6th January - Original Dance

On Friday I could get to Sesto only for the original dance, both junior and senior - but unfortunately I missed the program of Cappellini & La Notte :( I'll just write some notes about the seniors:
Denkova & Staviski were the first to skate in the senior competition, even if, well, they weren't really competing and their marks were not announced. Albena was wearing a sparkly red dress, while Maxim was all in black, with bare chest ;) Their first rythm is cha-cha (kind of savage one!), they start with some shaking and posing, soon followed by the straight line -not flawless-. Then the music switches to "Besame mucho"; I loved all the figures and moves that they put between the required elements, and they have beautiful lifts too, especially the one where Maxim is in spread eagle and holds Albena upside down. The diagonal was not so fast, but ok. Overall a good performance, much better than what they did in Japan!

Albena & Maxim during warm-up
Starting pose

Before Aureli & Vaturi could take the ice, the "flower sweepers" had to clean the ice from some paillettes fallen down almost everywhere. Alessia had a black and fuchisa dress (I didn't like those fuchsia triangles..), and Andrea was all in black, with some fuchsia triangles on the right side of the shirt. Their OD opens with "Lady Marmalade" - this music is getting used toooo much!! -, the straight line was quite slow but well executed for 3/4, then in the last part Alessia made a mistake and they lost synch. Catch-foot lift, spin, then the diagonal step sequence, again a small mistake, and ended with a lift. I didn't like this program too much, I think it was missing something really "latin"! The marks:

TES: 22.80
PCS: 24.04
TSS: 46.84

Warm-up
Starting pose
Posing

Federica & Massimo were next, in the orange and yellow outfit used during the GP too. Massimo cut his hair, but just a little bit, so that they still look long. I think Fede's new hairdo suits her well, with long straight hair. They were very concentrated and determined; the straight line at the beginning of the program had good synch, and the twizzles were well done too. Some posing, nice transitions and catch-foot lift + spread eagle. Massimo especially was putting lots of passion in the interpretation. A little problem with the spin, and a feet down in the diagonal. Rotational lift to end the dance. Fede & Massi skated well today, it's just that they didn't look so sparkly, they'd need only a little bit more energy in it!
Their marks:

TES: 24.40
PCS: 28.37
TSS: 52.77

Warm-up
Warm-up
Energy!
Starting pose
OD
OD

Last but not least, Barbara & Maurizio. It was a strange feeling to see them there, I mean, like now you could say they're really back.
They had very elegant white costumes, with a colorful flower on the shoulder. Barbara had a very spakly top full of swaroskies, naked back, and a fringed skirt with another flower on the back. They were far from perfect technically, as Mauri messed up the straight line, loosing synch also in the twizzles (we were then told that Linichuk had changed them the steps of the line only 3 days before...); the spin also was a bit travelled and lost speed in the last turns. Anyway they had a good speed throughout the program, and their interpretation is just... truly latin!!! I like the choreo and love the "danced" bits. They need to work on this program, but still, they're so classy and elegant, they haven't lost their charisma and that special something that makes them stand out. The marks:

TES: 25.20
PCS: 32.53
TSS: 57.73

Warm-up
Warm-up
Starting pose

7th January - Free Dance

Saturday's program started with the junior Free Dance, won by Anna Cappellini & Luca LaNotte, who presented a completely new FD - they've been working on it only for 3 weeks now, but it already looked good and really caught the audience. Spelta & Garavaglia came in 2nd place with a FD to "Spente le stelle", and Pajardi & Caruso ended 3rd. I enjoyed the programs of all the couples in the last group, they all skated well!

This first part of the competition was followed by an awarding ceremony for all the Italian Champions of the past, starting from those close to us - like Vanessa Giunchi and Angelo Dolfini - then going back to the 90's - Stefania Calegari for instance, and Massimo Salvade, a pair skater with Anna Tabacchi, who I remember competing back at '92 Euros in Lausanne!! -. Also Roberto Pelizzola was awarded with Isabella Micheli, and then on to the very past till Olga Gilardini... It was nice to see some very old people still on their skates!

