OH CANADA!

Sometimes your smarter angel is sitting on your shoulder and in your web-wanderings you discover a pearl of great price, as I have here.

I must admit that my very favorite pair skaters from the past 10 years are Hongbo Zhao and Xue Shen of China. But closely following them, so closely that it is a virtual tie, are Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada. And this performance, featuring as it does the superlative singing of Andrea Boccelli and Hayley Westenra, is sublime.

The thing about Sale and Pelletier is that you feel secure watching them skate. They are immaculate technicians who have perfected their technique to the point that they can put it on automatic pilot and concentrate on interpretation. They are – and it’s obvious – wildly in love with each other (they married after the 2002 Olympics and have an infant son) and their skating reflects that connection. Their skating is impeccably smooth and always enchanting.