Ice Wars = yikes | Golden Skate

Ice Wars = yikes

Arianne

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 26, 2004
Wow, I love all the skaters, but that "competition" was totally wierd. I'm not even sure why Nicole Bobek was there. She is a beautiful skater, but the jumps aren't there and haven't been for a long time. Why not Tonia Kwiatkoski instead? Aren't there any more pro U.S. ladies that could have been asked? And, I do believe that we need some rules. This should be a "competition" not show skating. Lose the props!!!!!!!!! I want to see good competitive skating, not just a show. Plus, I had hoped that Great skating would encourage the addition of professional competitions. Also, why not Elvis Stoyko on the world team???? Just some thoughts. Feel free to chime in!

ARIANNE
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
according to IFS she's pregnant and is not skating...

Ice Wars has never been the most um... Competition setting Competition... it's a little more lax. Also this is pro skating, props are allowed, why? I'm not sure, but it's been that way forever so *shrugs* Scott used golf clubs one year TASTEFULLY IMHO and it worked a whole lot better than Kurt's programs last night (or for that matter Boitano's last year *gag*)

the whole thing is a team set up so for every lady skater on the US team there has to be one on the World team... the US pro situation is hairy... Tara can't skate, Roz is retired... Kristi and Nicole are about the only ones left! Tonia is pregnant, but at one time she WAS in Ice Wars... just for one season and she was AWESOME so yes let her back on... they might have even considered it if she were skating this year! On the men's side... are you suggesting boot Kurt out for Elvis? because I don't like that idea, and Yags draws big bucks...

you have to remember this is a TV produced competition in the US... they're going to use names they figure people know... I don't know if Elvis is known by the average American TV viewer...


But that does bring me to ask... why weren't there 3 guys for each team... even when there aren't 3 ladies for each team they seem to like 3 guys... so where was Rudi and Viktor? they're old vets of the competition! They should have been there *pouts*
 
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Antilles

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I think they only did two and two because it fit nicely into a prime time two hour package. I agree it should be a bit more "competition" and less showy. Although I did like Kurt's and Brian's second routines. Kurt's first lacked any real choreagraphy. I unfortunately missed the first half hour or so of the event. I think pairs and dance should be included, too.
 

Jhar55

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Loved Todd's skating last night,but then anyone who knows me would say, I'd say even that if he spent most of his time on his butt. :p He just had that polished look. Didn't like Kurts second skate, I like his brickhouse and that type of routine better. Thought Brian did great considering he just had knee surgay in Aug. Kristi in a league of her own, my guy friend liked Yuka such a classy skater.
Sorry for any in corect spelling, spell check would be nice here.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Antilles said:
I think they only did two and two because it fit nicely into a prime time two hour package. I agree it should be a bit more "competition" and less showy. Although I did like Kurt's and Brian's second routines. Kurt's first lacked any real choreagraphy. I unfortunately missed the first half hour or so of the event. I think pairs and dance should be included, too.
the best part of Kurt's 2nd routine was when he couldn't get the glove on IMHO... that was classic Kurt - masked panic ;)

I was informed by my mother that I didn't know good skating... she said Kurt and Kristi were way better than the other skaters :rofl: that's my mom :agree: couch potatoe commentary ;)

as for pairs and ice dance... they've done dance in the past, but again I think it's trying to find teams that match each other on both sides... Roca and Sur would skate for the US but who would skate for the World? with pairs we have Jamie and David and/or Elena and Anton... in the US we have Ina and Zimmerman and... ? do Yuka and Jason skate for Japan or the US... and that would require Yuka to skate 4 programs in teh competition :eek:
 

Antilles

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Winkler&Lohse might be available. They are doing Katarina Witt's show this year. I think A&P are considering doing Champions on Ice this year, so I guess that means they are willing to travel to the US again. I'd love to see them.
 
Joined
Jan 30, 2004
I LOVE Kurt but wasn't keen on either of his skates in Ice Wars, altho the 2nd one did have a bit more content as far as skating goes.
Brian's programs were good, even the one with props.
Kristi and Yuka were their usual classy, wonderful selves.
I feel Nicole's problem is a lack of committment to practicing and training. She has presentation oozing from the tip of her to the tips of her toes and fingers, but her technical elements are pretty much non-existent. She looked much thinner to me last night than she used to look, anybody notice that?
Todd was wonderful in Ice Wars.
Even Oksana did well....I liked her artistic program, tongue-in-cheek and humorous. It is so good to see her smiling and even tho she's still a drama queen, as she herself admitted, she certainly looks like(and I truly hope she truly is) a sober one now.
Alexei, what can I say, he was amazing. You can just see the skating and love for it coming right from his heart and soul.
All in all, I look at Ice Wars as a "fun" type of competition and of a greater entertainment value than a "stiff-upper-lip-competition". Even the skaters got let their hair down once in awhile. ;)
 

insecureedge

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
I guess I'm the type who likes competitive amateur competitions. I did not like:

* all the shoutouts to family by Browning and Yamaguchi. Good you love your children, but if there was any difference in the depth of skating, God knows I didn't see it
*the gimmick of props by Browning and Boitano. Even Alexei's embarassing writhing on the ice with The Feeling Begins couldn't hide the difference between Yagudin's and Eldredge's technical prowess and Browning and Boitano's failed attempts at concept programs.
* the lack of triples by Bobek.
* the ridiculous "artistic" programs by Baiul. If being back means underrotating triples and still being close to Yamaguchi in the technical part of the competition, reportedly copying Debi Thomas in the program's concept, using Vanilla Ice in the long, and then saying that "we're all winners" at the end, ugh.

insecureedge
 

Arianne

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 26, 2004
Tara can't skate for any pro competitions? Is she still injured or just not skating. She would certainly pull in fans!
 

