Which are your fav skaters in exhibitions

[gio]

My favs are:
Kurt Browning (original, innovative, funny)
Scott Hamilton (super funny )
Kristi Yamaguchi (always had interesting, never the same programs with technical difficulties)
Denise Biellmann (same motivation as Kristi)
Alexander Abt (original)
Sale and Pelletier (had some very good ideas)

 

[aaron]

Jeff and Daisuke:thumbsup:

 

[stevlin]

fav skaters in exhibition

Jeffrey Buttle is my very fav. He has such great edges and spins. He also has wonderful personality in his skating. He is so into the audience and he looks so happy to be out there on the ice. Plus he is so adorable.

 

[elye]

jeff & kurt

 

[NJSk8Fan]

Kurt, Scott, Kat Witt, Katia Gordeeva, Jeff Buttle, Sale/Pelletier, Ina/Zimmerman, Rudy Galindo, Nicole Bobek.

 

[silver.blades]

Joannie has become a really good performer in the last couple of years. Jeff and Takahashi are always amazing as is Lambiel. Shen & Zhao and Sale & Pelltier always have good programs and I could watch Kati Gordieva and Yuko Sato stroke for days.

 

[Kati]

Stephane!
Mao, YuNa
S&S

Pros: Anissina & Peizerat, Drobiazko & Vanagas, Sasha Abt, Ilia Kulik, Katia Gordeeva

 

[Tonichelle]

off the top of my head:

Kurt, Scott, Brian Orser, Brian Boitano, Paul, Keegan Messing's exhibitions are always good (he's a Jr. skater lol), Evan, Robin Cousins, Steven Cousins,

Kristi, Katia, Josee, Jill Trenary, Sasha, Jenny Kirk, YUKA, Mirai, Nicole Bobek

G&G, Jamie and David, B/S, Izzy & Lloyd, Hough and Ladret, Barbie and Paul, Bechke & Petrov, Meno & Sand, Brooke & Ben, Sato & Dunjen

Torvill & Dean, Roca & Sur (Gorsha ), Shae and Victor, Tanith and Ben, Melissa and Denis, Kim and Brent, Naomi & Peter...

I feel like I'm missing a few people...

 

[Medusa]

I think it depends on what kind of skating you prefer in the first place. I can always watch Johnny caressing the ice to some meaningless ballad with the exact same choreography - it never tires me.

Lambiel's exhibitions improved significantly throughout the last years and I love Romeo and Juliet. I hope he does more good exhibitions, because for such an artistic and creative skater - his exhibitions weren't that great before this Romeo and Juliet number.

Ilia Kulik is amazing to watch, I love "Liebestraum" - but one of my alltime-favourite exhibitions is certainly the first part of his Olympics exhibition, absolutely amazing.

But I also enjoy the "showman"-exhibitions à la Hamilton and Browning, nowadays Joubert and Verner tend to do exhibitions that rely on their showmanship and both sell it quite well.

 

[merrywidow]

John Curry, Robin Cousins, Dorothy Hamill, Scott Hamilton, Meno & Sand, Blumberg & Seibert, Roca & Sur, Todd Eldredge, Kasakova & Dmitriev, Watson & Oppegard, Starbuck & Shelley, Babilonia & Gardner, Paul Wylie, Chris Bowman & Brian Orser & Toller Cranston.

 

[gio]

I think it depends on what kind of skating you prefer in the first place.

In galas/exhibitions I love to watch entertaining programs.

 

[Medusa]

In galas/exhibitions I love to watch entertaining programs.

And then again - what is entertaining? I think Kulik's Liebestraum is incredibly entertaining. But I also tend to translate classical Latin literature if I want to relax.

So I guess it's purely subjective.

 

[Tinymavy15]

Sasha Cohen (until recently)
Ekaterina Gordeeva
Johnny Wier
Mao Asada

In galas/exhibitions I love to watch entertaining programs.

Well if your definaition of entertaining is more acting silly for the audience than actuall skating, i do not agree. I like to see skaters making use of the no-pressure atmosphere to push themselevs artisiclly and create beautiful programs such as Mao's How Deep is the Night and Sasha's Madame Butterfly or To Love you More. Of course her "entertaining" Don't Rain on My Parade was great as well, but it did have a lot of skating and not just playing to the audince like Okasna Bauil and Kurt Browning tend to overdo .

