World Team Trophy Free Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES	USA	98.37	49.07		49.30	8.25	7.93	8.36	8.46	8.29	0.00	#6
2	Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE	CAN	97.66	48.35		50.31	8.29	8.32	8.21	8.64	8.54	1.00	#5
3	Ksenia MONKO / Kirill KHALIAVIN	RUS	89.80	46.26		43.54	7.25	7.11	7.25	7.43	7.36	0.00	#4
4	Cathy REED / Chris REED	JPN	85.40	44.31		41.09	6.79	6.61	7.07	6.96	7.00	0.00	#3
5	Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES	FRA	84.24	42.96		42.28	7.07	6.86	7.11	7.18	7.14	1.00	#2
6	Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG	CHN	68.61	35.68		32.93	5.68	5.21	5.75	5.64	5.32	0.00	#1

Total

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SD	FD	Team Points
1	Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES	USA	164.91	1	1	12
2	Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE	CAN	160.08	2	2	11
3	Ksenia MONKO / Kirill KHALIAVIN	RUS	149.27	3	3	10
4	Cathy REED / Chris REED	JPN	141.75	4	4	9
5	Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES	FRA	138.97	5	5	8
6	Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG	CHN	113.76	6	6	7

World Team Trophy Short Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES	USA	66.54	34.35		32.19	8.00	7.71	8.07	8.25	8.14	0.00	#4
2	Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE	CAN	62.42	30.21		33.21	8.25	8.07	8.29	8.46	8.39	1.00	#6
3	Ksenia MONKO / Kirill KHALIAVIN	RUS	59.47	31.43		28.04	7.04	6.93	6.86	7.25	6.96	0.00	#1
4	Cathy REED / Chris REED	JPN	56.35	30.14		26.21	6.61	6.32	6.71	6.54	6.57	0.00	#3
5	Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES	FRA	54.73	27.35		27.38	6.86	6.71	6.71	7.04	6.86	0.00	#5
6	Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG	CHN	45.15	22.57		22.58	5.71	5.43	5.57	5.93	5.57	0.00	#2

Mentor Nestle Nesquik Cup Senior Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Deduction -	StN.
1	Cathy REED / Chris REED	JPN	58.01	31.50		26.51	6.67	6.50	6.67	6.50	6.75	0.00	#5
2	Siobhan HEEKIN-CANEDY / Dmitriy DUN	UKR	57.05	29.34		27.71	7.00	6.67	6.83	7.17	6.92	0.00	#6
3	Danielle O'BRIEN / Gregory MERRIMAN	AUS	51.17	28.50		22.67	5.67	5.33	5.67	5.75	5.83	0.00	#2
4	Alisa AGAFONOVA / Alper UCAR	TUR	50.50	28.50		22.00	5.58	5.17	5.42	5.58	5.67	0.00	#1
5	Justyna PLUTOWSKA / Peter GERBER	POL	50.45	29.00		22.45	5.75	5.33	5.58	5.67	5.67	1.00	#3
6	Natalia KALISZEK / Michal KALISZEK	POL	48.31	26.50		21.81	5.33	5.25	5.58	5.58	5.50	0.00	#7
7	Kira GEIL / Tobias EISENBAUER	AUT	36.91	18.50		21.41	5.50	5.25	5.25	5.50	5.25	3.00	#4

Free Dance

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Deduction -	StN.
1	Siobhan HEEKIN-CANEDY / Dmitriy DUN	UKR	79.95	38.67		41.28	7.00	6.58	6.92	7.17	6.92	0.00	#4
2	Cathy REED / Chris REED	JPN	78.28	36.86		41.42	7.00	6.67	6.92	7.00	7.08	0.00	#7
3	Danielle O'BRIEN / Gregory MERRIMAN	AUS	77.25	40.57		37.68	6.17	6.08	6.33	6.42	6.58	1.00	#6
4	Alisa AGAFONOVA / Alper UCAR	TUR	74.28	42.36		32.92	5.67	5.33	5.50	5.42	5.58	1.00	#5
5	Justyna PLUTOWSKA / Peter GERBER	POL	74.17	39.83		34.34	5.83	5.50	5.67	5.92	5.83	0.00	#2
6	Kira GEIL / Tobias EISENBAUER	AUT	66.49	33.50		33.99	5.75	5.50	5.67	5.83	5.67	1.00	#1
7	Natalia KALISZEK / Michal KALISZEK	POL	61.81	32.07		31.74	5.42	5.17	5.25	5.33	5.33	2.00	#3

