Canadian Stars on Ice Review - Toronto/Hamilton/London, ON - Apr. 25-27, 2003

written by Hoo

Overall I thought this year's Canadian show was excellent, even if it did have a rather large Brian Orser shaped hole in it :( I was much impressed with the opening and closings as the last time I saw them was the Washington stop early in the US tour. The US skaters looked very comfortable with the routines and of course the added Canadians blended in nicely.

Opening - "Orin Does Ozzy"
While not as intricate as some of the openings of the past, I really like the high energy beat to the program. It gets the audience out and rocking right from the very start. I like how different case members get added and then taken off and then added again so the ensemble on the ice is always evolving and very fluid. The tie-ins between each individual trick all worked well so that the whole thing just seemed to flow together. Interesting to note that at all three stops, the ovations for the intro of Brasseur & Eisler was louder than that for Sale & Pelletier. Personal highlight for me was seeing Steven first hit the ice in Toronto - even though you can tell he's still favoring his knee a bit, it was great to see him back again!

Steven Cousins - "Born To Be Wild"
When I first heard Alexei was doing this in the US I really thought it would be great, but somehow I just never bought into the program when he did it - sort of as if he knew it was a silly number and didn't really care. Well it's still a bit of a silly filler, but boy did Steven make it his own! He used that fabulous charisma of his and just sold the number to the hilt. Makes me wonder if this was supposed to be his all along. The number opens with Todd coming out to hand him his leather jacket, and his shirt is a mottled gray. Lots of squeels all around the rink as Steven made eye contact and flashed that smile at various ladies in the audience. Nicely done!

Ina & Zimmerman - "Bed of Roses"
Like others, I too love the transition into this number with Steven interacting with Kyoko and doing the pairs ina bauers. As for the number itself the team was on for all 3 shows with the only bobble being John singling his axel for at least two of them (but much less jarring than if he fell - most people probably never even noticed). This piece of music really suits them and there style and their lifts were just amazing! And the final pose/lift is definitely one of the most beautiful parts.

Kurt Browning - "My Favorite Things"
This music is really so tied with the holidays that it was hard to see a program to it in may, but Kurt helped it by changing his costume so that it was a Canada Post mailman outfit. It's not one of my favorite programs, but it's got some beautiful ina bauers in it so I can live with that. One program out of three is ok to be a bit light.

Sale & Pelletier - "Come Fly With Me"
When I first saw this program I thought it looked really rough and wildy empty so I was happy to see that by Canada more details had been filled in and they'd really gotten comfortable with it. It's just a light program and the two of them look like they're just floating over the ice. Highlight for me is how they enter the death spiral with Davis still skating along before going into his pivot.

Todd Eldredge - "Channel One Suite"
This is another program that has developed well from repeat performances. Other than an off night in London, Todd looked really good during this program. He's obviously become much more comfortable with the footwork sequences and they look more effortless than in Lake Placid. It's nice to see a skater challenge themselves with improving skills even after they leave eligible ranks. I'm still not fond of the slower middle part but it is growing on me. And Todd's also improved in the 'look up and *at* at the audience' thing - nice to see such an outgoing program from him. Hopefully it's a style he'll choose to expand on for next year.

Cousins, Zimmerman, Robinson - "Hotter Than Blue"
This was a number that was definitely better in the US. While I commend Jen for trying a role like this, she's just not the complete goddess that Katarina is (nor quite frankly in anyone). Maybe if I hadn't seen Kat in this number I might liked it better, but here Jen just just didn't have enough *oompf* for the role. And as much as I'm a Steven fan, I think John and Gorsha worked better because they have a very similar look and you can tell that John had worked hard to match Gorsha's fluid style of moment. While Steven and John were great together, they both move (and look) very different so it wasn't quite the same. That being said though, it was still a decent number and Steven and John were both very funny in the bodyguard roles :)

Brasseur & Eisler - "The Middle"
I love to see the playful programs that this team puts together and this one was no exception. The 'theme' of the program was that Isabelle was sort of the fun-loving energetic girl and Lloyd was the stick-in-the-mud guy and she spends the program trying to get him involved with the music. It was full of their high energy lifts including the headbanger and both of ones where she's spun upside down held by her feet. As usual Lloyd was singing along with the music at every stop ;) Cute program from them and performed really well!

Browning - "How Do You Keep The Music Playing?"
This program is just classic Browning, but it's definitely one of those programs that has to be on to work. Thankfully Kurt was on 2 of the 3 nights so the program really showed everything it can be. And it's got those great ina bauers and spread eagles in it. In Toronto Kurt had sort of a freak fall onto his knee and he ended up leaving the ice a moment later which caused power play to be rushed out. Thankfully Kurt came out right after and did his solo. I happened to run into him on the street in Hamilton and he said he's got bad knees and that it just sort of popped but a few minutes later with some ice and a brace he could go on. He said it was really disappointing because up to that point his knees had been feeling 100%. As a result of this I think in Hamilton & London I was paying excessive attention to his knees and didn't get the full impact of the program, but it was still really excellent.

Ensemble - "Power Play"
Sadly this number is still rather pointless overall, though of course Jen and I had great fun snickering to the little speech Todd gets to do. It's just so completely corny. But on the positive side, while the "group" feel of the program is week, the tricks that S&P and B&S do are wonderful to watch. I just love the move S&P do with him in a spread eagle and her being carried in the split position with one leg up over his shoulder - the line it makes is just so pretty.

