COI Review/Louisville

[flutterby1145]

Last night I went to the COI show in Louisville, KY. I had front row seats and a backstage pass, which my grandfather gave me the money to buy the tickets as a graduation present.

Before the show began, the two ladies I bought the tickects and passes from, went to an area with mats around it and I saw Viktor Petrenko and Evgeni Plushenko! I almost fainted when I saw Evgeni!

The opening number was good, but I thought the finale was interesting. I loved Johnny and Evan's (Evan fell once)! Tatiana and Max are very strong and powerful skaters, very beautiful. Rudy and Viktor were entertaining. I loved the acrobats and the hoola hoop lady. Evgeni skated to Tosca and it was amazing! There's so much intensity in that performance. Michelle Kwan was definitly a crowd favorite, she was elegant. Tanith and Ben were really good.

After the show, I got to go backstage. I got my program autographed by all my favorites and got pictures with some of them. All the guys smelled really good! They were are all really sweet! Tanith is really pretty too. I told Johnny how beautiful his skating is, how I love to watch it, I loved Camille. He started to smile and laughed when I told him I tried to copy the opening sequence from The Swan (with my blue glove) at a public skate, but didn't do her justice. I even got my picture taken with him! Evan is really sweet (and tall), I told him how I enjoy his skating, and told he was hot (which got a nice smile and laugh) and again I got my picture taken with him. Evgeni was sweet too, and has the most beautiful blue eyes!!

Overall, the whole experince was great!
This was definately the best graduation present ever! Nothing could have made me happier!

 

[Mathman]

Awesome, Flutterby!

All the guys smelled really good!

MM

 

[brinababy87]

I went to the Louisville show as well. Yeah, It was great. I posted a review on FSU.

 

[vixforshort]

I know one of the ladies you bought the tickets from... a redhead w/long hair right? She told me she had sold them to someone local to her area.

Thanks for the review.

Victoria

 

[flutterby1145]

Brinababy, I can definately relate to your backstage experince! I still can't believe I met all these skaters (especially ones I have only seen on TV or magazines before)! It's surreal in a way. That experince all alone was worth every cent that was spent on the tickects/backstage passess. Would you happen to skate at the Alpine Ice Arena (I seen two girls near waiting to go backstage with jackets from Alpine Ice Arena).

Johnny is very good to his fans! When I saw him I thought Oh my gosh, there's Johnny Weir, right there in front of me!!I think he has a nice personality and a nice smile. He talked with me the longest actually. I was also suprised by his height. On TV, he seems like he is really tall, altough I know he's 5'9" (just 1" taller than me). I suppose it's his stunningly gorgeous extensions, lines, use of edges. Johnny seems to truly listen to what his fans tell him.
He smiled when he came over to me. When I told him about my experince trying to imitate his opening sequence of The Swan with Camille (at a Saturday night public skate) but I didn't do her justice. That brought out a big, geniuine smile and laugh! When Johnny smiles, his whole face just lights up!!

Evan is also good to his fans! He seemed a little shy. I told him how much I enjoy his skating, and that he was hot, which really made him smile. It wasn't a "yeah I know I am" smile but more of a "wow, thank you" type smile. He didn't talk too much, but standing next to him, posing for a picture with him, getting his autograph, and seeing that smile was good enough for me! He is *beautiful* !!


I certainly agree with you about Irina. She looked like she would rather be anywhere but there. She didn't respond to comments, the most I heard from her was "yes, sure. I am near the front". She seemed annoyed that I couldn't find her page on the program, she said "I am near the front", but I could barely hear her (even though I was right next to her). She did pose in a picture with me and signed my programs, with one program going to my friend in Moscow, so I can't really complain. But I think she has a perfect body type.

Again, I agree with you about Rudy. He did look really tired, maybe his HIV has something to do with that.

Evgeni has beautiful blue eyes. He was very nice, but he seemed shy.

Most of them looked happy to be there and seemed sincere when they were interacting with the crowd. It's definately a night I will never forget!

 

[flutterby1145]

I know one of the ladies you bought the tickets from... a redhead w/long hair right? She told me she had sold them to someone local to her area.

Thanks for the review.

Victoria

Yes, she had long redish/blond hair.

 

[brinababy87]

Oh I know! It was so surreal. Now that the show is done, I'm kind of regretting things I could have said to the skaters, telling myself that I should have held them up longer and said other things, and gosh darnit, I was so starstruck I didn't really look at the skaters very well. I know it sounds really funny, but I kind of wish I had looked at their faces better, you know?

I got there like, 45 minutes early, so I just sat in my seat, staring at the ice surface, trying to grasp the fact that the skaters were going to skate there. It felt like such a long wait (and they were like, 10 minutes late, too) and when I finally saw Evan waiting to go out onto the ice, I was just thinking That's Evan Lysacek! Oh my gosh!

And I was surprised that emotionally, I was most excited about Johnny and Michelle, when I am definitely a Sasha fan. I just couldn't believe it when Johnny skated out in the opening. I kept thinking Oh my gosh, that's Johnny!

Yes, I skate at Alpine, but I wasn't wearing a jacket like that.

And I have never really followed Rudy's skating, but oh dear, why didn't I know about that? No wonder he looked so beat.

And I also got the sense that Evan was a little shy, as was Michelle! She is very different on the ice than off ice. I am not her biggest fan, but her face is so serene on the ice, I can see why people are big fans of her skating.

And my friend Brandon was complaining about Irina after we finished meeting the skaters. I told him that Irina probably doesn't really enjoy doing an American tour, and may be homesick. This girl next to me though, she had Irina come back twice to pose because her camera wouldn't work the first two times. I can imagine all of this could make anyone weary.