Then the most awaited moment, the senior Free Dance! Like yesterday, Albena & Maxim skated first. They were wearing the black and red costumes seen also at NHK; I really liked their Adagio,  they skated with good flow, and looked much more ready for competition now. They just had some troubles with twizzles, Maxim put a foot down in the first set, while in the 2nd set they had no synch. Loved their lifts, and I also liked the jumps!

Starting pose
FD

Aureli & Vaturi skated a very enjoyable FD to a Frank Sinatra medley, including "stranger in the night", "come fly with me", "my way" and "new york new york". They were a surprise, and skated really well. Good lifts and spin, the only mistake was lost of synch on 2nd twizzle set, everything else was ok. They got a deduction probably for a lift. Light mood, nice choreo, elegant costumes, definitely thumbs up! Marks for them:

TES: 42.80
PCS: 39.67
DED: - 1.00
TSS: 81.47

Warm-up
Starting pose
FD

I was very pleased to see that Federica & Massimo were wearing new costumes!! I didn't like the old white ones - don't know if with the new ones they're still portraying the soul (Fede) and body (Massi) thing, but definitely suit them much more and make them look beautiful! Also, I love the colour they've chosen, different shades of blue. I think "Mission" is the best FD they've ever had, and finally I've seen them skating it greatly! The interpretation was very good, this time they were really expressing their emotions and giving them to the audience. They had a good energy, especially in the last part of the program, where also the music grows. Only minor flaws for them, again on the spin, and the 2nd twizzle set was "saved" (?!) with effort! They were very happy for their performance :) Marks:

TES: 51.10
PCS: 47.29
DED: - 1.00
TSS: 97.39

Warm-up
Lift
Warm-up
Spin
Starting pose
FD
Greeting the audience

Barbara's mum was so tense that she couldn't bear watching her daughter skating, so she left the audience and came back only later when their FD was ended! She wasn't the only one feeling nervous though, as I think most of the audience and Barbara & Maurizio too were. Many expectations on them, and now it's the moment to show why they've come back. Personally, I've always liked them, and can't help appreciating their elegance, their "presence" on the ice that shows their strong personality. The costumes are very rich and full of details. Maurizio is a perfect prince, while Barbara's dress is half of a princess and half of a slave: velvet, golden embroideries and swaroskies on one side interlaced with "chains" on the other. To me, they're beautiful.
"Prince of Egypt" is a program that still needs working and refining, but already looks good and gave me emotions. The music is very powerful, and can easily involve the crowd. The starting pose has Mauri standing up, while Barbara is down almost parallel to the ice; then some moves where Mauri kind of twists Barbara (slaves that struggles to be delivered??). The first set of twizzle was perfect and made me think "_these_ are twizzles!". The serpentine sequence comes just after, not so fast but ok, lift with Mauri on one foot, then rotational lift (btw, have to say that Barbara not being able to do the biellman is a great thing, at least they had to think of something else for their lifts!). The second part of the FD has a very soft music, I love one move where Mauri sort of dandles (?? don't know if it's the right word) Barbara... The spin is still very slow in the last part, and the second set of twizzle was not as good as the first one. The circular step sequence is in the last section of the program, where you would expect more energy for a great final, as the music gets stronger, but I find that they got to the end a bit tired maybe - the beginning was much more energetic, and thus more involving.
Anyway they skated so much better than at the test held in mid December, they were much faster. Their step sequences are intricated and full of steps, maybe too much, so that edges become not so clear and they don't get the level expected (they were given level 2 in the serpentine).
At the end of the program they hugged each other for quite a while - Babi had fallen in the morning, hitting her butt, and Mauri still has a problem to his leg... - so it was already a great result for them, even if technically they have to improve, as shown by the marks:

TES: 46.30
PCS: 52.39
DED: - 1.00
TSS: 97.69

Warm-up
Warm-up
Starting pose
FD
FD
Lift
Hug
Hug
Standing up