Shows
ScoreographyOlympics 2026 Men's Final RECAPIn a stunning, dramatic upset, Kazakstan's Mikhail Shaidorov won gold in the Men's competition at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina. Japan's Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato took the silver and bronze medals, as many predicted, but with shaky performances. Yet the skate most will be talking about was the shocking collapse of "Quad God" Ilia Malinin in the free program, plummeting the expected champion from 1st to 8th place overall. In this recap and reaction to the men's final, we do our best to celebrate the winners while examining how things went horribly awry for...
2026-02-141h 05
ScoreographyOlympic Ice Dance RECAPOlympic Ice Dance REACTION — 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games After a wonderful Team competition, Olympic figure skating in Milano Cortina hits its first big controversy. The individual Ice Dance event ends with France's Fournier-Beaudry & Cizeron in gold, despite several visible errors in both programs. Meanwhile, Chock & Bates are awarded silver even with two dynamic, clean performances. Gilles & Poirier take home the bronze, capping their Olympics with a magnificent, emotional free dance. We dig into why the outcome of this event felt neither fair nor surprising, after a season of shoddy, questionable judging. And, despite our an...
2026-02-1256 min
ScoreographyOlympics 2026 Men's Figure Skating PREVIEWAfter a dramatic Team Figure Skating event, the Men prepare to take center stage in the individual competition at the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games. We walk you through the front runners, including USA's "Quad God" Ilia Malinin, and Japan's stars Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato. But there are plenty of dark horses in the mix who could shake up the results and the podium. Kazakstan's Mikhail Shaidorov, France's Adam Siao Him Fa, Italy's Daniel Grassl, Korea's Junhwan Cha, and Georgia's Nika Egadze are all capable of big jumps and big scores. Russian's "neutral" athelete, Petr Gumennik—la...
2026-02-101h 02
ScoreographyOlympics 2026 Team Competition RecapThe first figure skating event of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games is officially complete! The Team Competition exceeded all expectations, delivering truly world class performances, and a last possible moment showdown to decide gold. The United States team took victory in dramatic fashion, via dominant ice dance showings from Chock & Bates, a clutch free skate from Kam & O'Shea, and a final heroic effort from Ilia Malinin. Japan took silver, missing the top of the podium by only a single point. Kaori Sakamoto, Yuma Kagiyama, and Miura & Kihara posted career high scores and likely-to-be-legendary performances. Sh...
2026-02-0955 min
ScoreographyOlympic Team Competition PREVIEW — 2026 Olympic GamesThe 2026 Olympic Games figure skating competition kicks off in Milano Cortina with the Team Event. Ten countries. Three medals. Zero room for error. We examine the teams most likely to vie for the podium, and which ones probably won't make the free skate. Many of the competitors haven't been officially announced yet, so we conjecture on which skaters will take part, and the strategy behind those choices. With world champions in the mix — like Ilia Malinin, Kaori Sakamoto, Alysa Liu, Muira & Kihara, Chock & Bates, and Sui & Han — expect the competition to be FIERCE in Italy.
2026-02-0547 min
ScoreographyOlympics 2026 Ice Dance PREVIEWThe Olympics are upon us, and we're here to help you get ready to watch Ice Dance! We walk you through the top 5 teams battling for the podium, and explain why there's one fight for Gold and another for Bronze. We thoroughly break down the competition between podium hopefuls Madison Chock & Evan Bates (USA), Laurence Fournier-Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron (France), Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier (Canada), Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri (Italy), and Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson (Great Britain). But there are plenty of other excellent teams in the hunt for a top 10 finish, so we give you...
2026-02-0355 min
ScoreographyFour Continents 2026 RECAPWe dive into the last major competition before the 2026 Olympics, Four Continents Championships in Beijing, China. We celebrate the surprise but oh-so-satisfying victory from Japan's Yuna Aoki. An Ice Dance gold medal should give an extra boost to USA's Zingas & Kolesnik as they prepare for Milano Cortina. The same could be said for Olympics-bound Kao Muira, who will represent Japan at the Games as well. And America's Efimova & Mitrofanov score an unexpected win over the legendary Sui & Han in the Pairs event. But there were thrilling skates all down the rankings, too, as well as some wonderful...
2026-01-261h 08
ScoreographyEuropean Championships 2026 RECAPWe react to the 2026 European Figure Skating Championships event in England, featuring a historic repeat win from Estonia's Niina Petrokina, two Georgian golds in Pairs and Men's, and a slightly surprising outcome in Ice Dance. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:45 Ice Dance 00:20:55 Women's Competition 00:32:10 Pairs Competition 00:41:09 Men's Competition 00:56:00 Canadian Nationals 01:03:42 Four Continents Preview 01:07:29 Gold in our Hearts 01:08:26 Wrap-Up
2026-01-191h 09
ScoreographyUS National Championships 2026 RECAPThe much anticipated 2026 US National Figure Skating Championships were everything they promised to be: thrilling, tense, bittersweet, and revelatory! The week-long event happened in our hometown of St. Louis, and we were on-site throughout the event to witness historic skates and the selection of the Olympic team. The Women's and Ice Dance events delivered powerhouse performances that will go down as some of the best Nationals competitions of all times. The Men's event featured shocking twists, tear-jerking surprises, and a dominant win from Ilia Malinin. And the Pairs ended with two thirds of its podium ineligible for O...
2026-01-132h 00
ScoreographyUS Nationals 2026 PREVIEWIt's our first episode of 2026, and we're preparing for US Nationals — which will be held in our home city of St. Louis! We preview the upcoming competition with a laser focus on the biggest stakes: who will represent the USA at the Olympics. From virtually guaranteed locks like Ilia Malinin, Chock & Bates, and Alysa Liu, to the uncertainty around the pairs and additional dance spots, there's so much to be excited—and anxious—about. We also cover the results of this past weekend's Korean Nationals, including Olympics selections for Junhwan Cha, Haein Lee, and Jia Shin.
2026-01-051h 14
Scoreography2025 Year End Figure Skating News and ReviewAs 2025 comes to a close, we catch up on a bunch of last minute figure skating news: citizenships, announcements, Olympic teams, a combined ISU Worlds event (?), and much more. We also recap our top Gold in Our Hearts moments for the year. And we share our appreciation for our listeners and community, including a particularly touching Christmas Eve message from an audience member. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:49 We'll be at US Nationals! 00:04:37 Skating News 00:20:50 ISU Combined Worlds Events 00:32:01 Four Continents announcements 00:43:30 Listener support and Poetry! 00:48:22 2025 Gold in our Hearts Moments 00:56:54...
2025-12-3058 min
ScoreographyJapanese Nationals 2025 RECAPAll-Japan Championships 2025 gave us an Olympics-worthy collection of amazing performances — including final competitive skates from several of our favorite athletes. Kaori Sakamoto and Yuma Kagiyama clinched their Olympic spots, and Yuna Aoki gave two of the finest programs of any skater this season. We also talk about the results of the French and Italian nationals events, including their locks for Olympic teams. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:10 Women's Event 00:33:07 Men's Compeititon 00:44:32 Pairs Compeition 00:47:14 Ice Dance Competition 00:52:09 French Nationals 00:58:44 Italian Nationals 01:08:21 Gold in our Hearts 01:09:38 Wrap-Up
2025-12-241h 12
ScoreographyJapanese Nationals 2025 Preview and Junior Grand Prix Final RecapWe preview the All-Japan Figure Skating Championships (Japanese Nationals) and its hotly contested Olympic team outcomes. We also look back at the Junior Grand Prix Final, particularly the very exciting junior women's event. Golden Spin 2025 receives a recap as well, along with a number of other smaller federation national championships. As mentioned in the episode, here is Rocker Skating's resource for how each federation selects its Olympic teams. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:06 J-Nats Women's Competition 00:11:59 J-Nats Men's Competition 00:16:16 J-Nats Pairs Competition 00:17:34 J-Nats Ice Dance Competition 00:20:19 French Nationals 00:24:21 Italian Nationals...
