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Who's your favorite skater?(single female/male)

Male...wow I have a lot. Despite his flaws, I'm a long-time Joubert fan. I know, I know...but I just can't help but love him. This season I've also become a massive Jeremy Abbott fan, and I'm praying he gets assigned TEB next season because I so very much want to see him live! My other favourites are Lambiel, Brezina, Kozuka, Oda, Weir, Verner, Bradley, the list goes on! Other than Plushenko (sorry!) I pretty much love them all.

Ladies, I don't have so many favourites in. Whilst I love Yu-na and Mao, my real favourite lady is Joannie Rochette. I also adore Ashley Wagner, Alissa Czisny, Sarah Meier and Elene Gedevanishvili.

Whilst you didn't ask, I think I'll tack on that my favourite pairs are Savchenko and Szolkowy, and my favourite dancers are...almost all of them! I'm a diehard Marlie and Virtue/Moir fan though.

However, readers of my blog probably know this already; I'm not too good at keeping my biases under control!

Ask me anything

Olympic Fever!

Now, if you're like me, you're totally excited for the events in Vancouver to start and are itching to see some skating! But to keep you going until the first event (the Pairs Short Program, on Valentines Day!) I've compiled some links/sites/videos to keep you going!

Twitter

Twitter is an invaluable tool for any skating fan. There are a number of skaters who tweet, especially the American ones; my favourites are @jeremyabbottpcf, @EvanLysacek, @JohnnyGWeir, @Adaripp (Adam Rippon, in case you couldn't tell), @AshWagner2010 and @charlieawhite. There are so many more figure skaters out there in the Twitter world, so have a look at Aaron's site Axels, Loops and Spins for a full list.

There are also so many people who tweet skating news, and who, along with me, will be tweeting the Olympic results. The best, I think, are @SarahandDrew (off of Ice Network), @skating102 (Aaron from the aformentioned Axels, Loops and Spins) @blazingblades and @NBCOlympicZone. Don't forget about @Ice_Addiction either!

TV

Skaters seem to be popping up on TV all over the place. Jeremy Abbott, who has traditionally flown under the radar in terms of promotion, was actually on the Today Show and skated a flawless program. Evan Lysacek is also going to be on the Today Show on February 10th, so look out for that. Evan was on Jay Leno (with Kristi Yamaguchi and Mirai Nagasu in the audience!). Also, the latest in the Cutting Edge franchise is going to be shown on March 14th. It's called Fire and Ice; taking inspiration from Brian Joubert/Sasha Cohen's autiobiographies?

Other Stuff

And finally, to keep you going, here are some interviews with skaters which might be interesting. There's an interview with Abbott, and then a little news piece on Nathan Chen, America's hopes for 2018 (!) There are also a few clips on Delobel and Schoenfelder from recent training!







Oh and last bit of skating news; the compulsory dance at the Olympics is going to be the Tango Romantica! Do you like this decision? Personally I was hoping for the Golden Waltz but you might disagree - comment below.

The hiatus is over!

I'm back from hiatus! And my, what I've missed. I really missed blogging over the past few months, and I had to force myself not to start again because what with my exams and my own skating I've had no time to properly do it; in the past some of my posting has been half-hearted and not of good enough quality and I didn't want a repeat of that.

Once my exams were over (for now!) I KNEW that there was just too much going on in the skating world for me to limit myself to a few tweets (www.twitter.com/Ice_Addiction if you're interested) So here I am, and ready and rather raring to go.

I've still be watching the skating since I went on hiatus, and here are my highlights and lowlights to get me back into the swing of things.

+ Jeremy Abbott's long program at US Nationals. It was one of the most amazing skating moments I have ever seen, and I am desperate for him to repeat that in Vancouver.

+ ...which is starting in 15 days and 7 hours! Anticipation for the Olympics has been what's got me through some particularly boring revision sessions these past few months. Hands up who else just cannot wait?

- Speaking of revising, I think that's what Belbin and Agosto need to do with those new long program costumes, a definite lowlight for me. They just really didn't fit with the music at Nats, and that really made a big difference to how the program came across.

+ BUT it left Davis and White open to win US Nationals again, in spectacular fashion. The other top ice dance teams should be very afraid.

- Yes, I'm talking to you Domnina and Shabalin. All that controversy over your Aboriginal original dance has yet to distract from the fact that your free dance does not have that "wow" factor which Davis and White have in spades, or that Maxim's knee has really seen better days.

- Actually, the "wow" factor has been missing for me in a lot of the ladies skating these past few months. I found the European ladies competition somewhat of a letdown, and whilst Flatt and Nagasu were fantastic in the US, I'm dissapointed about Ashley Wagner not making the team.

- I'm also disappointed about Cohen; she had such a great (if overhyped) comeback with the short program but then let herself down in the free skate; not only by fluffing the jumps but by seeming to lose the fire which usually made her competitive programs so exciting.

+ But (to end on a high note) the comebacks from Plushenko and Lambiel didn't let me down (too much). Whilst I'll never be a Plushy fan, you cannot deny that his jumping is amazing, especially after so many years of doing those quads! And on the opposite hand, whilst Lambiel needs to work on the jumps, it was great to see his beautiful artistry and fantastic spins back on the competitive circuit. We're all pleased to see him (apart from a certain Mr Joubert, I'd imagine.)

I could go on and on (I haven't even touched on some of Europeans, or Canadian Nationals) but I think that's enough for now. I have a blog to revive!