Skating With Celebrities!

STL_Blues_fan · Jan 19, 2006

It was very cheesy, indeed but fun!

I think the elvel of difficulty was harder than the corresponding British (the original) show.

I think that Kristy Swanson and Lloyd did a really good job, and even with the mistake their spirals were very good. She also had a very nice position on those lifts. He is the strongest, yes, but Kristy is also the most inexperienced to the sport and looked like the heaviest - so he better be strong!

I did not like Kurt's and Debbie's program. I think they should've been last.

Jillian and John looked the best, and boy can she spin in comparison to others! But they got graded on the "inverted" curve - they were much better than others but it looked like their higher skill level was taken into consideration.

John Nicks and his English accent is Skating with the stars answer to Simon from the AI

Tai was a joy to watch! I loved their routine.

Either way, I think the whole thing is a fix.

Dee4707 · Jan 19, 2006

The one thing I liked was someone saying..........this is really hard work, I will never say anything bad about figure skating again.......it was from one of the guys. I enjoyed the show. I think it could provide interest in the sport. I don't think Scott would be a part of something that would make the sport look bad.

Dee

Kwanford Wife · Jan 19, 2006

Ptichka said:
My concern about the show is that it will give rise to "see, it's not really a sport, anyone can do this" type talk.

My husband said (direct quote) "This is why people don't take figure skating seriously... at least during the competitons, which are bad enough, those are professionals, this is just crap!" And yes, he does have common sense ~ even if it is misplaced...

My thoughts on the show: John Nicks wants to be Simon Cowell... that is reason enough not to watch it... Next thing you know we will have "Too Hot to Skate part deux"

Piel · Jan 19, 2006

No, not "Too Hot to Skate"! That was one of the worst skating shows ever.

nubka · Jan 19, 2006

Kwanford Wife said:
:My thoughts on the show: John Nicks wants to be Simon Cowell... that is reason enough not to watch it...

You know, I'll bet thats thre "role" the producers want him to "play", though. I think they kind of want him to be the Simon (who rains on everybody's parade, just a little bit,) while Dorothy is more like Paula Abdul (there to build them back up and give encouragement!)

Or...maybe he's just a closet prima donna and this is his moment to shine...LOL!!

Shmuzzy · Jan 19, 2006

I read a review where somebody called Bruce Jenner a plastic surgery "victim". Yes, it was mean but not totally inaccurate IMO. :laugh:

Teenes · Jan 19, 2006

Given the spin in the practice footage, I don't think Kristy is the least experienced skater. I'd say among the ladies, Deborah is. Among the men, it's a tossup between Bruce Jenner and Todd Bridges, but Dave Coulier sure is awfully stiff for someone who spends so much time on the ice playing hockey! I know the skates are different but still...

soogar · Jan 19, 2006

Teenes said:
Given the spin in the practice footage, I don't think Kristy is the least experienced skater. I'd say among the ladies, Deborah is. Among the men, it's a tossup between Bruce Jenner and Todd Bridges, but Dave Coulier sure is awfully stiff for someone who spends so much time on the ice playing hockey! I know the skates are different but still...

I thought Dave and Nancy were the worst b/c for all of Dave's experience, he should have skated much better than he did. He's obviously not putting a lot into his training and it shows.

I was very impressed wtih Bruce Jenner. At first I was shocked that such a good all around athlete like Bruce would have so much trouble. But he's 55 years old and it appears never skated before. I can tell that he was taking this event seriously because he showed a lot of technical merit and skill for an adult beginner. What he did was unbelievable for an adult beginner that has only been skating for a month: back and forward crossovers, spirals, waltz jumps and a spin. They should have been first.

Lloyd needs to work with his partner instead of making it all about him. JMO of Lloyd, but when he competed it didn't look like he knew how to work well with others until he paired up with Isabelle.

Gillian was annoying as usual but it was good to see her taking it so seriously and she was very excited to push herself and show off her skill.

Yummy Kurt was the highlight of this competition and you can tell Debbie loved to skate with him.

As for Nicks, he's so tongue in cheek. I wish they got Dick Button as well so the two old coots can play off of eachother. Yech, I hate Mark Lund with a passion. Couldn't they have gotten Richard Callaghan or Tara Lipinski?

