O.K. here's my review of the opening night of COI in Baltimore. I'll try to go in the rough show order, but I make no promises it's 100% accurate.
Opening: Same concept as previous years with each skater doing 30? seconds of a song. The difference this year is there is a costume 'theme' - all costumes are black and white and have gold Olympic rings on them somewhere. For example: Todd had black pants, and a black v-neck sweater type vest over a white shirt with billowy sleeves and gold glittery rings around the neckline. It worked well as it made the opening seem more like a group effort. Don't remember what the majority of them skated to, but for some reason I can remember that Elvis got "Kung-Fu Fighting." Only Oksana crashed on her triple toe - all others clean.
[after writing this I realized that I couldn't remember the skate order nearly as well as I thought, so I put an * next to the ones I know are in the right places - I'm pretty sure I got who was in each half right though]
Sadly the show itself was not as clean as the opening, with numerous splats throughout the night.
*Sasha Cohen: Same exhibition as earlier in the season. Cute but nothing special. All I kept thinking about was how slow she seemed.
*Plushenko: *eek* Did his long program and I swear he was making it up as he went along. Lots of two-foots and stumbles and a fall I think. One cool element was he did a 3toe-3toe-2loop-2loop. The last loop was very wonky, but it was pretty cool to see. Otherwise it all just looked improvised.
Surya Bonaly: Her tech routine from the World Pros, only the pantsuit has been turned into a skirt.
Dan Hollander: "Cartmen & Mrs Doubtfire" Dan got the biggest ovation of the first half and maybe of the night. His routines were just hysterical - especially the Cartman parts. This was the first time I'd seen Dan live and it was just wonderful!
Usova & Platov: "Spent Le Estelle" Very nice program, only I find that some of their moves are becoming overused and I'd like to see some different (an more attractive) lifts from them.
Michael Weiss: "SuperFreak / MC Hammer #" Oh my god I think I went blind, those metallic gold pants were frightening. Didn't like the program at all - too much on the ice breakdancing and general non-skating. *blech*
*Bereznaya & Sikharulidze: I'm blanking on the music, but I remember thinking it was a great song to choose (it was something pop), and they skated it really well. He in light blue shirt with yellow tie and she in black. Wonderful lifts and throws - very clean program and they looked relaxed and happy.
Rudy Galindo: "Send In The Clowns" in a new black and white version of the costume. He wasn't intro'd in the beginning so I wondered if he was going to skate, but he did although he too was off his game. Singled some Axels and I think the rest were doubled. Nice to see him do one of his more serious routines.
Punsalan & Swallow: "Woman" new costumes for them - she's in a blue and pink sparkly version of the old dress. Some new moves to it and a new stronger version of "woman" (Aretha Franklin maybe?) used at the end which makes the program leagues better than the one from the winter tour.
[intermission]
Besedin & Polishchuk. Same program as the winter tour. Cute, but imho it's one that if you've seen it once, that's all you need.
Klimova & Ponomarenko's: The routine they did on the winter tour. Nothing that really stuck in my mind.
Dorothy Hamill: "Here's To You / Love Makes The World Go Round" Classic Dorothy - she was very on and was just stunning in her simple lines and moves. breathtaking really.
Elvis Stojko: "Right About Now" That cool hip-hop type song that's been in a lot of the teen flicks. Cute routine (black track pants white shirt), but it's got too much standing in place and the music really calls for some fast footwork. I think maybe more skating of it will help it grow.
Oksana Baiul: Her Cher routine in the red pants and sparkly top. Crashed on one jump. Amazingly no hysterics.
Viktor Petrenko: "Mambo No 5." Another one who brought the house down. This program really suits Viktor and he sold it very well.
Kazakova & Dmitriev: "Spent Le Estelle" Oksana was *very* off, falling on a throw, stumbling and two footing the throw from the death spiral and missing one other element later on. Really interrupted the flow.
Irina Slutskaya: Cute number for her, sort of a pop sound to it, which was fun. She landed most of her stuff, but looked tired. (purple sparkly dress)
*Todd Eldredge: "The Glory" Simply my favorite program of the evening. Todd barely hung on to a 3 loop and saved a 2 Axel (that was supposed to be a 3 Axel), but the rest of the program was nice. The ice was tiny and the program was a bit rearranged. He wore the blue and white ID4 costume. Todd looked a little off, and we found out later that he's got a cold (which he blames Fran for giving to him
*Philippe Candeloro: "Guermos" That horrible horrible shirtless guerilla program *blech* *blech* *blech**
[Brasseur & Eisler]: Afterward talking with Todd, it seems that this is where B&E would skate but that Thurs morning Lloyd injured his shoulder(?) and they had to pull out. They were in the intro though!
*Brian Boitano: "Wild Elephants" Seen it twice already but still fun number. Excellent skating all the way through.
*Michelle Kwan: "The World Is Not Enough" (latest Bond theme). New look for her in a black sparkly body suit with a flesh stripe across one shoulder and down her back. For some reason to me the body suit just made her seem younger, while normally I think it works the other way. Nice program from her, different from her usual GFB stuff. I think it was still just too new to really sell, but it's got nice potential.
Finale: "Bolero" with everyone in combinations of red, pink and black. This is *the* highlight of the show and tops the swing finale last year by a mile. Of course I'm biased and spent much of the time watching Todd (who wore black pants and a dark red sparkly shirt), but it was a really well done finale, with individual skaters getting highlighted while the group remained on the ice. I really hope this makes the broadcast! Todd-fans pack your pacemakers - one look at Todd in this routine is guaranteed to make your heart stop. The music *really* was made for Todd to skate to and the choreography really really really highlights the wonderful line and stretch he has. I think the rest of the finale went well - I didn't see much of it
Misc Notes: Nicole was seen on the Baltimore news as practicing, but according to Todd, she twisted (?) her ankle on Wed and so was unable to skate. It was also mentioned that they're still tinkering a bit with the run order so things may change for your tour stop.