2025-12-161h 12
ScoreographyGrand Prix Final 2025 RECAPThe Grand Prix Final in Japan took us on a rollercoaster of emotions. Ilia Malinin shattered his own world record. Alysa Liu is golden once again. The pairs competition was outstanding. And ice dance somehow managed to generate even more controversy, outcry, and shocking twists. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 03:34 — Pairs Competition 04:22 — Miura and Kihara 08:17 — Conti and Macii 12:41 — Hase and Volodin 15:32 — Metelkina and Berulava 18:50 — Pavlova and Svietchenko 20:10 — Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps 23:45 — Women's Competition 24:36 — Alysa Liu 29:24 — Ami Nakai 33:41 — Kaori Sakamoto 36:14 — Amber Glenn 38:53 — Mone Chiba 45:00 — Rinka Watanabe 52:15 — Ice Dance Compet...
2025-12-081h 55
ScoreographyGrand Prix Final 2025 PREVIEWWe get ready for the 2025 Grand Prix Final with a rundown of all the competitors across the 4 disciplines, comparing their scores and performances so far this season, and making our (highly dubious) podium predictions. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 1:58 — Men's Competition 19:09 — Men's Podium Predictions 20:47 — Pairs Competition 34:09 — Pairs Podium Predictions 35:39 — Women's Competition 52:57 — Women's Podium Predictions 56:16 — Ice Dance Competition 1:21:20 — Ice Dance Podium Predictions 1:22:59 — Other Skating News 1:24:23 — Talinn Trophy 1:28:00 — South Korean Ranking Competition 1:32:16 — Wrap-Up
2025-12-011h 34
ScoreographyFinlandia Trophy 2025 Recap — ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix SeriesThe final 2025 Grand Prix qualifier event provided a terrific women's competition, more judging controversies in ice dance, plus blood, tears, and several truly memorable, beautiful performances. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 0:31 — Dance Scoring Controversy 19:47 — Errors and Incompetency 21:21 — Ice Dance Competition 47:50 — Ice Dance GPF Qualifiers 49:47 — Men's Competition 1:02:54 — Men's GPF Qualifiers 1:03:38 — Pairs Competition 1:12:21 — Pairs GPF Qualifiers 1:14:27 — Women's Competition 1:29:00 — Women's GPF Qualifiers 1:30:32 — Gold in our Hearts 1:32:04 — Warsaw Cup 1:36:19 — Wrap-Up
2025-11-251h 38
ScoreographySkate America 2025 Recap (Figure Skating Grand Prix Series)The penultimate Grand Prix Qualifier, Skate America, featured a hotly contested women's podium, some spectacular ice dance performances, numerous disasters in pairs, and a surprisingly weak men's event. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 1:44 — Women's Competition 1:51 — Alysa Liu vs Rinka Watanabe 4:56 — Anastasiia Gubanova vs Lara Naki Gutman 7:06 — Starr Andrews 10:00 — Top 5 score comparisons 11:31 — Chaeyeon Kim 12:21 — Lea Serna 12:43 — Haein Lee 14:31 — Hana Yoshida 15:11 — Ekaterina Kurakova 15:49 — Wakaba Higuchi 17:47 — Josephine Lee 18:26 — Pairs Competition 18:54 — Miura and Kihara 19:58 — Metelkina and Berulava 24:55 — Laurin and Ethier 27:05 — Chan and Howe 29:18 — Hocke and Kunkel 29:57 — Akopova and R...
2025-11-181h 31
ScoreographyNHK Trophy 2025 RecapKaori Sakamoto reigned supreme at her final NHK Trophy competition! The Japanese Grand Prix event gave us exciting podium wins, surprise come-ups, frightening injuries, and a disappointing debut from the returning Shib Sibs. #FigureSkating #GPfigure Chapters 0:00 — Intro 1:33 — Women's Competition 1:50 — Kaori Sakamoto 5:52 — Sofia Samodelkina 7:55 — Loena Hendrickx 10:34 — Young You 14:05 — Sarah Everhardt 16:29 — Yuna Aoki 19:23 — Anna Pezzetta 20:02 — Wakaba Higuchi 21:17 — Elyce Lin-Gracey 22:17 — Canadian Women / Ice Challenge 24:18 — Ice Dance Competition 25:25 — Fear and Gibson 25:56 — Guignard and Fabbri 29:02 — Green and Parsons 33:09 — Taschlerova and Taschler 34:21 — Wolfkostin and Tsarevski 36:36...
2025-11-111h 24
ScoreographySkate Canada 2025 RecapThe third stop on the Grand Prix series gave us a bombastic new world record from Ilia Malinin, a shaky win from Gilles and Poirier, some pleasant surprises in pairs, and a charming trio of medal-winners in the women's event. Plus more frustrating judging, and potentially racist kiss 'n cry fan gifts. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 1:57 — Men's Competition 21:39 — Ice Dance Competition 52:34 — Women's Competition 1:10:06 — Pairs Competition 1:18:20 — Racist Kiss 'n Cry fan gifts? 1:23:22 — Gold in our Hearts 1:24:53 — NHK Trophy Preview 1:29:13 — Wrap-Up
2025-11-041h 29
ScoreographyCup of China 2025 Recap (Figure Skating Grand Prix Series)The second Grand Prix event of 2025 featured the return of Olympic champions Sui & Han, exciting wins from Amber Glenn and Shun Sato, and a nervous victory for Chock & Bates. Plus more questionable judging, and a kiss 'n cry controversy. Chapters 1:37 — Women's Competition 24:10 — Pairs Competition 39:16 — Men's Competition 57:21 — Ice Dance Competition 1:21:45 — Final thoughts on Cup of China 1:22:25 — Gold in our Hearts 1:23:42 — Skate Canada Preview 1:26:23 — Wrap-Up #figureskating #gpfigure #cupofchina #figureskatingpodcast
2025-10-271h 27
ScoreographyGrand Prix de France 2025 RecapThe first 2025 Grand Prix event featured extraordinary upsets (Ami Nakai, Fournier-Beaudry and Cizeron), expected dominant wins (Ilia Malinin, Miura and Kihara), and controversial Ice Dance scoring (Guignard and Fabbri) sure to spark heated debate for some time… We dig into the incredible highs, and truly WTF moments, from Grand Prix de France. Adron savors his perfect podium prediction for the Women's competition. The wild ice dance judging ties us in knots. If this is the sign of things to come, this season is gonna be a roller coaster… Chapters 0:00 — Intro 2:44 — Ice Dance Competit...
2025-10-211h 33
ScoreographyTrialeti Trophy 2025 Recap and Grand Prix PreviewWe discuss Georgia's first ever Challenger event, the Trialeti Trophy, where Georgian skaters (rightfully) swept the golds. We also preview and give predictions for the Grand Prix de France, which kicks off the GP season. And we talk about the unsettling Shibutani Siblings rink video. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 2:07 — Trialeti Pairs Competition 14:52 — Trialeti Men's Competition 24:57 — Trialeti Ice Dance Competition 35:32 — Trialeti Women's Competition 45:04 — Grand Prix de France Preview 46:46 — GP France Men's Preview 52:05 — GP France Dance Preview 57:18 — GP France Women's Preview 1:05:21 — GP France Pairs Preview 1:09:13 — Podium Predictions 1:13:34 — Shibutani Siblings rink video
2025-10-141h 29
ScoreographyDenis Ten Memorial Challenge 2025 RecapThe Denis Ten Memorial Challenge gave us our first look at Mikhail Shaidorov's new programs, a terrific showing and win from Haein Lee, and solid first outing from Davis & Smolkin. We also talk about Rika Kihara's move to ice dance, Bradie Tennell's successful program switch, and more. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 0:54 — Men's Competition 23:21 — Dance Competition 39:38 — Women's Competition 49:35 — Adam Siao Him Fa improvements 52:20 — Rika Kihara and Shingo Nishiyama ice dance pairing 57:49 — Bradie Tennell changes short, scores big 1:03:06 — Gold in our Hearts 1:05:01 — Wrap-Up We examine the performances and results from the Denis Ten...
