Today's competition started with the Original Dance. The Original Dance of the 2003/2004 season is the “Swing Combo”. The couples can choose any two or three of the following rhythms: Blues, Jive, Rock'n'Roll, Jitterbug, Swing and Boogie-Woogie.

Elena Romanovskaya/Alexander Grachev
In what was an interesting competition, Russia's Elena Romanovskaya/Alexander Grachev beat Junior Grand Prix Champions Nora Hoffmann/Attila Elek (HUN) to win the Original Dance and to take the overall lead.

Morgan Matthews/Maxim Zavozin (USA) finished third. Romanovskaya/Grachev had opted for a Blues and Rock'n'Roll. The sensual Blues featured a hydro blade move and the diagonal step sequence. In their energetic “Jailhouse Rock”, the two-time World Junior bronze medalists completed a dance spin combination and a fast side by side footwork line to earn marks from 5.1-5.6 for required elements and from 5.2 to 5.8 for composition.

"we still have to do the Free Dance tomorrow"
“It went well, and we did everything we can do”, Romanovskaya said. “I think nobody is going to say that we placed first with a bad performance.” Grachev already focused on the Free Dance. “I don't think about today's placement, we still have to do the Free Dance tomorrow. We have to focus on the Free Dance in order to skate it well. Today, we were quite confident. We especially like the Blues.”

Hoffmann/Elek
Hoffmann/Elek put out a solid OD to a Rock'n'Roll (“Great Balls of Fire”) and a Blues (“Big Legged Woman”) that included a side by side footwork line with excellent twizzles and a nice dance combination spin. Their marks ranged from 5.1 to 5.5 (A) and from 5.2 to 5.7 (B).

“I think we did a good OD today”, Elek commented. “Maybe the judges think that they (Romanovskaya/ Grachev) have more speed, because they don't do the same deep edges (as we),” Hoffmann added. “But it's far from over. We're going to fight for the first place tomorrow. We did our best in the OD and hopefully we'll do our best tomorrow (in the Free Dance).”

Matthews/Zavozin
Dancing to Rock'n'Roll, Blues and Jitterbug, Matthews/Zavozin showed a good rotational lift with a change of direction as well as a dance spin with change of position, but their twizzles at the end of the side by side footwork line were a bit out of unison as he came close to her.

The Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalists received marks up to 5.4 for required elements and up to 5.6 for presentation. The team was very pleased with their performance and the result. “We felt very good about our OD”, Matthews told the press. “From beginning to end, we didn't lose energy.” Referring to the twizzles, Zavozin explained: “I just came a little close, but it wasn't a big deal.”.

Natalia Mikhailova/Arkadi Sergeev
Natalia Mikhailova/Arkadi Sergeev (RUS) came fourth with an enjoyable performance to Rock'n'Roll and Blues and still have a shot at the podium.

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