The Shock & Awe Factor: Round up of the Best Programs of All Times

[dorispulaski]

Medusa, Thanks so much for Fadeev's 1989 program at Europeans! What a great skate!

 

[MichelleTodd]

Actually it was love at first sight for me with Evan's Tosca! Toss up between it and Carmen!! There was more difficulty builty in with Tosca so a bit more time would've put the finishing touches on it the way he was able to do with Carmen. (His Olympic skate to that was awesome.) Love the way he lets go when he's on muscle memory - in the zone!! Maybe he'll put the adjustments he had planned for Worlds into the one for the Japan Open and we'll get to see it yet. It could be the best of all!!

You and me both! I'm looking forward to the Japan Open for that reason even though we don't get it on TV here in the States.

 

[blue dog]

Mauro Bruni, who is now a show skater:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX7WK3e40Ys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf8YR-zoQTo

Katherine Healy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WumPvDo1lwg

 

[blue_idealist]

favourites

MEN:

Michael Weiss
- Rolling Stones medley
- 70s medley

Elvis Stojko 1998 Olympics FS, because of the pain he was in and how he fought through

Kurt Browning - Rag Dijon times (the clown one)

Rudy Galindo - YMCA/Macho Man/In The Navy

Evan Lysacek - 2007 US Nationals FS

LADIES:

Nicole Bobek - I Will Survive/Respect/Natural Woman

Katarina Witt - Rescue Me

Tonia Kwiatkowski - It's In His Kiss

Joannie Rochette - Like A Prayer, Firebird

PAIRS:

Jamie Sale & David Pelletier - Love Story, Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'

Brasseur & Eisler - You're Still The One

Marie-Claude Savard-Gagnon & Luc Bradet - That Thing You Do

DANCE:

Bourne and Kraatz: Hey Big Spender, Michael Jackson medley, Return to Innocence, Seachran, Riverdance, Grease OD

Belbin and Agosto: Sexyback, Elvis medley, Hoedown OD

Khokhlova and Novitski: 2008 Worlds Exhibition - Stop

Denkova and Staviyski - FD 2006 (I think I've got the year right)

Dubreuil and Lauzon - At Last, It's A Beautiful Life

 

[Tonichelle]

Kurt's Clown number was Rag-Gidon-Times... not Dijon (but that woud have been cute too)

IIRC Gidon (or Gideon... Teenes! help me out) was a nod to the man who wrote the piece.

 

[katha]

Dance:

Torvill and Dean: Encounter and Oscar Tango...They really shone as Pros IMO and Encounter in particular is in my opinion the best dance routine ever

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=4OWk5a0I1BA&feature=related

Klimova and Ponomarenko: Their Bach FD 1992...I guesst that's a rather unpopular opinion but I think this is the best Free Dance ever, better than even Bolero

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=eIxXQWnV_Rg

Rakhamo and Kokko: Valse Triste...Virtue and Moir's version is nice but it just really doesn't measure up to this at all IMO

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=wulzC1rx4oA

Grishuk and Platov: Memorial Requiem...The heavy drama of it really suited their agressive style!

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=KXNmarKjyiY

Delobel and Shoenfelder: Frida...How they ended up in fourth place with that routine is beyonde me...

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=-cemQnpHORE

I'm sure there's more but these immediately come to mind

Men:

Ilia Kulik: Rhapsody in Blue...So beautiful not even the costume could ruin itToo darn hot....just great fun!

Alexei Yagudin: Gladiator...It just suited his personality perfectly IMO
Winter...One of the best choreographed SPs of all time for sure

Daisuke Takahashi: 2007 SP...The music is just lovely and he interprets it perfectly!

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=jlSaN6mH41Y

2008 SP...I just love how crazy it is, how the choreography is so detailed and how it makes him such a Rock Star

Ladies:

Ekaterina Gordeeva: Bachiana Brasileiras...I love how it just seems to almost transcend time and space

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqgNSJvMKHU

Michelle Kwan: On my own exhibition 1997....I just love the song and she interprets it perfectly!
Lyra Angelica 1998...surely her Nationals performance of that piece was one for the ages! Don't get me wrong, the choreography is really good but  what makes it special is her execution
The Feeling Begins SP 2003...it was just such a huge departure for her and quite brave I thought! Some of her programs before tended to get into "Disney on Ice" territory and she just completely wiped that away with her fierceness here!
Spartacus SP 2005...Sooo beautiful It just all connects in such a lovely fashion, and the moment when she goes into that spin and the music gets tragic and sad gives me goosebumps! Shame about that LP though...

