Earning High Marks

Reprinted with permission of The Observer-Dispatch in Utica, NY

Scott Hamilton was back where he belonged - at center ice at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid. It was Nov. 30 and the opener for the Stars on Ice season.

Hamilton, the 1984 Olympics gold medalist and founder of Stars, had retired from touring in 2001. But here he was back on the ice just two weeks before his wedding.

Meanwhile, Tara Lipinski, '98 gold medalist, and Steven Cousins were both sidelined by injuries, his for the season, hers undetermined.

Most in the audience were aware of the cast changes - that Hamilton will be on tour for at least 15 dates and that Ekaterina Gordeeva for at least a handful.

The marquee names could bolster the tour's box office - not that Stars on Ice needs that, what with the likes of Salt Lake City gold medalists Jamie Sale and David Pelletier and Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze on board and four-time World and 2002 gold medalist "sexy Alexei" Yagudin gracing the ice.

This is one power-packed tour. Todd Eldredge is in the cast, too, along with ice dancers Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur and pairs Jenni Meno and Todd Sand as well as Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman. And charismatic Katarina Witt and the showman Kurt Browning always are appealing.

The Lake Placid "dress rehearsal" is taped, and will be telecast by NBC Sunday, Jan. 5, starting at 4:30 p.m.

Here is what you can expect on tour and in the telecast:

- What's good - The talent, of course. Also technical perfection from the lighting and sound to choreography and costumes (New Hartford's Jef Billings does himself proud here).

- What's not so good - Because Hamilton was a late add, both of his solo turns are numbers familiar to most skating fans, "Chuck E's in Love" and "Figaro." But we can excuse this fault, if indeed it can be considered a fault, just to see Mr. Entertainer on ice again.

- What you should look for - Creativity. The opening number of Act II, for example, is called "Elvis vs. JXL," which includes most of the cast but quickly turns into just the boys, er, wranglers who are boot-scootin' and booty-shakin' whirlwinds.

- Why you should go to see the tour live - Connectedness. There's a quality the television broadcast just can't capture. Witt, Browning, Hamilton and Eldredge are extremely charismatic: they touch you. And the group numbers are best seen on the full expanse of ice, rather than in the camera's limited frame. These stars can go full throttle down the ice.

- Which are the memorable numbers? - Eldredge's "Miserere," for which he received one of the few standing ovations of the night; Witt's "Blues in the Night," in which she's at her sultriest best (her chartreuse dress is a knockout, too); Yagudin's "OverCome" and "Racing," which earned him gold medals for "best of show;" Sale and Pelletier's "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'," which shows you why they are "the sweethearts" of the skating world and Roca and Sur's "Prayer" (I expect this number will be cut from the telecast even though it was one of the best of the evening; a network bias).

Tune in Sunday to see how accurate I am.