Total

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SD	FD
1	Siobhan HEEKIN-CANEDY / Dmitriy DUN	UKR	137.00	2	1
2	Cathy REED / Chris REED	JPN	136.29	1	2
3	Danielle O'BRIEN / Gregory MERRIMAN	AUS	128.42	3	3
4	Alisa AGAFONOVA / Alper UCAR	TUR	124.78	4	4
5	Justyna PLUTOWSKA / Peter GERBER	POL	124.62	5	5
6	Natalia KALISZEK / Michal KALISZEK	POL	110.12	6	7
7	Kira GEIL / Tobias EISENBAUER	AUT	103.40	7	6

Japanese Nationals Senior Dance Results

PL.	Competitor	National	TSS	TES	PCS	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Deduction	StN.
1	Cathy REED Chris Reed	KINOSHITA CLUB KINOSHITA CLUB	53.41	28.30	25.11	6.25	6.05	6.40	6.30	6.35	0.00	#3
2	Burina OI Taiyo MIZUTANI	Juujou FSC Juujou FSC	42.12	21.50	20.62	5.20	4.85	5.15	5.25	5.25	0.00	#2
3	Emi HIRAI Marien De La Asuncion	KANSAI UNIV SKATING CLUB	42.00	21.10	20.90	5.35	5.05	5.25	5.25	5.20	0.00	#4
4	Misato KOMATSUBARA Kaoru TSUJI	Hosei KYOTO AQUARENA SC	34.27	18.00	17.27	4.45	4.15	4.25	4.40	4.30	1.00	#1

Free Dance

PL.	Competitor	National	TSS	TES	PCS	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Deduction	StN.
1	Cathy REED Chris Reed	KINOSHITA CLUB KINOSHITA CLUB	80.51	41.00	39.51	6.60	6.35	6.70	6.70	6.75	0.00	#3
2	Emi HIRAI Marien De La Asuncion	KANSAI UNIV SKATING CLUB	68.31	35.06	33.25	5.75	5.35	5.55	5.60	5.55	0.00	#2
3	Misato KOMATSUBARA Kaoru TSUJI	Hosei KYOTO AQUARENA SC	57.90	29.70	28.20	4.85	4.45	4.90	4.80	4.65	0.00	#1
4	Burina OI Taiyo MIZUTANI	Juujou FSC Juujou FSC	57.20	27.86	31.34	5.45	5.10	5.00	5.35	5.25	2.00	#4

NRW Ice Dance Trophy Senior Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Deduction -	StN.
1	Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES	FRA	59.74	31.14		28.60	7.25	7.00	7.13	7.31	7.06	0.00	#10
2	Cathy REED / Chris REED	JPN	55.88	29.64		26.24	6.75	6.38	6.56	6.44	6.63	0.00	#13
3	Allison REED / Vasili ROGOV	ISR	51.95	28.88		23.07	5.88	5.56	5.75	5.88	5.75	0.00	#5
4	Valeriya STARYGINA / Ivan VOLOBUEV	RUS	50.88	25.25		25.63	6.44	6.13	6.56	6.38	6.50	0.00	#1
5	Kristina GORSHKOVA / Vitaliy BUTIKOV	RUS	49.34	23.13		26.21	6.63	6.44	6.56	6.56	6.56	0.00	#7
6	Charlotte AIKEN / Josh WHIDBORNE	GBR	47.41	25.27		22.14	5.50	5.31	5.56	5.63	5.63	0.00	#11
7	Danielle O´BRIEN / Gregory MERRIMAN	AUS	44.62	21.88		22.74	5.81	5.44	5.81	5.81	5.56	0.00	#2
8	Alisa AGAFONOVA / Alper UCAR	TUR	43.82	21.63		22.19	5.50	5.38	5.56	5.63	5.63	0.00	#3
9	Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS	GBR	43.06	22.00		21.06	5.31	5.06	5.44	5.19	5.31	0.00	#8
10	Natalia KALISZEK / Michal KALISZEK	POL	38.51	19.12		19.39	4.75	4.75	4.75	5.06	4.88	0.00	#12
11	Sarah May COWARD / Georgi KENCHADZE	BUL	37.85	20.01		17.84	4.63	4.31	4.38	4.44	4.50	0.00	#9
12	Henna LINDHOLM / Ossi KANERVO	FIN	37.71	17.17		20.54	5.13	5.00	5.06	5.19	5.25	0.00	#6
13	Katharina MÜLLER / Justin GERKE	GER	37.59	18.24		19.35	4.81	4.63	4.81	4.94	4.94	0.00	#4