2025-10-071h 07
ScoreographyNebelhorn Trophy and Nepela Memorial 2025 RecapsWe recount a long, LONG weekend of skating with two major Challenger Series competitions: Nebelhorn Trophy and Nepela Memorial. The highlight reel includes big wins from Amber Glenn, Lara Naki Gutmann, Hase & Volodin, and Smart & Dieck. But, wow, were there some sloppy skates in there too… Chapters 0:00 — Intro 2:13 — Nebelhorn Women's Competition 14:31 — Nebelhorn Pairs Competition 24:06 — Nebelhorn Men's Competition 31:20 — Nebelhorn Ice Dance Competition 41:28 — Nepela Women's Competition 1:01:50 — Nepela Men's Competition 1:09:38 — Nepela Ice Dance Competition 1:37:58 — Gold in our Hearts 1:40:36 — Wrap-Up
2025-09-301h 42
ScoreographySkate to Milano Cortina Olympic Qualifier Event RecapThe final Olympic spots have officially been decided, the Russians have (sort of) returned, some of our favs punched their tickets, and the judges pulled some funny business at the Skate to Milano Cortina — aka Chinese Nebelhorn. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 1:26 — Women's Competition 25:01 — Ice Dance Competition 39:24 — Men's Competition 53:03 — Pairs Competition 59:52 — Gold in our Hearts 1:01:05 — Outro The (officially unaffiliated) return of the Russians. Many sighs of relief as some favorites lock their spots. And what's an official Olympic-related event without some suspicious judging and unfair-feeling outcomes? Oh, and this is our 75th...
2025-09-231h 02
ScoreographyLombardia Trophy 2025 RecapWe examine the results from a very enjoyable Lombardia Trophy competition, including a great season debut from Ilia Malinin, a dominant gold from Conti and Macci, and surprise wins from Rion Sumiyoshi and Pate & Bye. Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:07 — Men's Comeptition / Ilia Malinin 7:26 — Yuma Kagiyama 12:24 — Nikolaj Memola 14:00 — Shun Sato 14:48 — Adam Siao Him Fa 16:28 — Kao Muira 17:22 — Andreas Nordeback 17:41 — Luc Economedies 18:28 — Maxim Naumov 19:44 — Pairs Competition / Conti and Macci 22:11 — Ghilardi and Abrosini 23:27 — Valesi and Bidar 24:04 — Women's Competition / Rion Sumiyoshi 26:54 — Ami Nakai 29:21 — Sarah Everhardt 32:15 — Alysa Liu 37:36 — Lara Naki Gutm...
2025-09-161h 09
ScoreographyKinoshita Cup 2025, Bolero Cup, John Nicks Pairs Challenge RecapsWe recap a busy week of skating comps with the four-discipline Kinoshita Cup in Japan, the John Nicks Pairs Challenge, and the Bolero Cup ice dance event. Many heavy hitters debuted their new programs, and we have lots of feelings about them! Chapters 0:00 — Intro 0:50 — John Nicks Pairs Competition 15:06 — Kinoshita Cup Men's Competition 22:49 — Kinoshita Cup Pairs Competition 30:52 — Kinoshita Cup Women's Competition 45:18 — Kinoshita Cup Ice Dance Competition 54:51 — Bolero Cup Ice Dance Competition 1:07:16 — Gold in our Hearts 1:10:20 — Wrap-Up
2025-09-101h 13
ScoreographyFrench Masters 2025 and Junior Grand PrixWe check out the French Masters event, featuring the debut of ice dance team Fournier-Beaudry and Cizeron, and a fantastic performance from Kevin Aymoz. We also look at the Junior Grand Prix, including a controversy in Pairs, and a breakout gold in women's. French Masters 2025 — Fournier-Beaudry & Cizeron Debut, Aymoz Dazzles In this week's episode of Scoreography, we dig into the French Masters competition where Laurence Fournier-Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron made their much-awaited competitive debut. With two very refined programs — including an especially memorable free dance — they came out on top over country-mates Lopareva & Brissaud and Demo...
2025-09-0359 min
ScoreographyUS Summer Sizzler 2025 and Return of Keegan MessingWe dig into the new program previews on display at the US Summer Sizzler gala, featuring almost all the top American skaters and teams. But first — Canadian hero Keegan Messing returns for the Olympic Season! Chapters 0:00 — Intro / Return of Keegan Messing 5:59 — Returns Uncertain? (Sui and Han, Shib Sibs) 9:40 — Fear & Gibson Free Dance Announcement 10:35 — Lombardia Trophy Men's Comp is mini Oly 13:48 — US Summer Sizzler 2025 15:22 — Isabeau Levito short program 17:42 — Jason Brown free skate preview 19:16 — Amber Glenn's Like a Prayer short 21:51 — Efimova and Mitrofanov short program 24:41 — Andrew Torgashev free skate 26:05 — Ma...
2025-08-2651 min
ScoreographyCranberry Cup 2025 Recap and More Skating NewsThe Olympic season is upon us with our first notable singles competition, Cranberry Cup. We talk about exciting wins from Isabeau Levito and Roman Sadovsky, a standout showing from Sofia Samodelkina, and Sonja Hilmer's marvelous short program. Plus news and other program debuts. Stargate Fandom Podcast Appearance You can hear — and SEE — Wendy and I as guests on the Stargate Fandom podcast! We talk with hosts Alyssa & Emily about our mutual fandom crossovers between Figure Skating and Sci-Fi/Fantasy. We had a terrific time with them in this wide-ranging conversation, and we hope you give it a...
2025-08-2049 min
ScoreographyKaori Sakamoto Retirement Plans and other Skating NewsThree time world champion Kaori Sakamoto announces her post-Olympics retirement plan, and we have some feelings about it. Plus lots of new program announcements, and we talk about our experience at the North American Adult Synchronized Skating Camp. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 0:31 — NAASC Synchro Camp Experience 4:52 — Kaori Sakamoto Retirement Plans 10:43 — Other Skating News 11:06 — Young You's Triple Axel 13:22 — Gabby Daleman returns 14:32 — Kovalevs change coaches 16:05 — US Summer Sizzler and Program Announcements 17:53 — Riku and Ryuchi choreographers 18:33 — Mai Mihara brings back her '23-'24 programs 20:39 — Mao Shimada's programs 22:05 — Mona Chiba's programs 23:11 — C...
2025-06-2627 min
ScoreographyIn the Mixed Zone - featuring Judith DombrowskiWe talk with figure skating journalist Judith Dombrowski about her work with Golden Skate and Pirouette Magazine, and what it's like conducting interviews in the 'Mixed Zone' at skating competitions. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 2:06 — What is the Mixed Zone? 15:28 — Overcoming language barriers 18:12 — Skaters seeking content creators and alternative press 20:32 — A push to find "drama"? 24:40 — How much skating does a reporter actually see? 30:02 — Covering the Road to 2026 Event 33:56 — Familiar faces at events 35:45 — Best skaters in the Mixed Zone 38:50 — Looking ahead to next season 42:35 — US Nationals in our home area 44:29 — Wra...
2025-06-1946 min
ScoreographyGrand Prix 2025 Assignments and Return of Sui and HanWe dig into all of the Grand Prix assignments for the upcoming figure skating season, as well as the unsurprising return of the Olympic Pairs champions, China's Sui and Han. It may be skating's off-season, but there was a lot to be excited about this past week as the 2025 Grand Prix assignments were announced — and two legends of the sport quietly confirmed their long-rumored return. The biggest story to come out of the assignments was unquestionably the return of reigning Olympic pair's gold medalists, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong from China. While there had been rum...