And I think Irina has a really nice body type, and she is a very petite woman. The top of her head isn't even up to my nose. And I was surprised how Tanith didn't tower over me, either. She was about as tall as me! And I thought I would be too short to ice dance (I guess I just need to lose a few pounds, haha ).

And yes, Johnny was a sweetie, I can't say it enough. He was so cute, too, with his floppy hair and t-shirt with Japanese on it.

I kind of wish I had spoken to Evgeni longer, but by the time he came around I was numb from meeting all of these skaters so I couldn't really absorb the fact that the quad jumping, triple axeling, fast footworking, Olympic Gold Medalist Plushenko was standing in front of me. He was gorgeous. I was being really passive though, so I kept waiting for the best moments to say things (and it was really hectic, so that was rare), so in the end I didn't have much opportunity in the first place, I guess.

So do you skate? Where do you skate? I skate both rinks on public sessions (though never on weekends, it's way too crowded!).

Brinababy, I can definately relate to your backstage experince! I still can't believe I met all these skaters (especially ones I have only seen on TV or magazines before)! It's surreal in a way. That experince all alone was worth every cent that was spent on the tickects/backstage passess. Would you happen to skate at the Alpine Ice Arena (I seen two girls near waiting to go backstage with jackets from Alpine Ice Arena).

Johnny is very good to his fans! When I saw him I thought Oh my gosh, there's Johnny Weir, right there in front of me!!I think he has a nice personality and a nice smile. He talked with me the longest actually. I was also suprised by his height. On TV, he seems like he is really tall, altough I know he's 5'9" (just 1" taller than me). I suppose it's his stunningly gorgeous extensions, lines, use of edges. Johnny seems to truly listen to what his fans tell him.
He smiled when he came over to me. When I told him about my experince trying to imitate his opening sequence of The Swan with Camille (at a Saturday night public skate) but I didn't do her justice. That brought out a big, geniuine smile and laugh! When Johnny smiles, his whole face just lights up!!

Evan is also good to his fans! He seemed a little shy. I told him how much I enjoy his skating, and that he was hot, which really made him smile. It wasn't a "yeah I know I am" smile but more of a "wow, thank you" type smile. He didn't talk too much, but standing next to him, posing for a picture with him, getting his autograph, and seeing that smile was good enough for me! He is *beautiful* !!


I certainly agree with you about Irina. She looked like she would rather be anywhere but there. She didn't respond to comments, the most I heard from her was "yes, sure. I am near the front". She seemed annoyed that I couldn't find her page on the program, she said "I am near the front", but I could barely hear her (even though I was right next to her). She did pose in a picture with me and signed my programs, with one program going to my friend in Moscow, so I can't really complain. But I think she has a perfect body type.

Again, I agree with you about Rudy. He did look really tired, maybe his HIV has something to do with that.

Evgeni has beautiful blue eyes. He was very nice, but he seemed shy.

Most of them looked happy to be there and seemed sincere when they were interacting with the crowd. It's definately a night I will never forget!

 

[flutterby1145]

I have also thought of somethings I could have said to the skaters, but I was so starstruck, I almost couldn't believe these skaters were standing right in front of me! I got good looks of their faces, I couldn't take my eyes off of them.

I know must have sounded like some freak with Viktor! About half an hour before the show began, me and the ladies I was with went to see where we go after the show. We got there, and the mats were open just enough to catch a glimpse of Viktor, Evgeni and the acrobat guys playing ping pong. So when Viktor skated by my seat during his solo and opening numbers, I shouted out "I saw him playing ping pong!". When Viktor came up to me backstage after the show, I told him "I like your routines. I saw you playing ping pong!" He was about to sign my program when I said that and he looked up at me like I had three heads or something and said "yes, yes I played ping pong".

I had the same exciting anticipation feeling when I saw Evan and all the others about to come out for the opening number. It was a long wait for the start of the show (it was actually about 10-15 minutes after 7:00 when the show actually began).

I'm sure all that travelling, practicing, and performing like they do just about everyday is enough to make anyone tired, but Rudy looked exhausted.

Did you take pictures while you were backstage? I've got a good one of me and Evan! And some good ones of Evgeni. For some reason I was tilting my head back a little when I posed with Tanith, I'm not really sure why.

I do skate a little. In April I passed the Basic Skills Program on the Adult 1 Level. I wanted to take the late spring sessions as well, but my money went to this show, but I can sign up for lessons later. I skate at Iceland. I actually live closer to Apline, but I didn't like it as much as Iceland. I went to skate at Alpine on a Saturday night a few weeks ago, but I didn't like it too much. I don't know if you've ever noticed, but the area when you first come onto the ice, kind of dips. At Iceland, they clean the ice twice within a 3 hour public skating session. I go to public sessions because I can't afford formal lessons right now. About every other Saturday or so I go to the public skate at Iceland and stay for the whole 3 hours. I wish there were more options for skating in our area, but unless you want to drive up to Indianapolis, Alpine and Iceland are the only options. How long have you been skating? What was the most recent level you passed?

 

[brinababy87]

I actually didn't take any pictures, even though I brought my camera. I figured that just about everyone takes pictures at COI and posts them on the internet, and probably better pictures than I could ever take.

I have been skating for about a year and a half now, but haven't really tested yet. I started in freestyle at Alpine, but have been doing dance for a couple of months now. I usually skate during public sessions on weekdays, because they're so empty! I have been scheduling my classes around those hours (and I'm out of school now), so it's great. I usually don't like skating on weekend evenings, since it gets so crowded and I'm so paranoid about running into people.

I agree that Alpine wasn't taking very good care of their ice. I love the people who run it, but they even told me they don't think people in general care about the quality of their ice ("they still have fun"). :-/