The fifth stop in the Grand Prix series, Espoo in Finland, proved to be another messy mid-season competition with some big comebacks, a few surprises, and a stellar dance-off that left us wanting more from every team in the top 5!

Women’s Competition — Queen Kaori and Amber Glenn’s amazing comeback

As we’d hoped (and expected), Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto took her second Grand Prix title of the season — clinching her spot at the top of the standings going into the Grand Prix Final this December. Kaori’s programs weren’t flawless, but showed her signature style, power, and grit that reflect the champion she’s proven to be. After last season’s disappointment at the Grand Prix final, we know she’s hungry for the title — and this was a good step in getting her to it.

Also from Japan, Rion Sumiyoshi held on after a solid short program and a rather hot-and-cold free skate to capture the silver. Rion has definitely put herself in the running for a spot at the Grand Prix Final — now she waits for the shake-out following NHK Trophy next week!

In third, with perhaps the skate of the competition (or possibly the season in the women’s discipline), Amber Glenn from the United States skated a personal best in her free program and climbed from 11th place to bronze! Her short program was a heartbreaker, so to see her shine as brightly as she did in the long and find redemption in the most spectacular way was a joy. We cannot wait to see her at U.S. Nationals!

Ice Dance Competition — Chock and Bates win again

The top five teams in the competition made us feel things. Good to great things. They were all superb, but the reigning World Champions, Madison Chock and Evan Bates from the U.S. did just enough to grab the gold — and their ticket to the Grand Prix Final. With a near flawless Rhythm Dance and a gorgeous if imperfect Free Dance, they definitely showed they are very much in the hunt for another World title.

In the silver spot, the impeccably smoldering “Cana-danes” — Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen — brought two glorious performances to Finland and walked away with their spot at the final. Not only that, they improved upon their season’s best score — making Canadian Nationals even more intriguing considering what we’ve seen from Gilles and Porrier and Lajoie and Lagha!

In the third spot, the rising Finnish team of Turkkila and Versluis made quite an impression, with their free dance especially — creating something wholly unique on ice and setting themselves up as “ones to watch” leading into Worlds and, moreso, the next Olympic Games.

Off the podium but equally impressive, Carreria and Ponomarenko from the U.S. were possibly the best we’ve ever seen — looking incredible in their free skate. Both they and another American team here, Zingas and Kolesnik, applied pressure to other U.S. teams with their showings here leading into what promises to be a VERY competitive U.S. Nationals!

Men’s Competition — Kao Miura clinches while Kevin Aymoz rallies

The men definitely “men’d” in the short program with quite a few messy programs. However, rising to the top, were both Kao Miura and Shun Sato of Japan. The two friends and rivals both skated stunning free programs, with Kao bringing on just enough extra power and emotional commitment to nudge him above Shun’s more subdued performance. This was a close one, but locks Kao in for the Grand Prix Final and makes a strong case for both of them to be in the hunt for World team spots at Japan’s national championships in December.

In another big comeback, after a somewhat disastrous short program, France’s Kevin Aymoz skated for the fans and won himself a bronze medal. The emotion and fire that Aymoz brings is almost unmatched by any other man skating competitively today — making this moment a very special one to witness. Fingers crossed he can hold on to a spot in the final after next week’s NHK Trophy — it’s going to be a nail-biter.

Pairs Competition — A surprise win for Hase and Volodin

Finally, in the Pairs competition, we saw quite a bit of change from the short to the long — with Germany’s Hase and Volodin doing just enough to take a closely fought battle for gold. Both of their programs weren’t without errors, but showed a beautiful team finding their footing together and making a case for themselves to be in the conversation this season.

Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii continued to perform at a slightly lower level than we saw last season, placing second here with two nice but imperfect skates. This team is genuinely great, so we’re hoping they can find their way back.

The third spot, by just a few hundredths of a point, went to the Hungarian team of Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko over China’s Cheng Peng and Lei Wang, who were in first after the short program. While the Hungarian team’s technical content was of higher value that Peng and Wang, this result was surprising as a viewer — if not a little disappointing. Both teams were deserving — however we would have had the result flipped.