2025-06-121h 09
ScoreographySpring Skating News (May 2025)We round-up the past week or so of off-season skating news, including new-and-returning programs from Kevin Aymoz, Kaori Sakamoto, and the Brown siblings. Haein Lee's suspension has formally been nullified, and the Taschler siblings move to Finland with a new coaching team. And lots more. Chapters 1:17 — Stars on Ice and Show Season 4:57 — Kevin Aymoz brings back Bolero 9:09 — Oona and Gage Brown skate to The Godfather 11:18 — Haein Lee does Carmen; suspension is nullified 13:36 — Chaeyeon Kim working with Benoit again 15:03 — Rion Sumiyoshi working with Misha Ge and Shae Lynn Borne 16:16 — Rika Kihira working...
2025-05-2332 min
ScoreographyListener Q&A 2025 Edition — Your Questions Answered!In our second annual Q&A episode, we answer listener submitted questions about the upcoming Olympic season, our all-time favorite programs, the origin story of the podcast, and lots more. The off-season can feel LONG… especially the off-season before the Olympic season! This is why it was especially fun to dive into some "what if" scenarios, skating nostalgia, and even a few messy predictions for the coming year. We also dig into a few more serious topics, including the pros and cons of getting into the figure skating creator space, why big success for the U...
2025-05-151h 27
ScoreographyThe Shib Sibs Return?!After SEVEN years away from competitive figure skating, ice dance Hall of Famers the Shib Sibs — Maia and Alex Shibutani — are returning. Just in time for the Olympic season. We have complicated feelings about it (especially Adron). We ruminate on the sport's inextricable tie to the Olympic quadrennial, how that both helps and hinders skating fandom, and the role of nostalgia in promoting the sport. Referenced in this episode: The Nicecapades — Ice Wars: Revenge of the Shib Biography — Ice Queens: The Untold Stories of America's Figure Skating Legends Follow Scoreograph...
2025-05-0644 min
ScoreographyModernizing the Sport with FS.SkatingStanWe're joined by Haley from FS.SkatingStan, one of our favorite figure skating Instagram accounts, to talk about her experience at Worlds 2025, the efforts from the ISU to modernize the sport, and the role content creators play in the skating's future. Modernizing the Sport, and the Role of Content Creators in Skating's Future This episode of Scoreography features our very first guest on the show. Haley from FS.SkatingStan — one of our favorite figure skating fan accounts on Instagram — drops in for a wide-ranging conversation about the season, her experience at Worlds 2025, and the sport's futur...
2025-05-0158 min
ScoreographyWorld Team Trophy 2025 RECAPWe look back at all the fun shenanigans and terrific performances from the 2025 World Team Trophy competition in Japan, including a dominant win from Team USA and first WTT medal for Team Italy. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 1:51 — Predictions and Results 3:09 — Women's Competition 15:49 — Pairs Competition 23:27 — Men's Competition 33:00 — Ice Dance Competition 40:05 — Mao Shimada in the Gala 41:50 — Gold in our Hearts 46:16 — Wrap-Up Recap of 2025 Figure Skating World Team Trophy The 2024/2025 figure skating season finally came to its official end in Tokyo, Japan, at the World Team Trophy — and, WOW, did it go out w...
2025-04-2247 min
ScoreographyWorld Team Trophy 2025 PREVIEWWe look ahead to one of our favorite and most fun figure skating events, the bi-annual World Team Trophy. The competition features teams from the USA, Japan, Canada, Italy, Georgia, and France. Chapters 0:00 — World Team Trophy Overview 9:57 — Team Rosters 29:50 — World Team Podium Predictions 32:22 — Wrap-Up Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show
2025-04-1533 min
ScoreographyScoreography Awards 2025, ISU Awards, and Olympic QualificationsWe reflect on the post-Worlds ISU Awards, dig through the official Olympic Qualifications, and then hand out our own 2025 Scoreography Awards across 10 different categories. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 0:54 — Olympic Spot Qualifications 19:43 — ISU Awards 28:38 — The Scoreography Awards 29:10 — Favorite Program: Men 31:09 — Favorite Program: Women 32:27 — Favorite Program: Pairs 34:03 — Favorite Program: Ice Dance 35:15 — Breakout Skater or Team 38:44 — Best Costume 41:16 — Best Gala Performance 44:03 — Future Star 45:48 — Skater or Team of the Year 48:34 — Moment of the Year 50:11 — Wrap-Up Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography BlueSky...
2025-04-1052 min
ScoreographyWorld Figure Skating Championships 2025 RECAPWe take an in-depth retrospective of the World Figure Skating Championships 2025, including the extraordinary wins of Alysa Liu, Chock and Bates, Ilia Malinin, and Miura and Kihara. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 2:00 — Women's Championship 33:26 — Women's Predictions in Review 34:15 — Pairs Championship 51:17 — Pairs Predictions in Review 52:10 — Men's Championship 1:16:42 — Men's Predictions in Review 1:17:40 — Ice Dance Championship 1:48:05 — Dance Predictions in Review 1:48:48 — Gold in our Hearts 1:56:24— Wrap-Up Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show
2025-04-011h 57
ScoreographyWorlds 2025 PREVIEW Part TwoIn the second part of our World Figure Skating Championships 2025 preview, we look at the Men's and Ice Dance competitions — both with clear leaders, but primed for potential upsets on the podiums and down the rankings. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 3:32 — Men's Competition 30:21 — Men's Podium Predictions 32:30 — Ice Dance Competition 58:25 — Ice Dance Podium Predictions 1:00:25 — Wrap-Up Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show
2025-03-241h 04
ScoreographyWorlds 2025 PREVIEW Part One: Women and PairsOur first preview episode for the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships focuses on the Women and Pairs events. We compare the season's best scores and most consistent performers to pick the likely podium threats, as well as who might round out each top ten. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 3:06 — Worlds Preview Part One 3:53 — Women's Top Competitors 20:28 — Women's Dark Horse Candidates 31:21 — Women's Podium Predictions 33:32 — Pairs Top Competitors 43:40 — Pairs Dark Horse Candidates 51:00 — Pairs Podium Predictions 54:00 — Wrap-Up Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky...
2025-03-1855 min
ScoreographyLegacy on Ice Impressions, and other skating newsWe give our impressions of the Legacy on Ice event, performed in honor of the skating community lives lost on Flight 5342, and fundraising for their families and communities. We also discuss the Skating Lesson controversy attached to the event, plus other competition news. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 1:10 — Legacy on Ice Impressions 22:13 — Skating Lesson Controversy 31:30 — Sonja Henie Trophy 34:03 — Maria Olszewska Memorial 37:59 — Gold in our Hearts 39:08 — Wrap-Up Legacy On Ice tribute benefit reactions, Skating Lesson controversy, and competition news This week, we take a close look at the emotional benefit event...
2025-03-1139 min
ScoreographyWorld Junior Championships 2025 RECAPWe examine an exciting Junior Worlds 2025 event, with spectacular wins from Mao Shimada and Rio Nakata. Plus, we dive into the Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron ice dance team news. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 0:32 — Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron Announcement 11:48 — Junior Worlds Recap 12:35 — Women's Competition 30:10 — Men's Competition 38:59 — Pairs Competition 47:29 — Ice Dance Competition 51:02 — Gold in our Hearts 53:00 — Wrap-Up
2025-03-0554 min
ScoreographyFour Continents Championships 2025 RECAPSeoul, Korea, hosted a truly fantastic 2025 Four Continents Championships. We discuss standout wins from Chaeyeon Kim, Miura & Kihara, and Mikhail Shaidorov, a brilliant podium placement for Jimmy Ma, and frustrations with Ice Dance scoring. Chapters 0:00 — Intro and Road to 2026 event 3:01 — Four Continents Overview 3:59 — 4CC Men's Competition 21:55 — 4CC Pairs Competition 34:41 — 4CC Women's Competition 58:09 — 4CC Ice Dance Competition 1:16:15 — Gold in our Hearts 1:17:34 — 4CC Final Thoughts 1:19:34 — Wrap-Up Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show
2025-02-251h 21
ScoreographyFour Continents 2025 PREVIEW, plus Asian Winter Games and Challenge Cup RecapsWe preview the strong slate of competitors at the upcoming Four Continents Championships 2025 in Seoul, South Korea. But first we recap the impressive Asian Winter Games competition, as well as the much smaller Challenge Cup. Chapters 0:00 — Intro and Retirement News 3:11 — Road to 2026 Cup 5:15 — Asian Winter Games 5:57 — AWG Women's Competition 9:10 — AWG Men's Competition 13:27 — AWG Pairs Competition 13:54 — AWG Ice Dance Competition 15:00 — Challenge Cup Men's Competition 16:16 — Challenge Cup Women's Competition 20:06 — Challenge Cup Pairs and Ice Dance 22:38 — Four Continents Preview 22:48 — 4CC Men's Competition 34:29 — 4CC Women's Competition 45:15 — 4CC Pairs Competition 5...