Free Dance

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Deduction -	StN.
1	Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES	FRA	87.73	43.01		44.72	7.44	7.31	7.44	7.63	7.56	0.00	#11
2	Cathy REED / Chris REED	JPN	84.95	44.01		40.94	6.88	6.69	6.81	6.88	6.94	0.00	#10
3	Valeriya STARYGINA / Ivan VOLOBUEV	RUS	84.35	42.55		42.80	7.06	6.94	7.19	7.25	7.38	1.00	#13
4	Kristina GORSHKOVA / Vitaliy BUTIKOV	RUS	80.87	39.91		40.96	7.00	6.69	6.81	6.88	6.81	0.00	#12
5	Charlotte AIKEN / Josh WHIDBORNE	GBR	78.82	43.38		36.44	6.06	5.81	6.06	6.25	6.38	1.00	#7
6	Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS	GBR	74.18	39.18		35.00	5.88	5.69	5.94	5.94	5.81	0.00	#8
7	Danielle O´BRIEN / Gregory MERRIMAN	AUS	72.53	37.79		34.74	5.75	5.56	5.75	5.94	6.13	0.00	#5
8	Allison REED / Vasili ROGOV	ISR	72.40	35.25		38.15	6.38	6.13	6.50	6.44	6.50	1.00	#9
9	Alisa AGAFONOVA / Alper UCAR	TUR	69.61	34.94		35.67	6.06	5.69	5.88	6.00	6.25	1.00	#6
10	Henna LINDHOLM / Ossi KANERVO	FIN	68.01	36.49		32.52	5.56	5.25	5.44	5.44	5.50	1.00	#4
11	Katharina MÜLLER / Justin GERKE	GER	62.80	32.72		30.08	4.94	4.69	5.19	5.25	5.25	0.00	#2
12	Natalia KALISZEK / Michal KALISZEK	POL	56.44	27.35		30.09	5.06	5.00	4.88	5.25	4.88	1.00	#3
13	Sarah May COWARD / Georgi KENCHADZE	BUL	52.16	26.76		26.40	4.75	4.19	4.44	4.44	4.25	1.00	#1

Total

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SD	FD
1	Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES	FRA	147.47	1	1
2	Cathy REED / Chris REED	JPN	140.83	2	2
3	Valeriya STARYGINA / Ivan VOLOBUEV	RUS	135.23	4	3
4	Kristina GORSHKOVA / Vitaliy BUTIKOV	RUS	130.21	5	4
5	Charlotte AIKEN / Josh WHIDBORNE	GBR	126.23	6	5
6	Allison REED / Vasili ROGOV	ISR	124.35	3	8
7	Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS	GBR	117.24	9	6
8	Danielle O´BRIEN / Gregory MERRIMAN	AUS	117.15	7	7
9	Alisa AGAFONOVA / Alper UCAR	TUR	113.43	8	9
10	Henna LINDHOLM / Ossi KANERVO	FIN	105.72	12	10
11	Katharina MÜLLER / Justin GERKE	GER	100.39	13	11
12	Natalia KALISZEK / Michal KALISZEK	POL	94.95	10	12
13	Sarah May COWARD / Georgi KENCHADZE	BUL	90.01	11	13
WD	Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV	RUS

Nebelhorn Dance Preview

Zhiganshina and Gazsi of Germany have a great shot at taking their first major gold medal at the Nebelhorn Trophy.  They had a breakout season last year, finding themselves in the top 12 at Worlds and top 10 at Europeans.  They have some really nice lines and they highlighted this last season with their ballet themed free dance.  If they can continue to package themselves effectively, they should do well here and throughout the season.

