This year the show as held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, rather than the Target Center in Minneapolis. The primary bonus is that Xcel is newer (meaning it’s generally shinier and has many more bathrooms).I was quite surprised to see an extremely large audience, certainly the largest I’ve seen since I’ve moved up here. Basically the entire lower bowl was sold out and sections of the nosebleed. This was probably because the Winter Carnival is literally right next door and there may have been a lot of people who decided to see the show while down there. Of course I’m amazed that any of us actually left our homes because it was below zero…before the wind chill.

Pre-show…who cares. Well, the little announcements were funny. But I didn’t come out in the freezing cold (have I mentioned how cold it was) to listen to goofy announcements. I want skaters!

The opening is Sunrise from the Grand Canyon Suite with Yuka starting the whole thing. I’ve never seen her live and she is amazing. This opening was dramatically different than last years and works wonderfully. Mostly I spent a lot of time watching Todd, who seems to look comfortable skating to just about anything. But it also struck me how strange it was to watch this show without having seen it on TV. I liked it, there was Todd, that’s about all I have to say about that.

Scott Hamilton was the male guest star we got, who received a loud ovation for merely standing on the ice. I haven’t seen him skate live since 1995, so the first thing I noticed was that he clearly wasn’t the skater he was then (which is hardly a surprise). I think it’s more noticeable because he’s done a program to “In the Mood” before. But, he can still sell this program and everyone loves him. He got the first standing ovation of the night. I have to admit that I kept sitting.

David Pelletier came out and did his little bit, which I actually thought was funny and that they should use him for more stuff like that because he’s so expressive. Then two guys exit.

And then came another “not paying proper attention” moment, as John Zimmerman and Kyoko Ina take the ice. I spend the entire program watching John, for obvious and shallow reasons. I did note that they landed their SBS double axels. Another entertaining program that involves him wearing a tight t-shirt.

A

hoy maties! Cap’n Todd comes out to be a good metronome. I briefly wondered how much more diligent a piano player I would have been if I had him keeping time. I could still use a good metronome…

Yuka interrupts my mental musical wanderings. Of all the skaters I have never seen live, Yuka was at the top of the “must see” list. I was not disappointed. It was as if the music had found a physical form on the ice. She landed all of her jumps and looked beautiful. Note to SOI: Bring her back next year and give her two cold spots.

The general soft, romantic feel continued with Jamie and David skating to Norah Jones (who I love). Aside from a sequence of lifts where she was upside down that just didn’t quite seem to work, this was another beautiful program with a huge throw triple something (it was on the other side of the ice from where I was sitting).

Now three of the ladies come out for another time bit. At this point I decided that they’re kind of like goofy little muses that appear, prepare for shifts in mood, and make use of work plays. There was a prop mishap as either Kyoko or Yuka dropped a club.

And now the moment I’ve been waiting for. I have really been suffering from a lack of Todd on TV. No early SOI broadcast. Only one program in Kurt’s special. Left my copy of the Christmas show at my folks’ home (p.s. parents-I need that back). Begging for the World Team Challenge on tape. I am psyched for this program. And it was worth it, especially the slow middle section. The only drawback was that his opening triple axel was a huge pop, right in front of my section. He looked annoyed about that. But he landed all his other triples, which I really didn’t bother to identify.

Katia Gordeeva followed. This is another skater I haven’t seen since 1995, and then she was still skating with Sergei. I really didn’t know what to expect from her as a single skater. She was really wonderful and I almost wished she wouldn’t jump at all. She did land a triple something but then had a strange looking jump flub later. Note to all skaters considering a prop program: Examine this program closely. She used the scarf for nearly the entire program, rather than doing some nifty scarf tricks and then discarding it. Big program thumbs up.

The Time-Muses Jenni and Todd come out. Now, I’m sitting opposite the skater’s entrance. Katia exited at the corner closest to me and Elena and Anton entered from at corner, so I was really distracted and have no idea what Jenni and Todd were doing.

Elena and Anton doing the program they should have done last year, rather than that strange program with way too many music cuts. “Let Me Fall” is best described as them doing what they do best, lyrical and a bit tragic. Elena fell on a huge throw triple something (why are all the throws on the other side of the ice?). Beautiful program.

Time-Muses including Cap’n Todd. This one is cute. Hokey, but cute. At least they admitted that the joke was hokey.

Alexei came out on the ice while “Jailbird” was going on and I would like to note that going to the other side of the ice is still distracting to the people sitting there. Especially if they want to watch Cap’n Todd. And why is he dressed like he’s going to be a part of the Crusades? “Memorial” seemed to be a bit lacking in intensity. He did three triple toes (I think), but fell out of one right in front of my end. I don’t know, this just didn’t quite do it for me.

Last year, I was a bit disappointed with the group numbers. This year’s show is a big improvement. “TGIF” is really great fun and I was wishing that it could have been the close so the skaters would get more time with it. And, one of the advantages to sitting so close to the ice is that you can see how much fun they’re having.

Work’n Time. Men with brooms. I know people complain about prop programs, especially Chris Dean’s. But there are good and bad programs. Vanities on ice, bad. Brooms, good. Todd dropped his broom. Another program that I just didn’t want to end.

Jenni and Todd being Jenni and Todd. The arrangement of this song is really odd, but they’re so pretty to watch I didn’t much care.

Time-Muse attack again. I totally didn’t get this one.

I thought I would like “Flamenco” more than “When You Come Back to Me Again.” I’m going to stop thinking these things. Todd got revenge for the popped axel in the first half by landing two triple axels in this program. This is Todd doing what he does best; spins, jumps, edges, emotion. And the audience got it. Todd receives a standing ovation that starts before he finishes spinning.

OK, the Todd’s ovation was too long thing is funny given that he got a long ovation. It’s followed by the quirky “Timely Advice”, which I really liked. Don’t ask why, I just did.

Kyoko-Time-Muse thing that made no sense to me. Followed by Elena and Anton doing a traditional Russian thing. If they want to do crowd-pleasing stuff, do this, not the strange Elvis thing. They have great charisma (especially Anton). Elena landed her throw this time. This program seemed a little short, though I don’t know if it really was.

Katia doing Etta James, which was wonderful. Oh, and the costume was quite lovely (don’t ask why I remembered that).

“Rock Lesson” is my favorite of these Time-Muse things. I thought it was great fun, particularly the “foot behind head” thing. I also wished that this bit was longer.

Alexei returns to rock. This program contains one jump (a triple toe), one spin, gratuitous butt-shaking, two gratuitous crowd muggings, and gratuitous push-up. The crowd loved it, all of it. Alexei loved it too.

Have you ever seen a Monty Python episode where a character keeps showing up in skits telling them they’re “too silly”. I was waiting for that guy to show up in Jamie and David’s “Ballroon”. It’s not that it’s not funny and they do funny really well. It was just too much.

Scott skated last and got another standing ovation. This is a much more heartfelt program and I stood for this. He isn’t skater he was, but he reaches the audience still.

I didn’t want the show to end, so the Finale was a bit sad. I liked that they also opened the Finale with Yuka, mirroring the Opening. The two bookended the show extremely well.

Overall (still hanging on folks?), this is a better show than last year’s. I think Dean brings something good to this show (flow?…cohesion?). Everyone looked like they were having a great time. Todd was, once again, the last person out to the final bow, having to run across the ice. I’m giving serious thought to making a visit to Ames and seeing the show again there.