.
Then followed Wolfkostin & Chen, back on form after last season's disappointments in their final Junior season. Skating to Florence & The Machine "Dark Days Are Over" it needed to be more wild and gothic to really interpret the music, but was good nonetheless. However what were those sparkly Latin Salsa costumes? Packaging people, please! 3rd
The French couple tried a classy sultry number to Edith Piaf. Her costume was gorgeous, I have no idea what he was wearing, except it didn't fit hers. I found the choreography began to get very samey, and a change in tempo was needed in my view to keep your interest. But wow 116 points. 2nd
Marjory & Zachary, whatever music they skate to, they soon develop so much speed that their rotational lift was a blur. I'm not sure the Nureyev BBC Film music is better interpreted as a Free Dance? We've seen it by Kolyada in Singles and by the US Pair team last season. It started off elegantly but then became too much of a whirlwind with similar lifts repeated for my tastes. But 120 points and the winners.
