W.O.W. Where to begin?!?!
First of all... the show was fantastic!!! Everyone skated pretty well... there were a few bobbles here and there, but overall, it was a well skated show!! Opening: The opening number is great... love the Clark Kent costumes at the beginning.. and the movie credits to open the show are cool. Once again, Todd got one of the loudest ovations during the intros... I wonder what group might've been leading those cheers?!?!?!?!
Our guest skater tonight was Emily Hughes!!!! Great to see Emily live.... we had never seen her before. She skated to 'Proud Mary' and 'Believe' by Fantasia from American Idol(I think that's what it's called.. she skated to it at the Nationals Exhibition). She skated great... aside from one fall.. not sure which jump, she was down the other end from us. The crowd seemed to enjoy her too.
Steven: What can I say... he's great!!! So glad that he's on tour again... he is just so much fun to watch. His program to 'Remember' is fabulous.... very powerful. 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' is just so much fun!!! He really knows how to play to a crowd... he had a pretty nice cheering section tonight.
Angela: Both of her programs are very nice. 'There You'll Be' is a wonderful tribute to her mom... definitely a tear jerker... very touching. Her second program is to a song by Madonna, the name escapes me at the moment, but it's very nice as well.
Kyoko & John: They have really come into their own as professionals. The crowd really gets a kick out of all their tricks... it's amazing how much Kyoko gets tossed around. 'Beautiful' is just a beautiful program, skated to by a beautiful couple! Great job.
Yuka & Jason: Yuka's solo program is gorgeous... she's such a graceful skater.... absolutely beautiful to watch. Her program with Jason is so much fun... you can tell they really enjoy skating together. A very cute program.
Michael: It's great to have Michael on tour... he really fits in very well!!!! Both of his programs are great. The crowd really enjoys seeing the backflips and the move he does on the heels of his blades. The pics of him with his kids during 'I'm Already There' are great.... adds a little more emotion to the program.
Jamie & David: Their program to 'Superfreak' is awesome... they are really having fun out there. Love the fuschia animal print pants on Dave.... what a good sport!!! 'One' is a nice program too.
Jennifer: Love the video with Jennifer's nice, beautiful dressing room vs. Kyoko and Jamie's small one... LOL. Not many in the crowd seemed to get the reference to 'Lola' tonight... Jen plays the part very well. She had a pretty nasty fall... and already had a pretty nice welt coming by the time she was done.
Alexei: Alexei had a pretty large cheering section in the arena tonight. He skated well... his first program is nice... the second one, he skated well, but I'm not too fond of the music. He was well received as usual.
Last, but definitely not least.... Todd :)
Todd looked great!!!! As I mentioned, he definitely received one of the best reactions of the night! He was great. I think he may have doubled a jump or two, but it didn't take away from his overall skating at all. He was hamming it up as usual during the group numbers. His spins were awesome as usual... definitely the best on tour.
Group numbers: The group numbers are lots of fun. The 60's medley is fantastic... gotta love all the costumes. Todd's wig is just hilarious.. it's definitely the most outrageous of all the wigs. John plays a great hippie. All the costumes are great, but Kyoko and Yuka's costumes are just adorable. The crowd gets a kick out of the skaters holding up the 'lighters' at the one point. The program in general is just awesome.
The Heist is fun... David plays a great inspector. Love it when he's looking for the skate and rips the dresses off the girls, etc. He really gets into it. Towards the end, Todd goes looking for the skate in the audience too... before it's revealed who the real culprit is.
Swing.... skaters in baseball uniforms... the best of both worlds!!!!! The guys really get into this one... they have a blast. Once again, Todd's golf ball ended up in the water.... LOL. At the end, Angela brings out a baseball and one of the guys gives it to a kid in the audience... there was a little girl sitting 2 seats from me... I predicted she would get the baseball at the beginning of the show, and sure enough... David came over with the ball at the end of the program... it's really cool... the guys all autographed it!!!!! She was really excited!!!!!!
Ladies in Lavender is beautiful. The ladies are all wearing stunning lavender costumes.. they look great. It's a very simple program, but very beautiful.
Finale: First of all... can't believe the show is over!!!!! The finale costumes are beautiful. I don't know if you can tell by the pictures, but the guys are actually wearing cumberbunds... I don't remember noticing that in pics we have seen... very nice. Once again, the dresses on the ladies are exquisite. It's a nice way to end the show, even though it seems a little short.
At the end of the show, the first person to come and shake our hands was TODD!!!!!! I kinda had a feeling we were in his section after seeing where he was shaking hands in Philly, so we were very excited!!! We also had Michael, Angela and Jamie come to our section (mom told Jamie she liked her hair, and Jamie was very excited and said "oh thank you.").
The Ask the Cast question once again went to Todd!!!!!!!!!!! I finally submitted a question for Todd about 2 weeks ago... I was waiting until I could think of something good to ask.... never thought my question would get picked. So, Jennifer and Steven come out for the Ask the Cast segment and end up right near where we are sitting... mom immediately turns to me and says "oh my gosh, they are coming to you"... I still didn't think it was possible that my question had been picked. Then Jen says " we have a question from Tara Tchalabi" :thud I couldn't believe it. She said "Tara has a question for Todd Eldredge". They were looking for me, and at first started to go down towards where Gail was sitting... Gail was pointing down to our direction, and mom and I were trying to get their attention... all of a sudden they saw us and came over where we were. Todd came out and Jen read the question. I didn't realize it, but there was a spotlight on me the entire time... I was just so nervous and excited, I didn't even realize it :haha Anyway.. my question for Todd was "You've had a lot of great moments in your career. Is any one more special than the rest?" Todd said definitely skating wise, winning the World Championship in 1996... he got a nice ovation after saying that.. and said thank you. He said off the ice.. his favorite moment is carrying the WTC flag at the Salt Lake Olympics.. he said it was a very special moment for him, and something he'll never forget. I had a feeling he might mention the WTC flag.... that is definitely one of my favorite Todd moments... I was very happy to see him be a part of that honor guard... that definitely was a special moment.
It was just a great night, and a wonderful way to start my birthday!!!!! Thank you Todd and SOI!!!!!