SingAlto

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 21, 2004
insecureedge said:
....and Boitano's failed attempts at concept programs. insecureedge

Where was the failure? He did a fantastic job. Btw, this is really not a competition. The skaters don't take it all that seriously, and neither should we.
 

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I missed the first half, but caught the rest. Personally, I liked Kurt's artistic program the best. The guy can do anything on skates - even skip. Don't try it at home!!!!! They do try to outdo each other in these competitions. Let's face it, these guys and gals are "getting up there" so let's cut them some slack. None of them have to prove anything anymore. They have made it to the top and given us some great skating on the way. Skaters used to join ice shows like Ice Follies and Ice Capades and skate similar routines. Now they do show skating competively. Just enjoy it for what it is.
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Yuka is one my absolute favorite skaters, but in last night's 2nd program (I missed the first one), she dressed and skated like a hoochie. Tracy babbled something about "skaters trying on different looks"--but I didn't buy it. There was nothing at all "classy" about it. :p
 

76olympics

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 4, 2004
Yuka

RG-Do you remember a few years ago when Yuka skated to "I love you always forever'? (a pop song) I really loved that program. It was joyful and sprightly and really seemed to suit Yuka's style (while not being a classical amateur program). I had a tape of it-but lost it.

I really remembered it as a contrast to the Ice Wars number that didn't suit her.
 

merrywidow

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
I tho't Todd was the class of this field of pro skaters. He doesn't need the rest stops (a la Browning) to complete a program. I enjoyed Boitano's program with the hatrack. It was well choreographed & performed. Yagudin was good but Browning's programs looked like he was trying to put something together while on the ice. Corny. I agree about Bobek. She's pretty to watch but doubles don't hack it even in a pro competition. I don't understand why she can't still land a triple toe or salchow? Oksana, at least, has worked hard to get back a few of her triples & I applaud her for that even if I didn't care for her programs. Kristi & Yuka were smooth & a joy to watch, as always.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
SingAlto said:
Where was the failure? He did a fantastic job. Btw, this is really not a competition. The skaters don't take it all that seriously, and neither should we.
don't take it seriously? does seriously mean they can't have fun with one another? because I can't think that they really just shrug off a bad performance... Todd didn't seem too happy to fall on his butt. ;)

and ITA about Brian doing a great job with his artistic program! It was the highlight of the night for me!
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I enjoyed this more than Kristi's Salute to American music.

I think the Men were matched up pretty evenly. Obviously, Todd & Alexei were 'rivals' during the same time period. Todd definitely took advantage of now being able to outjump Yags who can't do all the triples/quads due to his hip recovery.

Kurt's programs were a little too gimmicky for me to love them, but he's still skating well. He's probably going to use them for SOI. Loved Brian's Cha-cha program. His use of props was much more innovative in that the prop was an extension of the program - not the program itself. That's always been my complaint about Candeloro - the props were the program instead of the skating.

I think the ladies should have been matched up as Kristi vs Yuka and Bobek vs Bauil instead. They obviously matched the 'rivals' based upon when they retired. One would think that Bobek should be more technical than Kristi since Kristi retired from eligible skating 12 years ago and Nicole only 6 years ago. What a difference.

I also think the Kristi always has the nicest outfits.

I didn't get Oksana's skating, but she is making a nice return from retirement. I like her skating better than 10 years ago.
 

ChiSk8Fan

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Expectations too high?

Ice Wars has always seemed to be about putting on a good show and presenting the best in professional skating without the restrictions of sanctions and governing bodies. I never expect the skaters to do traditional competitive programs, but I do expect to see what I might see out on tour with the professional circuits. The forum is to present the best in professional and show skating. I assume they prepare programs they already have doing the shows, or those which they have time to practice separately.

From what I saw, the programs are polished, well choreographed (except Oksana's second number...kind of simple choreo) numbers presented very well. The David Liu choreography for Nicole was really well done and skated, and Alexsei did a male reconstructed version of Oksana/Zmievskaya's TFB. The programs were very similar in construction and if I was OB I would have been flattered to have Alexsei do a program made famous by her. They all skated well, but it was show skating. Todd came closest to doing more technically, similar to Champions on Ice numbers. Brian and Kurt did their show skating and touring numbers, no? They all skated well with no splatfest occuring and great presentation. Props are part of it and not my favorite either, but everyone kept all their clothing on. This is a plus.

Is expectation too high regarding triple jumps? I thought they did very well for what they were expected to show us, the best in professional and show skating. We saw triple axels, triple-triple combinations, fantastic footwork, speed and interpretation and presentations. It was good to see where these skaters are going with their work, and there is a great deal to see with Todd, Kurt, Brian and Kristi.
 
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RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
BTW, one of the commentators mentioned that Oksana had skated to Swan Lake for her LONG PROGRAM when she won the OGM. I thought she skated her SP and exhibition programs to that music and her LP to a medley of show tunes--the same program with which she'd won the previous year's World Championships. ???
 
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