Also battling it out for the podium will be the Reed siblings from Japan and Tobias and Stagniunas of Lithuania.  The Reeds can sometimes get close to the line with their programs in terms of appropriateness for siblings and with the required Latin short program, it will be interesting to see what side of they line they land on this season.  Tobias and Stagniunas train with Igor and Shpilband, arguably the best dance coaches in the world at the moment.  They had decent results last season, and can easily improve and climb the ranks.

A team to watch is Hubbell and Donohue of the United States.  Hubbell competed last season with her brother and Donohue has competed internationally as a junior.  They've had good results in their summer events, especially considering that they are still a very new team.  Their programs have received good reviews and they've been praised for their packaging.  This will be their first time in front of international judges and can provide good feedback in advance of their Grand Prix debut.

My podium predictions:
Gold: Zhiganshina/Gazsi
Silver: Hubbell/Donohue
Bronze: Tobias/Stagniunas

Bios of the competitors.

Geil/Eisenbauer, AUT: They finished 11th in the preliminary round at Worlds and 10th in the preliminary round at Europeans.  She is 26 and he is 20.

Harvey/Gagnon, CAN: She is 21 and he is 23.

Ralph/Hill, CAN: They finished 7th at Cup of China and 6th at Trophee Eric Bompard last season.  Their personal best is 121.39.  She is 19 and he is 20.

Kubova/Kiselev, CZE: They finished 9th at JGP France and JGP Czech Republic last season.  Their personal best is 111.39.  She is 18 and he is 22.

Karmi/Lindholm, FIN: They finished 12th in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds.  They finished 14th at JGP Great Britain.  Their personal best is 79.07.  She is 19 and he is 20.

Lindholm/Kanervo, FIN: They finished 14th in the preliminary round at Europeans.  She is 22 and he is 23.

Zhiganshina/Gazsi, GER: They finished 11th at Worlds and 7th at Europeans.  Their personal best is 140.95.  She is 24 and he is 26.

Walden/Edwards, GBR: They finished 20th at Worlds.  Their personal best is 116.52.  She is 28 and he is 24.

Reed/Reed, JPN: They finished 13th at Worlds.  They placed 7th at NHK Trophy and Skate America last season.  Their personal best is 133.33.  She is 24 and he is 22.

Tobias/Stagniunas, LTU: They finished 14th at Worlds and 12th at Europeans. Their personal best is 131.01. She is 20 and he is 26.

Agafonova/Ucar, TUR: She is 20 and he is 26.

Hubbell/Donohue, USA: This is their first season together.  She is the 2010 Four Continents bronze medalist with her brother.  She is 20 and he is 20.

Olson/Cowan, USA: They placed 6th at JGP Austria and 8th at JGP Czech Republic.  Their personal best is 113.78.  She is 19 and he is 21.

Asian Winter Games

The Asian Winter Games are taking place in Kazakhstan from February 3-5.

Men (15 total participants):
1. Denis Ten, KAZ: 208.89
2. Takahito Mura, JPN: 206.88
3. Nan Song, CHN: 201.10
4. Tatsuki Machida, JPN: 187.84

Ladies (16 total participants):
1. Kanako Murakami, JPN: 177.04
2. Haruka Imai, JPN: 167.00
3. Min-Jeong Kwak, KOR: 147.95

Pairs (4 total participants):
1. Pang/Tong, CHN: 195.90
2. Sui/Han, CHN: 177.54
3. Ji/Wong, North Korea: 143.04

Dance (5 total participants):
1. Huang/Zheng, CHN: 129.75
2. Reed/Reed, JPN: 128.28
3. Yu/Wang, CHN: 127.50

Skate America Short Dance

Group 1

Lynn Kriengkrairut/Logan Giuletti-Schmitt, USA

• The Trouble with Love Is by Kelly Clarkson
• Great straight line lift with effortless position changes
• Hop into the twizzles for extra points and nice synchronicity on their twizzle sequence
• Golden Waltz looks smooth and fast, great shoot the duck and attitude positions for her
• Nice split position in the spin
• Nice speed and ice coverage on their footwork but I'd like to see them in their edges a little more
• Nice lift position at the end
• A little bobble into the ending pose
• This team had a great feel to their program and skate very fluidly

