COI
First of all, welcome to GS, Liz!!!
Happy to oblige, Ximena; I would have done so last night, but all I could manage in the exhausted state I was in was a couple of short posts, so here goes...
The intro number was the usual, spotlight and hand-picked songs for each skater and pair as they took the ice...Nicole Bobek sticks out in my mind...skated to some number with the word "trouble" in the refrain, something to chuckle at. It was generic as most opening numbers in a show like that are.
My overall impression was that the show was as good as the individual skater's chosen (or assigned) exhibition numbers were. No triple axels, not even from Evgeni, who did an uncharacteristically bland number to a song called "I Was Born To Love You", very macho man--I think any of the livelier, more inventive numbers he did in Dortmund, the dancy "Hafanana" song that Irina used to do, the transvestite number (pairs routine by one
), or the duet with Edvin Marton on violin, would have done him more justice as showman.
Not too many spills, I can't recall who fell, besides Jenny Kirk, who performed Chicago ("Roxie"), again...sigh. The final number was Rhapsody in Blue, and it was EXQUISITE! Really outstanding, the coloring, shades of blue (my favorite color for years)...sooo classy, musical (given the piece was Rhapsody Concerto and the skaters were top-notch, that wasn't too hard to manage, I guess
) Just like the regular program, the skaters wove their way into the number in order of importance/seniority; among the transitions I can remember, Irina and Yelena Sokolova came in and did spins together (Irina looked a little slow during her Chihuahua number, a festive, bouncy tune much like Lou Bega's Mambo Number 5, and during her spinning in the final number--I applaud her valiant effort though)--I remember thinking how much faster Yelena looked in side-by side laybacks, and then Sasha sashayed on in and did a spiral? I think it was, and then her layback on center ice. Philippe did a martial arts number that was fun and nearly tore the head off an audience member sitting right on the ice, front row...wish it had been me
A crush on him way back when, as the Godfather, got me into figure skating
Let's see, other memorable performances...Shen and Zhao, their breathtaking romance on ice, and their eye-popping throw triple jumps...heartstopping--they skated to the same program shown on the Dortmund exhibition coverage, Moulin Rouge, and it was amazing...
Sasha's My Fair Lady was very pretty, polished and classy; fit her to a tee. (I commented on that on the thread about it). Elvis skated to a high-energy number, his usual self, but was unfortunately impaired by a pair of male skaters whose names I can't recall who have a hilarious novelty act, the one playing the hockey player left his TUTU on the ice...
That was a blast, that performance! The hockey player was fighting the delicate, spinning figure skater; I was reminded of the classic rivalry for the rink that plays out in every general skating session I've ever been to, where we the figure skating lovers rush out right after the Zamboni's just polished the ice and it's clamoring for us to come and try our three turns and etch our signatures on the ice...and then the hockey players show up and ruin our fairytale like the evil stepmothers they are, doing their stupid hockey stops and chopping up the ice like nobody's business...the two guys were hilarious, and it was a really clever concept that I didn't expect from one of the two novelty acts. The other was a hula hoop lady, Irina Gregorian, I think, who failed to impress me much.
I have to run; more later, Ximena and anybody else into hearing my COI reports
Cheers,
Sarah
