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2002-03 Stars On Ice

A figure skating review

January 20, 2003
Article © Barry Mittan

Pairs on Ice, officially known as Smucker's Stars on Ice (SOI), opened in Lake Placid, New York on November 30 amidst a cloud of uncertainty. SOI faces increasing competition from Collins-Marshall Management's (CMM) two Champions on Ice tours, which feature the ladies singles skaters that the American public loves to watch. CMM has stolen a march on SOI by locking in virtually every current and past U. S. Olympian. When SOI had 1992 Olympic champions Kristi Yamaguchi, appropriately cited by Scott Hamilton as "the heart and soul of the show", and 1998 Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski, it could successfully compete head-to-head with the winter version of Champions.

But this season, CMM has two well-known U.S. Olympic lady medalists, Dorothy Hamill and Nancy Kerrigan, while SOI has none. For whatever reasons, SOI did not sign 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes or hugely popular two-time Olympian Michelle Kwan to replace Yamaguchi, who retired to spend time with her husband, and Lipinski, who will miss most if not all of the tour due to continuing injury problems. In a declining economy, that may substantially reduce the number of parents buying tickets for little ice princesses who want to see their favorite ladies.

Not only did SOI lose Lipinski and Yamaguchi, it also replaced almost the entire cast. Gone are spinning sensation Lucinda Ruh, the lovely Swiss miss who was one of the most memorable performers last season. Gone too is babe magnet Steven Cousins, whose crowd appeal for the ladies, willingness to take on any odd job, and comedic nature made him a huge asset to the production. Cousins was lost at the last minute due to a season-ending knee injury, which will required surgery in December. Olympic champion Ilia Kulik, another cast member with a numerous and vocal fan base, is also gone.

That leaves Canada's four-time world champion Kurt Browning, Germany's Katarina Witt, whose Olympic wins came two decades ago, and former U.S. pairs champions Jenni Meno and off-injured Todd Sand, as the sole returnees from last season. To fill the void, SOI has brought back ice dancers Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur, who had been replaced in 2001 by Angelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov, and founder Scott Hamilton, whose marriage will limit the number of shows in which he performs. That gives the show seven veterans and eight newcomers, a situation that puts a lot of extra stress on all the skaters to learn the new routines and work as a unit.

The eight newcomers include two men, 2002 Olympic champion Alexei Yagudin and former world champion Todd Eldredge. A healthy Yagudin is more than a match for Ilia Kulik, both as a technician and as an entertainer, but he has been slowed by a chronic hip condition that some doctors have deemed career threatening. Yagudin is well known as a crowd-pleasing performer who always gives 150 percent every time, but time will tell whether the demands of tour skating will ravage the hip. To skate three individual numbers and several ensemble pieces day after day for months, while traveling continuously from city to city, may be more than even the stoic Yagudin can handle. Eldredge, a frequent U. S. champion and superb technical skater, has built up a solid following after a 15-year career in the national spotlight, but how well he learns to work the crowds will be a critical element in the success of this year's show.

To counteract the lack of marketable ladies, three pairs teams have been added to the cast. They include the dual 2002 Olympic gold medalists, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze from Russia and Jamie Sale and David Pelletier from Canada, as well as three-time U.S. champions Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman. SOI obviously plans to capitalize on the Olympic pairs controversy to market the show, giving audiences the opportunity to see both pairs in the same show, and even both pairs on the ice at the same time. The question is whether the American public still remembers the controversy or cares enough to buy tickets to see the participants almost a year later.

On to the Show:

As for the production itself, this year's version is far superior to last year's Furniture on Ice, a Target Stores-sponsored show that featured skaters performing with chairs, vanities, and other items of furniture in numbers more appropriate to one of Target's television ads. Instead of last season's syrupy musical tribute to The Carpenters, which made many fans want to run screaming from the rink, the show's choreographers have used a wide variety of musicians from Charlotte Church to Steppenwolf. There's something for almost every musical taste. And there's some very good skating to be seen.

Yagudin is undoubtedly the headliner as he skates in three solo numbers and most of the ensemble numbers. Although Yagudin was visibly limping throughout rehearsals, he performed every program on opening night. Yagudin opened with Steppenwolf's rock and roll ballad, "Born to be Wild", then changed pace to "Overcome", a more dramatic and technical piece which included several triples, moon walking, and the fast straight-line footwork sequence from last year's competitive program. His final solo is to Safri Duo's "Racing", which he used as his short for Skate America. This is his most innovative program of the show, and contains plenty of jump content as well as his trademark miming, this time of driving a racecar.

Kurt Browning has two solos this season. The first, to Tony Bennett's "How Do You Keep the Music Playing", is the serious technical number with high jump content, while the second, to James Cotton's "Slippery Side Up" displays his comedic talents. Browning is an excellent comedian and he does well with this number, first walking and skating with his guards on, then doing some fancy footwork interspersed with pratfalls before being dragged off the ice with a rope. Hamilton uses Ricky Lee Jones' "Chuck E's in Love" and an old standby, "Figaro". He includes the usual split jumps and back flips, combined with a lot of audience interaction, but his jumps were iffy, no doubt as a result of his last minute addition to the cast.

Eldredge garnered the biggest standing ovation of the night. His first program, to Buddy Rich's "Channel 1 Suite", was a nice bluesy number, complete with perfect jumps, spins and even barrel rolls. The second, to "Miserere" is vintage Eldredge. The jumps, the spins, and the footwork are all fast and flawless. With no quad to worry about, Eldredge can pack every move he knows in to his programs. Not a single misstep and the crowd loved it.

Dancers Roca and Sur have only one number, but it's a highlight. Using "Prayer" by Charlotte Church and Josh Groban, this Christopher Dean choreographed piece, is superb. It's a romantic piece in which the dancers float across the ice, using a well-timed lift here and there to punctuate the skating. And to put the icing on the cake, Roca far outshines Witt in the looks department besides. Witt herself has one solo to Barbara Streisand's "The Rest of Your Life", a slow number in which she managed a double Axel after several retakes. She also skates in a trio with Zimmerman and Sur to "Blues in the Night".

Pairs on Ice:

This production is built around the four pairs in the cast. The two U.S. pairs have one solo each, but participate in all of the group numbers. Meno and Sand deviate somewhat from their traditional love struck programs by using Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man", a program which involves more conflict between the partners than usual. Unfortunately, everyone who has ever seen Gary Beacom's hilarious program to the same song will instantly be reminded of it and the Meno-Sand version is not nearly as entertaining. Ina and Zimmerman give a solid performance to Bon Jovi's "Bed of Roses", full of the unusual lifts and other moves for which Tamara Moskvina's couples are justly famous. Both skaters are excellent in the group numbers, including one with Meno-Sand and Roca-Sur, in which the skaters change partners and flirt with one another to "Something Stupid."

Of course the main draw is Berezhnaya-Sikharulidze versus Sale-Pelletier. The pairs perform one joint number to "Sing, Sing, Sing", which is unfortunately marred by the narration of a poem during the program. Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze also have one solo, their Elvis and Marilyn number. Sikharulidze really gets into his Elvis Presley impersonation, but Berezhnaya can't manage the same level of charisma in her Marilyn Monroe impression. The program itself has a variety of Moskvina moves. Sale and Pelletier get two solos. The first, to Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly", uses all of the couple's moves where it looks like David is flying Jamie around the rink. The second, to Journey's "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'", is a more romantic, sensual number.

The best of the ensemble numbers comes at the beginning of the second half with Elvis vs. JXL. The piece opens with most of the ladies entering from the edges of the ice, gyrating and flirting with the audience. Then the men enter, wearing tight jeans, cowboy hats and work gloves. They do pushups, cartwheels, and other fun moves both alone and in pairs as well as plenty of flirting of their own. It's a nice fun number that should be a joy to watch. Overall, a show worth seeing, unless you just go to see the single ladies.