Welcome to the wacky world of feathers, furs and weird fashions, otherwise known as the Winter Olympics figure skating competition.

Next week's battle on ice at the city's Pacific Coliseum will be not just for the four titles on offer, but also to see who can claim gold for having the most outlandish costume.

While skaters do not receive marks for their costumes alone, the outfit is all part of the artistic spectacle.

At a glance they may look like wisps of fabric casually thrown together. But the carefully-engineered pieces are the fruits of months of work, to produce a costume that expresses a routine while withstanding the wear and tear of an athletic performance.

Olympic silver medallist Stéphane Lambiel probably got the dress award four years ago in Turin with his orange and purple zebra print ensemble for Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

This time expect knee high boots.

"To feel loved is not what is important for me but to express what you are feeling on the ice," said the two-time world champion from Switzerland.

Switzerland's Stéphane Lambiel is a favorite of many skating fans.  He has been competing for many years, and this will be his third Olympic games.  He is the reigning Olympic silver medalist.

Lambiel won the 2005 world championships (Plushenko withdrew with an injury - Lambiel had been leading heading into the free skate).  Lambiel has great footwork and great artistry, and is one of the greatest spinners out there, but he's also been fairly consistent on the quads over the years.  Still, he is one of the skaters being held up as "artists" versus athletes.  Lambiel's achilles heel is the fact that he does not have a consistent triple axel, which is particularly a problem in the short program, where he must then do a double axel, and garner far fewer points than other skaters.

Lambiel followed up his 2005 world championship victory with a Grand Prix final championship, a silver at the Olympics, and another gold at the world championships.  The next season, he was a bit erratic; he withdrew from competitions for health reasons as well as "burnout." Still, he was able to win a bronze medal at the 2007 world championships.  The following season was even more of a disappointment; he only finished fifth at the world championships.  He retired later in 2008, citing a thigh injury.

Lambiel could not stay away for long, and he announced his return to competitive skating in 2009.  He followed that up with a victory at the Nebelhorn Trophy.  He has been a bit sloppy overall, but he's still trying those valuable quads.  He unveiled a well-received free skate to La Traviata at the recent European championships, which helped pull him up to second place and the gold medal.  He bested champ Evgeny Plushenko on program components.

The reason I like to watch Lambiel so much is that he commits to the program and the emotion of the program no matter what.  He can fall all over the place on the jumps but I will still watch his every move because I know he'll likely be doing something interesting.  He really is an artist.