Intermission

Ensemble - "Studz"
Now this is the perfect version of Studz - I was so disappointed we missed Steven in the US tour and I am happy to say he was definitely worth the wait. It's a silly program but it's fun and the guys are quite frankly gorgeous so you won't here me complaining at all ;) In Toronto I was, err "lucky" enough to have seats on the end where the guys pick up the girls. While it provided a great view of that number, it also unfortunately provided a certain skater with an opportunity he couldn't pass up. When the guys first come tearing down the ice to pick up the girls, Todd spotted Jen and I and instead of just stopping to get Isabelle, he shifted over a bit and did a gigantic hockey stop - covered the two of us in ice from head to toe! Whatever look of shock on our faces must have been priceless and it just cracked him and Steven up. (*sigh* sometimes knowing the skaters isn't all it's cracked up to be!). I do have to commend him on his accuracy though - the two ladies on either side of us got maybe 4 flakes apiece on them - the other hundreds were all on Jen and I. *brrrr* Beyond that, I thoroughly enjoyed the program every night - the hard part is deciding who to watch! In this tour, Todd and Steven do the interlocking sit position move that was Gorsha and Sand's in the US. And of course I have to say that Todd looked incredibly silly with his handshakes - all the men jump onto the carpet and basically shake their booty for the on-ice fans - all except Todd who shakes hands. Though at least by the London show he'd added a little hip wiggle to it - maybe by Vancouver he'll be fully along with the rest :)

Jennifer Robinson - "Amato Mio"
While the song is very cute, I still just don't understand the whole coat/hat thing. Made no sense at Hol Fest either. Jen had an off night in Hamilton (joked during retakes that when you mess up they make you bring out your own props ) but was mostly on for the rest of the numbers. She looked a little more overwhelmed on this tour than I recall seeing her on Skate the Nation - makes me wonder if the role of sole female soloist put a little too much pressure on her.

Steven Cousins - "Disco Science"
I admit it, Steven was my main reason for going (yeah like ya'll didn't already know that ) and I was very happy to see him bring out "Disco Science" as I'd really enjoyed it at Kurt's show. He's only doing 3toes and 2axels in the program, but since the doctors didn't even think he'd be ready to skate in this tour at all, I was very impressed. He landed everything except the 3toe in Hamilton (how convenient that it was the night we'd get to see a retake ). In Hamilton Kurt gave him a nice intro for his retake saying how he'd been missed in the US and it was good to see him back on the ice. The in-between dance moves and footwork were on every night :)

Brasseur & Eisler - "A Friend To Me"
Even though B&E are known for their fast numbers, they really do pull off slow numbers really well and this number is a definite highlight. I loved the simple black for Lloyd and the shaded sparkly purple for Isabelle - made a stunning look for them. I was really impressed with several of their moves that started as a high lift and then had Lloyd flip her over his back and carry her there, then flip her again and carry her in front before setting her down - the transitions just worked beautifully! Nice to see this team go out with such great programs this year - can't wait to see what they've got in store for their final Dreams show.

Todd Eldredge - "Miserere"
Classic Todd and done really well. There's such a think as playing to your strengths, and this program drew huge applause both nights. Todd's really got that classic dramatic music flair and this is one of his better programs for it. The spins were a real highlight (as always) in this program and they were definitely well timed to the music!

Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze - "Mme. T's After Hours"
Doesn't matter how often I see this program, I just hate those Marilyn Monroe bits cut into the Elvis tunes - it's so jarring! Anton however does an absolutely fabulous Elvis out there - you can tell he's really getting into the music and the character. Sadly Elena just doesn't project any of the Monroe characteristics - it'd have worked much better if they'd done something like Tanith & Ben where the female is a Elvis fan or some-such. They did have some really great high power lifts though. In Hamilton Anton took a freak fall going backward (caught an edge or something which just doing cross overs) so they had retakes. Anton was cracking up the crowd by playing the Monroe bits while waiting for the music to get to the right spot to pick up - very funny!

Alexei Yagudin - "Racing"
Not sure what is up with our Olympic Champion here. The reviews have all said he looked injured, but I'm not sure. The jumps were huge (granted all toes) but the footwork and even the spins were just sort of 'average.' Overall I thought Alexei just looked bored - not tired or hurt, just bored. I wonder if doing the same thing for 70 cities just got old for him. It was a shame I think because when he's on this program really sparkles but when he's off it just sort of falls a little flat. :(

Sale & Pelletier - "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'"
Not sure what more I can say about this program that I haven't said before. It's really a great program for these two and the lifts in it are impressive - I especially love the Orchid lift - so gorgeous. And maybe touring a bit with B&E has helped - their detroiter no longer looks like Jamie is going to come crashing down!

Kurt - "Slippery Side Up"
Hmmm I think Kurt was getting a bit tired by this point in the show, that or his knee problems were hampering him a bit as the footwork sections were definitely slower than last I saw. And while I really like this program from Kurt, it just doesn't work as a closer. I'd have swapped him and S&P as their number would work well up against the finale I'd like. But that being said, the program was still incredibly impressive - the section where Kurt does footwork on just the one foot and never puts the other down is just flabbergasting - I have no idea how he manages that.