Gotta skate...Shae dancing with a chair

Saw Kurt's Gotta Skate this week in Toronto. Mostly sold out house. Taped by NBC Sports for airing Dec 18th 4-6PM EST and CBC for March 7th. Skaters included SIlvia and Carolina (the Italian angle...Andrea Boticelli sang), Steven Cousins, S and P, Yuka and Jason, Brian O and Elvis, Kurt and Shae-Lynn. Mr. Smucker was there too.

Act I:

Cast - Opening - "Volari" (Richie Cole)
Silvia Fontana w/ Andrea Bocelli - "Te Extrana"
Brian Orser w/ Andrea Bocelli - "Voglio Restare Cosi"
Carolina Kostner - "Ave Maria" (Filippa Giordano)
Elvis Stojko - "Alla Luce Del Sol" (Josh Groban)
Yuka Sato & Jason Dungjen - "Burn it Blue" (Freda Soundtrack)
Shae-Lynn Bourne - "Caruso" (Lara Fabian)
Steven Cousins - "Tender Trap"
Jamie Sale & David Pelletier w/ Andrea Bocelli & Hayley Westenra - "Vivo Per Lei"
Kurt Browning w/ Andrea Bocelli - "Can't Help Falling in Love"
Act II:

Kurt Browning, Silvia Fontana, Carolina Kostner (Italian Restaurant group number) - "That's Amore" (Dean Martin)
Steven Cousins w/ Andrea Bocelli - "It's Impossible"
Silvia Fontana, Carolina Kostner - "Come to Italy"
Elvis Stojko - "Fin, Fan"
Shae-Lynn Bourne and chair - "La Cumparsita" (Rodriguez Stanley Black)
Yuka Sato & Jason Dungjen - "Both Sides Now" (Hayley Westenra)
Silvia Fontana - "Short Program"
Brian Orser - "Steppin' Out" (Dean Martin)
Carolina Kostner - "Gabriel's Oboe"
Jamie Sale & David Pelletier - "I Wanna Know What Love Is" (Wynonna)
Kurt Browning - "I Did It" (Dave Matthews)
Cast w/ Andrea Bocelli and Hayley Westenra - "Time to Say Goodbye"


My unrefined comments.

World of difference between Sylvia and Carolina. They did a threesome with Kurt (two girls at a table and a waiter then the waiter chased htemover the ice). Kurt mimiced them. He did "lovely" spirals and spins!

S and P did two numbers, nice pieces but with with the same tricks in them. No smiles for each other or the audience. Something wrong?

Elvis, now very involved in karate at world levels, has put on heavy muscle in his legs and butt are MUCH more developed...20 pounds according to the Globe. He still managed to do triples quite nicely though. One number was classic Elvis exhibution and the other was a funny number that looked like Kurt chorreographed it. A complete change of character.

Brian did two classical numbers and then a double backflip. Wham wham, two in a row. Kurt said his wedding give to his wife was stopping doing them. Appearently he did a half flip once and that was the last time.

Shae did the most marvellous ice dance with a chair as a partner. All her trademarked moves, lyrical, deep edges etc. It was really mesmerizing. They spun, it supported her during a shoot the duck, you have to watch this on TV.. My husband asked what the chair's name was...kind of catty I would say.

Anyway, well worth watching on TV at Christmas.

sww

thanx for review

wonder why no Canadian ladies like Joannie, Cynthia or the new Jr Champion?

southwest wind said:

World of difference between Sylvia and Carolina.

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In what sense?

southwest wind said:

... Shae did the most marvellous ice dance with a chair as a partner. All her trademarked moves, lyrical, deep edges etc. It was really mesmerizing. They spun, it supported her during a shoot the duck, you have to watch this on TV... sww

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If Fred Astaire can dance with a hat rack (see the film "Royal Wedding"), Shae can dance with a chair!

Fat?

Really? Someone post a link to a recent picture, please. People were saying Sarah was fat, too, and she wasn't even close.
Lin

Thanks for the great review. I hope I can catch this on tv. Of course, one never gets to see the entire show - I do hope they show Shae-Lynn and the chair - Shades of Fred Astaire!!!!