29.83 TES + 22.30 PCS = 52.13 into 1st place

Stefanie Frohberg/Tim Giesen, GER

• I like that they use their entrance to get into the character of the program before the music even starts
• Coppelia themed program
• One armed rotational lift with her in a pike position
• Twizzles were good and close together but a little slow
• The change in the middle where he kisses her and she comes to life needs to be a bit more dramatic
• Nice shoot he duck position for her
• The Golden Waltz seems a little bouncy for them and the hold changes seem a little too placed and don't really flow through
• He has a better performance quality during the step sequence than her--she looks a little tentative and the steps seem a little slow

25.24TES +18.79 PCS =44.03 new season best and into 2nd place

Ekaterina Riazanova/Ilia Trachenko, RUS

• His giant tie and patterned vest may be a little too much
• Nice fluid step sequence but they could use a bit more extension through their free legs
• She should think of adding some color to her dress so she doesn't blend into the ice
• Golden Waltz looks flid, great shoot the duck position, she makes great use of her upper body during this section but could use some more extension of her free leg and point her toes a little harder
• Hop into their twizzles, good unison
• Great rotational lift which requires a lot of ab strength from her but the exit was a little messy

28.49 TES +27.03 PCS = 55.52 into 1st place

Penny Coomes/Nicholas Buckland, GBR

• This is one of those Frankendances with a waltz and tango section that seem like two separate programs
• Rotational lift with one arm and her in a split position--she needs to point her toes a little more
• Golden Waltz is a little bouncy,, she has a nice shoot the duck position, her arms flow nicely through the section
• She puts her foot down early on the first set of twizzles and they're off sync on the second set
• Nice unison on the step sequence but I want them to really want them to attack it more since they went with the tango option
• Transitional lift at the end is nice but she needs to stretch her legs more
• Nice ending position but it looks like she may have had a bit of a bobble getting into it

28.17 TES + 21.26 PCS =49.43 new personal best and into 3rd place

Group 2

Cathy Reed/Chris Reed, JPN

• One of two teams using Addams Family this year
• Start with their straight line lift with him on the knee but it's a huge crotch shot for her
• Nice flow through the GW, nice shoot the duck and attitude positions for her,
• He goes way out of control on the twizzle and misses some of the rotationas and turns out of then
• Into their tango section now
• They're very close together on their footwork which is good
• On the last transitional lift she needs to stretch through her legs

23.43 TES + 21.97 PCS -1.00 = 44.40 and into 4th place

Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani, USA

• I absolutely adore Maia and she looks so grown up this year.  I especially love her dress and hipe there are no problems this time
• Nice fast twizzles with great unison, they do 3 sets for the extra points
• Nice step sequence with some good edge work
• Into the Golden Waltz and she has a huge smile on her face, they really flow through this section, great shoot the duck position (no skirt problem!) but a little bobble on the position where her back is paralle to the ice
• She steps up onto his leg and hits a nice arch for their curve lift
• Great transitional lift at the end as well
• One little bobble but overall I think this was much better than NHK
• I'm surprised Zueva is here since Shpilband normally travels with Davis/White and she was at the most recent Grand Prix with her teams

30.08 TES + 26.38 PCS = 56.46 new seasons best and into 1st place

Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje, CAN

• Another team and another short program I adore
• Everything about them is very classy
• Great opening straight line lift and she does a much better job of keeping her legs together than at NHK
• Into the Golden Waltz and it fits perfectly with their music and she really uses her upper body to float through this section
• And we're fox trotting, their twizzles are solid but lack the speed of the Shibutanis
• Straight line step sequence with lots of arm movements that play up the character of the program
• Transitional lift is nice and goes into the ending pose
• They look like they're having a ball the whole time they're out there and have a great connection

32.42 TES + 27.06 PCS = 59.48 new seasons best and into 1st place

Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirier, CAN

• She's still wearing the heinous white dress that is way too tight on her but this hair style is much better
• This first roational lift is insane with her upside down
• This version of Fallin sounds really weird but maybe its how they messed with the tempo
• Golden Waltz doesn't flow the way some other teams execute it but they hit all the points just fine
• Nice step sequence but I would like to see her have a little bit softer arms through this section
• Transitional lift into their final twizzle element and they get slightly off unison  but are very close together
• I'd like to see them connect to the music more--she has a big smile on her face the whole time and I'd like to see her emote more of the confusion evident in the song

