The 2009 European Figure Skating Championships Helsinki, Finland Day 1,2 and 3
Khokhlova/Novitski chose “Sam’s Blues” and the upbeat “Putting on the Ritz” for their dance. Dressed in neon green and bright yellow, they drew the attention of the crowd right away. The reigning World and European bronze medalists delivered a strong performance of their dance that was highlighted by a straight line lift, fast twizzles and intricate footwork. The Muscovites were awarded a level four for all elements except the side by side step sequence which was a level three. They earned 62.17 points (32.90 element score/29.27 program component score) which was a new seasons best and accumulated a total of 99.60 points so far. „We were in the lead, but it doesn’t mean much”, Novitski commented. “We changed our first lift after Russian Nationals. Although it was a quite interesting lift, we somehow never got the maximum of points for it. Apparently we did the right thing, because he had a high technical score”, he continued. “Yesterday someone told us – ‘the first place hasn’t been reserved for you’, and this person is absolutely right. We’ll have to fight for it, and there are no weak competitors here”, he added when asked about their teammates Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin withdrawing due to injury yesterday.
Faiella/Scali interpreted a tap dance from the Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movie “Follow the Fleet” and completed a level-four side by side midline step sequence, a one armed rotational lift and a dance spin that were graded a level four as well. Faiella was slightly shaky on the synchronized twizzle. The Italians got a level three for the twizzles and the diagonal step sequence and picked up a seasons best of 59.03 points (30.90/28.13). They remained in second place at 95.06 points. “We could handle the situation well, and we were really into the dance today. It was like going back to the 30s. The elements were really good”, Scali told the press. “It was exciting to get our first silver small medal today. The pressure is higher being in the medal position. The hardest part was the Finnstep and after that everyone got more relaxed. Today we felt confident with our performance.”
Kerr/Kerr entertained the crowd in the Hartwall Areena with their fast paced Swing and Lindy Hop routine that featured crisp footwork (level three), a curve lift with her in a handstand and a spin with changes of position. They brother and sister team lost unison in the twizzles that were graded a level three. The Scots scored 57.71 points (30.20/27.51) and defended the third place with 92.60 points total so far. “Most important for us was to really dance the swing dance, and consider the judges like they were a part of the audience. We want to entertain. We skate well when we’re enjoying ourselves and we did that today”, Sinead Kerr explained. “I was actually more nervous today than I’ve been before during this season”, her brother admitted. “But as the music started and the audience began enjoying, it really helped a lot, and after 50 seconds I was enjoying it. I was more
