Virtue and Moir earned a season-best 70.27 points - almost two points higher than their Vancouver score. They have 114.40 points heading into Friday's free dance. Davis and White, who train with Virtue and Moir, have 112.54 points after scoring a season-best 69.29 for their colorful Bollywood-on-ice OD.

The men's free skate is later Thursday.

Despite bettering their Olympic score, Virtue and Moir said it was tough to beat performing in front a crowd of cheering Canadians as they did in Vancouver.

“We didn't think we had quite the magic we had at the Olympic Games, but we were pleased with the performance,” Moir said.

Virtue said that technically, the Turin performance was stronger - but there was no shortage of emotion as they performed fiery step sequences. The pair trained with flamenco dancers to infuse the piece with authenticity.

“A lot of that passion that they brought to us now comes from within,” Virtue said.

The Canadians and Americans are both hungry for a world title - something neither has achieved - after their Olympic success. Though Virtue and Moir lead Davis and White by almost two points, that can be made up in Friday's free dance.

“We feel we used the Olympic Games to help us grow as skaters and performers, and I think it helped us out there,” White said.

In Turin, the job of hometown favorites falls to Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali of Italy, who remained third in the overall standings by finishing third in the original dance. They have 100.01 total points.

The Italian crowd cheered wildly for Faiella's and Scali's original dance, which combined traditional dances from Naples and Calabria. Their only flaw was an error on their twizzles - spinning turns - that cost them in both difficulty and execution.

“It's hard to dance with a crowd screaming like a football game, but we are very happy,” Scali said.