Shizuka Arakawa: Olympics LP Turandot...I know that her 2004 Worlds effort was technically more difficult but she performed the choreography much better here

Pairs:

Gordeeva and Grinkkov: Vocalise...Best pairs choreography ever IMO
Moonlight Sonata FP...The costumes, the perfect transitions from fast to slow and back, the little details, their effortless skating...yeah it's pretty decent
Romeo and Julia FP...best interpretation of that theme IMO

Shen and Zhao: Turandot 2003...just magic!
2007 SP...They have great chemistry there...many "romantic" programs just try way too hard but this was effortless!

 

[jyshin]

Katherine Healy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WumPvDo1lwg

.
.
.
Exquisite!
Her Layback spins and Ina Bauer...Aha... priceless...

 

[jyshin]

Katherine Healy at 9-10 years-old

Some people are born with special talent and this shows...
How can it get any better than this for 4-5th graders?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYKFopje04s&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcw1nrhb4cI&feature=related

 

[blue dog]

Some people are born with special talent and this shows...
How can it get any better than this for 4-5th graders?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYKFopje04s&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcw1nrhb4cI&feature=related

I don't care that she can only do doubles--some of the best skaters connect with the music. Katherine Healy is one with the music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aEh22kR85Y

 

[jennylovskt]

Alexei Yagudin's SP winter!

 

[dorispulaski]

what lovely, lovely vids of Katherine Healey

 

[blue dog]

Doris, I just love her!

Here is another video I love (Grischuk/Platov)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Mf9Xtc6pDhY

 

[Tonichelle]

no one's mentioned this one yet, I don't think

but Melissa Gregory & Denis Petukhov's Adam & Eve program... while I do like their Fallen Angels with Johnny I think their Free Dance was so much better!

 

[dorispulaski]

Here's a link to their Adam and Eve free dance at the GPF in 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFfKF300k6A

I really liked this dance, too.

 

[iluvtodd]

Here's a link to their Adam and Eve free dance at the GPF in 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFfKF300k6A

I really liked this dance, too.

Oh, yes! My favorite FD of the 2007/08 season (and we got to see Melissa & Denis do it live at University of Delaware in 3/07)! :agree:

 

[layman]

Dance:

Torvill and Dean: Encounter and Oscar Tango...They really shone as Pros IMO and Encounter in particular is in my opinion the best dance routine ever

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=4OWk5a0I1BA&feature=related

Klimova and Ponomarenko: Their Bach FD 1992...I guesst that's a rather unpopular opinion but I think this is the best Free Dance ever, better than even Bolero

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=eIxXQWnV_Rg

Rakhamo and Kokko: Valse Triste...Virtue and Moir's version is nice but it just really doesn't measure up to this at all IMO

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=wulzC1rx4oA

Grishuk and Platov: Memorial Requiem...The heavy drama of it really suited their agressive style!

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=KXNmarKjyiY

Delobel and Shoenfelder: Frida...How they ended up in fourth place with that routine is beyonde me...

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=-cemQnpHORE



I can't believe that Klimova and Ponamarenko won the Olympic Gold medal with that Bach free-dance. The Duchesnay's "West Side Story" was much, much, much more diffucult and skated faster and more aggresively, while the Bach dance was really a show program.

Just goes to show how dirty the politics of dance really are. Isabelle Duchesnay says that a judge told them weeks before the Albertville Games that they would only get second place.

Duchesnay 1992 Olympic Free-dance: West Side Story

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=cASdFgfzHrc&feature=related

 

[jyshin]

Rakhamo and Kokko: Valse Triste...Virtue and Moir's version is nice but it just really doesn't measure up to this at all IMO
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=wulzC1rx4oA

I am glad to find someone who likes Rakhamo and Kokko's "Valse Triste"...