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Scoreography's recap for the Cup of China, the fourth competition in the 2023-24 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. We discuss upset wins from Japan’s Hana Yoshida and France’s Adam Siao Him Fa, argue for a different outcome in Ice Dance, and welcome Canada’s Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps to the back-to-back GP gold medal club.

The 2023 Grand Prix series landed in Chongqing, China for its fourth stop, and it was… a surprising one, indeed.

The Cup of China saw some long-awaited Grand Prix debuts (Shoma Uno, Yelim Kim), several upsets (men’s and women’s champions were both somewhat unexpected), and one BIG step forward for Lajoie & Lagha in ice dance.

Men's Competition

The continued rise of Adam Siao Him Fa is nothing short of astonishing. Adam, fresh off a win in France last week, came to Cup of China and took his second Grand Prix title after two flawed but fantastic performances. This win makes him the second man to lock in his spot at the Grand Prix Final in December.

In second, King Shoma Uno finally appeared — and it was lovely. After a stellar short program that had him in the lead, he had two falls in his long program that dropped him to silver. Maybe not quite the triumphant return some had hoped for, but Shoma seemed genuinely happy and more focused than ever on being the artist — not just the athlete.

Rounding out the top men was bronze medalist, Mikhail Shaidorov, who became the first person from Kazakhstan to medal at a Grand Prix since the late Denis Ten in 2016.

Ice Dance Competition

Wow, this one was a fight! Favorites Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier of Canada had some trouble in their rhythm dance that opened the door just a crack while fellow Canadians Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha had the best rhythm dance we may have seen from anyone this season.

While Lajoie and Lagas held first going into the long program, they did drop to silver behind Piper and Paul — but only by less than 2 points! Their overall score of 206.02 — the fifth best score of anyone this season — definitely moves them forward as they head into the Grand Prix final. Also, Canadian Nationals are going to be fascinating!

In third and fourth, two American teams — Caroline Green & Michael Parsons and Eva Pate & Logan Bye — delivered solid performance and scores that continue to make the road to US Nationals an interesting one. Such a deep field of teams vying for the two spots next to Chock & Bates for a trip to Worlds.

Women's Competition

While this competition was expected to belong to Loena Hendrickx of Belgium, it was the young Japanese powerhouse, Hana Yoshida, who won the day! After her 4th place debut at Skate America, Hana had another great competition here and surprised even herself with the win.

In second, another great Japanese talent, Rinka Wantanabe, skated perhaps the event's most solid two programs to improve upon other results this season for a silver.

After a messy but strong short program, Hendricks had an uncharacteristally slow and rather lethargic overall performance in her long, but held onto third and assured her spot at the Grand Prix final as well.

Pairs Competition

Another step on the path to Worlds for Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps was the highlight of the competition, though both programs had noteworthy errors. Regardless, this team was still the class of the field and handily won their second Grand Prix of the season.

The Italian team of Ghilardi & Ambrosini had a strong outing to take the silver, as did the new Chinese team of Peng Cheng & Wang Lei to take the bronze in their first appearance as a team on the Grand Prix circuit.

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We dig into the very solid competition at the 2023 Grand Prix de France, including mind-blowing performances from Adam Siao Him Fa and Ilia Malinin, a nerve-wracking win for Isabeau Levito, and podium surprises from Nina Pinzarrone, Rion Sumiyoshi, and Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud.

In this week’s episode, we’re talking about the third stop of the 2023 ISU Grand Prix Series — the Grand Prix de France. (a.k.a. the formal coronation of Adam Siao Him Fa as a frontrunner for the World podium!) 

It’s been a minute since we’ve seen a super close competition between two of the best in the game, but Ilia Malinin and Adam Siao Him Fa brought the fireworks for Algers, France. Both of them turned in incredible (if not World Championship quality!) programs — with Adam squeaking past Ilia by just 2 points!

Worth noting: BOTH skaters went over the 300 point mark! Plus, Ilia Malinin became the first man this season to punch his ticket to the Grand Prix Final. 

