Stars on Ice keeps skaters in the spotlight

The Target Stars on Ice tour skates into Pittsburgh on Sunday at a time when excitement about figure skating is at an all-time high.

The 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City attracted a record number of television viewers who watched the two weeks of competitions. Even more viewers tuned in for the Olympics closing ceremony on Feb. 24, when an estimated worldwide audience of 3.5 billion - in addition to the 60,000 who paid admission to the event - were treated to performances by a lineup of top-notch entertainers.

Among the cast members was Stars on Ice headliner Kurt Browning, who executed a flawless number to the music of George Gershwin's "Fascinating Rhythm," sung by jazz vocalist Diane Reeves. While he made his performance look easy, the four-time world figure skating champion and four-time Canadian champion says he was initially frightened by the large crowd and the difficulty of the routine choreographed by Sarah Calahan, who has designed programs for figure-skating veteran Scott Hamilton, who also performed at the Olympics.

"It was really scary," he admits. "I call it my land-mine program. There was so much potential for disaster."

The number required Browning to execute several turns and jumps, once jumping nearly four feet from the portable stage area onto the ice. He says Calahan's goal was to create a routine that would "break the boundary between the stage and the ice."

"I looked up at the 60,000 fans, and they all had flashlights, and in the back of my mind I thought, 'the best skaters in the world are here,'" he says. His only preparation at the venue was a two-hour rehearsal in mid-January and two run-throughs with the entire cast before the program that he says "didn't go so well."

The one factor that made him feel more at ease was that the rock group Kiss was scheduled to enter the stadium as his performance ended, and he figured the crowd would be watching Kiss instead of him.

As far as the judging controversy of the pairs program that eventually upgraded the medals of the Canadian skaters from silver to gold, Browning says, "I don't remember this stuff going on as an amateur. I was surprised, very surprised. It certainly didn't help the reputation of our sport. If it's become tarnished, then we have to clean it up."

He says he has empathy for skater Michelle Kwan, who was predicted to win the gold medal in the ladies' competition but fell during her routine and had to settle for a bronze.

"It's such an emotional thing," says Browning, who has experienced his own disappointments in Olympic competition. "She broke my heart, too. But I think she'll be OK. She's still a superstar, still respected and still loved by the whole planet."

Browning, who has been a part of Stars on Ice for seven years, has soared to new heights since turning professional. He has channeled his energies into several well-received television specials, which include his memorable portrayal of Gene Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain." His most recent program, "Kurt Browning's Gotta Dance," aired in December on NBC.

Known as the first athlete ever to successfully complete a quadruple jump in world competition (at the 1988 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary), his other achievements include being inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Browning, who grew up in Alberta, now lives in Toronto with his wife, Sonia Rodriguez, a principal dancer with Ballet Canada.

Browning still enjoys performing on the sometimes grueling, 65-city Stars on Ice circuit.

"Scott Hamilton, who started the tour, never wanted it to be about one name," he says. "He wanted the group to perform together and be challenged. This show is based on an Olympics style of skating."

Stars on Ice tour director Dave Hoffis says one of Browning's best moments in the program is when he skates with a vanity mirror in "Vanity Tango" with fellow performers Tara Lipinski, Kristi Yamaguchi, Katarina Witt, Steven Cousins and Denis Petrov.

At this point in his career, Browning says the tour still is rewarding for him. "If it becomes a chore - and every once in a while it does - you hope your teammates grab you by the ear and pull you out of it. If you're healthy and performing well every night, I can't imagine a better job."

He remembers Hamilton once asking him, "How bad can a job be when people stand up and clap at the end of your workday?"

Target Stars on Ice
6 p.m. Sunday
$58; $48; $37
Mellon Arena, Uptown
(412) 323-1919 or starsonice.com

Who's skating this time?

Four Olympic gold medalists join national and world champion skaters on the Mellon Arena ice for this year's edition of Target Stars on Ice:

Tara Lipinski and Ilia Kulik won top honors at the 1998 winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Kristi Yamaguchi earned the gold medal for her 1992 performance in Albertville, France.

Katarina Witt won her first Olympic title in 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, and her second four years later in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. A recent addition to the cast is six-time U.S. national champion and 1996 world champion Todd Eldredge, who just joined the tour Feb. 26 in Moline, Ill., under a new six-year contract with Stars on Ice.

Also new to the tour this year are two-time World champions Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov, who join returning three-time U.S. national pair champions Jenni Meno and Todd Sand. Also returning to the tour are Olympic silver medalist and two-time world professional champion Denis Petrov, and eight-time British national champion Steven Cousins.