Hotting up at Skate Canada

The men's contest at Skate America opened the season well with some surprises and set the bar very high. So looking at the field for Skate Canada we had high expectations. And we weren't disappointed, it was a cracker.
The first revelation of the contest was Elladj Balde. The last time I saw him skate at a Grand Prix he had an absolute nightmare, he fell onn almost every jump and struggled to get through the routine. But this time, he was brilliant, a million times better. His SP routine was a brilliant, sweeping flamenco and he skated it very very well. It was fast and aggressive but never lost all the little details. And most importantly it was full of confidence. He's come along way in a year. There was a mini latin theme going on in the SP generally with Florent Amodio and Javier Fernandez also doing flamenco style programs. Florent Amodio's routine contrasted a very traditional flamenco piece with stripped back spanish guitar and very strong, flamboyant latin choreography. He had a couple of stumbles on his jumps but the choreography of the routine is absolutely brilliant and suits him down to the ground. The way he hits his lines is just beautiful and the sshapes he makes in his choreography are breathtakingly good, he just moves so well. Javier Fernandez went for a softer, more romantic latin inspired routtine to the 'Mask of Zorro' soundtrack. It was a beautiful, epic routine with lovely flowing choreography and a very impressive, super speedy quad toe loop. There were so many routines that I loved during the SP section, in particular Dennis Ten's charming little homage to 'The Artist' with plenty of EMOTING and Artur Gachinski's very intense, moody 'Highlander' routine that contains a step sequence so flawless I could scarcely believe it. Also Patrick Chan's new SP is gorgeous and he skates it with a grace that's almost balletic. It has an almost contemporary dance feel  to some of the movements, its beautiful. Javier took the gold medal over home favourite Patrick with a charming FP in a theme that's a stone cold figure skating classic; Charlie Chaplin. The routine not only has massive quads but its tone is perfect; thouroughly endearing, goofy and adorable. Javier fernandez + Charlie Chaplin is a winning formula all day long. So after a strong start to the Grand Prix series and plenty more major contenders yet to skate, the men's contest look to be hotting up.