Sarah Hughes looks great on the red carpet

[Mathman]

I think Sasha Cohen will be the likely skater for SOI to add to the tour - especially after this season. Michelle will be the star at COI - so it only makes sense for SOI to add Sasha.

I agree with that. Sasha would be a perfect match for SOI. But IMO she needs that one major campionship to gain the box office appeal to command a long term contract.

If Sasha wins the gold medal in Turino she could set herself up to be the next Kristi.

Mathman

 

[attyfan]

I think that Sarah is looking good, but some of those pictures are not flattering. She does need to watch what she wears -- not so much the pink dress (she only needs to watch how she stands to avoid looking pregnant), but one of the red dresses she wore in SOI really over-emphasized her hips and made her look really bad.

 

[Zanzibar]

Kathleen, do you have any statistics on that?

Dee

No, just what the skaters told me - that overall attendance was down. There was hopes that having a top female AND American skater to boot, would help boost sales - and they tried to make sure Sarah got a lot of PR - but it didn't work. That doesn't mean that Cohen could boost them either - skating's popularity is down - but it should get pumped up after the Olympics (like when Collins had 90-plus cities on the 2002 tour). But...they are definitely looking at Cohen.

Of course - what happens in Torino is going to have a big influence on the outcome of who skates where and for which company. In 2002, COI (operated with Collins Marshall Management -CMM) hired Alexei even though he was a firm IMG client. Now the two companies are more 'polarized' than ever and the former CMM (now called Michael Collins Enterprises) is floating the idea that even if a skater medals in Torino - they won't give them a slot to skate - UNLESS they sign with their agents. Of course, that could be posturing - time will tell.

Basically, everybody wants their share of an ever-decreasing pie which is why all shrewd parties are looking at foreign markets for potential growth.

 

[NansXOXOX]

No one skater has ever been a deal maker or breaker with me when it comes to buying tickets to see any kind of show and I try very hard not to babble negative things about anyone in a public forum (I was raised in the old school of "If you can't say something nice...."); however, since SOI needs to know what audiences think and who they want to see, I would much prefer watching Sarah in any shape at all to seeing Sasha added to their cast.

In my very humble opinion, based on not much at all, I don't think Sasha has the personality to blend with an SOI cast any more than Tara did. Age has nothing to do with it. For me, more than a little of the enjoyment I get from attending more than one SOI show a season would be lost if I were subjected to Sasha for several individual numbers plus the group numbers and it very well might cause me to re-consider purchasing so many tickets. I know many, many people really enjoy her skating and her personality and I do think she is a very talented young woman, I just don't think she is "cast" material.

Only my opinion, nothing more.

Nan

*edited to add: I think Sarah looks wonderful in these pictures and I thought she looked much better in her street and practice clothing during the past SOI tour than she did under the bright lights in her costumes which makes me wonder if the costume choices were the best for her.

 

[attyfan]

I'm not so sure about Sasha and SOI. Even assuming that she goes pro after Torino (and, in Vancouver, she will be roughly the same age that Michelle and Irina will be in Italy), there is still the problem of her prior back injuries. Not only does SOI usually have a longer tour than COI (unless it is an Oly year), there are more numbers for each skater. While Sasha admires Tara a great deal, I doubt that she wants to imitate her in having a pro career of only two or three years before being forced out by injury.

 

[Zanzibar]

I don't know - I think Sasha could be popular, if not necessarily a 'draw' (agree with Nan here that most people don't seem to buy tickets based on specific skaters - more in general to see the overall 'show') - especially depending on how well she does in Torino. She's a real beauty - an example - last week our Chief Financial Officer was talking about skating - a sport he said admittedly he didn't know much about. And then he added, 'Except Sasha Cohen - WOW! I'd go to see her and I'll stop and watch if she's on television.'

Her beauty and breathtaking flexibility are attention-getters, and I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of cast-members from SOI weren't pushing to get her on the 'team.'

Michelle will have a solid future, I think, regardless of the Torino results. She's already so accomplished, respected, and famous that it would seem her place on any tour is secure - and that's got to be a nice position to be in.

 

[Dee4707]

No, just what the skaters told me - that overall attendance was down.

Kathleen, I was hoping you had some hard core statistics other than basing the overall attendance on the opinion of the skaters. The reason I ask is I am from a very small city and according to my opinion our arena was at least 2/3 full (we have a new state of the art arena). The previous year it was about half full but that I think was due to the weather. It was 10 below zero. I would think that would count for something. The year before there was very little advertising about SOI and it showed in attendance. I guess I didn't hear or read that last year's SOI attendance was that bad.

Dee

 

[mzheng]

I agree with that. Sasha would be a perfect match for SOI. But IMO she needs that one major campionship to gain the box office appeal to command a long term contract.

If Sasha wins the gold medal in Turino she could set herself up to be the next Kristi.

Mathman

IMO, Sasha can join SOI just as is now two times world silver madelist, x number of National silver medalist. Either COI and SOI will grab her quick. If she can get a medal at Turino any color, she'll be even more hot with SOI. Not every one with long term contract have OGM. What about Roselyn? Did she got long term contract with SOI?

 

[Zanzibar]

Kathleen, I was hoping you had some hard core statistics other than basing the overall attendance on the opinion of the skaters. The reason I ask is I am from a very small city and according to my opinion our arena was at least 2/3 full (we have a new state of the art arena). The previous year it was about half full but that I think was due to the weather. It was 10 below zero. I would think that would count for something. The year before there was very little advertising about SOI and it showed in attendance. I guess I didn't hear or read that last year's SOI attendance was that bad.

Dee

Uh-oh, I smell a can of worms opening here, LOL! Hey - I'm only trying to share the concerns of the skaters. The attendance numbers aren't the 'opinions' of the skaters - they hear at every stop what the total seats were (and total sold seats - often many seats are given away) and they also have available the comparison numbers from the previous season. When I hear the show's stars lament that the sales are again down and that they have real and genuine concerns regarding the future, I listen.

That attendance was up in your area is great and I hope it continues.

 

[RIskatingfan]

Her beauty and breathtaking flexibility are attention-getters, and I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of cast-members from SOI weren't pushing to get her on the 'team.'

Somehow, this made me laugh out loud

While most of the audience doesn't decide to attend a show based on WHO is skating, if Cohen happens to have a very successful season, winning Olympics, I think that with good advertising she could be a major draw. Maybe like Kwan with COI.

Although I too wonder if she would fit in a tour like SOI, that demands team work. Nothing against her because I like her skating very much and I would enjoy seeing her participating in several numbers as all the other skaters do. But I don't exactly see her (or Kwan for that matter) in group numbers, sharing the spotlight with the others. Maybe I am wrong. I do hope that if she joins the cast, the show won't revolve around her.

 

[Mathman]

What about Rosalyn? Did she got long term contract with SOI?

I don't know what the details of Rosalyn Sumner's contract were, but she skated with SOI for more than 15 years. She was part of the original Scott Hamilton posse, and continued as an important part of the cast even after they got Kristi.

Rosalyn was a three-time National Champion (1882-84), World Champion in 1983, and was cast in the "America's sweetheart" role in the 1984 Olympics, where she got silver against Katarina Witt. (She was the Michelle Kwan of her day, LOL.)

That's what I mean about Sasha. She needs to have those kinds of credentials to be featured on big billboards that say, "Come one, come all! See famous champion SASHA COHEN right before your very eyes!"

On the other hand...oh, come on, guys, Sasha is not such a prima donna that she can't function as part of a cast. She does opening and closing group numbers in COI and doesn't go around tripping the other skaters out of spite. On the contrary, on the COI tour she has lots of close friends among the younger set, such as Johnny Weir and Orsher and Lucash.

(Still, the imp in me wants to see Yuka Sato come up to her and say, "no, dear, I skate last, thank you very much." )

Mathman

 

[Zanzibar]

:agree:

 

[LegalGirl82]

(Still, the imp in me wants to see Yuka Sato come up to her and say, "no, dear, I skate last, thank you very much." )
Mathman

Letting out your inner imp, MM?

 

[attyfan]

I wonder, sometimes, if Michelle might not leave COI. Many of the skaters who were her good friends/mentors when she started have left (Boitano) or have other interests that may make leaving likely (Stojko). Irina has spoken of going into broadcasting in Russa, and of having a baby; I doubt if she will tour with COI for much longer. I know she is friends with Tom Colllins, but I would think he is close to retirement age.

 

[Jhar55]

Couldn't get the link to work so I haven't seen the pictures of Sarah. Depending on what anyone wears they could look pregant even myself at my age. I think that is one young lady we won't be seeing single and pregant. I don't buy tickets to skating shows by who's skating there's always someone I really don't care to see but because I love going and watching you have to take the good with the bad. I think Sarah will go back to collage and finish, have a caree outside of skating. (we need spell check)

 

[soogar]

Sasha would be perfect for SOI. Unlike Sarah, Sasha already had a sense of how to present herself to an audience and her skating (in terms of posture and extension) was much more finished than Sarah's was in 2002 (and Sasha has gotten better as the years gone one). Sasha already has one high profile endorsement and her name is known in the general public.

 

[dancindiva03]

Sasha would be perfect for SOI. Unlike Sarah, Sasha already had a sense of how to present herself to an audience and her skating (in terms of posture and extension) was much more finished than Sarah's was in 2002 (and Sasha has gotten better as the years gone one). Sasha already has one high profile endorsement and her name is known in the general public.

The year Sasha joins SOI is the year I stop going to see it. I don't think she projects to the audience at all, and even though her posture and extension are better than Sarah, her choreography is lame and her jumping technique is so-so and not so consistant and I just don't have any desire to have to see her in solos and in group numbers.

 

[IDLERACER]

I like THIS one. What a babe. ​

 

[Mathman]

I like THIS one. What a babe. ​

Me, too. I'm totally into the wild west saloon girl look.

(we need spell check)

Actually, spellcheck is available for vBulletin boards like this one. But you have to pay for it, on top of the regular fees for bandwidth, upgrades, etc. Paula (who basically pays for this board out of her own pocket) decided to save the money for that feature.

The moderators are supposed to correct splling errors that appear in the titles of threads, just so casual passersby don't think we're a bunch of illiterates. Unfortunately, we can't spell any better than anyone else, so that part doesn't work out so well.

Mathman

 

[Dee4707]

Me, too. I'm totally into the wild west saloon girl look. Mathman

Math, remember a couple of years ago when Irinia did the cowgirl program with the whip? What did you think of the whip feature? Yee Hah!!!

Dee