The Terminator Fight: how Humennik won the "Russian Challenge"

The 2026 edition brought the Russian Challenge show program tournament to life. The new competitions invented by the Russian sports isolation risked degenerating into an empty formality by the fifth year of their existence. After an overly successful debut, it seemed like this tournament was staggering. This time, not all the productions turned out to be interesting, many went back to the lyrics, but I was impressed by the variety of themes and images. And he won absolutely in the case of "Terminator" by Peter Gumennik.

Vetlugin's breakthrough with dedication to the Paralympians

The result was again determined from three assessments: a jury of artists, former athletes, and audience voting in the arena. The jury consisted of designer Alena Akhmadullina, ballerina Elizaveta Kokoreva, actress Ekaterina Klimova and singers Pelageya and Ildar Abdrazakov, among the athletes were Alexander Zhulin, Anna Shcherbakova, Anton Sikharulidze, Evgenia Medvedeva and Mikhail Kolyada.

The tournament began with several lyrical numbers that set a sad mood — everything will be as usual. The only dancers who stood out were Ekaterina Mironova / Evgeny Ustenko — Katya controlled men under Zhanna Aguzarova and played a femme fatale (in every sense of the word "rock") woman, and this role suits her. But the number was not awarded high points, as was the driving production about the relationship of Alyona Kostornaya / Georgy Kunitsa.

Neither Leo Tolstoy's wife by Anna Frolova, nor the sad clowning of Daria Sadkova, nor the rental of Alexandra Trusova and Makar Ignatov with the appearance of a child at the end also did not elicit a response from the judges.

Sofia Samodurova ventured to show the feelings of the artists — and performed a recitative without music at all, which, as expected, caused vivid emotions in the actress Klimova.

But the highest marks in the first section, which is symbolic, were given to two issues about Russian athletes. Matvey Vetlugin organized the dedication to our Paralympians — all the judges stood up. And here's the big question — is it possible to use such techniques to achieve grades? The answer probably lies in the fact that Vetlugin has already tried to do funny numbers and, with his talented parody of the first "Russian Challenge", landed in the top ten. So he has the right. 19.25 points from two out of three juries is the first bid to win. As a result, he took fifth place and received two special prizes from the judges — the Paralympic theme worked.

The second issue was Alexandra Boikova/ Dmitry Kozlovsky's worries about being suspended from international competitions. It was fascinating that the guys were talking about their feelings, but the words about the "holy way" seemed too grandiose.

The "Russian challenge" has been accepted: what to expect from our top skaters in St. Petersburg

At the final start of the season, viewers will be able to see such stars as Alina Zagitova and Peter Gumennik.

Judicial anomalies and spectator voting

The real "Russian Challenge" begins when the jury evaluates the second section. And then we saw the good old show program tournament with unclear merit scores. Kamila Valieva got 19.40 for a rather ordinary number about Rudolf Nureyev, which could have been a sports program, and pulled ahead.

Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov gracefully left Vika's skating (she was injured on the show), so her partner flew with the help of special devices, walked on Nikita's palms and performed without skates. It's interesting, but not by 19.70.

"I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who was there, supported, believed and created this special atmosphere. It's really more than just a performance, it's about energy, people and inspiration," Victoria Sinitsina wrote on her Telegram channel. — Yes, this time — without skates. But it was this case that gave us the opportunity to open up in a new way and show this beautiful number."

Peter Humennik really conquered it. He had an absolutely perfect season on and off the rink. And I didn't forget about the last tournament, but made a super program based on the Terminator. Watch the video — the moment with the appearance of the electronic hand is perhaps the most striking in this tournament.

The only thing that can argue with him is the episode when Vladimir Morozov, who, along with Evgenia Tarasova, amused the audience with a number from "Well, wait!", announced the pregnancy of his wife Maria Kasumova.

There were other bright numbers in the second section — Alina Zagitova beat the idea with a Tatar lullaby, Anastasia Mishina / Alexander Gallyamov mixed "A stewardess named Zhanna" and "Mimino", taking an airplane and exiting the AI plane of Mishka Airlines. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva dedicated the issue to the problem of abuse in relationships.

But according to the results of the jury's vote, veterans Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov entered the top three with an incomprehensible reference to the film Solaris, judging by the reaction of the audience — 19.45.

It was time for the public to save the day—and it did so splendidly. The audience had QR codes, and after checking the e-ticket number and the seat in the sector from 4:30 p.m., they could vote with a score from 0 to 10.

As a result, the top three changed a lot — Humennik overtook Sinitsina./Katsalapova, and Volosozhar/Trankov and Valiev were ousted by Mishin in the fight for bronze./Gallyamov. It was a great idea, but the implementation turned out to be controversial — the results were quickly announced, rather than gradually revealing the intrigue, as at Eurovision. It turns out that the audience's votes that decided everything were shown as a formality.

— The number was really healthy, they put together such a cool production from different parts, everything looked good together, — said Humennik after the rental. — Thanks to Nikolai Yuryevich Moroshkin, Artyom Fedorchenko, Nizam [Aliyev]. It was especially pleasant to win thanks to the audience who supported me so much, it was very pleasant that the audience put me in the first place at the Jubilee, even there was enough reserve to cover the judges' scores.

However, this does not negate the main result of the competition. When the president of the federation, Anton Sikharulidze, asked the audience if we would continue to make the show program tournament, Yubileyny loudly replied "yes!" And that's the right answer. We all definitely need this kind of figure skating.

Figure skating. The Russian Challenge Show Program Tournament

1. Peter Gumennik — 29.26

2. Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov — 28.84

3. Anastasia Mishina / Alexander Gallyamov — 28.43