Grand Slam of Figure Skating hits ice tonight

Tonight's Grand Slam of Figure Skating - the first day of a two-day event - is a first for South Carolina: a bona fide figure skating competition.

Skating shows have previously been held in the state, but this is the first event sanctioned by the International Skating Union. It includes both amateurs and professionals.

Eight men and eight women skaters will perform interpretive free programs today at 7:30 p.m. at the North Charleston Coliseum. The top four in each category will advance to Saturday night's round, also at 7:30 p.m., with the other skaters performing exhibitions. Saturday's event will feature different routines from Friday's event.

Scheduled to compete are Michelle Kwan, Irina Slutskaya, Maria Butyrskaya, Lu Chen, Nicole Bobek, Yuka Sato, Josee Chouinard and Caryn Kadavy. The men's competition includes Todd Eldredge, Kurt Browning, Ilia Kulik, Scott Davis, Viktor Petrenko, Takeshi Honda, Evgeny Plushenko and Eric Millot.

Nearly $300,000 will be awarded.

According to the technical requirements for the event, emphasis will be on skaters' skills and not on how entertaining they are. Women are required to perform three different triple jumps in their programs and the men are required to perform four different triple jumps.

Skaters will receive marks for technique and presentation.