2025-02-191h 04
ScoreographyOlympics 2022 Retrospective Part ONE: Mens and PairsWith the 2026 Olympics just a year away, we look back at Beijing 2022. We examine the current Milano Cortina hopefuls who competed in the previous Olympic mens and pairs, to see how far they've come in the years between. Chapters 0:00 — Intro and Context 2:09 — Original introduction 3:39 — Pairs Competition 24:17 — Men's Competition 51:55 — Thoughts from the Future 54:58 — Wrap-Up This week we're digging into the archives a bit, and looking back at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. In particular, we're discussing the Pairs and Men's figure skating competitions, and reflecting on the skaters who were there t...
2025-02-1455 min
ScoreographyEuropean Championships 2025 RecapWe look back at Europeans 2025, a great event in the shadow of tragedy. We celebrate a remarkable win from Nina Petrokina, question the Ice Dance results, and share our bemusement with the men's competition. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 1:48 — Women's Competition 14:19 — Ice Dance Competition 28:21 — Men's Competition 38:35 — Pairs Competition 44:38 — Gold in our Hearts 46:13 — Wrap-Up While the 2025 European Championships will forever be inextricably tied in time to the horrific and devastating plane crash in Washington, D.C., the competition did go on. In this episode, we want to celebrate the achievements of the athletes w...
2025-02-0547 min
ScoreographyFlight 5342 — In MemoriamWe remember, and do our best to honor, the members of the figure skating community—athletes, coaches, and family members—who were lost in the crash of American Airlines Flight 5342 in Washington, DC. Several memorial funds have been set up, by the US skating federation and affected skating clubs, to support the surviving families: U.S. Figure Skating Family Support Fund Capitol Skating Fund Flight 5342 Memorial Brielle and Justyna Go Fund Me Remembering Genia and Vadim with Love Remembering Sasha Kirsanov: In Our Hearts Always In L...
2025-02-0306 min
ScoreographyUS Nationals 2025 RECAPWe examine all the action from US Nationals 2025, including momentous performances from Alysa Liu, Efimova & Mitrofanov, and Andrew Torgashev, big wins for Ilia Malinin and Amber Glenn, and some questionably large scoring. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 1:41 — Men's Competition 16:05 — Pair's Competition 31:10 — Women's Competition 40:34 — Ice Dance Competition 45:52 — Gold in our Hearts 48:11 — Wrap Up U.S. Nationals 2025 have come and gone, but so many fantastic memories will remain! Unlike last year's National Championships, in which saw quite a lot of messiness, this year felt like a great step forward for many towards the 2026 Olympi...
2025-01-2849 min
ScoreographyUS Nationals 2025 Preview + Canadian Nat'ls & FISU Games RecapWe look ahead to the talent-packed 2025 U.S. Nationals competition, right after we recap the results from Canadian Nationals and the FISU World University Games, which were both surprisingly exciting. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 0:57 — Canadian Nationals 2025 1:57 — Canadian Men's Competition 6:32 — Canadian Women's Competition 11:01 — Canadian Pairs Competition 15:53 — Canadian Ice Dance Competition 21:41 — FISU World University Games 21:45 — FISU Men's Competition 28:19 — FISU Women's Competition 33:12 — US Nationals Preview 33:27 — US Men's Competition 38:35 — US Pairs Competition 41:43 — US Women's Competition 49:34 — US Ice Dance Competition 58:16 — Gold in our Hearts 59:55 — Outro US Nationals Preview Men...
2025-01-221h 01
ScoreographyKorean Nationals 2025 Recap (plus Canadian Nationals preview)We discuss the results from Korean National Championships 2025, including great performances from Chaeyeon Kim and Junhwan Cha, as well as the return of Haein Lee. We also preview Canadian Nationals and the 2025 FISU World University Games. It's Nationals season, and this week, we're catching up on the Korean National Championships and getting ready for our favorite Canadians to hit the ice. Also, who knew the World University Games would be this stacked?! Korean National Championships 2025 In the men's division, Junhwan Cha left no crumbs while winning his ninth national title. 9th!! He was...
2025-01-1445 min
ScoreographyMid-Season 2024-2025 Catch-UpIn our first episode of 2025, we catch up on all things figure skating since the Grand Prix Final, including national championships in Japan, France, and Italy, plus other news. After a short winter's nap, we're back in 2025 and catching up on a lot of National competitions that have happened since the Grand Prix Final. Japanese Figure Skating Championships 2024 To no one's surprise, Yuma Kagiyama was formally crowned Japan's next great legend as he won his first national title. Much more surprising was the rest of the strong men's field, which greatly underperformed. Up-in-coming...
2025-01-1035 min
ScoreographyGrand Prix Final 2024 RECAPThe 2024 Grand Prix series wrapped up with a pretty fantastic Final in France, including an extraordinary win from Amber Glenn, continued dominance from Ilia Malinin and Chock & Bates, and a second straight GPF gold for Hase & Volodin. Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:46 Women's Competition & Amber Glenn 9:58 Mone Chiba 11:12 Kaori Sakamoto 13:11 Hana Yoshida 14:17 Wakaba Haguchi 15:06 Pairs Competition 15:59 Hase & Volodin 17:55 Miura & Kihara 19:33 Metelkina & Berulava 21:35 Conti & Macii 22:16 Kam & O'Shea 23:26 Ghilardi & Ambrosini 24:10 Men's Competition 25:25 Ilia Malinin 28:08 Yuma Kagiyama 31:24 Shun Sato 33:33 Daniel Grassl 34:02 Mikhail Shaidorov
2024-12-101h 01
ScoreographyGrand Prix Final 2024 PREVIEWWe look ahead to 2024's Grand Prix Final in France! We discuss the full slate of competitors and examine their performances thus far in the season to determine our predictions for the podiums. Chapters 0:00 — Intro 1:25 — Scores and Skating 3:20 — Men's Competition 15:24 — Men's Poduim Predictions 16:12 — Ice Dance Competition 26:17 — Dance Podium Predictions 26:53 — Women's Competition 37:44 — Women's Podium Predictions 38:44 — Pairs Competition 47:03 — Pairs Podium Predictions 48:25 — Gold in our Hearts 49:50 — Wrap-Up Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show
2024-12-0350 min
ScoreographyCup of China 2024 RecapThe Grand Prix qualifiers wrapped up at Cup of China with easily the most exciting Women's event of the series, including a second GP gold for Amber Glenn. Plus standout performances from Mikhail Shaidorov, Smart & Diek, and Conti & Macii. The Grand Prix series qualifiers for 2024 came to a close in the incredible city of Chongqing, China, and the women's event stole the show. That said, there were other highlights — including a breakout competition from Mikhail Shaidorov, a stunning dance from Olivia Smart & Tim Dieck, and a powerful comeback statement from Sara Conti & Niccolo Macii. Women's Competition ...
2024-11-2849 min
ScoreographyFinlandia Trophy 2024 RecapFinlandia, the fifth stop in the Grand Prix qualifier circuit, gave us a few standout performances, several podium surprises, and a hot mess of a Men's competition that almost rivaled Grand Prix de France's low scores. Week 5 of the Grand Prix took us to Helsinki for the Finlandia Trophy, where we saw many men "menning" — even Yuma Kagiyama (!!!) — but problems plagued more than just the men. Still, there were some glowing stand-outs — like Deanna and Max having a near-flawless short program, Fear & Gibson taking their SECOND surprise Grand Prix gold, and Lara Naki Gutmann's big step f...