30.92 TES + 29.49 PCS = 60.41 into 1st place

Meryl Davis/Charlie White, USA

• I love her dress--I think it might be different from NHK, I also love how relaxed Charlie is before they take the ice
• I love how committed Meryl is to her characters and performances and you can see it in her eyes before she even starts
• Very fast twizzles and great unison on the first set but he loses control on the 2nd and puts a hand down
• I like their movement and reltionship to each other in their step sequence
• Great speed and positions through the Golden Waltz but I'd like to see her let her upper body flow a little more instead of hitting all the positions with her arms
• Nice rotational lift with difficult hold changes and position changes for Meryl
• Her hands on the ending pose are a little awkward
• All in all a solid, well skated program for Meryl and Charlie.  They should easily go into 1st place.

30.00 TES + 33.62 PCS = 63.62 into 1st place

Top three are Davis/White, Crone/Poirier and Weaver/Poje
Weaver/Poje have the highest technical element score.
Davis/White have the highest program component score.

Skate America Dance Preview

This will be a rematch of NHK Trophy with Skate Canada's gold medalists thrown in.  Davis and White should have no problem winning gold again here and qualifying for the Final.  The next three teams all have won medals this season on the Grand Prix and are fighting for two podium spots.  While I personally don't like Crone and Poirier's style they have good technical skill and should be able to pull out the second spot here, but their performance quality is lacking and they were upstaged at Skate Canada by the performance of their much younger teammates.  I like Weaver and Poje's skating quality but I don't think they have the strong technique of some of the other teams.  The Shibutanis won bronze at NHK on the strength of their free dance and if they work out the costume issues they should see much higher short dance scores here.  They have some of the highest technical values in the world and have worked to up their performance quality.  After these four teams there will likely be a significant drop in the scores with the rest of the teams falling 15 or so points below 4th place.   

My podium predictions are:
Gold: Davis/White
Silver: Crone/Poirier
Bronze: Shibutani/Shibutani

My USFSA Fantasy Team is:
A) Davis/White
B) Shibutani/Shibutani
C) Reed/Reed

Information on all of the competitors is below.

Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirier, CAN: They finished 14th at the Olympics and 7th at the World Championships.  They finished 4th at their first Grand Prix in Moscow and won bronze at NHK Trophy last season to qualify them for the Grand Prix Final where they placed 6th.  They won gold at their first assignment, Skate Canada.

Kaitlin Weaver/Andrew Poje, CAN: Weaver and Poje are the reigning Four Continents champions.  They are the 2007 World Junior Bronze Medalists.  They finished 6th at their first Grand Prix assignment in Beijing last season before winning bronze at Skate Canada.  They won silver at the NHK Trophy earlier this season.

Stefanie Frohberg/Tim Giesen, GER: They finished 11th at the World Junior Championships.  They placed 4th and 5th at their two Junior Grand Prix assignments last season.  They finished 8th at their Grand Prix debut, Skate Canada.

Penny Coomes/Nicholas Buckland, GBR: Coomes and Buckland finished 20th at the Olympics and 16th at Europeans.  They finished 8th in their Grand Prix debut at the NHK Trophy.

Cathy Reed/Chris Reed, JPN:  They finished 17th at the Olympics and 15th at Worlds.  They finished 7th at NHK Trophy last season and repeated the result earlier this season. 

Ekaterinka Riazanova/Ilia Tkachenko, RUS:  They finished 6th at their Grand Prix debut in Moscow last season. 

Meryl Davis/Charlie White, USA: They won silver at Olympics and Worlds.  They won both of their Grand Prix assignments last season and the Grand Prix Final.  They started their season with a win at NHK Trophy.

Lynn Kriengkrairut/Logan Giuliette-Schmitt, USA: They placed 10th at Cup of Russia in 2007.  They finished 6th at Nebelhorn Trophy earlier this season.

Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani, USA: They finished 4th at World Juniors last season.  They are the 2009 World Junior Silver Medalists.  They won both of their Junior Grand Prix assignments last season and received the bronze medal at the Junior Grand Prix Final.  They won bronze in their Grand Prix debut at the NHK Trophy.