San Diego Stars On Ice | Golden Skate

San Diego Stars On Ice

dlkksk8fan

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the San Diego Stars On Ice. My seats were pretty close to the ice (6 rows back) which made it easy to see the facial expressions on the skaters. I want to first of all give the show 👍 👍 . The skaters had lots of energy and the music, in my opinion, was great. I'm not sure how the older people liked it but for those of us in our mid 40's (speaking for myself) the music of "The Who" just rocks! :rock:
I don't know where the ideas of the costumes come, but Jef Billings is a genius.

I like the idea of the "magic shows" in between the skating programs. They were creative and funny.

The best performers by far are the two pair skaters Sale & Pelletier and Elena & Anton. These were actually my husbands favorite too. I have to note that Anton has cut his hair and he looks marvelous! No more long/ greased back hair! :p Sale & Pelletier are already performers and this year as compaired to last year Elena & Anton are catching up. They (especially her) seem more comfortable out there on the ice. Their program to "Dance Mix" took them out of their classic skating lines and into new territory that really worked for them.

What can I say about Alexei Yagudi? His program above the ice made me a little nervous, but I liked it. His program to "Shout" had all his great footwork, plus I loved his costume of Hawaiin shirt and shorts. It made me wonder if the amateur men would be able to were long shorts or if that's against the rules.

Kurt Browning was our guest skater and he did his "Toy Box" routine. This routine is entertaining but it doesn't show off how great a technician Kurt is. I still enjoy watching him skate, and would give anything to have even a small amount of footwork skills that he has.

Yuka Sato did a sexy routine to "Naughty Girl" I think she was feeling the music last night. I missed half of Yuka's "Amazing Grace" program. With the second half of Act II starting with the group number "Mr Blue Sky" a elderly gentlemen was making his way down the dark stars to his seat by the ice. He passed me almost falling over in my lap and unfortunately the next few steps he missed and tumbled/rolled down to the bottom. As Yuka was skating to the beautiful music of "Amazing Grace", the poor man was being attended to. Fortunately after awhile they got him up and he looked ok.

Steven Cousins solo to "Come Back To Bed" was filled with triple jumps and fun choreography.

Last night wasn't the best that I've seen Todd skate, but I still enjoy his speed and powerful jumps. He seems very comfortable with being the mc of the show. Loved his little "flea" routine and the little funeral parade they had-funny.

Now I saved the not so good for last and that award would have to go to Sarah Hughes. She has two solos and a solo with the guys. I could of done with seeing her skate one solo. She is a step below all the others technique wise and it shows especially when you see her skate more then once. I hate to say this but she is also on the hefty side (this is the first thing that my husband noticed). There's Yuka, Kyoko, Elena, Jamie (small petite) and then there is Sarah the big thumb on the hand. Now the good things about Sarah's skating is her big smile and her still beautiful inside edge camel spin. She skates with enjoyment on her face which makes up for the lack of everything else. I would hope that if she continues to skate with SOI that she will work hard to get at least halfway to the type of skater she was during 2002. Otherwise I would hope that SOI can find another featured female skater to take her place.
 

Piel

On Edge
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Thanks dlkksk8fan! The big question is did RGal behave herself? :p ;) :biggrin: Sarah better watch out with Emily's good showing at Nationals SOI might grab the other Hughes sister, LOL. Seriously, in the preview last week the part where she was lifted by the two guys came off as looking kind of clutzy. She seemed to really be enjoying herself out there though. We all remember the "freshman fifteen" which is difficult enough on it's own. I can't imagine having to go through that in a skating costume in front of thousands :eek:. She will probably lose weight during the tour and be back in Olympic eligible shape by the beginning of the 2005-06 season.
 

dlkksk8fan

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
The big question is did RGal behave herself?
:laugh: :laugh: Yes she did. ;)
She seemed to really be enjoying herself out there though.
Sarah did seem to really enjoy herself out there. I'm glad for her that she got this opportunity to skate with SOI. I'm sure she will improve as time goes on.
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Well, OF COURSE I behaved myself! ;) BTW, dlkk, I was NOT stuck in the parking lot. I was out in 3 minutes because I arrived so early that I was parked right near the entrance! (I thought it started at 7, not 7:30). Last year it took me 45 minutes just to get out of the parking lot, and no way was I going to go through THAT again! :p

Okay, now about the show. It was wonderful. I have to disagree about Sarah, though. I had binoculars for the sole purpose of occasionally looking at facial expressions, and except for the first opening number, she did not look happy at all. She's about 20 lbs. overweight and couldn't manage anything more than a double toe loop. The number with her and all the men was downright embarrassing. They could hardly lift her, and when they put her down (right in front of me), she rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. That thumb description of yours was absolutely PERFECT! :)

Also, dlkk, did you notice that in that number towards the end of the show, Sarah seemed to miss the first half? There were four pairs and one guy. Suddenly, there was Sarah. What was up with THAT?