This competition also gave us our first look at Yuma Kagiyama on the Grand Prix circuit this season — and what a wonderful return it was after almost a full season without him due to injury. He’s still leveling back up his technical content, but the pop in his jumps and his gorgeous glide across the ice was the class of the field. 

To no one’s surprise, this competition was really between two well seasoned teams that are amongst the top in the world: Charlène Guignard & Marco Fabbri and Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorenson. Italy’s Guignard & Fabbri took the title with two strong, highly technical programs that put them in great position leading into their next Grand Prix, as well as the final. 

Definitely one of the upsets of the competition belongs to the relatively new team of Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud. The Canadians took gold over Italy’s reigning World bronze medalists, Sara Conti & Niccolo Macii.

Pereira & Michaud, fresh off their Skate America silver medal, all but locked in their trip to the Grand Prix final with their first big win!

The most volatile competition of the event! Isabeau Levito took her first Grand Prix gold here, but to everyone’s surprise was less than perfect in the long, with several uncharacteristic mistakes. Still a gorgeous short program, strong technical content, and fewer mistakes than most solidly scored the GP win she’s been seeking—as well as a ticket to the Grand Prix final. 

The other two women on the podium, Nina Pinzarrone and Rion Sumiyoshi, both moved up significantly and took advantage of the moment when others faltered — with Rion even landing her first ratified quad toeloop in International competition! 

We also saw the return of one of skating’s most beloved stars – Japan’s Wakaba Higuchi. She may have placed fifth, but she showed the power, precision, and passion that she’s known for — and we can’t wait to see more! 

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Wendy and Adron discuss the results of Skate Canada, the second event in the 2023-24 Grand Prix of Figure Skating season. Explosive performances from Pairs team Deanna Stellato-Dudeck & Maxime Deschamps and Women’s reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto headline our experience. But some surprise meltdowns and sketchy judging muddy our perception of an otherwise terrific event.

PAIRS

The marquee moment of Skate Canada 2023 has to be the free program from Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps that scored a phenomenal 142.39. This vampire-themed program could not look better on them, and seeing how conditioned they look this early in the season solidifies them as not just World podium favorites, but in the running for the World title! 

WOMEN

Queen Kaori Sakamoto came to Canada on a mission and absolutely completed it. Unlike the shaky start she had last season, Kaori skated two gorgeous programs at Skate Canada. A resounding victory was well earned amongst a very strong field, which saw particularly impressive showings from South Korea’s Chae-yeon Kim, Rino Matsuike of Japan, Maddie Schizas from Canada, and Lindsay Thorngren of the United States.

DANCE

We saw the season debut of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier — who solidified their status as co-favorites for the World Title this season with two sumptuous programs. They faced the fan-favorite disco Brits, Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, who brought their ever-evolving “Rocky” to Vancouver and came up big for silver.

There was also a “competition within a competition” between three American teams — Oona Brown & Gage Brown, Emilia Zingas & Vadym Kolesnik, and Eva Pate & Logan Bye. The Browns siblings took this round by a smidge, but we won't see them again till US Nationals...

MENS

Japan’s Sota Yamamoto secured victory with a fantastic short program and solid free skate. His countryman, Kao Miura, nearly stole the top of the podium with his powerful long program.

Things get messy after that, with the disastrous free skate from Korean superstar JunHwan Cha, a surprise bronze for Italy's Matteo Rizzo, and dubious under-scoring that kept Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan off the podium.

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Scoreography returns with the beginning of the Grand Prix 2023-24 season, as we talk about Skate America 2023. We recap the competition with commentary about stand-out performances, heartbreaking disappointments, and up-and-coming skaters we’re excited about.

Taking place in Allen, Texas, from October 20th-22nd, Skate America kicked off the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. 

The competition featured Women's and Ice Dance divisions stacked with competitive talent, a lopsided Men's event with a small handful of clear favorites, and a struggling Pairs event with only 7 teams (but also some reasons to be hopeful).

