Champions on Ice Tour

**VivaLsVgs** · 03-27-2005, 06:54 AM

Saw the show yesterday in Hartford, CT. The cast was very THIN.....alot less performers than last year. None of the current Mens world medalists, Only Belbin & Agosto from Dance and Maxim & Tatiana from pairs. We even had Amber Corwin and Orscher & Lucash, so that gives you an idea of how desperate they were in need of performers. Michelle performed Bolero in the dress she wore for qualifying. She performed it beautifully...didn't leave out any triples and landed everyone solidly including the triple salchow which I believe she was having trouble w/ at Worlds. If she had performed like this, she would have definitley been in the hunt for the silver or bronze at Worlds. It was great to see her perform so well.

**Mathman** · 03-27-2005, 08:20 AM

Thanks for the review, VivaLsVgs. I think there were several skaters who deliberately did not sign up for the tour because they wanted either to rest or work on their competitive programs in the Olympic year. Was Irina in the cast, or Fumie?

That's wonderful news about Michelle's performance.

Mathman

**VivaLsVgs** · 03-27-2005, 10:37 AM

Hi Mathman! Irina did skate....she skated to a Britney Spears song...it was a good number, her jumps were a little off...but other than that she gave a nice performance. There were no Japanese or Chinese skaters at all in Hartford. That was my biggest disappointment...I get to see them live so rarely. Here is a list of who performed:

Amber Corwin, Rudi Galindo, Timothy Goebel, Jennifer Kirk, Orscher & Lucash, Dan Hollander, Surya Bonaly, Tanith & Ben, Annisina & Gwendal, Sasha, Johnny Weir, Michelle, Irina, Maxim & Tatiana, Irina Grigorian, Vladimir & Olek, Elvis, Viktor Petrenko

**Mathman** · 03-27-2005, 01:31 PM

A nice opportunity for Orscher and Lucash. I think they are good friends with Sasha, Johnny, Tanith and Ben and that crowd. (Inoue and Baldwin are very entertaining show skaters, too.)

Last year Shen and Zhou closed the first act with Turandot, and it was a real show-stopper. I guess he will have to take the summer off because of his injury. I see by the COI web site that Pang and Tong are scheduled for some appearances.

My fave: Irina Grigorian

Mathman

**Fossi** · 03-27-2005, 01:33 PM

THis will give Michelle practice with her triples. Smart move for Kwan.

Did Sasha fall or have any 2 footed landings?

**show 42** · 03-27-2005, 04:33 PM

I was surprised to hear that Johnny's skating. Hope this won't aggravage his foot problem..................42

**Vash01** · 03-27-2005, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by VivaLsVgs

Hi Mathman! Irina did skate....she skated to a Britney Spears song...it was a good number, her jumps were a little off...but other than that she gave a nice performance. There were no Japanese or Chinese skaters at all in Hartford. That was my biggest disappointment...I get to see them live so rarely. Here is a list of who performed:

Amber Corwin, Rudi Galindo, Timothy Goebel, Jennifer Kirk, Orscher & Lucash, Dan Hollander, Surya Bonaly, Tanith & Ben, Annisina & Gwendal, Sasha, Johnny Weir, Michelle, Irina, Maxim & Tatiana, Irina Grigorian, Vladimir & Olek, Elvis, Viktor Petrenko

That's a pretty respectable cast. I am tired of Dan Hollander and the Ukrainian acrobats. Can't COI be more creative?

**Mathman** · 03-27-2005, 06:15 PM

I think those acts might appeal to children. A good part of COI's audience is families with young kids.

MM

**VivaLsVgs** · 03-27-2005, 06:39 PM

Sasha didn't appear in either of the group numbers (opening & closing). No one even knew she was appearing until they announced her. I would be interested to hear if she starts performing in the group numbers later on in the tour. She did her "Don't Rain On My Parade" routine. She doubled most of the jumps and was shaky on few landings. The high points of the program were her layback and spiral sequence. Dan's number was cute this year but I agree, that Dan, the Russian acrobats and Irina G. get to be redundant after a while.

Johnny did a great job, skated to Unchained Melody...you would never know he was hurt.

**longtimefan** · 03-27-2005, 08:32 PM

I'm not a huge Sasha fan.....but her Ina Bauer was one of the loveliest I have ever seen.

**NJSk8Fan** · 03-27-2005, 10:34 PM

I heard Sasha has a groin injury and they don't know even how many more shows she'll skate in besides the opener.
Pang/Tong are, I'm assuming, out because of his back injury.
Plushenko, as most people know, pulled out due to his injury.
I am anxious to see Amber Corwin for the first time, I think it's a great opportunity for her.
Orscher and Lucash are reportedly only doing the first 6 stops of the tour, meaning I'll see them next Saturday in Philly....I'm much looking forward to seeing them.
I enjoy Irina Gregorian(hula hoops) and "the acrobats" very much. I hear they've changed up their routine quite a bit for this year and had some audience interaction as well.

**chuckm** · 03-28-2005, 09:01 AM

Yes, I heard Sasha has a groin injury and she was doing mostly doubles as well as sitting out the group numbers. Talk is she may not be able to skate at Marshall's in Tampa tomorrow.