5/30/02
COI came to Richmond this time, so Gordon (aka Krazy Kat) and I were able to attend without having to drive three hours to unfamiliar territory. We arrived in plenty of time (for a change) and even met some friends in the section where we were sitting. I was a little disappointed that Todd Eldredge wasn't in the program, but as he is retiring I suppose I need to pick a new favourite anyway.
For the opening number each skater or pair of skaters came out in a uniform-type costume and performed a few trademark moves. Anissina and Peizerat, for instance, did their he-lifts-her-then-she-lifts-him trick that is always so exciting.
Nicole Bobek was the first to skate. Her music was "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," sung by Madonna if the snippet from "Material Girl" that was thrown in was any clue. She wore a red costume with matching feather in her hair. Looked a lot like a can-can dancer. She kissed a guy in the front row near the beginning. About halfway through a man in black (who wasn't spotlighted) came out on the ice and put a knee-length red skirt on her. I have no idea why because she whipped it off and discarded it after about 15 seconds. Also, Nicole was the only skater this night who fell, on a triple toe loop.
Shaelyn Bourne and Victor Kraatz were next, skating to a new age-y sounding Gregorian chant. I was a bit put off by her costume. The top half appeared to be mostly transparent with a few glittery bits in the appropriate places. And the program wasn't terribly interesting either; about 50% of it was hydro-blading. Ho hum. Can't they do any other tricks?
Dan Hollander was much more entertaining. He was dressed as one of the characters from South Park (I don't watch it so don't ask me which one) and skated to a song from the movie. Then he shed that costume (musta been hot) to reveal an old lady-type outfit reminiscent of Robin Williams' getup from Mrs. Doubtfire. The music? "She Moves Like a Lady." It was hysterical! The first time he did a jump in this second part the skirt came up and we saw he was wearing smiley face boxers. It seems we have another comic skater in the making; there's usually one in every show.
Next were Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev. They did a forgettable routine to unmemorable music. With more hydro-blading. * yawn *
After that was Michael Weiss. I have no idea what the song was, but it sounded kind of like "new" country. And he was certainly dressed the part of an urban cowboy, black leather pants and a black vest with no shirt. (Wasn't he cold?) He attempted a quad, though I don't think he landed it cleanly. I do remember that he did a headstand on the ice, which seemed like a very silly thing to do.
Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow were next skating to "One is the Loneliest Number." Surely this is a more appropriate song for a single skater to perform. Apart from the paradox it was a good program. P&S have a lovely presence on the ice. There may have been some more Beatles music in their arrangement, I'm not sure. There was also a nice violin bit.
After them came Viktor Petrenko. I have always known him to like trying different things, and I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when his music turned out to be "Who Let the Dogs Out?" He must be the whitest homeboy there ever was. As a prop he had a large dog puppet, which he allowed people in the front row to pet. He had cleverly attached a strip of material to its back to make it look like it was tucked under his arm. It was absolutely ridiculous, but amusing.
Surya Bonaly was up next, skating to noveau classical sung by an unidentifiable soprano. She did all of her usual tricks, including two walkover backflips and a no-speed axel. Otherwise the program was not terribly interesting.
But the next one was. It was Rudy Galindo! Yaaaay! He did his Village People routine again; I loved it the first time I saw it and still do. And I must confess my attitude has changed toward Rudy, just slightly. I had always wondered why the girls scream for him, knowing as they must that he's not interested in them. But in recent years I have had a serious crush on a very attractive, and very gay, Broadway dancer, and I know that if the guy turns you on, his sexual orientation won't change how you feel. So now I understand...
They closed the first half with Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler, and we had our second drag queen of the evening. He was dressed in a tight little black number and a fetching red wig while she was in jeans, leather jacket, and of course a cap with her hair tucked in. The music? "She Ain't Pretty (She Just Looks That Way)." O-kaaaaay, now there is one up for interpretation. The routine was similar to the one they do with him as a lady stripper, with Brasseur groping Eisler and being strongly discouraged. They did a mock throw axel and all of their usual stunts, including several eye-popping lifts.
They opened the second half with a woman I had never heard of, Irina Grigorian. She was rather tall for a lady skater; I think I might classify her as a stunt skater. Her music was "Get Your Body in Motion," at least I think that's what it's called. And her body was certainly in motion as she skated with first one hula hoop, then added a second, and a third, and eventually ended up with seven I think. At the end of the program she discarded the hoops for a giant slinky, which she twirled around her body. What a sight.
