The rink was closed to the public, so only those connected with US Figure Skating or Kwan were allowed in. At one end of the rink, where there's a glass wall, the upstairs fitness center was visible and all the treadmills and other machines were empty. The rink was very well lighted, very clean. Walls are white.

Bob Horen and Charles Cyr stood to watch Kwan; Brittney Bottoms, Lorrie Parker and Paula Naughton sat. Kwan came out and stroked for a while and took her warmup jacket off at 11:05. She kept on her black gloves. The crunch of her blades on the ice was audible. Her expression was serious.

She took off another jacket at 11:07 and was wearing a short-sleeved black tee shirt over a long-sleeved white tee shirt. The black tee shirt had the words "Coca-Cola Vintage" on it.

She began doing some jumps, including what appeared to be a double loop-double loop combination, a triple salchow with a slightly wobbly landing, then a good triple lutz and good triple flip. She began the runthrough of her LONG program first, at 11:10. Music Rachmaninov prelude in c sharp minor.

The judges were taking notes as she skated. She did a 3 sal, 3 flip, then a triple lutz-double toe. She continued, doing a double toe-double toe, a spin that traveled, then a clean triple flip-double toe-double toe. Danny applauded when she landed that; someone else on the reporters' side of the rink, whom I couldn't see, let out a whoop. I glimpsed him later and he appeared to be a rink employee. Rafael applauded, too.

She then did a spiral sequence, nicely done. And a double lutz. She finished at 11:14. She did NOT attempt a double axel in this program. 

She stayed on the ice and merely four minutes later, she began her "Totentanz" short program. She fell on her first jump, a double axel, and her face had an "aw, gee" kind of expression of exasperation. She then did a triple lutz-double toe, a triple flip that we think might have been two-footed but cannot be sure, footwork, and a nice spiral sequence that included her trademark forward spirals with a huge smile.

When she finished, the judges conferred and she worked on individual jumps. She did two clean double axels. She then went over to where the judges were sitting to confer with them. Cyr did most of the talking. Rafael joined her by the sideboards. She has Rafael's red "Russia" jacket tied around her waist. Judges give her feedback, with Cyr telling her to change her upper-body position on spins. Tells her that's what judges are looking for. The conversation is cordial, with all involved frequently smiling and laughing. 

She did some footwork and went back for an appraisal and did it again. Cyr and Parker are animated, gesturing as to how they want her arms and upper body to look.
She came off the ice at 11:36. The judges went off to get warm.

Kwan returns at 12:19, jogs thru the lobby and stretches on the benches. She's back on the ice at 12:23, stroking while her long program music plays. She does footwork, with Cyr holding up fingers to count how long she holds the position. Cyr points toward the end of the rink and tells her to continue her spiral to cover the ice better and raise the difficulty level. She does another spiral, he sez, "There you go."

He tells her she will get a level 4 if she holds that spiral longer.

He reads from a sheet of paper (we think it was a list of her planned elements) and tells her to be careful not to go down to a level 2 and that she'd have gotten a level 3 if she performed the spiral that way in competition.

She does a spin at center ice, Cyr counts again how long she holds it. Judges continue to look at notes as she does a flying camel and a combination spin, then footwork on which she comes close to the boards. Cyr talks to her about "difficult variations" (we couldn't hear all that he said from where we sat).

Asked her what level she expected, she says 3. Does a layback, he again twists his body and arms to demonstrate what he wants her to do. Cyr talks to Rafael. Tells them she can get a higher level if she increases her speed into the spin she will get a higher level. He also mentioned a Biellmann, which she did NOT do.

Again, conversation seemed very cordial among Kwan, Arutunian, Cyr and the other judges. Lots of laughter, back and forth  She did a spin with a different upper body position and Cyr approvingly said, ?There ya go."

Rafael packed up his stuff, Danny Kwan packed up the music stuff and Michelle grabbed her jacket to prepare to finish. She did a few quick little turns and stepped off the ice at 12:55.

Several camera crews awaited outside the door. When we entered, at 10:30, there were five cameras set up in the parking lot outside the front door to the rink and three TV trucks parked on the street. Also, some passersby stood outside the parking lot. No one was allowed into the lot unless their name was on a list; the lot was chained off and a security guard checked the list. Another guard stood outside the glass door to check names again.

Michelle's mom was at the rink, as was her sister, Karen. A few rink workers were also there.

Generally, I felt she was more "into" the short program and presented it better than the long, perhaps because she was warmed up from having done the long program first. It's odd watching without a crowd or without skaters wearing costumes. She had makeup on, but not the heavy, exaggerated makeup she'd wear for a performance.