Teenes · Jan 19, 2006

Fast National ratings are in, and Skating with Celebrities did really really well (that American Idol lead-in definitely helped).

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,272|99621|1|,00.html

Skating with Celebrities barely lost the 9PM hour to Lost (11.5/17 vs 11.2/16) which is really good, given what a success Lost is. American Idol of course blew away the 8PM hour competition with a 17.7/27, so Fox won the night overall with an average 14.4/22, and a 10.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic. No idea if the curiousity factor will wear off after the first episode or if it'll do worse on Monday at 8PM before 24 (without the AI lead-in), so who knows if the ratings will hold, but that's really good for the first episode.

Lucy25 · Jan 19, 2006

I really enjoyed the show as a whole. I do think it is a bit unfair that Jillian B. is one of the competitors, though; she just has too much experience. I look forward to seeing this show on Monday.

I can NOT stand John Nicks on this show!! I had to mute him after a while. His performance is way too cliche and it drove me nuts. And it really bugged me that Scott kept calling him "Sir John". He has not been knighted.

I did think that the judges should have commented more on the spins, since that was the move they had to do.

show 42 · Jan 19, 2006

I thought it was a hoot and enjoyed it so much that I taped it and watched it again today. What fun to see Dorothy, Scott, Lloyd, Kurt, and Jenny........all among my favs.......... I'll watch again next week..........42

emma · Jan 19, 2006

Teenes said:
Fast National ratings are in, and Skating with Celebrities did really really well (that American Idol lead-in definitely helped).

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,272|99621|1|,00.html

Skating with Celebrities barely lost the 9PM hour to Lost (11.5/17 vs 11.2/16) which is really good, given what a success Lost is. American Idol of course blew away the 8PM hour competition with a 17.7/27, so Fox won the night overall with an average 14.4/22, and a 10.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic. No idea if the curiousity factor will wear off after the first episode or if it'll do worse on Monday at 8PM before 24 (without the AI lead-in), so who knows if the ratings will hold, but that's really good for the first episode.

Wow, that surprises me and makes me laugh (a guilty laugh since I watched Lost!!!). I thought, though, that I was taping the skating...turns out I wasn't :no:

SkateFan4Life · Jan 19, 2006

I watched a few of the performances from the televised “Skating with Celebrities” last night. It was pretty amazing that some of these “celebrities” had only one month to pull together a pairs routine. Granted, sometimes the skating was a bit rocky, and the moves were pretty basic, but I salute the adventuresome spirit shown in all of the skaters that created these programs. Nice job to one and all. :clap:

The audience was very enthusiastic, and the set was very jazzy and attractive.

However, I was less than impressed with one of the celebrity judges. The three judges, John Nicks, Dorothy Hamill, and another guy, each gave their assessments, orally, after the performances, and they followed this with numeric scores. John Nicks came across as a crusty, old fuddy-duddy, totally lacking in humor and graciousness. He pointed at one of the men and said to him, “I expected you to fall throughout the program”, and to another he said, “Skating consists of artistry and athleticism. You have absolutely no artistry”. It got to the point where Dorothy interjected, “Hey, John, you forget that this is entertainment. It’s not the Olympics!” Dorothy was gracious in her verbal assessments. She said to one of the men (who, admittedly, did look as though he was trying very hard not to splatter on the ice), “I can tell that the ice isn’t your most comfortable environment, but I thought you did a good job.”

I can’t imagine training with a curmudgeon such as John Nicks. I wonder if he acts this way with Sasha Cohen and his other students?:sheesh:

Oh yes, he did say something nice to Tai Babilonia. He told her, “You are still one of the best skaters in the world.” Could this possibly be because Tai was one of his star pupils, and he coached her and Randy Gardner to five US titles, two World bronze medals, and one World title??

Of course, there's the possibility that Nicks was the designated "tough guy" and was playing the role of critic. Perhaps the producers of this show felt that they had to interject some realism into the judging - some sense of reality - and had Nicks make the kind of criticism that a coach might make to a student.

On the other hand, this "competition" was hardly a real-world event. Please. It was entertaining, and I look forward to future broadcasts of this type.