About Elvis - People's body weight changes with age. Elvis is a very active athlete and participates in many sports - including hockey. I won't prejudge him here. I can't see a couple of pounds slowing Elvis down on the ice. He is a hard worker and can move across the ice faster than any skater I have ever seen. those sturdy legs will give him even greater jumping power.

S&P are married now aren't they? Maybe a first time spat for the newlyweds? I am sure everything is okay.

Thanks for the review of Kurt's "Gotta Skate." I'm looking forward to seeing this show when it is aired in December.

Ladskater, re: Jamie & David - They're getting married on December 30, 2005 (according to information at sale-pelletier.com)

NOOOO! I hate it when skater's skate with chairs. Brian's chair performance in 1994 was his all-time low. B/S Chaplan was also their low point.

Hay maybe Shae can pull it off though

iluvtodd said:

Ladskater, re: Jamie & David - They're getting married on December 30, 2005 (according to information at sale-pelletier.com)

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Are they planning a big wedding? A lot of pressure, slightly over two months in advance of such things, are not uncommon.

J&D are actually planning a small wedding. And before this gets out of hand, other people have posted reviews from this show around random boards and haven't said anything about J&D other than they skated two slow numbers and that they were really nice. I'm sure everything is fine between these two (sometimes slow numbers don't require two goofy grinning skaters in them, IMO can ruin the mood of the song), so let's move on from that now, okay? :agree:

Thanks for the review and I look foward to seeing this show on NBC in December.

33leprechaun said:

Also, a fat Elvis shouldn't be doing his "classic exhibition numbers". He looks like a caricature of his old self. He used to have gorgeous curly hair and one of the hottest - if not the hottest - butts in skating. :scratch: Now, I guess I'll just have to fast forward or change the channel and enjoy the rest of the skaters. It's important to look "hot" in skating. WTF is up with him?

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I'm pretty sure Elvis looks "hot" right now. I'm also pretty sure that's all muscle and not fat, but that really isn't what's important. The important thing is that he's a wonderful person. He's a role-model and his skating is interesting and fun to watch. If anything, he has gotten better with age, like a fine wine. There is not a single skater that I prefer to watch. I can't wait to see him on television and to tell you the truth, he's the main reason I watch these shows in the first place.

33leprechaun said:

I think Sarah got a lot more grief for being "fat" than Elvis did. I guess there are double standards for men and women.

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well you're doing a bang up one man job of it :scowl:

he's not fat, he's put on weight because he's concentrating on another sport. If he can still land the jumps he CAN'T be out of shape.

I'd love to hear more about Carolina and Silvia

Sk8swan said:

I'd love to hear more about Carolina and Silvia

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As would I. I could care less, as long as the performances are still enjoyable, if Elvis is a littler bulkier because of some new hobbies.

Elvis, now very involved in karate at world levels, has put on heavy muscle in his legs and butt are MUCH more developed...20 pounds according to the Globe.

Muscle isn't fat.I'm looking foward to seeing it on tv.

Well, from the Gotta Skate pictures over at the Sale-Pelletier site, there were lots of smiles, including lots of gazing at each other and smiling. Not sure what show you were watching, or maybe where you were sitting.

http://www.sale-pelletier.com/images/IMG_4368.jpg

http://www.sale-pelletier.com/images/IMG_4369.jpg

Eeyora said:

NOOOO! I hate it when skater's skate with chairs. Brian's chair performance in 1994 was his all-time low.

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You've never seen his "Rapper's Delight" program, have you? Now, that was bad. I loved "Missing You". I thought it was very inventive.

As for Elvis being "fat"... Hardly. A friend of mine one time told me that she felt badly for "poor Brian [Boitano]. It must be hard for him to do those jumps with such fat thighs."

Fat! FAT!! FAT!!! Help, help, the fatties are afer me.

33leprechaun said:

I don't care what skaters do with chairs as long as they (the skaters) aren't fat. :no: Shae-Lynn is a fabulous skater, and looks great no matter what.

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Really? So you'd rather see a slim skater's horrible performance than a "fat" skater's great one? This seems like a scewed way of looking at the world in general, let alone figure skating. :scratch: :frown2: