Stars on Ice 2016

[naz]

The US cast did a live video chat on Facebook a few hours ago. The video is on the SOI FB page and it's a fun one. You can see that they're really tired though, haha.

 

[lauravvv]

It depends on who's sponsoring the tour as it definitely Varies. For instance, I did a tour for Coca Cola and the pay was $500 a week back in the 80's. I thought I had struck gold until my next tour which was for Honeywell. We made 3 times the money and stayed in much nicer hotels.

I think the Athletes have a cap on how much they're allowed to earn. Is that still the case?

I think on one and the same figure skating show it does not depend so much on who is the sponsor that particular year, meaning what they pay to the skaters does not change so radically from tour to tour. The payments are more or less set. Of course, I imagine on such a show/tour as Stars on Ice the payments have changed during it's long years of existence, simply because figure skating is not in such high demand as it once was in North America. But I also think that probably skaters get paid more for the Japan part of the tour, as figure skating is so much more popular there. It would be especially strange if Japanese star skaters were paid considerably less for those shows than they are used to be paid for other shows that take place in Japan.

As for payment limits for athletes, skaters are definitely not in danger of exceeding them, especially in North America, as figure skating is far from the most popular and highly paid sports. Of course, figure skating is very popular in Japan, and figure skating stars are indeed real stars there, but I am sure that even then they are not earning quite as much as, say, tennis stars in other countries.

 

[noskates]

I have a question for someone who has been to one these shows. Do they ever invite the Synchronized Teams to perform? I was really surprised at how entertaining they were and now that US had some good groups, I bet they'd be quite popular.

Last year in San Jose they had a local synchronized team. We were able to watch practice and they were all lined up on chairs watching the headliners practice. I was so impressed with Patrick Chan (as I've noted in other threads) He went down the line and shook hands with each of the young skaters and you could see they were thrilled.

Since SOI has to pay for traveling, etc. and since it hasn't been a hugely attended show in the past couple of years as evidenced by the few cities they're skating, the skaters chosen were probably chosen to bring out the biggest interest. Skaters like Mariah Bell, etc. are not well-known outside the skating community (YET) and paying for many of the foreign skaters - again who are not well-known outside the skating community - doesn't make sense. My neighbors, for example, don't even know who Medvedeva is. The other issue could be that the countries do NOT want their skaters in the show!!! (for whatever reason)

p.s. I am going to the San Jose show. Have only missed a couple of years in the history of the show and remember vividly the heydays of Scott, Kurt, G&G, etc. Wonderful memories. Kurt's Rag-a-din and his Brickhouse are 2 of the best exhibitions I've ever seen - or probably ever will!

 

[Jaana]

Of course, figure skating is very popular in Japan, and figure skating stars are indeed real stars there, but I am sure that even then they are not earning quite as much as, say, tennis stars in other countries.

Yes, in Japan there are real stars with great achievements, which are lacking in US singles skating in spite of Wagner kind of being gifted a silver medal in 2016 Worlds... Maybe the lack of real female and male stars in USA is the cause for the decline of Stars On Ice. Anyway, I like Wagner´s skating a lot.

 

[puremagic]

Bad that the tour will end in the US after the May 8th unlike Canada. I do not have time to get there.

 

[naz]

Here's a link to some photos from the Hershey show: http://www.pennlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/04/stars_on_ice_in_hershey.html

Seeing these photos makes me want to watch the group numbers so much!
Does anyone have any videos from last night's show?

 

[lauravvv]

Bad that the tour will end in the US after the May 8th unlike Canada. I do not have time to get there.

But to my memory the Stars on Ice tour has always been first in Japan, then in USA and then in Canada - or at least in the recent years it has been so. Also, many of the same skaters take part in two ar even all three parts/"legs" of the tour, so it can't take place in all three countries completely at the same time, maybe just overlap partially as the Japan and USA legs now do.

 

[cathlen]

Me, too. Both Tarah & Danny and Alexa & Chris are great performers, so the crowds would love them! And both pairs are National Champions, so it's kind of weird that they're not included. Maybe they were invited and just decided not to go?

So now we know the just weren't invited: https://twitter.com/ChrisKnierim/status/721719895474331649 Which is sad. I think it's stupid for US to ditch pair skaters completely, they are not doing themselves any favour by doing this.

 

[naz]

Found these videos from the Portland show:

Shibs' Fix You
Meryl&Charlie - Dog Days Are Over
Gracie's I Was Here
Ryan Bradley's Fire and the Flood
Ashley's Dangerous Woman

They're in 240p, but still watchable.

ETA the men's group number (Adam, Jeremy, Ryan)
This one is in full HD!

Huge thanks to the people who uploaded these videos!
The one where Ashley skates to Dangerous Woman doesn't have audio because of copyright. Links to any videos with audio would be greatly appreciated!