We discuss the explosive performances from Ilia Malinin, Loena Hendrickx, Chock & Bates, and Kevin Aymoz. We also highlight exciting podium placements for Niina Petrokina, Shun Sato, Chelsea Liu & Balazs Nagy, and more. And we get hyped for new talent like Hana Yoshida, Hannah Lim & Ye Quan, and new dance team Olivia Smart & Tim Dieck.

There were huge moments (like Amber Glenn's spectacular triple axel) and bitter disappointments. It was a dramatic weekend of skating, and this early event sets the stage for what's to come as the Grand Prix continues.

Mentioned in this podcast:

On Ice Perspectives: Ye-lim Kim performs to 'A Thousand Years' at An Evening with Champions (2023) https://youtu.be/8htyCI7JSiQ

On Ice Perspectives: Young You skates to 'When We Were Young' by Adele https://youtu.be/fv2uUaYiA-Q

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We talk about our experience seeing Stars on Ice in Chicago, featuring the farewell tour of legend Kurt Browning. We also look back at the awesome World Team Trophy event, and share our highlights from the 22-23 season.

After such a unique and exciting post-Olympic season, we were beyond hyped to see some skating in real life! This Stars on Ice cast was especially exciting. From Olympic Champion Nathan Chen, to 4-time Japanese National Champion Satoko Miyahara, to a very special goodbye performance from Wendy’s all time favorite skater, Kurt Browning, it was a show we could not miss!

Along with our Stars on Ice recap, we reflect on the super fun World Team Trophy event, and discuss why that unusual competition is a perfect jumping on point for new skating fans. 

We review the action from the World Figure Skating Championships 2023 in Saitama, Japan — triumphs, surprises, disappointments, and occasionally questionable scoring.

...

After a long post-olympic season, the best-currently-competing-skaters from around the globe converged on the World Figure Skating championships in Saitama, Japan. They and gave us a few disappointments, some great surprises, and a lot of gorgeous (even when it wasn’t not perfect) skating!

In this super-sized episode, we cover each of the disciplines in a lot of detail — comparing notes on our favorite performances of the competition and talking through everything from the emotional kiss-and-cry’s to the questionable-as-ever judging. 

Riku Miura & Ryuichi Kihara’s win—in spite of a flawed free skate—brought Japan their first Pair’s world title. They are our favs of the season, making us feel our full range of emotions every skate.

Alexa Knierim & Brandon Frazier coming through for silver—in spite of the terrible health crisis their coach and friend, Todd Sand, is going through.

Sara Conti & Niccolò Macii from Italy skated to the moment with two exceptional programs.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps skated strong, if not flawlessly, for 4th place at their first worlds. That, in and of itself, is an incredible feat for the Canadians.

We saw particularly great showings by Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud from Canada (they are ones to watch next year!) and Emily Chan & Spencer Akira Howe from the US.

Final thought: We need more pairs teams ASAP!

Kaori Sakamoto held on after a phenomenal short, and a not-as-perfect long program, to claim her second world title. The grit she showed completing the second triple in a combo after popping the first shows why she is a champion’s champion. That, and her fantastic sportsmanship during the medal ceremony celebration.

An absolutely amazing performance by Haein Lee for the silver caps a breakthrough season for this young talent from South Korea. We expect her to be a THREAT next season.

Loena Hendrickx’s resolute fight through both programs to grab bronze was lovely to see, and a nice way to end a rocky season for her.

Isabeau Levito was near-perfect in the short, but an unfortunate fall on the triple lutz and other small mistakes dropped her to 4th overall. Still wildly impressive, even if disappointing for the young American. Now if we could just get the America program and media to stop over-hyping her so she can just concentrate on her skating…

Mai Mihara was a dream in the short, but could not sustain the momentum in the long and dropped to 5th. Still, big season for the Japanese veteran and reigning Grand Prix champion.

What a competition for Germany’s Nicole Schott! A Top Ten finish and a personal best is a huge accomplishment this deep into a long career.

Amber Glenn and Bradie Tennell were scored low enough to land outside the top ten — leaving the US with only 2 Women’s spots for 2024 Worlds.

