Canadian leads cast of champs on the ice

If you ask Kurt Browning whether he's the "heir apparent" to Stars on Ice creator Scott Hamilton, he will make a pun about "hair" -- specifically, about how he's balding just like his idol.

If you ask Browning, a four-time world champion, whether he's the central figure in the Stars on Ice tour, which comes to Conseco Fieldhouse Monday, he will talk about how the focus in the show is on, as he puts it, "our three terrific lady champions."

Browning, 35, is referring to his co-stars, 1998 Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski, 1992 Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi and Katarina Witt, who captured gold in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games.

Modesty aside, Browning undeniably has become one of the biggest crowd pleasers in Stars on Ice -- as well as in professional competitions and on TV specials -- since Hamilton bowed out after last season's tour.

Although Browning may not enjoy the name recognition of his mentor in the United States, the charismatic athlete remains, as Newsweek once described him, a "mega-star" in Canada, his homeland.

Browning recently became one of the first athletes to receive a star on Canada's newly created Walk of Fame in downtown Toronto; other famous Canadians honored with stars include actors Michael J. Fox and Leslie Nielsen.

"To be selected over all sorts of incredibly accomplished people, including politicians and other athletes, was almost freaky," Browning said by phone from Denver, an early stop on the Stars on Ice tour.

He was joined at the Walk of Fame ceremony by his wife, Sonia Rodriguez, a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada.

She also appeared with her husband in Kurt Browning's Gotta Dance, an NBC-TV special broadcast in December that brought together skaters, dancers and Broadway stars.

The TV special, Browning's fourth, also featured performances by Barenaked Ladies singer Ed Robertson. He composed a pop tune, Kurt's Song, as a tribute to his famous friend; during the special, Robertson played Kurt's Song on acoustic guitar as Browning skated, executed back flips and bantered with his buddy.

"That was all improvised," Browning says. "Ed wrote the song in my living room as Sonia cooked dinner for us."

Browning will skate to Kurt's Song as the opening soloist in the Stars on Ice show. He also will perform in a routine with Lipinski, Yamaguchi and Witt, portraying a man who is, in Browning's words, "amorously pursuing" the three women as they stare into vanity mirrors.

Browning's skating pal in the routine will be 1998 Olympic gold medalist Ilia Kulik, because Hamilton, 43, retired from touring last year. Even so, Hamilton still has creative input into the show, Browning says.

"His presence is always felt," Browning said. "When our names are introduced at the start of every Stars on Ice show, that's Scott's voice on the tape."

Another legendary skater with an out-of-the-spotlight role in the production is ice dancer Christopher Dean of Torvill & Dean fame. He choreographed the routine featuring Browning in amorous pursuit of the mirror-toting women.

As the veteran in the cast, Browning refers to himself as "the grandfather leader."

His world championships came in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1993. Browning also made skating history -- and earned a citation in the Guinness Book of World Records -- by landing the first quadruple jump in competition.

The only distinction that proved elusive was an Olympic medal. Although Browning entered the 1992 and 1994 Olympics as the gold medal favorite, he never finished higher than fifth.

"The secret is to be able to take (the Olympics) out of context as the biggest sporting event ever and to make it just another day at the office," he said.

Browning's picks for gold medallists at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, which begin Friday, are Michelle Kwan of the United States and Alexei Yagudin of Russia.

Browning revealed he also will have a small role at the Olympics as a performer during the closing ceremony.