Jhar55 · Jan 19, 2006

Loved the show, think Lloyd got cheated he had a better program. And Nicks saying he expected more only because he's a stronger skater was just wrong. What was he suppose to do, headbangers, the fly high say goodbye moves?
Not on the first show.
John and his partner were great, but she has skated before.
Bruce Jenner was just awful looked like a wind up toy, hope they get voted off next week. Dave and Nancy didn't like their skating either. Give Dave a :thumbsup: for grinding off his toe picks, now that was funny.
I love Kurt but think he only got on the show because of Scott. After all he never skated pairs, but was fun to watch.
Hope it comes down to Lloyd and John, IMO they are the best ones on the show.

heyang · Jan 19, 2006

Jillian skated for several years - she mentioned that she stopped skating at age 13. I think she was the only celeb to do a one footed spin. Dave might have, too, but not as good as hers.

Todd was the one who had the most problems standing up. However, I thought their routine Will Smith's Wild Wild West was fun.

Actually, all the numbers were fun. They had some great choreographers to work with, too.

purplecat · Jan 19, 2006

I actually like John Nicks and thought he was the best judge. As for his being the "grumpy" judge, I think that's what FOX wanted. They probably wanted him to be the "Simon". Dorothy is of course the "Paula" of the group. Don't really know what Mark Lund is doing there. :laugh:

He's no "Randy". :laugh:

Kudos to all the celebrities! It was fun. And we get to see some of our favorite skaters get more exposure so that's nice. :clap:

CDMM1991 · Jan 19, 2006

heyang said:
Jillian skated for several years - she mentioned that she stopped skating at age 13. I think she was the only celeb to do a one footed spin. Dave might have, too, but not as good as hers.

Todd was the one who had the most problems standing up. However, I thought their routine Will Smith's Wild Wild West was fun.

Actually, all the numbers were fun. They had some great choreographers to work with, too.

I actually think Deborah Gibson might have done a one-foot spin as well.

bems · Jan 20, 2006

Kwanford Wife said:
My husband said (direct quote) "This is why people don't take figure skating seriously... at least during the competitons, which are bad enough, those are professionals, this is just crap!" And yes, he does have common sense ~ even if it is misplaced...

My thoughts on the show: John Nicks wants to be Simon Cowell... that is reason enough not to watch it... Next thing you know we will have "Too Hot to Skate part deux"

Having been involved with the sport for twenty years, I would agree with these comments.

After Salt Lake 2002, the television skating audience decreased by half and the enrollment of new skaters in the sport has decreased by a third.

Keep it a real sport!

One way to have done this would have been to have a legitimate judging panel of qualified judges such as Jane Doe, John Smith and Mrs Jones from the Mid-West. This would have made it reality TV instead of boring us with the self serving has beens who are currently on the panel.

Forget the Fox Fantasy and watch the Olympics on NBC!

Kwanford Wife · Jan 20, 2006

bems said:
After Salt Lake 2002, the television skating audience decreased by half and the enrollment of new skaters in the sport has decreased by a third.

Keep it a real sport!

One way to have done this would have been to have a legitimate judging panel of qualified judges such as Jane Doe, John Smith and Mrs Jones from the Mid-West. This would have made it reality TV instead of boring us with the self serving has beens who are currently on the panel.

Forget the Fox Fantasy and watch the Olympics on NBC!

Thank you! Skating fans are so hungry for ANYTHING televised that we're willing to settle for less ... this show is a joke and makes skating look silly. I'd rather watch All My Children on soapnet and wait for real competitions than watch Todd Bridges shake his groove thang on the telly, but that's just me. The scary part is that the ratings were actually good... But then, so are the ratings for The Bachelor: Paris...

Mathman · Jan 20, 2006

Teenes, thanks for the information about television ratings. That's very interesting.

Skating With Celebrities!

STL_Blues_fan

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin

Kwanford Wife

Piel

On Edge

nubka

Shmuzzy

Teenes

soogar

Teenes

Lucy25

show 42

Arm Chair Skate Fan

emma

SkateFan4Life

Guest

Jhar55

heyang

purplecat

CDMM1991

bems

Kwanford Wife

Mathman

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