2024-11-2144 min
ScoreographyNHK Trophy 2024 RecapJapan's NHK Trophy competition proved one of the best of the Grand Prix series so far, with huge wins from Kaori Sakamoto and Yuma Kagiyama, a surprise gold for Metelkina and Berulava, and an astounding performance from Chock and Bates. Figure Skating's Grand Prix 2024 made its fourth stop in Japan for the prestigious NHK Trophy. Never to be outdone, NHK Trophy created a beautiful event for audiences and skaters alike, and provided one of the best competitions of the series so far with stunning performances from Chock & Bates, Kaori Sakamoto, and Yuma Kagiyama, just to...
2024-11-1549 min
ScoreographyGrand Prix de France 2024 RecapWe recap a tumultuous Grand Prix de France, with an exciting win by Amber Glenn, a startling upset in Ice Dance, and a shockingly low-scoring men's competition. Grand Prix de France continued the trend we've seen throughout this Grand Prix season so far — which is to say it was messy with some highlights. The competition and Angers, France saw big wins, historic jumps that both the commentator and the technical panel "missed", and a surprise winner in the Dance event that left us giddy! Women's competition In what was arguably the best women's event so fa...
2024-11-0951 min
ScoreographySkate Canada 2024 RecapWe look back at Skate Canada, a messy second installment of the Grand Prix series that still saw a few spectacular performances. Gilles and Poirier shined, Rino Matsuike surprised, and 3 world champions held their podium placements. Week 2 of the 2024 Grand Prix is complete, and while there were some extraordinary performances there was also a lot of messy. That said, Skate Canada did provide us our first Grand Prix 2024 appearance from Alysa Liu, locked in the first qualifier for the Grand Prix final (looking at you, Ilia Malinin), awarded its fifth straight ice dance...
2024-10-3140 min
ScoreographySkate America 2024 RECAPWe look back at our in-person experience at the Skate American 2024 competition in Allen, Texas, including an extraordinary Men's competition, and surprising results in Womens and Ice Dance. The Grand Prix began in Allen, Texas with Skate America, and we were fortunate enough to see be in the audience for what was a stunning, surprising, and fun competition. While in this episode you'll hear that the main event turned about to be the incredible comeback of Kevin Aymoz, there was a lot of skating to love at Skate America. There were also quite a few...
2024-10-271h 06
ScoreographySkate America 2024 PREVIEWAs the 2024 Grand Prix of Figure Skating begins, we take a look ahead at the Skate America event, give our hopes and predictions, and share our excitement to see the event in person. The 2024-2025 Figure Skating Grand Prix is finally upon us as Skate America kicks it off in Allen, Texas! While we've already seen quite a lot of the new programs from competitors in early season competition, this is where things start to get serious. Women's Competition The biggest podium free-for-all could be in the women's event — as it is...
2024-10-1734 min
ScoreographyShanghai Trophy and Denis Ten Memorial Cup 2024We recap the 2024 Shanghai Trophy and Denis Ten Memorial Cup competitions, including standout performances from Chaeyeon Kim, Taschlerova and Taschler, and Juhnwan Cha, plus a very messy pairs comp. This week, we're talking about more of the early competitions of the 2024-2025 season, including the Shanghai Trophy and the Denis Ten Memorial Cup. From a season's best for any woman so far this season from South Korea's Chaeyeon Kim to a beautiful step forward for another Korean favorite, Junhwan Cha, these competitions provided a glimpse into who's progressing and who still needs some time to...
2024-10-161h 13
ScoreographyChallenger Series 2024-25: Lombardia Trophy and Nebelhorn TrophyAfter an unplanned summer break, Scoreography returns to cover the 2024-2025 season, starting with the Challenger Series. We take a look at all the major competitors we've seen so far, specifically from the Nebelhorn and Lombardia Trophy competitions, as well as Cranberry Cup and other small events. Welcome back, Scoreogra-fans! (too much?) It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new SEASON of figure skating — and we're so happy to be back! It was a long summer of far too much adult-ing, and we've missed so much in the world of figure skating. Fr...
2024-10-041h 15
ScoreographyShoma Uno Retirement (and other skating news)Shoma Uno, two-time world champion and decorated Olympic mens skater, has officially announced his retirement. We share our feelings about his career and exit from competition, talk about other recent retirements, and explore the new Rhythm Dance themes and proposed ISU rule changes. The inevitable has finally happened: Japan's legendary short king, Shoma Uno, has announced his retirement. As you may expect if you've listened to this podcast — or are also a huge Shoma fan — we have a lot of feelings about it that we share during this episode. There have been hints for th...
2024-05-1734 min
ScoreographySkating Show Season 2024Now that the thrill ride of the competitive '23-'24 season is finished, we've officially entered the Show Skate season. We talk about the Stars on Ice tour in Japan, the French National Team tour, and Gold on Ice in Virginia. Plus we explore why the US lacks a SOI tour this year, and the reason these events are so important. With the 2023-2024 competition season now complete, figure skaters have entered what is lovingly referred to as "Show Season!" In this week's episode, we cover some of the tours and shows happening this spring a...
2024-04-1633 min
Scoreography2023-2024 Figure Skating Season in ReviewWe look back at our highlights from the '23-'24 figure skating season, talk about the World's exhibition gala, conjecture on possible retirements and team changes, examine the state of figure skating and FS fandom, and hand out our season-end Gold in Our Hearts awards. The 2023-2024 figure skating season is over — now what?! Before we settle into the off-season, let's recap some of the best moments of the season and dig into some thoughts on what's to come in the sport we love. Whether it was the Quad God Ilia Malinin claiming his fir...
2024-04-0255 min
ScoreographyWorld Figure Skating Championships 2024 RECAPWe recap the earth shattering action from World Figure Skating Championships 2024 in Montreal, including Ilia Malinin's historic 6-Quad winning free skate, the 3-peat gold for Kaori Sakamoto, and Canada's own Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps finally ascending to the Pairs throne. The 2024 World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal gave us several moments we expected, others we wished for, and whole lot we never could have predicted. Most of all, it gave us countless extraordinary skating moments we won't soon forget. Men's Competition The formal coronation of the Quad God, Ilia Malinin, as the biggest rockstar in...
2024-03-261h 30
ScoreographyWorld Championships 2024 Preview PART TWO: Men and Ice DanceIn part two of our 2024 Worlds preview, we dig into the absolutely stacked Men's competition, including the "Thrivalry" between Shoma Uno, Ilia Malinin, and Yuma Kagiyama. Then we go deep into the Ice Dance lineup, which promises to be a close showdown between 3-4 top teams. In this week's episode, we're shooting our final shot at predictions for the 2024 World Figure Skating Championships — this time discussing the men's and dance competitions. From the "Trivalry" we're expecting to see between Ilia Malinin, Shoma Uno, and Yuma Kagiyama in the men's event to a probable four-way race fo...
2024-03-191h 01
ScoreographyWorld Championships 2024 Preview PART ONE: Women and PairsPart One of our World Figure Skating Championships 2024 preview focuses on the deep field of the Women's event, and the volatile and unpredictable Pairs competition. We also discuss the controversial Ice Dance Rhythm Dance themes for the next two seasons, Audrey Shin's move to Pairs, and Ilia Malinin's practice 4T+4A sequence. The 2024 World Figure Skating Championships are so close we can smell the Montreal bagels — which means it's a good time for us to start talking about the biggest competition of the year! In this episode, we're focusing on the Women's and Pa...
2024-03-1251 min
ScoreographyWorld Junior Championships 2024 RecapWe look back at the extremely impressive Junior Worlds 2024 championships, including the showdown between Mao Shimada and Jia Shin in the Women's event, an expected win from dance team Neset & Markelo, shaky success for pairs team Metelkinda & Berulava, and star making performances from Rena Uezono and Anthony Paradis. This week, we're recapping the 2024 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. While we haven't always been avid junior competition viewers, this competition may be the catalyst that gets us more in tune with them! From a brilliant, burgeoning rivalry between Mao Shimada and...
2024-03-0434 min
ScoreographyChallenge Cup 2024 RecapWe take a look at the Challenge Cup 2024 competition in Tilburg, Netherlands, including two remarkable skates from Japan's Yuna Aoki, an expected win from Kaori Sakamoto, and somewhat surprising golds for Italy's Conti & Macii and Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov. We also touch on Tallink Hotels Cup in Estonia, Korea's Winter Sports Festival, and the announcement of Canada's Worlds team. In this week's episode, we're breaking down one of the last senior competitions leading into the 2024 World Championships — the 2024 Challenge Cup in Tilburg, Netherlands. While this was not a huge competition, there were several noteworthy entrants that ma...
2024-02-2635 min
ScoreographyQ&A Episode: YOUR Questions Answered!As we get ready for the final competitions of the '23-'24 season, we answer listener questions about all things figure skating — predictions, favorite skaters and FS moments, and what 20 programs we'd save in our end-of-the-world bunker. Welcome to our first Scoreography Q&A Episode! We asked listeners to let us know what in figure skating they wanted us to talk about. And we received a far more enthusiastic response than we ever could have imagined! As you will hear, you asked some amazing Q's about our favorite skates and skaters of all time...
2024-02-201h 12
ScoreographyISU Awards and Art on Ice 2024 Recap and ReactionsWe breakdown the 2024 ISU Awards and their accompanying live concert event, Art on Ice. We also take a look at the ongoing 2022 Olympic Team Medal fiasco, and talk about Gracie Gold's new memoir, Outofshapeworthlessloser. The ISU Awards were handed out for the fourth time on Sunday, February 11th during one of the first Art on Ice performances of 2024 — and the show was certainly a spectacle. Co-hosted by skating legend, Kurt Browning, and sports presenter and influencer, Elma Smit, the award show was intertwined with performances from elite skaters and musical acts performing as pa...
2024-02-1357 min
ScoreographyFour Continents Championships 2024 RecapWe examine all the competition at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2024 in Shanghai, China. We discuss the dominant, definitive gold medal wins, dozens of highly memorable performances, and a couple frustrating judge calls. In the last major international skating competition before the 2024 World Championships, we saw some iconic performances — from many who may be destined for World medals — at the Four Continents Championships in Shanghai, China. From a stunning season's best from Japan's Yuma Kagiyama to the continued dominance of Piper Gilles & Paul Porrier of Canada, to renewed hope for reigning pairs Worl...
2024-02-051h 13
ScoreographyU.S. National Championships 2024 RecapWe recap the exciting US Nationals 2024 competition from Columbus, OH, featuring a dramatic upset in the women's event, a stellar fight for the podium in Ice Dance, promising performances from the Men, and an underwhelming Pairs event. The 2024 US National Championships gave us a little bit of everything. We saw a quad axel and second nationals win from a slightly messier than usual Ilia Malinin. We witnessed a Women's final where Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito both struggled — with Amber scoring just enough to take her first national title. An awful case of the flu st...
2024-01-301h 17
ScoreographyUS Nationals 2024 PREVIEWWe preview the upcoming United States Nationals 2024 competition, including expected wins from Ilia Malinin and Chock & Bates, the likely podium but potential surprises in the women's division, and the total crapshoot of the Pairs competition. The 2024 US National Championships are upon us, and there is a lot to be excited about in Columbus, Ohio this week! From a wide open Men's field behind the near-guaranteed winner — QuadG0d himself, Ilia Malinin — to a potentially tighter-than-expected Women's competition, this promises to be full of surprises. Plus, a stacked line-up of dance teams — including reigning World Champions, Madiso...
2024-01-2342 min
ScoreographyCanadian Nationals 2024 RecapWe look at the somewhat underwhelming Canadian Nationals 2024 event, with surprise wins from Wesley Chiu and Kaiya Ruiter (except we predicted that one!), and flawed performances from gold-winning favorites Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps and Gilles & Poirier. Canadian Nationals 2024 Commentary and Analysis The 2024 Canadian National Championships in Calgary saw some great performances, but unfortunately quite a few more disappointments. From the highs of Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier winning their third national title, to the struggles of many of the favorites in the men's and women's competitions, it was a challenging event that suffered (but sustained) through low attendance...
2024-01-2231 min
ScoreographyEuropean Championships 2024 RecapWe look back on an extraordinary European Championships event, held in Kaunas, Lithuania. Along with expected gold medal wins from Adam Siao Him Fa and Leona Hendrickx came an unforgettable bronze medal performance from hometown ice dance team Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius on par with any Olympic moment we've ever seen. The 2024 European Championships showed that figure skating can still thrill huge audiences! Hosted in Kaunas, Lithuania, this remarkable event saw France's Adam Siao Him Fa defend his title, Belgium's Loena Hendrickx finally win her first Euro gold, and the hometown team of Allison...
2024-01-161h 08
ScoreographyPreview of European Championships and Canadian Nationals 2024We look ahead to the 2024 European Championships and Canadian Nationals competitions, with our thoughts on the skaters' seasons so far and how they'd do at these events. We also weigh in on the allegations around Canadian ice dancer Nikolaj Sorensen. In all disciplines at the European Championships, the competition is stacked with talent. From current "IT"-guy in skating, Adam Siao Him Fa, seeking his second title in a row, to the dance battle between Guignard & Fabbri verses Fear & Gibson, this international event promises to be exciting. At Canadian Nationals, the competition will inevitably be...
2024-01-1135 min
ScoreographySouth Korean Championships 2024 RecapThe 2024 South Korean National Figure Skating Championships saw a return-to form from World silver medalist, Jun-hwan Cha, the continued rise of Jia Shin, and performances from Hai-in Lee, Chae-yeon Kim, and Young You that appear to have earned them spots on the 2024 World Championship team for South Korea. Men's Competition Following a rough first half of the season for him, now eight time South Korean champion, Jun-hwan Cha, threw down two stellar programs and earned him his trip back to Worlds. His technical content was watered down, similar to the content he included at the...
2024-01-0835 min
ScoreographyAll-Japan Championships 2023 and Year End Wrap-UpWe take a look at the All-Japan Championships 2023 competition, including hotly contested podiums in the Mens and Womens divisions. We also discuss news from the Italian and Spanish Nationals events, and quickly look back at the 2023 year in figure skating. We're back and talking about the All-Japan Championships 2023, where some of the best figure skating of the season-to-date took place. With deep Men's and Women's fields—led by reigning World Champions, Shoma Uno and Kaori Sakamoto—this national competition was stronger than most International events. And the Men's event especially lived up to all of the h...
2024-01-041h 02
ScoreographyMid-Season News and National Competitions (2023-24 Season)We catch-up on all the mid-season news and competition, including French, British, German, Swiss, and Spanish Nationals, the Four Nationals multi-country competition, the South Korean ranking event, and the Grand Prix Final's Juniors and Gala events. We also talk about injury news, the ISU Award nominations, and more. Following the 2023 Grand Prix Final last week in Beijing, China, there was little downtime as many skaters hurried to their National Championships around the globe. We cover the French, German, Swiss, and Spanish Figure Skating Nationals, as well as the Four Nationals multi-country competition. We also look...
2023-12-191h 04
ScoreographyGrand Prix Final 2023 RecapThe Grand Prix Final 2023 is now complete, and we knew it would be a wild one — we just didn't know HOW wild! From historic jumps to messy twizzles, the competitors in Beijing, China, kept us guessing until the very end, and we love them for it. Men's Competition One of the most stacked men's final's in recent memory! While Ilia Malinin had been focused on progressing his composition scores earlier this season, he threw down the gauntlet here by landing the first quad axel in a short program ever. That gave his the thinnest lead ov...
