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Phabulous Philippe Candeloro leads competition after technical program
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ol' Blue Eyes would have called it a very good skate. Philippe Candeloro, skating with a black coat and hat to "It Was a Very Good Year," landed all six of the major triple jumps while maintaining Frank Sinatra-like charm to take the lead in the men's competition after the technical program Friday night at the World Professional Figure Skating Championship. "I had some pressure," said the 28-year-old Frenchman, perhaps the most adored male skater never to win a major championship either as an amateur or pro. "It's a very important competition for me. This is the World Pro, and if I have a chance to win, I want to take my chance to try to win something in my life. "If you see my results, I never win -- but people love me like I win a lot of gold medals. So if I can give to my public a gold medal from here, it would be perfect for me and my life. That's why I feel pressure. "And it's going to be worse tomorrow, because I'm first." Candeloro, who has two Olympic bronze medals, landed the triple axel, triple loop, triple lutz, triple toe loop, triple flip and triple salchow. He portrayed the four ages in the Sinatra song to perfection, and more than once he sat on the boards with arms folded to match the mood of the lyrics. Candeloro hugged a spectator as he finished. He earned marks of 9.8 and 9.9 for technical merit, and mostly 9.8s for artistic impression. Candeloro debuted the routine at Ice Wars this year and is promising a brand new, dynamic Wild West routine for Saturday's artistic program. "It's less jumps, more artistic, more fun," Candeloro said. Rudy Galindo was second, amid some controversy -- his "Fosse" routine received a 9.4 for artistic impression from judge Janet Lynn, who in 1973 was the first women's pro champion. Asked about Lynn's score, Galindo said, "It's very personal." Galindo refused to elaborate, and referred further questions to his sister-choreographer, Laura Galindo-Black. Galindo-Black said head judge Kerry Leitch explained it was Lynn's first year as a judge. "All of them are elite skaters," Galindo-Black said. "To get a 9.4 ... they all work so hard." Galindo-Black declined to say why her brother felt the low mark was a personal matter. Lynn's mark didn't count because the high and low scores are thrown out. But it was booed soundly by the MCI Center audience. Ilia Kulik was third, followed by defending champion Alexei Urmanov. In the pairs, defending champions Elena Leonova and Andrei Khvalko took the lead after they were the only ones to skate a clean program. Jenni Meno and Todd Sand placed second after she fell on a double axel. Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev were third, followed by Mandy Woetzel and Ingo Steur. The women's technical program and the rhythm dance programs were held later Friday.
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