Well, the show turned out to be MUCH more than we had expected. Although we usually attend every year, my husband and I only decided to attend this show recently when we were looking at ticketmaster for ideas for an evening out and noticed that tickets to Stars on Ice were on a buy one get one free special at our civic center.

We we arrived there we found that our seats were WAY up in nosebleed section, but that was OK with us. A few minutes before the show was to start the ushers came up to the second section and said that because it was not a full house there were many good seats open further down, and told us we could move. We were brought to the front row seats in the second level. GREAT !!! We were very pleased, and watched the first half of the show from there !!!

During intermission, the usher came back up to us and said that if we wanted we could move to the corner/end section on the lower level where hardly anyone was sitting. So we got up and moved yet again, this time to second row seats right on ice !!!! This area where we sat was right next to the tunnel that leads to the skaters' dressing room.

The second half of the show starts, and the skaters started coming out of the tunnel way to watch the others skate. Todd and Kurt came out and were talking to someone who I realized was none other than Alexi Yagudin who was there to watch the skaters. !!!! Todd and Kurt then left to get ready to skate again while Yags stayed there. The Russian ice dance pair of Anjelika & Oleg came out and spoke with Yags for a while. I also saw Jenny Meno and Todd Sands come out for a bit. I was able to get Alexi's attention and he came over to where I was sitting. I was able to speak to him a bit and congratualted him on his Olympic gold medal and told him how terrific I thought he was at the Olympics. He was very sweet and thanked me. He stayed there in the tunnel opening for most of the second half of the show. I was able to get one picture of him !!! **LOL** It's not very good, but I just HAVE to show it !!! I met him once before when he was just 17 years old and I must say that he is aging quite nicely !!!

I had heard that the show wasn't as good as in past years and that was one reason I didn't get tickets right away. I'm really glad that we decided to go. It was different without Scott, and maybe lacked that "something" that Scott always added, but it was enjoyable none the less. Scott did do the narration on tape which was nice, and I think the rest of the cast did a nice job with the show.

I"m not going to give a play-by-play of each skater's program, there are plenty reviews like that elsewere. I'll just give my over-all view of some of my favorites.

Todd was introduced as a special guest. He performed his Olympic program, and was spectacular !!! You have to see his spins in person to truly appreciate them !!! He got a standing O from the audience. Kurt Browning.....the showman !!! I loved his programs. His footwork is awesome !!! Kristi is lovely to watch. She still has superb technicial skills and she seems to glide effortlessly over the ice. I loved her "Gold" program and she looked stunning in the gold costume. Lucinda Ruh and her spinning is amazing. I've never seen her live before and the speed of her spins is not captured on TV. She also looked lovely as "the showgirl" !! Tara has grown so much artistically. Her Roses program is lovely, she did a beautiful catch leg spiral that covered the whole arena !!! Steven Cousins lights up the whole place with his great smile and personality !! His Tom Jones program was fun and included some excellent butt shaking !!! And the man does have an excellent butt to shake !!! Ilia Kulik is probably my favorite of the show. I love this unique techno/funky kind of style he has developed for himself. I think his programs are very intertaining and loaded with great jumps and footwork. The group numbers were also very different and a lot of fun !!!

Diane