Catching up with Kurt Browning - The Full Interview (Pt. 1)

Ice Wars

Tell me about the programs you did tonight.

Easy's from the Barenaked Ladies. I just had to tweak the order a bit because I was playing with them a lot [at Gotta Skate], so I just fixed that. Every time he says "easy" I just wanted to fly, which is a little unrealistic and kind of silly, but it was a different approach to a program. It's not that the jumps were that hard, but it was just seeing them over and over again. Just a theme I had never tried before. But it was fun! And it went ok.

And then I was at Skate America and I tried so hard to get Easy ready for the last two days. I was at Skate America talking so I didn't skate for five or six days. And then I came home and I had two days to retweak it, and I skated too much and I hurt my thighs. Not injured, I just burnt them out, and I never made it through my country number [Expectation and the Blues]. I was kind of disappointed 'cause that number was going so well at home. At home, it was so precise. Everything had a note. And I didn't perform it. I performed it about 60% of what I wanted. But, first time out, I was tired, you know, I'll take it.

Ice Wars was originally created as a Nancy [Kerrigan] vs Oksana [Baiul] rematch. Did you ever think it'd ever come down to you vs. Brian [Boitano] every year?

No, no, of course not. And it didn't start with me against Brian in the very beginning. I was always against Paul [Wylie]. [Ice Wars] were as big as Worlds, they were as big as the World Professional Championships. It was *huge*. And now it's a really fun tradition. But at that time, I think because I was emotionally so close to being a competitor, that it was like my one chance to really compete - Canadian Pro and Ice Wars. And now I'm so far away from those days that I'm not as attached to the competitive fire, so I think for Brian and I, it doesn't really feel the same. It's a fun rivalry. I'm not training to beat Brian. I'm just training to see, am I in good enough shape? Against Brian, it's awesome, but it is not personal, in almost any way, shape or form.

Back when you were skating World Pros against each other, did it carry over to Ice Wars a bit more?

I don't even think so. Then, it was a shock to be competitive with Brian. And to beat him was literally one of the most amazing things I've ever done, in my personal list of achievements as a skater. To beat Brian at his best was... you know, once, I thought it was a fluke or whatever, but then I did it twice, so I thought that was, like, *wow*. It was just like, wow, they really consider me a skater's skater. You know, I've really actually been considered one of the better skaters that ever skated if they allow me to be competitive against Brian Boitano. And back then I really wore an invisible medal on my chest with my respect for Brian. Obviously, I love Brian, and I loved him then. He's a sweetheart of a guy, and a really good friend. He's just so sincere, and so honest, and so nice. Such a great pillar of the sport. He's just awesome. So to beat him was awesome.

We're both older and our priorities are different, and I think now we both bring different things to the table. It's kind of like, you know what? This year I have a really good program. If I can land my jumps, I'm probably going to win. If my program isn't as good...oh, Brian's got a really good choreography this year. Hits his triple lutz, triple toe-triple toe this week, oh then he's got it. So we just kind of take turns being the guy who's most prepared this time of year. It's fun. ....Brian and I, we want to do a good show. We both want to skate well and we want it to be a good competition. Neither of us wants to just give it to the other guy because that's not our job, right? Our job is to fight, and to skate well, and to make people go "ooh". That's the best. That's what we want as professionals.

Why do you keep coming back to Ice Wars?

It's the only chance to flex your competitive muscle. It's that one last chance to, you know, no retakes, someone skates after you, and there's marks. [Those] old nerves, and do you still have it, and can you do it. Those little things that happen in your brain on the way into a jump that matters...it's fun, to go back in time a little bit.

If they did it again next year, would you come back?

<thinks for a while> Yeah, probably I would. I don't want to do it if I'm not looking that good out there. I can do shows, probably, you can get away with stuff. But to compete in prime time when people are giving you marks, you want to look healthy, you want to look good. So if I still think that I can be competitive, then I'll do it. Absolutely.

What jumps do you still train?