 

[noskates]

Yes, in Japan there are real stars with great achievements, which are lacking in US singles skating in spite of Wagner kind of being gifted a silver medal in 2016 Worlds... Maybe the lack of real female and male stars in USA is the cause for the decline of Stars On Ice. Anyway, I like Wagner´s skating a lot.

You know, your comment about Ashley being "gifted" at Worlds just fries my grits. Were you in the building when she skated? If you were you had to be totally unaware of what was going on on the ice and around you in the crowd. Give it a rest.

 

[skylark]

That's very interesting. I wonder if that will change. I have never seen the US teams but, I have seen one from Canada and they are really cool. Just the sound they make when the come onto the ice is cool. Talk about edges.....I'm actually surprised that it hasn't happened in Canada. That Rick Mercer dude, featured a team from Canada on his show and they were great.

It could only happen on a local level. They'd need another bus, at least, to transport a whole team all over the continent, and put them up, etc. And I assume the reason they've cut down to 6 cities, from a dozen or so just a few years ago, has to be economic. In 2010 they were still coming to 2 cities in Michigan, now none. Then, they cut Cleveland too. (Or do they even use the buses now? Maybe they fly.)

 

[skylark]

So now we know the just weren't invited: https://twitter.com/ChrisKnierim/status/721719895474331649 Which is sad. I think it's stupid for US to ditch pair skaters completely, they are not doing themselves any favour by doing this.

I cannot believe pairs skaters weren't invited. They should have had Tarah and Danny and Alexa and Chris. I think it would have increased ticket sales quite a bit.

SOI mgmt. shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[skylark]

Yes, in Japan there are real stars with great achievements, which are lacking in US singles skating in spite of Wagner kind of being gifted a silver medal in 2016 Worlds... Maybe the lack of real female and male stars in USA is the cause for the decline of Stars On Ice. Anyway, I like Wagner´s skating a lot.

Ashley was not gifted anything. She earned her World Silver Medal by bringing her outstanding performance qualities to bear in the moment when she also skated two clean programs. She's the complete package and, unlike some of the other ladies who also skated clean and brilliantly, brought the complete expression in the moment.

It was a great women's competition, to have so many skate so well.

 

[hesaidshesaidxp]

We attended the Stars on Ice premiere show in Hershey, PA. Check out our review and pictures of #E-Motion! It was a really great show and there were some amazing performances. Plus, we updated our interview with the Shibutanis with new pictures both with us and from the show. And we'll have an interview with Gracie Gold coming later this week

http://thehesaidshesaidexperience.com/2016/04/stars-ice-e-motion/

 

[hesaidshesaidxp]

We just posted our interview with Gracie Gold from Stars on Ice 2016 in Hershey too! http://thehesaidshesaidexperience.com/2016/04/gracie-gold-interview/

 

[vivley]

Just saw this cute photo of Meryl Davis and Jeremy Abbott snoozing after their show:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChdeCSYWYAAGM3y.jpg

When I looked more closely I noticed that they were holding bottles of my favorite jasmine green tea!

 

[apgold]

Just saw this cute photo of Meryl Davis and Jeremy Abbott snoozing after their show:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChdeCSYWYAAGM3y.jpg

When I looked more closely I noticed that they were holding bottles of my favorite jasmine green tea!

Tea's Tea is quite good - I like it b/c it has no sugar.

I'm surprised there aren't more "fan-cam" videos on Youtube. I saw a few upthread that were pretty low quality. Hope some surface soon from the Chicago or St. Paul shows or the CA ones next weekend.

 

[vivley]

Tea's Tea is quite good - I like it b/c it has no sugar.

I'm surprised there aren't more "fan-cam" videos on Youtube. I saw a few upthread that were pretty low quality. Hope some surface soon from the Chicago or St. Paul shows or the CA ones next weekend.

Glad you like it too.

I haven't seen that many fan-cam videos on YouTube. There are a few on Instagram. Here's a nice one of Elvis Stojko, Jeffrey Buttle and Patrick Chan's "Sound of Silence" performance. Fantastic skating skills!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XePf7eTqVY4

 

[noskates]

Ohhhh Vivley, thank you soo much for posting that video. I'm going to SOI in San Jose this coming Sunday and I have a feeling this will be one of my favorite numbers.

 

[vivley]

Ohhhh Vivley, thank you soo much for posting that video. I'm going to SOI in San Jose this coming Sunday and I have a feeling this will be one of my favorite numbers.

I'm sorry, noskates, but that video was from last night's Canadian Stars on Ice performance in Ottawa, so you probably won't see it in San Jose. You would have to travel up to Vancouver to see the performance.

But San Jose should be a great show as well. I envy you - good luck!