Alexei wasn't full energy but he was entertaining. He did this program that had him dangling and twirling from the rafters Cirque du Soleil style from something that can only be described as a giant diaper. (At least that's what RG Jr. and I thought). Mr. RG said the thought would never have occurred to him at all. :laugh: I loved Todd's program to Josh Groban. All 3 pairs teams were incredible. I've never seen Elena B. look so happy to be on the ice, but those beige skate boots with a darkish top were very ugly and distracting. I loved Yuka's lyric program but was bored by her pseudo-sexy number.

Great choreography, beautiful costumes, great show.
 

lavender

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Emily isn't exactly on the light side either. Sarah better watch out because Emily is pretty good.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
20 lbs overweight? More like 30 lbs over, and I'd say she's easily 35-40 lbs over her SLC weight; she was very, very thin at SLC. Look at her butt, her thighs, her upper arms.

Emily is sturdily built and no lightweight, but she's in much better shape than Sarah. Where Emily has muscle, Sarah has flab.
 
Last edited:

dlkksk8fan

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Thanks for the great photos!

Soogar-those pics of Sarah look very good. In person she looked very heavy and compared to the other female skaters she stood out like a sore thumb.
 
Joined
Jan 30, 2004
Thanks for the review! I'm anxiously awaiting seeing SOI in Philly on 2/25.
I have on ice-seats so I'll get a good look at Sarah. She does look out of shape to me in all the pictures I see, but I've heard many say she still skates with great edging and joy.
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
dlkksk8fan said:
Thanks for the great photos!

Soogar-those pics of Sarah look very good. In person she looked very heavy and compared to the other female skaters she stood out like a sore thumb.

In Sarah's defense, the other ladies in SOI are all pairs skaters and Yuka (who is maybe 5'1) and would make anyone look like a fat giant. Todd isn't that big a guy either (5'8 145 pounds) so a normal size girl would also look like a blob. She's not in great shape, but considering that Emily is such a big girl and manages to land some nice jumps, there's still hope that Sarah can get a few triples back.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Emily's been working on her jumps as she grew. Sarah started to grow up and out at a time when she wasn't spending much time on the ice, then quit skating altogether. So Sarah's having to start from scratch with a new body. She has to make all her adjustments at once, and it's no wonder she can't get her triples back. Even if she loses 20 lbs., she will still have to deal with a body completely different from the one in which she won at SLC.
 

IDLERACER

Medalist
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Alright...I think this thread could use a guy's perspective. First of all, those snapshots are all spectacular. The staff at Yahoo could certainly take a lesson from them.

Now as for Sarah's physical attributes...Looking at THIS picture, all I've gotta say is, "Va Va Va Voom!" :love: She might not have the ideal build for skating at this point in time, but as far as still photography goes, this is my idea of perfection. 👍
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
childfreegirl said:
I can't wait until Orlando on the 19th!

I'm curious, what Josh Groban song does Todd skate to?

Todd skated to Josh Groban's "Hymne a l'Amour" in "Ice Wars" & the World Team Challenge for his technical program. He skated to Alessandro Saffina's "Il Mirto e La
Rosa" for his artistic programs in those competitions. He is skating to "Il Mirto e La Rosa" for his second number in SOI. That's the actual name of the song, although in the SOI program, it is listed as "Forevermore."
 

childfreegirl

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 6, 2004
iluvtodd said:
Todd skated to Josh Groban's "Hymne a l'Amour" in "Ice Wars" & the World Team Challenge for his technical program. He skated to Alessandro Saffina's "Il Mirto e La
Rosa" for his artistic programs in those competitions. He is skating to "Il Mirto e La Rosa" for his second number in SOI. That's the actual name of the song, although in the SOI program, it is listed as "Forevermore."

Thanks!
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Those are some good pics of Sarah...and no, I don't think she's "overweight"...:sheesh:
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
IDLERACER said:
Alright...I think this thread could use a guy's perspective. First of all, those snapshots are all spectacular. The staff at Yahoo could certainly take a lesson from them.

Now as for Sarah's physical attributes...Looking at THIS picture, all I've gotta say is, "Va Va Va Voom!" :love:

Idle, that's not a flattering picture of Sarah. It looks like she has a big balloon in her top :laugh: :laugh:

Dee
 
Last edited:
Top