A few comments on Champions on Ice Boston....... An enjoyable but not outstanding show, but I found it important to be in the mindset for entertainment rather than championship skating.
The best part of the show was my seats....... 4th row, CENTER, aisle and NO ONE WAS IN FRONT OF ME OR MY CAMERA. The two seats in front of me were empty most of the show. PERFECT SEATS!!!!
Miscellaneous thoughts.....
Couldn't stand the reflective silver tin foil glitter costumes during the introductions. I think they were meant to force photographers to put their cameras down!
(And speaking of cameras, COI doesn't seem to mind them at all......including flashes which continued to light up the arena like fireflies)
The programs started with my favorite - Sasha Cohen. Sasha's skill in maintaining her lovely line and footwork while managing her ribbon was apparent. This was my first time seeing her skate in person, and I was not disappointed. She carries herself with such grace. And what was a pleasant surprise is that she actually put the ribbon down on the ice for a full minute and delighted us with a few double jumps.
Tim Goebel is SLOW and doesn't seem to do many interesting moves between his jumps.
Dan Hollander is FAST......and personally I prefer his understated humor to Plushenko's overthetop attempt to entertain the audience. Also his mad hatter outfit in the ensemble number is hilarious. I don't know how he does those costume changes as fast as he does while maintaining his footwork etc. at the same time.
Viktor's posing is tedious. I really dislike his prison program and wish he'd break out of the jail cell he's skated himself into the past few years.
Although I have never cared much for Punsalan and Swallow, their new program is lovely, mesmerizing. Does anyone know what their exotic music is?
The greatest audience response was to the acrobats, Michael Weiss (surprise surprise!), Todd Eldredge, and Dan Hollander. And then perhaps Michelle and Evgeny Plushenko. I THINK that Todd was the only one to get a standing ovation.
Plushenko was a big hit with the audience, and indeed came across more as humorous than sexy. Both he and Philippe hugged an audience member near me......
I for one never found shirtless Philippe to be superattractive -- especially after having seen the biceps of Kurt Browning and Peter Tchernyshev this season. Message to Philippe - Philippe, if you're going to keep doing the shirtless routine, you really ought to take a look at your male competition, and spend a few more hours in the gym each week. Plushenko's already outstripped you - and both KB and PT have far and away a much more appealing physique!
I do continue however to enjoy how Philippe takes on different characters in his many programs, and a matador definitely suits him. And he at least does more than pose - he actually does half a dozen jumps.
Jenny Kirk opened the 2nd act, doing her Colors of the Wind program, which she had done last week in Boston at Ice Chips. My favorite of her programs but I don't think she's yet out of the gawky stage.
Sarah's developing more sophistication but is far from having the lightness and flow that Michelle (normally) has.
I like Usova and Platov's Desert Rose costumes and enjoy their skating, but have been ruminating on Candace's comments a week ago that she liked Usova better with Zhulin. I've been so aware of how obviously happier Maia is right now, but will now have to admit, their programs don't have the edge that U&Z programs did. But then again, U&Z did some great Blues numbers, the kind that Z choreographed for L&T lately. Wish we'd see more of that from U&P. Maybe there's just TOO MUCH harmony between them too -- not enough intensity.
Even though Nicole does a lot of posing, she always has a lot of charisma, and Cabaret was the perfect program for her. Wish she'd do a few more jumps though.....
Sale and Pelletier's program was very tame, and did not engender a strong audience response.
Irina looks gorgeous in her brilliant blue bodysuit and her program, one she did at Worlds (what's the name of this?), really shows off her strengths. Nice program.
High point of the show. Todd skated to 1492 instead of Thank You for Loving Me. What a wonderful surprise as this is my favorite program of his, apart from Glory. And yes, he was outstanding. I must say, that I'm warming up to Todd. He is MUCH BETTER in person than on tv, and he really does well to dramatic programs like 1492. Plus he has SUBSTANCE.
Michelle did not have the best night. A big fall and at least two botched landings. I don't think that This Time Around is one of her best programs either.
The costumes in the finale were great.....too bad though that the show ended with a whimper rather than the bang....for suddenly the skaters simply formed a line and skated around the arena before disappearing into the night.
I had seen the COI winter tour, which had many of the same skaters and programs, so not much of COI summer (spring really) was a surprise. But it was particularly satisfying to see Sasha Cohen, Todd Eldredge, Plushenko, and Irina Slutskaya. What we need however is more ice dancers.... especially L&T!
Tracy Marks
