It's true there are just those cheesy programs... but that's what exhibitions are... they're entertainment value
I do miss seeing the pros break out of their entertainment routines and get serious about the skating during the one competition still out there... but even Brian Boitano has gone from great programs to cheezy (and his case they aren't even fun to watch, they're embarassing! LOL) for Ice Wars...
oh well... I still think the cheezy programs - in most skaters' cases - are better than a lot of the olympic eligible...
but then I like being entertained...
Elegy for Harp and String, Man of La Mancha, Pride & Prejudice, That's Life, Sogno, You're Still You, Walking My Baby Back Home ... those are not "serious skating?" Those are "embarrassing?" Well, my opinion of "serious skating" and "embarrassing" is obviously very different than yours, since those are among the programs Brian has skated at Ice Wars in the past several years. I found all of those to be "serious" about good skating (triple lutzes, triple-triples, different entries and exits to jumps and spins, edges, footwork ... don't think he missed much in any of them). But everyone has different opinions. I wasn't embarrassed (and I don't think he needed to be, or was, either) by He Just Wants to ChaCha, or Hernando's Hideaway or Wild Elephants or some of his more "entertaining" programs -- they all had some great skating in them, as well as wonderful entertainment value for me, at least. Brian's always taken competition -- really, any kind of skating -- very seriously, and never fails to include a lot of great skating in his programs. The detective ones, I thought, were totally unsuited for competition. He was trying to do something completely outside his comfort zone that challenged him in different ways, and he certainly did do that. And in a show setting, I thought they'd have been fine to try. I thought they were totally unsuited to competition. Bu even then, t in spite of all the props and special lighting, the "explanations," etc. (which I thought made them unsuited for competition) they were still full of "serious" skating (check out entries and exits from spins, the entries into the jumps, etc. -- none of it was easy). So, I wasn't embarrassed by them, only uncomfortable with him using them in a competitive setting.
But then, I didn't feel Kurt's toy box program and his "red hat" program, and Scott golf program (and some of his other extra goofy and/or prop heavy programs) were suited for competition, either, but I wouldn't say they were "embarrassing" -- just not suited for competition. I didn't much care for Kristi's Lucy and Linus program (or the "Oh So Quiet" one) at Ice Wars or even Never Gonna Get It at Landover, either, but I didn't think she wasn't taking skating seriously and they weren't embarrassing -- to me, at least. They were simply, I thought, attempts to try something different that weren't as successful as some other programs she tried (like Doop Doop, which I loved).
On the other hand, Philippe Candeloro's George of the Jungle and Castaway volleyball thing I WOULD call embarrassing, as were the things Oksana did last year -- those, to me, were not based on "serious" skating (I thought Philippe's "Braveheart" was a decent competitive program, he really did some skating in that one, but by the time we got to "Wild Wild West," he appeared to have stopped worrying about good skating and was just doing whatever outrageous thing he could think of -- which makes me embarrassed for him, even if he isn't embarrassed for himself). Most of the veteran pros try to bring good skating to their programs, most especially their competitive programs, and so I don't tend to find some of their attempts that aren't as successful "embarrassing" -- I appreciate their willingness to try something different while also incorporating the best skating they are capable of. And for the most part, I'm entertained, too.
In reference to the initial post -- yes, I thought Katarina's Schindler's List program was beautiful and well-done and a great example of what I think is the hallmark of tha that group of pros from the 1980s and early 90s (and particularly Brian B.) -- they've made a great effort to no "retire," but rather to continue to grow and improve and put skating out there that they can be proud of.
), that he practically stripped down to nothing at the December 2000 "Improv-Ice" (we loved that show as a whole, but not that display) & we saw him do that live.
