So here we are at the end of the road and all it took were uhmm 256 polls over 5 different brackets. Thank you to everyone who participated, whether you nominated programs, spread propaganda for your favourites, or even just silently voted, this whole thing would not have been possible without you. So thank you everyone!!

And now onto the medalists, please allow me a moment to gush about each of these programs. Third place and winner of the bronze medal: Yuma Kagiyama's Turandot. It can best be described as timeless. The opening spread eagle sets the tone: this will be a celebration of skating. And it really is, this program combines and celebrates every aspect of figure skating. In Prague it was the perfect combination of Yuma's technical abilities, his jumps, his spins, his skating skills, and also his artistry, his ability to feel the music and to project onto the entire audience. Yumandot is less a of a free skate and more of a carefully crafted piece of art.

The final very fittingly for how the quad went was Kaori against Kaori which means that second place and winner of the silver medal is: Kaori Sakamoto's Janet Jackson Medley. And Janet Jackson herself approves of this program so really what more is there to say? Imagine this, you unexpectedly medal at the Olympic and then go on to become World Champion. Now a whole new Olympic cycle lies ahead and you are the leading woman, it falls to you to take up the mantel, a whole fraction of the skating world says that without the Russians the women's discipline will suffer and won't be worth watching, what do you do? Well, if your name is Kaori Sakamoto you get a haircut and go into a completely new direction. You show everyone just how great of a skater you are by showing that you can skate to anything. You show the world that it is not a coincidence that you are on top. You do a short program that is powerful and shows you and your skating off in a new way. You skate with incredible freedom that allows you to show what a champion looks like, you show that you are a Woman and what a Women's champion looks like. Because more than just proving yourself to be worthy of the title of leading woman you also show the world that women's skating is not going anywhere. You show the world just how dynamic and cool and stylish women's skating can be. You save women's skating. Kaori Sakamoto, the skater you are!!

And finally, first place and the official (declared by tumblr) Best Program of the Milano Cortina Quad is: Kaori Sakamoto's All That Jazz which already deservedly won the women's bracket and is now the Champion again, I can't think of a more deserving program and skater. I already talked more about the way this program challenged Kaori to become a better skater and how that aspect of it influences my view and love for this program during the semifinals so now I want to focus more on the actual program. From the first moment Kaori says 'look at me and don't you dare look away' and it works, you just can't look away. This step sequence is one of those that doesn't feel like a step sequence in the best way possible. It is not a checking all my boxes, I need to do this and that turn, I need to include my one foot cluster, I need to include body movement, I need to get a level for kind step sequence. Instead it is a the music is playing and  I am skating to it while also (almost incidentally) meeting all the requirements kind of step sequence which is not an easy feat to achieve in IJS. Another thing I love composition wise is how two of the last three elements are jumping passes, the music is fast and intense, it doesn't allow you to rest and the fact that the jump passes are really spread around the entire length of the program is the only correct choice, it adds to the energy. All That Jazz is joyous to watch and so addictive it's difficult to watch only once. It flies by, it doesn't feel like four minutes at all. And it is the undeniable Best Program of the Quad. Queen Kaori, Congratulations and Happy Birthday!!!

And here is the full bracket:

As a Team Canada fan I think the pairs battle for the Olympic team is going to be the most exciting/potentially painful. Barring injury ladies will be Kaetlyn, Gabby and probably Alaine, although I’ve seen some speculation on the forums that Larkyn Austman could overtake her. Alaine is my girl but when she melts down she does it in spectacular fashion. Ice dance there are only the three contenders whether you like them or not. Men there’s Patrick and then so many potentials for the second spot that there’s going to be a lot of heartbreak no matter what. (Dear Elladj, please spend this season skating the way you skated when you won Nebelhorn. Thanks bye.)

And then pairs. Three spots and really, four teams in contention. Lubov doesn’t have citizenship and both Kirsten and Michael and Julianne and Charlie seem to be injury prone so come Nationals there might only be three teams in the running but for now... things are going to get interesting.

all that jazz was a challenge for kaori, she said so herself and many of her fans (me included) were unsure about the program in the beginning. when i hear about this choice i was excited but when i saw her skate it for the first time she skated it did not hit for me, and it wouldnt have even if it had been clean, it was clear that she was not used to this style of music and this way of skating (understandable, she did baby god bless you and wild is the wind in the previous season both are very different styles) kaori is what i would call a 'flow-y' skater with naturally smooth movements and skating style and that is reflective if you look at most of her programs. chicago in general and all that jazz in particular requires you to be very snappy, the music is fast and intense and has very obvious musical accents that You Need To Hit otherwise the whole thing falls apart really quickly. her first two comps of the season kaori had not figured it out, she tried to skate through the music with her flowy style instead of skating on top of it with the needed snap (idk how else to describe it thats the best i can do) But she figured it out quickly (by nhk trophy in my opinion) and once she had it she Had It and it became phenomenal. and that just the overall skating but the composition!!! the perfect jump placements!!! the choreo choices!!! absolutely no notes on that front and again the music is demanding the kind where you really cant make mistakes completely different from what kaori has done before but she rose to the music and she made all that jazz her own. it would be a great program on its own but this arc for me turns it into one of The essential Kaori Programs because it made her a better skater