Elvis Stojko was next. I usually like his exhibition programs better because he seems more relaxed than in competition. He was relaxed enough here, but the program was forgettable. The highlight came when he hugged a lady in the front row. His music was unfamiliar to me (what a surprise), but sounded vaguely techno.
After him came a rather unusual pair. They were both men, Vladimir Besedin and Oleksiy Polishchuk. The announcer stated they were from the Bolshoi Ballet, and indeed they came out in costumes reminiscent of Swan Lake, that best known of Russian ballets. They were swans, of course, complete with feathery white tutus and headbands. They didn't skate to Swan Lake, though; that would have been too obvious. The violin music they chose was terribly familiar. It sounded kind of like Meditation from Thais, but it wasn't. However, by the time I tried to sing it for my mother so she could identify it, Meditation had driven it forever out of my head. They did some very impressive stunts, kind of like a Cirque du Soleil on ice. Polishchuk, the smaller guy, stood on the shoulders of Besedin, who was enormous. They both wore sleeveless tops so we could see Besedin's shoulders weren't padded in any way. Ouch! From that position Polishchuk then balanced on one hand on Besedin's head. Double ouch! Very impressive routine, if a little unconventional.
Timothy Goebel was next skating to something that sounded vaguely patriotic. This being an exhibition he didn’t really do anything spectacular. But KK and I have noticed that he bears a strong resemblance to Christian Hayden, who plays teenage Anakin Skywalker in the latest Star Wars movie (Send in the Clones). Which inspired KK to come up with the following: "Flutzing, hydroblading, overemphasis of quad jumps, to the dark side they lead!"
Irina Slutskaya came out in what looked like an urban cowgirl outfit. She even had a little riding crop to brandish. How cheesy. She did her usual tricks, including the first-one-foot-then-the-other Beilman spin.
Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev were better by far. They did a routine in which she was a puppet and he her master. Her hair was in pigtails and she wore a black and neon costume. His was mostly black. Partway through the strings were taken away and the "puppet" took on a life all her own, throwing off the jacket of her costume to reveal an attractive black tank dress. They did all their usual tricks, which I never grow tired of seeing. Then the puppet, like a wind-up doll, began to slow down. At one point she used the bar and strings as a swing, with him as the tree. It was a great program, and I was glad to see that K&D are still in fine form.
And to follow my very favourite pair came my very favourite ice dancers, Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat. They were doing a flamenco, and they made a convincing Latino couple despite their red and blond hair. It was very entertaining, but not the kind of thing that would pass in competition.
Continuing in the Spanish vein we had Evgeny Plushenko doing a matador routine with music from Carmen. * sigh * Can't we have even one production that doesn't have someone skating to Carmen? But apart from the old warhorse music, it was a very good routine, and for an exhibition, very high in difficulty. His was the most challenging singles program in the show.
Michelle Kwan was on next skating to "Fields of Gold," or maybe it should be bronze. Sorry, sorry, that was not nice. But KK and I, who are not big fans of Kwan, found it irksome that the audience was applauding her every move, no matter how simple it was. She probably could have scooted across the ice on her backside and they would still have applauded. (KK actually said that, but I agree.) We were not impressed.
The next up was a surprise. Alexei Yagudin had not been on in the opening number (nor was he in the finale), yet here he was reprising his short program from the Olympics. Strange that. It was a good program, but I found his throwing of ice shavings a little annoying.
Last to skate was Sarah Hughes. I thought Sarah did a great job at the Olympics, but she didn't really wow me here. It didn't help that she was skating to some sappy little ditty, the lyrics of which I was doing my best to ignore. It was an okay program, but nothing special.
The finale had a patriotic theme. Patriotic for this country anyway, which I considered to be not a little inappropriate considering all the non-Americans in the cast. Even the Russians were wearing red, white, and blue, though I did notice that Bourne and Kraatz managed to get away with the Canadian colours, red and white. Everyone came out and did some stunts, skated together for a bit, then bowed and waved. They let off some fireworks at the end, which did nothing to help my slowly developing migraine. Overall, though, I thought it was a good show and I wouldn't mind seeing it again next year.