This year I didn't [train a triple-triple]. I usually try and do it, and this year I was just too busy. Too busy being a dad. .... I was trying to do [the] loop. I had the blade wrong [on my new skates]. And I didn't have the patience to either change the blade or train it hard enough and I just went screw it, this year I'm not doing it. So I train up to loop. I was doing triple axel this year, landing them. I landed three. One really nice one, for my coach in Edmonton on warmup for Stars on Ice. Do I do the triple axel on a regular basis? No. I do them just to see if I can still do it. The axels were just flying so well. It was like, just throw in the other revolution, and I was in the air going "this feels like my old triple axel." And I saw it on the little handicam, and I went, that looked good! I did lutz and flip too. Those were all beer bets with Pelletier.

Halloween on Ice

What goes into developing a character like that?

Music. Music-driven. I didn't watch a tape of the show or anything. I was going to. I was going to watch Wizard of Oz and then I just got on the ice and I just went, "Hmmm. Something's happening, and I'll just keep going with it." And I realized I was barely skating [but] I was like, screw it, who cares. I'll move around more on the ice on the next one. And this one I'm having so much fun with this music. The music so different. It changed all the time. Kept changing, kept changing, and I kept having to change with it. I loved it. It was so much fun. The costume helped. I mean, the costume was ridiculously perfect and really nice. So everything you do looks even better.

The costuming for that show in general was really good.

Denis! He's my guy! I got Denis all the Steve Disson gigs. He's very professional, he's been working for CBC television for years and years and years. So he's done everything once, and most things twice. He knows how to do everything. He's a very professional guy, Denis Pizzacalla. Awesome. Awesome. Phone him up everyone, he's good. Just don't make him too busy so he can get my stuff done <laughs>.

How does having a character like that change how you approach a program? Does it change how you skate the program?

Of course. Spins and jumps were out the window. I kept thinking about trying to make sure that there was never a moment where a kid would all of a sudden see me start skating. I just had to stay the Scarecrow the whole time. Never once become a skater. The other one was a little more scary Scarecrow. They asked me to do that. Possessed, scary Scarecrow. And so that was a little more like, it's just a skating number. Still fun! I like the first 10 seconds, melting and coming back up again, all scary <laughs>. It was really fun! So I really, really enjoy it.

You know, I think I'm going to do it in Stars! I really liked it, and I thought it was unusual, and I didn't want to see it go away.

Kurt Browning's Gotta Skate 6.0

How was it having Barenaked Ladies as the musical guests at Gotta Skate?

I'll be honest. I felt really important. <laughs> I felt kind of powerful. I mean, I had Bocelli, I've had a lot of amazing artists. But if I wanted to have a party, I would invite the Barenaked Ladies. Or the Tragically Hip. But if it was a skating party, probably the Barenaked Ladies would work better. So I'm like, this is my party!

I was very involved with the concept and design of the stage, and the interaction of the skaters with the band. And I almost got everything I wanted. My team made it happen. And I *really*, *really* worked hard to make sure that the Ladies knew that they were allowed to be themselves. "This is your show, you're not just coming out and playing music while we skate. Don't want you to feel that way." I got e-mails from two of the band members saying that they felt inspired and reinvigorated and motivated, and they had so much fun. It was awesome to get that feedback. So I really hope when the show comes out that it comes across as interactive, friendship, a rock show with skaters skating. I hope that it comes across the way it felt.

It was a great live show.

It was a good live show. Great crowd. It was..like I said to the crowd, it was, "man, what is it with figure skating?" You know, here's the skater <makes half-hearted cheer>. Ok, they're just gonna play a song <makes a deep excited roar>. The reaction was totally different.

I think you're expected to react different. Skating's more..refined.

Yeah, I know. It's like, awwww they look so cute out there. But I wanted to be a rock star too! <laughs> Pretty fun. It was a good night.

Gretchen Wilson Country on Ice

Tell me about your other program for Country on Ice

This one feels good. I mean, I'll probably do it one day and then never do it again, but she [Gretchen Wilson] is rockin'! That's good, I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping I can jump on the stage with her just to stand there and be cool for a second, and then get the hell off, but we'll see. Rebel [Child], right. She's rockin', it should be a fun show.