2025 IceChallenge | Nov 5-9

[CaroLiza_fan]

Wow! That was a way to start the competition for the first Basic Novice skater, from Hungary.

She did a "Suicide Squad" programme, and it was great! Really enjoyable.

She has set the bar high for the skaters to follow.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

OK, so maybe I was getting a bit ahead of myself.

The first of the two back-to-back Bosnian girls scored nearly double what the Hungarian girl did.

Awww. She is wearing a crown in the results area!

Because her coach is with the next skater, she has a team-mate sitting with her (I assume it's the girl who will be the penultimate skater to go in this competition).

They are delighted with the scores!

She goes into the lead.

Ah, the next Bosnian girl is wearing a costume that is very similar to her team-mate's.

A "Grease" programme! That explains it.

That was great too!

Her two team-mates and their coach are with her.

Now she is wearing the crown.

She goes into 2nd position.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Music problems for the final skater in Group 1.

Don't know what happened there, because it was the right music (that epic female cover of INXS' "Never Tear Us Apart"). Maybe it wasn't in the right position.

It was curious, because she just stayed in her starting pose the whole time while it was being sorted out.

Awwww. When she went into the results area, she went straight over to the camera and waved at us!

She's got a crown too! Her coach and a much younger team-mate are with her.

She goes into 3rd position.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Right, Group 2 are now doing their Warm-Up. And I should warn you that Skater #11, from Austria, has withdrawn. (She would have been the final skater of four consecutive Austrian girls).

Mind you, I could have sworn that when I looked at the start order before this started, that there were two withdrawals, with another in a later group. But, now it says that this is the only withdrawal.

Right, here we go.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I like that. Skater #8, the Austrian girl with the Chinese name, was skating to Chinese music.

And her red traditional Chinese dress was beautiful!

In fact, everything about that programme was beautiful.

She goes into 3rd position.

EDIT: I knew I remembered seeing her before! She won the Cubs competition last year!​

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

We have a big crowd with Skater #10 for her getting her results. Including Skater #8.

This is what I love about these competitions for younger skaters. The camaraderie within teams.

She goes into 5th position.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

This is annoying me. I recognise the coach accompanying the first of the two back-to-back Hungarian girls. But I can't place who she is.

Or, maybe she just looks like somebody I am familiar with.

Anyway, Skater #12 goes into 7th position.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

What is this weird re-mix of the "Game Of Thrones" music that the second of the back-to-back Hungarian girls is skating to?!

Her dress is absolutely beautiful, but does not fit in with the theme at all.

Yes, this is the time when wearing the crown fits the theme.

But it fell off her! Which also fits the theme!

Ah, her coach is wearing a crown too!

She goes into 3rd position.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

The first of quite a few Slovenian skaters in this competition. And when I saw her dress, I should have known it would be a "Rio" programme.

That was fun!

She goes into the lead.

Resurfacing now.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Perfect timing!

I arrive back after finishing what I was doing, and the announcer comes on to announce that the Group 3 Warm-Up is starting!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Awwww!!!! The first skater in Group 3, Skater #15 from Austria, is tiny!

She has a very familiar surname, so I looked her up, and although I couldn't find out if she is related to Elena, I did find out that this wee girl is actually Ukrainian.

She has an older team-mate and a coach sitting with her. And she is so adorable, playing with a crown that is far too big for her!

She goes into 7th position.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

The Slovenian girl starting at #16 also has a very famous surname. But this time from Ski Jumping.

What strange music she was skating to. A female singing the lyrics of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It, Black" to the tune of Amy Winehouse's "Back To Black". So surreal.

She goes into 5th position.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Shakira!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never seen anybody skate to "Underneath Your Clothes" before. But it worked so well. I want to see more programmes to it.

Or maybe not. Because it looks like it has triggered a "stream suspended" message!!!

Anyway, from the livescoring, Skater #17 from Hungary goes into 8th position.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

The stream is back, but we completely missed the programme of Skater #18 from Hungary.

When it came back, we saw the her coming off the ice, and the next girl falling on a jump.

Then we went to the results area, and "Believer" by Imagine Dragons was playing. And then the stream cut out again.

Maybe it is the music being played between the skaters that is triggering the suspensions. In which case, they would be better off not playing music in between.

And Skater #18 is the new leader!!! And we missed her!!!

Caroliza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

OK, this is bad. We have now missed two more skaters (#19 from Austria and #20 from Croatia), and there is no sign of the stream coming back.

The Austrian went into 15th position, and was then pushed down one when the Croatian went into 10th position.

There is just one more skater (a Hungarian) left in this group, and then we are onto the Warm-Up for the final group. I hope we will have pictures for that group.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

The stream has now ended. Hope they get a new one up quickly, in time for the programmes in the final group.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

New stream:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_NfO8zO6qg

Skater #21 from Hungary is waiting for her scores.

She goes into 4th position.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

OK, no sooner did the arena music re-start after the first skater in the final group finished her programme, but Eminem dropped an "F-bomb" during his section of Rihanna's "Love The Way You Lie".

This is a competition for children. Surely the music playing in the arena should be appropriate for children.

As I said earlier when the stream got suspended, perhaps it would be better to just do away with the music in between skaters.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

We just had another Austrian girl with a Chinese name. Funnily enough, the exact same name as a Chinese Pairs skater.

Now I'm curious to know if she is the sister of the girl we saw earlier. It's possible that she's not, because their surname is so common.

Anyway, this girl, Skater #23, goes into 10th position, two positions below Skater #8.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

And I was right! There was a second withdrawal! The Slovenian girl that was due to start at #24.

So, straight onto another Slovenian.

Skater #25 was good!

She goes into 2nd position, just 0.20 points behind the Hungarian leader, and 0.13 points ahead of the Slovenian in 3rd position.

CaroLiza_fan