TV Alert Today 3/19 - Thin Ice!!!

[waxel]

Overnight ratings: Thin Ice was 3rd in its time slot behind basketball and Who Do You Think You Are, and ahead of repeats of House and Top Model.

 

[snowflake]

The show seems to be based on the idea of combining unlikely partners, pro skaters who have never skated with each other before, and some of them partnering with someone who used to compete in a discipline different from their own. There are three other pro skaters who are the judges: Katerina Witt, Dick Button, and Kristi Yamaguchi. The marks are on a scale from 1 to 10. Kurt Browning does not judge; he is the host. Viewers are invited to vote on ABC.com, but they have to register to do so.

Thanks for the explanation. I have read the following posts too, and got different views on the show. Popular to some, bad to others. What I don't get is the pair thing; dancing together and jumping different jumps. Looks like they can do whatever they want to their selected music.

I particularly wanted to watch to see Joannie skate her tribute, and yes, it brought tears to my eyes. Kurt asked her after that if the skating helped her to heal, and she said that yes, she felt closest to her mother when she was skating, so it was the best medicine for her. I am so very glad that the ISU allowed her to do this. She skated at the very end of the show, and afterwards, the other skaters gave her a group hug.

How nice

 

[museksk8r]

Stephane is really effeminate. He said when he landed the quad the first time he was screaming for his mom, mommy did you see that. OMG.

So you think he's "effeminate" because he was excited about landing the quad the 1st time he did as a young boy? :think::sheesh:

Stephane: "not very often you see quad" an obvious dig at our current Gold Medalist and sometime model.

Quite the contrary, Lambiel was quoted telling the media that he agreed that Lysacek should have won over Plushenko. Stephane has been complimentary towards Evan over the years, so you should get your facts straight.

 

[*Sniper*]

I have to agree with most of you.
A rather underwhelming show, it was.
I think I'll watch on Sunday to see how it ends, but will I miss it when it goes off the air?
Probably not.

*The best pair of the night : I have no pick. Everyone seemed just a bit at unease.
*The most uncomfortable looking couple : David and Elena BY FAR. No chemistry between them aside, they looked as if they had just put their skates on again after three years off.

But the Worlds is only around the corner, so YAY!!

 

[jennylovskt]

Uncle Dick was the star of the show. Love him! Joannie made my tear. Besides those, the performances were just bad. The close-ups to skaters after their performances were terrible. I could see all the rinkles on everyone of these ladies' faces. They looked old and the make-ups, costumes, and hairs were bad.:disagree:

 

[Mathman]

They looked old and the make-ups, costumes, and hairs were bad.:disagree:

Except Kristi, who looked like a million dollars! :yes:

 

[jennylovskt]

Except Kristi, who looked like a million dollars! :yes:

Kristi was never a pretty girl to me, but yeah, she looked good, and so did Katerina Witt.

 

[janetfan]

Except Kristi, who looked like a million dollars! :yes:

I agree, Kristi was cute, bubbly and charming. Kati should get the hook and Button did the best he could with the format.

I thought Shiz looked good - but I always think she looks good

 

[blue_idealist]

It wasn't quite as good as I thought it would be. I think I underestimated how difficult it really is to learn how to skate with a new partner, or to skate with a partner at all if you're a singles skater. I'm wondering how much time the teams actually had to practice. I was impressed with Marie-France and Michael though, especially with Michael being a singles skater. He seemed to pick up dance rather naturally - my Mom said he might have been a pairs skater at one point, she thought so, like way back when I guess.. anyone know? It was cool to see Stephane's quad except all his quads are landed too low now, and he does that funny thing with his leg because of it. I wish he could have good landings.

 

[Mathman]

It wasn't quite as good as I thought it would be. I think I underestimated how difficult it really is to learn how to skate with a new partner, or to skate with a partner at all if you're a singles skater.

I think the promoters were grasping at any straw to try to come up with a format that the audience will buy. There was a "skating with celebrities" attempt a couple of years ago, but the problem was that there weren't any movie stars, pop singers, etc., who could skate at all. (The concept worked better in Russia.)

Then there was the Canadian show which matched figure skaters with famous hockey stars. In the U.S., however, hockey is not big enough and hockey players are not famous enough for that format to fly. So I think this show was intended to be kind of like that. Take some people who actually can skate, but make them do amateur "dancing with the stars"-type routines with unfamiliar partners.

