Today was filled with even more adventures than yesterday. More skaters showed up for practices and I ran into a lot of skaters & coaches on the street! More details to follow. I was at the Target Center all day and as I approached the building I was greeted with 3 HUGE ABC trucks. They were setting things up all day. I was amazed at how much stuff goes on behind the TV! There were TV cameras everywhere especially on people like Tanja, Maria & Irina.

The day started with pairs and again no Russians. The Polish team is copying the Meno & Sand lift with the "head banger" exit. Ina & Dungjen got most of the attention this morning. I was lucky enough to get both their autographs. They skated GREAT the whole session and landed everything they tried! (Except for one missed triple toe by Kyoko). Several times during their run though the other skaters just stood there and watched. I am really pulling for them to medal here. I ended up sitting right next to John Nicks and his assistant this afternoon in the hotel lobby and told him how great I thought they were today and he agreed. I chatted with them both for awhile and then they started talking about where to eat lunch. Apparently Kyoko loves Chow Mien! They were very nice and didn't seem to mind talking to me for a while.

After pairs I went to get some film developed and met a guy who met Scott Hamilton when Stars on Ice was here. He said he's not a skating fan but recognized him right away and was shocked at how small he is!

Many of the ladies had rough practices but there were a few who I really liked including the girl from Italy (Silvia Fontana). The 2 French ladies are like night and day. Laetita Hubert is very moody and gets frustrated easily, she also never smiled. Marie Pierre Leray was charming, always having fun and skating quite well. They shared a coach which looked hard on him. The Czech skater (Lenka Kulovana) was very tall, she must have been 5' 10''.

The autograph scene is a mess. There are so many little girls wanting autographs that never does everyone get one. I have been lucky mostly because of where I am sitting. The skaters who come out to sit and watch also get mobbed most of the time!

Tanja is so wonderful, I don't know what else to say!!! She really looks like she loves everyone in the arena. It's a special feeling that only she has given so far. Maria & Irina were back again and were greeted fondly. Maria is marvelous and I'd hate to lose her to the pro ranks soon. There is a great skater from Hungary named Diana Poth who wears brightly colored swimsuit-like outfits and smiled lots. She really has great jumps and was a favorite with the crowd. Shizuka Arakawa from Japan did better today if she could just care about her music and choreography she could be very good. Anna Rechino (the Nicole look-alike) was awesome today. Her jumps are the highest I've seen yet. She's so great to watch and I'm sure you would all love her. Cross your fingers and maybe she'll be on TV.

The highlight of the morning was the appearance of Tonia Kwiatkowski! It's true that she is even more beautiful in person and has such a radiant smile. She was very close to us through her practice and I got some good close up pictures of her. She had a GREAT practice and an OK run-through. It is obvious that she is thrilled to be here and wants to skate well at her last amateur event (I'm pretty sure she is turning pro after this). I kept waiting for Carol Heiss to arrive but she didn't. Her other coach, Glyn Watts, was with her. I later spoke with him and he said Carol was coming very soon and that if I came up to him tomorrow he would introduce me to her. I am so excited! She could easily reach the top 10 or more with a clean skate. Her jumps are landed very securely and her overall skating is wonderful! GO TONIA! I also ran into her on the street and walked with her for a ways and asked her some questions I had about her music. She answered them all and I told her how happy I was that she was here and that I thought she looked great in practice. She said thanks, etc. BTW she is much smaller than she looks on the ice. When we were getting her autograph she said that we were a great crowd and said she hoped we would all be back to keep cheering her on!

The Chinese skater (Yankun Du) was lovely. She wore a unitard with Chinese symbols and flags on it. It was nice and I wish more skaters would advertise their country more! Speaking of the Chinese, the great pair Xue & Hongbo passed me on the street. I ran to catch up with them and got their autographs. They didn't speak much English and were very shy but nice. I told them they did great at the Olympics and wished them good luck here.

I later saw Stephen Cousins in the mall and asked if I could take his picture, he obliged! I also saw Irina sitting outside waiting for the shuttle and actually got her autograph. (I may be the only one!) I also saw Bourne & Kraatz in the hotel. More on them later!

There were many men skating this afternoon but none very impressive until Alexsei Yagudin. He was great and the crowd loved him. I also got to talk to Alexsei Mishin, his coach. He signed my book on Alexsei Urmanov's picture and said many times "this is my pupil, my skater." He is obviously very proud of him. He said that he is doing a little better with the injury. Evgeny Plushenko was in the stands and a few people recognized him and got his autograph. Obviously he would rather be skating and thus didn't seem too happy. Another skater of note is David Liu (Chinese Taipei). He skated to a wonderful medley of Gershwin piano tunes and did very well in every department, jumps, spins, line, etc. Look for him!

We think we saw Evgeny Pliuto from Ukraine do a quad lutz! Later, when Guo Zhengsin skated there were many more quads (all toes).

I watched a little dance before heading home. The most amazing thing is how they dress. They were all dressed up completely like for competition. Bourne & Kraatz had on their purple Riverdance outfits they wore on TV earlier this season! They wore sparkly earrings, lots of makeup and fancy costumes. This is very different from the other disciplines! B & K were so exciting, the crowd clapped along and had a partial standing ovation when they finished. I was actually moved emotionally by the music and their skating. They should easily take bronze here (perhaps Silver). This was THE highlight of the event so far. I wish you could all see them live someday. She is unbelievable gorgeous in person, by far the most beautiful skater here. She also has a electric smile that really adds to their performance.

One more note: during this Free Dance practice 2 couples almost collided but insted one man went crashing loudly into the boards and lay there for a few minutes without getting up. This happened right in front of me so I couldn't see anything. People rushed out to help and he seemed to be ok later. Scary!!!

I was reading some articles about worlds earlier and they keep talking about Tara's withdrawal. No one I've talked seems to care much nor do I. We are much too busy enjoying ourselves. People talk about the lack of Elvis and Nicole more than Tara.