Which are your fav skaters in exhibitions

[hazey]

I don't have a "favorite" skater for exhibitions, I have favorite exhibition programs.
My favorite exhibition programs have to be:
1. Truly outstanding, something that makes me go wow.
2. Skated without too many mistakes, if possible, none.
3. I must like the music.

Hands down, this season, my favourite exhibiton is Mao's So Deep Is The Night. I think the style is such a refreshing departure from her (eeks!) Carmen exhibition, and from the Wiz of Oz exhibitions (though I love the WoO ones too....so young and playful).

 

[silver.blades]

I don't know which songs go with which dancing version, but I know that Tanith and Ben did say they were trying to bring hip hop to the ice with the program.

They didn't achieve it so much as they brought pop dance to the ice (IMHO)

I agree it's more pop than hip hop. The problems with that are:
1. People as a whole take it to be hip hop and it makes hip hop look trashy
2. The fact that pop exists as a style, I find sad. People who dance pop, dance it because they can't do hip hop, which is the legit style.

 

[gio]

Maybe it gives B/A a bad reputation, and changed their images a little.

Maybe the program can be considered trashy, but I don't think it gives them a bad reputation. Almost all the skaters of the 80s and 90s did at least one trashy program! So they all should get a bad reputation. hehe

 

[demarinis5]

I could probably type two pages of favorite Exhibition Skaters, but I will name just a few of my favorites.

Sasha - Hernando's Hideaway
Anytime Anywhere - circa 2000-2001

Michelle - Dante's Prayer, Fields of Gold

Johnny - I did it my way.

Kurt, Todd, Lambiel, Plushenko, Evan and Buttle all have had very good Exhibitions programs oh yeah I almost forgot Scott Hamilton .

 

[Bennett]

Mao's So deep in the night
(I liked Nichol's original choreo better and don't like the three double anxels in row that she incorporated because it just ignores the music. But it's still such a beautiful program. I'd call it a masterpiece. I am amazed to see how much more expressive she can be in galas than she is in competitive programs. Her soft, emotional arm movements and all the nuances that she picks from the music are all breath-taking. her facial expressions are also very relaxed, natural, and happy while she tends to look a bit painful during competitions. I also love the costume very much).

Jeff's
"Ave maria"
(a very deep, beautiful program. a very beautiful costume, too)

"Go the Distance"
(his smooth skating shines. It's very joyful and lively. He has great speed across the ice and his edges are amazing. Yuka Sato said that this is the type of the music that most emphasizes his skating skills. ITA. I also love the costume very much. It's white & blue and has puffy sleeves. He looks like a prince in it).

"Fix You"
(This song is so good and brings tears in my eyes. This was the program that made Jeff look very real because he wore just a T-shirt and jeans).

Shizuka's "Turantot"
(she looks so much more expressive than she was in olympics. she has all the subtle nuances)

Kulik's "Liebestraum"
(this is a very princy program. i really liked it. a funny thing was that he once forgot his program and was trying to figure out which path to take while shaking his head. I have no idea why he couldn't just improvise. Since then, I doubt if he is an artist in soul. But he nonetheless looks very beautiful on the ice skating to the music.)

 

[njtoddfan]

Fave exhibition skaters...

Todd (probably my all time favorite exhibition program of his would be "Il Mare"), Kurt, Michael (his recent SOI stuff), Jamie & David, Jenni & Todd, Kristi, Yuka, Kyoko & John, Katia, Scott, Shen & Zhao, Dubreuil & Lauzon, Brian Orser, Steven Cousins, Roca & Sur

 

[merrybari]

Evan, such variety and contrast, from the early Time to Say Goodbye > Ave Maria > BillieJean; and always from the heart. Doesn't skimp on the tough stuff either.
Jeff & Stephane: relaxing
Scott & Kurt, too - funny and fun
Todd: Nights in White Satin
Paul: Schlindler's List, JFK

Michelle: ever beautiful,
Caroline: easy grace for one so young
Alissa: Classic elegance

Tanith and Ben: Whiter Shade of Pale
Meryl and Charlie: Beyond the Sea;
Dubreil/Lauzon:
Virtue/Moir;
Torvill/Dean

Can't remember names of songs, but just about anything they skate(d)
Shen/Zao (sp);
Gordeeva/Grinkov;
Tai and Randy

 

[cosmos]

Definitely YuNa Kim!!

