Stars on Ice Review - Washington, DC - Dec. 29, 2002

Since there have been many reviews about the show this year, I'm only going to write about the specifics of the show in DC and add things that I have noticed this time around. (I don't remember things well the first time around.) I took notes at the end of each act so forgive me for any errors or omissions.

The arena was surprisingly empty but I am guessing it had to do with it being in the middle of the holidays. The two ends of on ice seats were practically empty.

Opening
Seemed to go off without a hitch.

Alexei Yagudin: Born to be Wild
Kurt gave Alexei his jacket near a couple of fans on ice with Alexei signs that either had lights on them or some sort of glow thing. I wonder if either Kurt or Alexei noticed. I was too far to tell. Alexei seemed to slide less down on the ice than in Lake Placid. He did at least one 3-toe, probably even two.

Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman: Bed of Roses
So I definitely enjoyed this program more than I did in Lake Placid. They skated pretty well. They did sbs 1-axels, nice combination spin, and several of their trademark moves, including the lift where he does a spread eagle and she is upside down. They also did that move where he does a spread eagle and she is horizontal near his feet.

Jamie Sale and David Pelletier: Come Fly with Me
This is my favorite program of theirs in the show. It's whimsical and cute. They have a number of nice lifts including one that is held for the entire length of the rink. They also do a nice spin where David almost looks as if he is spinning Jamie. Last, but not least, they did a beautiful high throw 3-loop.

Todd Eldredge: Channel 1 Suite
This is a fast program designed to show off his speed. I liked middle part of it best (the kind of jazzy part). He did a couple of nice triples (3-toes?) a couple of spins, and a circular footwork sequence at the end.

Katarina Witt, Gorsha Sur, John Zimmerman: Hotter than Blue
Fun to watch. No mistakes.

Alexei Yagudin: OverCome
They took this out. No explanation was given. Probably because of his injury?

Jenni Meno and Todd Sand: I'm Your Man
I really like this program of theirs. It's different from what they have done in the past but it feels very natural on them. It's also nice to see their sense of humor come through too. They did a bunch of original lifts, the lift where she kind of flips out, a death spiral, and a throw 2-axel where she fell.

Kurt Browning: How do you Keep the Music Playing
Kurt was really on tonight. He did a high 2-axel, a very pretty 3-sal, 2 3-toes, and one other triple I missed the entrance to but it came out of some spinning footwork.

Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, and Todd Eldredge: Power Play
The pairs did several lifts, 2 sets of death spirals, the first separately and then later synchronized. Synchronized split double twists, and spirals across the ice. Todd jumped, I think a triple of some kind and I think also did a death drop. Since the focus is on the pairs, I wasn't really watching him. Anyhow, I think this program is fun since while Todd is talking about who can judge them, the pairs teams are doing the exact same things on the ice as if they are teasing the audience and saying "go ahead, compare us, we know you want to." It's also amazing that they are as synchronized with each other as they are.

Act II

Lots of skaters: Studz
They do a lot of funny exaggerated cowboy mannerisms in this number. Todd throws Kurt into a single something where he sort of splits then clicks his heels before landing. While doing some footwork thing in the middle Kurt broke away turned his hat sideways and then waddled bowl-legged towards the side. He looked like he was trying to look a little like Napoleon with his hat sideways. I liked the part where they pair up and go down the ice leaning on each other. One pair was doing spread eagles, another besti squats, and the last was facing each other leaning back resting on the other's knees.

Katarina Witt: The Rest of Your Life
Katarina did a 2-axel with a step out, and a 2-toe or flip (though i think it was a toe loop). She also did a very long spread eagle.

Todd Eldedge: Miserere
Todd did a beautiful 3-axel, a 3-toe (okay possibly this was a flip), and a couple of split jumps.

Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur: Prayer
They skated this beautifully and perfectly.

Ekaterina Gordeeva: Russian music
It's great seeing her skate live again. She did a really cute program. She fell on her 3-toe attempt, but hit a 2-lutz. The program also has a lot of toepick footwork.

Kurt Browning: Slippery Side Up
I didn't appreciate this program as much In Lake Placid since my camera died in the middle of it. This time I wasn't distracted and I really liked it. His interactions with the audience are funny. He also does a really impressive diagonal footwork sequence all on one foot with little to no initial momentum. He generates it as he moves across the ice while also turning and still acting the part with his upper body. He also does a sequence where moves across the ice pretty much spinning the whole time causing someone nearby me to ask how he wasn't dizzy. The ending seemed a little different than Lake Placid too. He skated around the middle as if he couldn't get there, then once he did get in, he kept slipping and falling. The rope being thrown out and pulling him in is the same.

Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, and Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur: Love on the Rocks
No mistakes here either.

Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze: Elvis and Marilyn
They completed a very nice throw 3-sal, and the lift where she's doing a handstand on him. They also did this thing that looked like her doing a cartwheel in the air and another flip at the end of the program but it was messy and it wasn't clear to me if they made a mistake or did it correctly since they ended it right on with the music.

Jamie Sale and David Pelletier: Loving' Touchin' Squeezin'
This program is packed with stuff. They did a throw 3-sal, split triple twist, a one-handed star lift with David in a spread eagle, a lift with Jamie doing a handstand on one of David's arms with no other support from David while still moving down the ice, sbs sit spins (she fell out a little), and a two handed detroiter (sp?). wow!

Alexei Yagudin: Racing
This program looks fun for Alexei. He plays around a lot with the audience. He did a triple in the corner, but I missed the entry, so I don't know what it was. My notes say 3-axel? so I think I guessed that's what it was. He did definitely do 2 3-toes though. :)

Finale: Can't Stop
Also skated with no problems.

One weird thing was that usually the audience ends up standing at the end of the show. For some reason, they didn't here and when the skaters went to greet the on-ice people, they still didn't stand up. So the skaters had to bend over some to shake their hands. I hope the poor attendance doesn't mean SOI won't come back to DC in the future. It's a nice venue and so convenient to get to.