Stars on Ice capitalized perfectly on the 1998 Winter Olympics in
Nagano by creating a hilarious Olympic spoof, Fun and Games, centered
around the "greatest skating event in the world, the once every 13
year battle for the 'Golden Enchilada'." Featuring Scott Hamilton
(Brian Orser in Canada) as the sportswriter/narrator, "Fun and Games"
fondly poked fun at skating rivalries, costume debacles, skating moms,
judges, coaches, sponsors, ice dance, and a whole host of other
familiar figure skating issues. Kristi Yamaguchi was "Annie
Ne'eragain" whose archrival "Lily Pureheart" (Katia Gordeeva) was
driven by her overbearing skating mom "Ivana Medal" (Rosalynn
Sumners/Jayne Torvill). They were coached by the over-earnest, perform
every move along with his skaters Paul Wylie (Christopher Dean in
Canada). The ice dance team "Gorky and Park" (Roca/Sur in the US,
Brasseur/Eisler in Canada) tried to skate an "environmentally
conscious" number about the plight of the South American red ant, but
when the judges didn't take to it, immediately went to "Plan B",
shedding layers of costume and going for the fun, finger gun-pointing,
audience-ingratiating upbeat number that earned them top marks. The
judges even got their own number.
But the ultimate capper to the piece was the story of "Cyril Lutz"
(aka "Zero Lutz"), a nervous young skater without a sponsor, played by
Kurt Browning. Despite starting as a bag of nerves who could barely
get off the bench, "Cyril" ended up turning in the performance of a
lifetime (with hilarious interaction between him and the sportscaster)
and winning the gold. "Cyril" was so strong, in fact, that at the
Ft. Wayne, IN stop, on March 25, 1998, he even landed a quad during
his number, on the 10th anniversary of the first quad. Kurt had
apparently forgotten about the anniversary until fans from the Kurt
Klub surprised him with a 10-year-old bottle of Hungarian wine (since
the first quad was landed in Budapest) on a talk show that morning.
That night, he went for, and landed the quad. And he was to repeat
the feat later during the Toronto TV taping of Antares.
As for Antares, that was another special highlight of the 1998 tour.
The music was written especially for Kurt by his favorite band, the
Tragically Hip, and Kurt's connection to the music was clear to
everyone who watched the program. He and Sandra Bezic created a
program in which every beat was utilized, in which the footwork was
stellar, and which it is difficult imagining any other skater
performing. Kurt's other solo was special too, being a part of a
greater ensemble piece connecting his number with Kristi Yamaguchi and
Katia Gordeeva's numbers, all to songs by Elvis Presley. Kurt,
Kristi, and Katia just oozed sensuality as they skated together to
"Fever" and "Surrender", creating a memorable section of the show.
And to top it all off, Kurt's section of the opening number, performed
to music by Led Zeppelin, was performed all in hockey skates. Kurt's
dynamic segment to "Moby Dick" showed off both his fast, versatile
feet, and his ability to pull off tricks without toepicks.
In 1998, Stars on Ice also went
to Germany with Katarina Witt, Jane Torvill & Christopher Dean,
Scott Hamilton, Ekatarina Gordeeva, Kristi Yamaguchi, Brian Orser,
Kurt Browning, Rosalynn Sumners, Radka Kovarikova & Rene Novotny, Paul
Wylie, Elena Bechke & Denis Petrov, Renee Roca & Gorsha Sur.
This is so hard - how do you encapsulate all the SOI memories of Kurt!
My Top Ten List:
Sitting in the audience before being involved in SOI and watching Kurt skate Bring Him Home with Michael Burgess singing... (and wishing I were a part of the show)
Kurt's extraordinarily revealing performances of Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me after a tough competitive season
The belly laughs Kurt gives me every time we work
Cyril Lutz - brilliant!
The walk in the hallway at Mirror Lake Inn - (he knows what I mean)
Listening to the audience laugh during Ragidon - (we did it! alone in a quiet empty rink we made something funny!)
Late night rehearsal during tech week in Lake Placid - just us - the lights - the music - the ideas
Year after year, number after number, sitting by the music booth to watch him perform and experience the magic of the moment he never failed to create
Blowing me a kiss from centre ice while I was up in the lighting booth - Hamilton - 2003
The hours and hours of work - I love love love creating ANYTHING with that man
Kurt - Thank you for being a true friend and an inspiration
I love you
Sandra xoxoxox
