Ice Dancing at Vancouver

I saw the last grouping from last night's ice dancing competition from Vancouver. It was nice that the Canadian pair won, although I enjoyed the American silver medalists a bit more, if only because the piece they selected was more familiar.

The Russian pair is upset, bordering on being sore losers, however they have only themselves to blame after their performance in their second routine (which took them from first to third in the first place). Indeed, the score they received in that peformance was overly generous and probably political given their prior medal (no one wants to give Mr. Putin another reason to complain about figure skating). Anyone else would have been out of the top 10.

For both performances, the costumes were a distraction from the actual dancing. I am no prude and am second to none in appreciation of female declotage - however if the audience is looking at how outlandish the costuming is, they will miss the dancing itself. The second Russian pair, with her firebird costume, also suffered from such a distraction. Costuming should be supportive, not designed to push boundaries. If reasonable people can call it a wardrobe malfunction, there should be no surprise when points are deducted.

Finally, 101 points to the bronze medalists were generous given that in the last movement of the song, a fast and energetic pace was evoked by the music - however it was absent from the dancing. Personally, I think the second American pair was robbed, although their costuming was not much more appropriate.