2023-12-111h 12
ScoreographyGrand Prix 2023 Final PreviewWe preview the upcoming Grand Prix Final in Beijing, China, December 7-10, 2023. We breakdown the action in the hotly contested Men's competition, the uncertainty in the Women's division, the fight for silver and bronze in the Pairs, and why the Ice Dance competition is such a wild card. After six Grand Prix qualifiers that included dozens of thrilling performances (as well as a fair amount of messiness), we're finally ready for the Grand Prix Final for 2023! To say this competition is stacked would be an understatement — especially when looking at the Men's and Dance competitions. In...
2023-12-051h 02
ScoreographyNHK Trophy 2023 RecapThe NHK Trophy 2023 in Japan closed out the Grand Prix qualifier series with some of the most wild competition (and results!) we've seen. From a potential change in the tides for which dance team is the favorite for Europeans to a shock winner in the women's event, there was a lot to discuss! Women's Competition There is no way anyone saw this coming! After a rocky short program for many of the favorites, a brilliant Lindsay Thorngren led the way. However, a stunner of a free program gave the edge to another American — 17 year-old Ava Marie Ziegler — who...
2023-11-2856 min
ScoreographyGrand Prix Espoo 2023 — Recap & CommentaryThe fifth stop in the Grand Prix series, Espoo in Finland, proved to be another messy mid-season competition with some big comebacks, a few surprises, and a stellar dance-off that left us wanting more from every team in the top 5! Women's Competition — Queen Kaori and Amber Glenn's amazing comeback As we'd hoped (and expected), Japan's Kaori Sakamoto took her second Grand Prix title of the season — clinching her spot at the top of the standings going into the Grand Prix Final this December. Kaori's programs weren't flawless, but showed her signature style, power, and grit that...
2023-11-211h 07
ScoreographyCup of China 2023 — Recap & CommentaryScoreography's recap for the Cup of China, the fourth competition in the 2023-24 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. We discuss upset wins from Japan's Hana Yoshida and France's Adam Siao Him Fa, argue for a different outcome in Ice Dance, and welcome Canada's Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps to the back-to-back GP gold medal club. The 2023 Grand Prix series landed in Chongqing, China for its fourth stop, and it was… a surprising one, indeed. The Cup of China saw some long-awaited Grand Prix debuts (Shoma Uno, Yelim Kim), several upsets (men's and women's champions were both somewhat un...
2023-11-1554 min
ScoreographyGrand Prix de France 2023 — Recap & CommentaryWe dig into the very solid competition at the 2023 Grand Prix de France, including mind-blowing performances from Adam Siao Him Fa and Ilia Malinin, a nerve-wracking win for Isabeau Levito, and podium surprises from Nina Pinzarrone, Rion Sumiyoshi, and Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud. Grand Prix De France 2023 Commentary In this week's episode, we're talking about the third stop of the 2023 ISU Grand Prix Series — the Grand Prix de France. (a.k.a. the formal coronation of Adam Siao Him Fa as a frontrunner for the World podium!) Men's Competition It's b...
2023-11-0755 min
ScoreographySkate Canada 2023 — Recap & CommentaryWendy and Adron discuss the results of Skate Canada, the second event in the 2023-24 Grand Prix of Figure Skating season. Explosive performances from Pairs team Deanna Stellato-Dudeck & Maxime Deschamps and Women's reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto headline our experience. But some surprise meltdowns and sketchy judging muddy our perception of an otherwise terrific event. PAIRS The marquee moment of Skate Canada 2023 has to be the free program from Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps that scored a phenomenal 142.39. This vampire-themed program could not look better on them, and seeing how conditioned they look this early...
2023-11-031h 18
ScoreographySkate America 2023Scoreography returns with the beginning of the Grand Prix 2023-24 season, as we talk about Skate America 2023. We recap the competition with commentary about stand-out performances, heartbreaking disappointments, and up-and-coming skaters we're excited about. Taking place in Allen, Texas, from October 20th-22nd, Skate America kicked off the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. The competition featured Women's and Ice Dance divisions stacked with competitive talent, a lopsided Men's event with a small handful of clear favorites, and a struggling Pairs event with only 7 teams (but also some reasons to be h...
2023-10-251h 42
ScoreographyStars on Ice 2023 and World Team TrophyWe talk about our experience seeing Stars on Ice in Chicago, featuring the farewell tour of legend Kurt Browning. We also look back at the awesome World Team Trophy event, and share our highlights from the 22-23 season. After such a unique and exciting post-Olympic season, we were beyond hyped to see some skating in real life! This Stars on Ice cast was especially exciting. From Olympic Champion Nathan Chen, to 4-time Japanese National Champion Satoko Miyahara, to a very special goodbye performance from Wendy's all time favorite skater, Kurt Browning, it was a show we could...
2023-06-061h 26
ScoreographyWorld Championships 2023We review the action from the World Figure Skating Championships 2023 in Saitama, Japan — triumphs, surprises, disappointments, and occasionally questionable scoring. ... Analysis of the Figure Skating World Championships 2023 After a long post-olympic season, the best-currently-competing-skaters from around the globe converged on the World Figure Skating championships in Saitama, Japan. They and gave us a few disappointments, some great surprises, and a lot of gorgeous (even when it wasn't not perfect) skating! In this super-sized episode, we cover each of the disciplines in a lot of detail — comparing notes on our favorite performances of the comp...
2023-04-051h 41
ScoreographyWorlds 2023 PreviewWe discuss the favorites, the long shots, and all of the in-betweens leading up to the 2023 World Championships, happening this week in Japan. This season has been the deepest dive we've personally taken into figure skating in a very long time, and looking back — for all of the post-Olympic year doldrums and troubling political issues that are very real — there's a lot of skaters to be excited about leading into the biggest competition of the year.
2023-03-211h 11
ScoreographyUS Nationals Competition 2023 RecapAfter a brief absence, Scoreography returns to take a deep dive into the US Nationals 2023 competition! We celebrate the triumphant return of Jason Brown, and impressive first place performances from Ilia Malinin and Isabeau Levito. We dig into the scoring controvery around Bradie Tennell's 2nd place finish, and lament a rather thin Pairs competition. We talk about the evolution of Chock & Bates's programs this season, and the hurdles ahead of their way to the top of the Worlds podium. And we get excited about some surprising, huge long programs from Josephine Lee, Jimmy Ma, and Andrew Torgashev.
2023-02-031h 18
ScoreographyMK John Wilson Trophy & NHK Trophy Grand Prix Event RecapsWe double up this episode, looking back at two Grand Prix 2022 events: the MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield, UK, and the NHK Trophy in Sapporo, Japan. We discuss a handful of fantastic performances in two otherwise fairly forgettable competitions, and explore why Pairs is a failing discipline—yet also a great medal opportunity for otherwise mid-tier skaters.
2022-11-3045 min
ScoreographySkate France 2022 Grand Prix Event RecapWendy and Adron discuss the highlights from the Skate France 2022 Grand Prix event, including explosive performances from Loena Hendrickx, Guitard & Fabbri, and Adam Siao Him Fa. We also talk about the return of Jason Brown to competition, our desire for skaters to diversify their music choices and move away from the same classic pieces, and why US Skating needs to promote the international camaraderie of skating.
2022-11-1050 min
ScoreographySkate Canada 2022 RetrospectiveWendy and Adron breakdown the performances from Skate Canada 2022 — including standout performances from Rinka Watanabe, Shoma Uno, and Miura & Kihara. We also discuss issues watching skating on Peacock, some bizarre scoring during the women's short program, and an often disasterous competition for the men.
2022-11-0154 min
ScoreographySkate America 2022 & Intro to ScoreographyIn the first episode of Scoreography, hosts Wendy Buske and Adron Buske discuss Skate America 2022, and the Quad Axel heard around the world. We explore the biggest moments and surprises of this figure skating season's first Grand Prix event. And we explain the premise, origin, and intended audience for Scoreography. We examine the competitive performances of Ilia Malinin, Isabeau Levito, Amber Glenn, Kaori Sakamoto, Chock & Bates, Hawayek & Baker, Knierim & Frazier, Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps, and more. Wendy and Adron Buske are experienced podcasters whose work includes the long-running show Nerd For A Living, about careers in pop...
2022-10-261h 12