I was impressed with Marie-France and Michael though, especially with Michael being a singles skater. He seemed to pick up dance rather naturally - my Mom said he might have been a pairs skater at one point, she thought so, like way back when I guess.. anyone know?

I don't think he was ever a pairs skater. He did have a background in gymnastics. Both of his parents were champion gymnasts, and his older sister skated.

I believe that the reason Michael did so well is just that he is a good dancer, including off the ice. Most of his routine with Marie-France was either side-by-side dancing in place or else doing skating moves separately. The one lift that they did was pretty labored. It looked like a weight-lifter doing a clean-and-jerk. (OK, I've got her up to my chest, now - uuhhhgg -- here she goes over my head. )

Anyway, I think Shae-lynn and John Z. will win tomorrow.

 

[Wicked]

*The most uncomfortable looking couple : David and Elena BY FAR. No chemistry between them aside, they looked as if they had just put their skates on again after three years off.

I know Elena has had a baby and I was wondering if part of the reason she looked so uncomfortable skating was because she hasn't been on the ice that much lately.

 

[Mathman]

Great show.

I was happy that the Internet vote went for Shizuka and Stephane. Overall, I thought the order came out just right. Marie-France and Michael's routine had a little bit of everything, from story-telling to a triple flip. Shae-lynn and John Z. had a flawless performance, too.

A judging scandal? "Due to technical difficulties we cannot show the actual audience vote," but take our word for it, this is how it came out.

 

[blue_idealist]

Yeah, I was wondering about the technical difficulties thing. I was thinking maybe someone other than Marie-France and Michael actually got it, but the producers couldn't stand to give the win to anyone else besides them (IMO, they were clearly the best, but people might have just voted for their favourites like Shizuka and Stephane even though they weren't the best).

 

[Tinymavy15]

I know Elena has had a baby and I was wondering if part of the reason she looked so uncomfortable skating was because she hasn't been on the ice that much lately.

I think she just was uncomfortable skating with David. Pair skating is all about trust and knowing your partner, not easy when you don't speak the same language, started practicing together a few days ago and don't really like each other to begin with. Her body is in great shape for just having had a baby and her positions are beautiful, but simple things like being out of the sync on the crossovers and looking only slight less self-concious than Shizuka doing the pop-dance moves ruined it for me.

 

[FlattFan]

Shiz and Stephane did steps into a SBS triple toe that was +2 GOE.
Then they did a face to face triple toe. Stephane was a bit earlier or Shiz was a bit later, but I thought Shiz saw Stephane was already on air so she rushed the take off a bit, then two footed her second triple toe and URed. Stephane had a step out after seeing Shiz almost went down. Two of the best single skaters had trouble skating SBS, which only reinforced what Peter Carruthers said during the Olympics that pair skaters aren't "weak" single skaters. Shiz got a new set of teeth since her winning day. Stephane got some hair on his chest.

And Weiss lipped. I'm so impressed by Michael Weiss, he still has all of his technical skill.

 

[janetfan]

I watched MSNBC's coverage of the health care debate/vote last night - and forgot all about the conclusion of "Thin Ice."
I did watch Friday night's show - and that was enough for me.

Is it any wonder Pro skating has died out in N. America?

 

[jennylovskt]

I forgot it until 15min into it, and then half heartedly watched a part of the second half of Thin Ice. It seems that the costumes were better this time. Stephane and Shizuka are two single skaters and forced into pairs skating, then got harsh critics from the judges. Weiss seems a crowd pleaser (never liked his skating much). He and Mari-France got the first prize. Probably that's the reason that Weiss is still with SOI.

 

[Tinymavy15]

Most of it was very awkward, esp. both teams that featured Jamie/David. I loved Poker Face to death, way better IMO than Johnny's (who also rocks it). Shae Lynn is a joy to watch. Wow.

 

[inside edge]

I loved Poker Face to death, way better IMO than Johnny's (who also rocks it). Shae Lynn is a joy to watch. Wow.

 

[Wicked]

Most of it was very awkward, esp. both teams that featured Jamie/David.

Patrice and Jamie were much, much less awkward than David and Elena. I could actually stand to watch Patrice and and Jamie. Interesting that two out of the three teams that featured actual pairs skaters finished finished at the bottom of the standings.