Thank goodness Maddie Schizas changed her long program. (We were practically begging her to get rid of that wretched West Side Story free skate.) Redemption is a great way to end her season!

Final thoughts: Not the best overall competition. A lot of little mistakes from nearly everyone except Haein and Nicole. Hoping to see some more personality and variety in next year’s programs.

FINALLY, Madison Chock & Evan Bates go from bridesmaid to bride, taking home the World Championship gold — even with a fluke (and largely irrelevant) fall.

Surprise-but-well-deserved silver for the highly technical Italians, Charlène Guignard & Marco Fabbri — already making their case for the 2026 Olympic podium.

A bronze for Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier with lovely, if a bit tight and sluggish, skates. Not what we expected, really, but great to see them skate well.

Very surprising 4th place finish for the good time dance team of Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson. This often mid-tier team lit up the Japanese crowd and, apparently, the international judges.

Deeply underscored (or were others over scored??) Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen of Canada unquestionably deserved to be on the podium. Their 5th place finish is our biggest complaint in all of the Worlds judging.

Best moment: Kana Muramoto & Daisuke Takahashi, no contest. Their free skate was an explosion of emotion and pure joy. Though Ice Dance is the least popular discipline in Japan, this performance on home might just change that trend.

Final thoughts: Impressive skates by the top 12 teams, but WTF is up with the scoring?! 

Shoma Uno showed up, regardless of ankle injury concerns and weeks of terrible practices, to win his second consecutive world title. The Short King Reigns!

Wow wow wow, Junhwan Cha is The Moment!! Possibly the performance of the competition overall, the South Korean skater nabs silver with two fantastic skates.

Ilia Malinin gave us a great quad axel and a slightly tight performance in the long to earn his first world medal, bronze. Though an extraordinary jumper and technician, the international judges sent a clear message that his artistic elements were not equal to the rest of the top 5 skaters. Its something Ilia clearly took to heart, commenting on it during the press conference, with an intend to focus more on artistry next season.

OMG, what an unexpected competition for Kevin Aymoz — a 4th place Worlds finish for him is gold for us all. Two flawless performances elevated this French artiste well above his own expectations.

WE LOVE YOU KEEGAN MESSING! This short program was a thing of beauty. The free skate saw him drop in the standings, but not in the hearts of the audience and skating fans everywhere. Thank you, Keegs, for all these years on the ice. You’re a legend.

Jason Brown lands in 5th on the scoreboard, but first in our hearts. His performances were simply perfect, top to bottom. “Master of the Blade”, indeed.

Kazuki Tomono is a force of nature.  Wasn’t perfect, but a damn delight on the ice. Expect big things for his future.

Lukas Britschgi from Switzerland made his case for one-to-watch status going into next season.

Final thoughts: A stellar competition to end Worlds 2023! 

We discuss the favorites, the long shots, and all of the in-betweens leading up to the 2023 World Championships, happening this week in Japan.

This season has been the deepest dive we’ve personally taken into figure skating in a very long time, and looking back — for all of the post-Olympic year doldrums and troubling political issues that are very real — there’s a lot of skaters to be excited about leading into the biggest competition of the year.

After a brief absence, Scoreography returns to take a deep dive into the US Nationals 2023 competition! We celebrate the triumphant return of Jason Brown, and impressive first place performances from Ilia Malinin and Isabeau Levito. We dig into the scoring controvery around Bradie Tennell's 2nd place finish, and lament a rather thin Pairs competition. We talk about the evolution of Chock & Bates's programs this season, and the hurdles ahead of their way to the top of the Worlds podium. And we get excited about some surprising, huge long programs from Josephine Lee, Jimmy Ma, and Andrew Torgashev. 

We double up this episode, looking back at two Grand Prix 2022 events: the MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield, UK, and the NHK Trophy in Sapporo, Japan. We discuss a handful of fantastic performances in two otherwise fairly forgettable competitions, and explore why Pairs is a failing discipline—yet also a great medal opportunity for otherwise mid-tier skaters.