Trophee Bompard- Ladies

With the tragedy in Paris this weekend, only the short programs were competed here. The ISU should be meeting early this week to determine how to deal with the half-competed event in terms of world rankings and the Grand Prix Final.

That said, the short programs happened, and it is possible the final result will be that of the short program.

Gracie Gold won the short program, and maybe the event. Gracie had a clean short in Bordeaux, which was a little surprising but it was nice to see her skate well. Her short is not my favourite, but it's working a whole lot better than last year's for her. Every element in her short got a positive GOE and her PCSs were strong.

Conversely, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva did not skate well here. She was 5th in the short, and doesn't have the chance to make up the lost points, if the information we have so far is true. The triple axel was underrotated and the triple lutz was downgraded. Her combo also received a negative GOE. Her program almost entirely fell apart after the mistake on the triple axel. Without the amazing, consistent jumps, there is nothing left to her short program. Her costume is also horrendous. What possessed her to wear nothing but flesh coloured fabric on half her dress I will never understand. She has gone from the matronly mumu to this sexy in the worst way dress.

Yulia Lipnitskia got lucky here that she only had to power through a short program. She can fake her way through her bad technique for three jumps, but I really don't think she can manage that often in the freeskate. She's doing better this season, but that doesn't mean she has better technique. She is landing these jumps through pure force of will.

Roberta Rodeghiero had a surprisingly good skate here. She finished in third after the short. She's not one we see often, especially not with this much success. If she can pull off two skates like her one here, she may be able to make at least an alternate position for the grand prix final, assuming these results stand for the final, which, who knows what's going to happen with that.

Skate Canada 2015- Ladies

Like in Skate America, the ladies event was full of less than stellar skates, except, unlike in Skate America, the judges here were far tougher.

I saw more spins invalidated at Skate Canada than I have at the senior level I think ever.

The short program was pretty disastrous.

Ashley Wagner had a surprise upset, winning the Ladies event. She won the short, and had a strong free, finishing second behind Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. I'm a fan of the short, but it has been no secret that I am no fan of the Moulin Rouge free. If anything, it may have gotten worse. She said she was working on the transitions in the free, but there were really no transitions in the program. Where she has added 'transitions' it is just arm movements, and the prayer hands make no sense for Moulin Rouge.

Elizaveta Tuktaysheva had a disappointing skate here. Her short program was a complete disaster. She wasn't able to complete basically any of her jumps successfully, and without the jumps her programs don't have much of anything left. Her choreography isn't much of anything, so she relies on the jumps which were less than stellar in Alberta.

Yuka Nagai is a new lady on the scene, coming out of Japan, and she had a stellar display here. She's still young, fresh out of junior, and so she needs some more refinement. Her jumps are pretty good, but her choreography is still a little more simple than is ideal at the senior level.

The other ladies were overall pretty dismal. Kaetlyn Osmond had a really rough weekend. Her short program placed her in fourth, but that doesn't mean it was good. She missed a spin and her double axel. She had a rough freeskate as well, but everyone else had better freeskates, and she finished overall in 11th, but had the lowest freeskate.

Polina Edmunds had a rough short program. It looked good on the surface, but she had two underrotation calls and had a spin invalidated (I'm still not sure why), which put her behind Kaetlyn Osmond in the short. She also had four underrotation calls in the free. Her biggest problem this season is the jumps, but the new style is helping her PCSs.

Elizabet Tursynabeva had a disastrous short program. She finished in 12th in the short, and though she had the 4th best free, she finished overall in 7th.

European Championships- Ladies

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva won the ladies event in Stockholm. She has really next to no competition. It seems right now the only person with any chance of beating her is Elena Radionova. However Tuktamysheva has been working on the triple axle, and if she decides to add it to her program she will be unstoppable. I for one thought that after the short program Tuktamysheva would be willing to throw in the 3A to secure the win, but it's clear now that she doesn't need it, at least as long as they both continue to skate the way they did in Stockholm. However, the more ladies that start to add the 3A to their arsenal, the better for women's figure skating.

Elena Radionova has the typical Russian flair. Her short program is wonderfully tacky, but her freeskate lacks the fun and energy of the short. As such a young skater, we can only hope that she maintains the technique she has and that physical changes do not impact her skating like they did Lipnitskaia . She is always entertaining to watch, but I have to say, she should have stuck to the free skate dress from Russian nationals.

Anna Pogorilaya is not the most consistent of the Russian ladies, but she finished strong in third place behind her teammates. However she doesn't seem to have a connection to the music she skates to. The Firebird as her choice of freeskate music does not work in her favour. She doesn't connect with the music. She seems to be skating with music in the background. Like Max Aaron, the music should engage the crowd but doesn't because of the skating. Her personality doesn't come through, so when the jumps don't work, almost nothing works. It is time for her to focus on improving her relationship with her music, which will help her to improve that second mark and make up for potential mistakes in the jumps.

Joshi Helgesson and Viktoria Helgesson had a home crowd advantage, skating on home ice. The crowd was clearly behind them both, and this worked in their favour. They skated well and finished strong in fourth and fifth, better than many expected of them.