 

[gio]

Well if your definaition of entertaining is more acting silly for the audience than actuall skating, i do not agree.

In an exhibition you have to play with the audience. People are there to have fun!!!

Don't Rain on My Parade was great as well, but it did have a lot of skating and not just playing to the audince like Okasna Bauil and Kurt Browning tend to overdo .

Did you actually see a Kurt Browning program? He has the technical difficulties, the choreography and the showmanship!
He is the KING OF GALAS!!!

But I also tend to translate classical Latin literature if I want to relax.

Cave canem!

Sorry for OT!

 

[Tonichelle]

While Kurt has his overly cheesey routines, there are programs like Nyah ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT3lfjFiydY ), Summertime ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYdkXstEMyA ), Ain't No Sunshine ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKDHoI0MEdU ) and Antares ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tcy--wXe5w )that will be hard for another skater to top...

and even most of his goofy routines like Raggy ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BiwsJwepDE ) are still technically difficult, and I'd like to see some of the other skaters try the odd movements he has in that (though that was one of the programs he ran into the ground and I rarely watch it because it's forever in my head)

and Brick House ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnAfXxZhIB4 ) is just flippin hot! I persoally like Funky Music - ie Brick House #2 - more ( no video???? )

Singing In the Rain ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lRJ-TB2zLg ) - my dad can't stop gushing about it lol

Serenade to Sonia ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdH3YXHWxGw )

I know not everyone likes him, and that's personal preference, but he is actually one of the most versatile pro skaters of his generation (or really most generations if not all!) Just wanted to share a few of my favorites lol

 

[Medusa]

In an exhibition you have to play with the audience. People are there to have fun!!!
Did you actually see a Kurt Browning program? He has the technical difficulties, the choreography and the showmanship!
He is the KING OF GALAS!!!

Some people are there to have fun, others are there to watch the skaters skate without the competition pressure and want to find out with what kind of ideas they come up with if there are no restraints and rules.

Some skaters are way more artistic in the exhibitions than during the competitions - that's always great to see. Other skaters happen to try other styles during exhibitions (have you seen Urmanov's exhibition program in 1998 - he skated to Michael Jackson music, absolutely out of character - but he was actually quite good at it, in a strict Russian-Ballet-way).

And the skaters don't have to play with the audience. Because that's the idea of the exhibtion, there is no have to. You can do nearly everything out there, a great dance number without jumps à la Lysacek at 4CC, you can put on an absolutely hilarious costume and skate to Sex Bomb, you can take a Frank Sinatra song and show amazingly pure skating, you can develop a program with three skaters in it...

And we all accept that Browning is an incredible show skater - and that he is your King. But he doesn't have to be ours. That's what I meant - this specific topic is even more subjective than skating in general.

 

[gio]

ITA Toni!

Kurt is original, innovative and very versatile. He can skate on every kind of music.

Mao has never gone out of her repertoire. She always skate to the same music. Same movements, same expression. Nothing new under the sun.
She is great to watch in a competitive program, but not my cup of tea in exhibitions.

Medusa, you showed that you are a very open minded person. I appreciate it.

 

[PaulE]

I think all of the choices named are good. There is one skater that I have enjoyed more than any other. Gary Beacom with his interesting and very innovative programs. I would love to see him skate again sometime.

 

[gio]

I think all of the choices named are good. There is one skater that I have enjoyed more than any other. Gary Beacom with his interesting and very innovative programs. I would love to see him skate again sometime.

Yeah, you're right! I enjoyed Gary's programs. He was always original!

If you want to laugh, watch this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxjQwiaGsyo

 

[Teenes]

I realize taste in skating is very subjective, I just object to the notion that Kurt "just" plays to the audience.

not just playing to the audince like Okasna Bauil and Kurt Browning tend to overdo .

-quote by Tinymavy15

Kurt can overdo the audience playing bit, and some of his programs are more audience-pandering than others. But as Toni noted, he's got a vast array of programs that are original, artistic, musical, and more to the point, far more than "just playing to the audience," whether they're to your personal taste or not.

Skaters I like to watch in exhibitions - Kurt, obviously. Scott Hamilton. Katia Gordeeva. Ilia Kulik. Yuka Sato. Kristi Yamaguchi. Paul Wylie. Sale & Pelletier. Anyone who put together a program to music I enjoy that happens to catch my fancy that night....