So pretty and lyric. Her "Only Hope" is so expressive and beautiful.

 

[mmscfdcsu]

Just about any program skated to interesting music. I have never seen a decent program skated to Pop or Rock. Those are all bathroom break, boring beyond belief numbers. If I want children's music I will go to a kids show.

 

[Tonichelle]

pop or rock... um... Kurt's skated amazing programs to both....

scott skated to barenaked ladies and it was hysterical!

oh well, I'm biased.

 

[npa]

Kurt Browning with Shae Lynn Bourne "Proud Mary" I wish, if in 2009-2010 will rock-n-roll like OD we will see some dances with this song
Virtue-Moir - Ballet with hip-hop number
Savchenko-Sholkovi - Leningrad
Mao Asada - Shopin this year

 

[demarinis5]

Current skaters - Johnny, Stephane, Joubert, Buttle
Mao, Joannie, Fumie ( I don't recall seeing her Exhibition
piece this season though) Caroline Z

Past skaters - Kurt, Weiss, Todd, Orser
Michelle, Irina, Sasha, Kristi

S/Z., B/S, S/P - love everything that they do. Also I loved I/B's Mandy.

 

[JewelInTheSun]

Aljona Savchenko/ Robin Szolkowy
Stephane Lambiel
Tatiana Totmianina/ Maxim Marinin
Maria Petrova/ Alexei Tikhonov
Sarah Meier
Marie-France Dubreuil/ Patrice Lauzon

 

[exNyer]

ilia kulik
stephane lambiel
jeff buttle
d takahashi

Big Gripe during galas: Why do the skaters wear black costumes? The lights are very low and the skaters are hard to see.

 

[nippponophile]

I never get tired of watching Shizuka skate at exhibitions -exquisite, every time.

And Daisuke's exhibition program "Bachelorette" is the best, most beautiful program I've seen, ever.

 

[SeaniBu]

Fumie, Kurt, Mirai, Melissa and A.Y. (Dee knows who...) are the first to mind. Johnny, Taylor F, Kat Hack and Ryan B just popped into mind now.... on and on.

Eeh..... I have to stop posting and reading.... must work but I can't stop.....I miss you all!!!!!

 

[gio]

Just about any program skated to interesting music. I have never seen a decent program skated to Pop or Rock. Those are all bathroom break, boring beyond belief numbers. If I want children's music I will go to a kids show.

So, do you consider Kwan, Arakawa and Zhang "You raise me up" a bathroom break? What about "Fields of Gold" by Kwan?

 

[Winnipeg]

Not a big fan of exhibition skating nor SOI shows......................I do get tired of emotional, 'deep' music by lady performers..............

 

[1cmarie]

Just about any program skated to interesting music. I have never seen a decent program skated to Pop or Rock. Those are all bathroom break, boring beyond belief numbers. If I want children's music I will go to a kids show.

So, do you consider Kwan, Arakawa and Zhang "You raise me up" a bathroom break? What about "Fields of Gold" by Kwan?

Ah, the music snobs. Got one of those in my own family. Life is oh, so dull when they're around. Back OT, my favs in exhibitions are usually Johnny, Daisuke, and as of this past Worlds, Khloklova and Novitski.

 

[saltypig]

Browning, Plushenko, Slutskaya, Fumie, Navka & Kostomorov, Denkova & Staviski, Brasseur & Eissler and Hartshorn & Sweiding.

Those are my favourite exhibition skaters.