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View Full Version : Stars On Ice 2005 on TV, OMG :(


dbny
03-13-2005, 02:35 PM
I taped this the other night, and after watching almost all of it (could not torture myself any further), I think this will be the first SOI tape that I will not keep. First - where was the skating 8O ??? There was more fluff, standing around posing, Yagudin's scarf trick, etc. than ever before. I want to see skating, not posing :evil: Sarah Hughes did not even attempt a triple, and her skating seemed fairly low level too; nothing that wowed me. I actually liked Ina & Zimmerman the best. Their program had much more content than Berezhnaya & Sikharidludze's, whom I felt sorry for. Olympic gold medalists reduced to a lot of posing and posturing, IMO. I guess I will have to make myself finish the tape, but I'm not looking forward to it. This is the first year in five that we haven't gone in person, and I'm sooooo glad.

I was also unhappy with the cast, as there was no Kurt Browning, Kristi Yamaguchi, or Katarina Witt (who also does not do triples any more, but she is quite a bit older than Sarah Hughes, and her skating makes up for it).

NJSk8Fan
03-13-2005, 03:42 PM
I guess I must be really strange or something because I am reading so much criticism of the Stars On Ice show and I am wondering WHY???
The show was GREAT! I enjoyed every second of it!
As for the cast...the show has been in transition for a few years now as the "oldies" are starting families and wanting to stay home, so they are "retiring" from the tour.
Color me biased, ignorant, whatever you want, but I LOVE SOI and always will.
Maybe it didn't come off on tv as good as seeing it live. I saw it live, from on-ice seats, and only wish I could've seen it more than once in some of the other cities within driving distance from me. There was plenty of skating in the show. It was a high-energy show and the skaters all did a fantastic job.

dbny
03-13-2005, 04:30 PM
I'm sure you saw more than the TV audience did, and that might have helped. I saw SOI live from centerish on-ice seats last year and it was fabulous. What I cannot stand is to see skaters basically just standing around posing on the ice as minutes tick away. I also hated Yagudin's acrobatics because I love his skating, and he wasn't doing it while he was in the air. Trapeze artists (which he is not) do thrill me, but I go to the circus to see them. It may make a difference that I am a skater and a coach, and therefor more critical and more demanding.

NJSk8Fan
03-13-2005, 04:55 PM
I can understand being a skater and coach you may be looking at things in a whole different way than I am.
I see Stars On Ice as a night out for enjoyment and entertainment. I've never been disappointed. I can't see how anyone could say there is too much standing around and posing tho. I saw plenty of good skating both at the show and on tv. Even the "Gold" year, which had to be the worst of the 11 shows I've seen live, wasn't a complete waste of time.

dbny
03-13-2005, 06:05 PM
I guess we just have a plain old difference of opinion. Glad you were entertained, and I certainly would not want the show to fold, which it would do if everyone agreed with me.

icedtea
03-13-2005, 06:44 PM
I really liked Yagudin's "Passion"!! Maybe even loved it...it blurred the line between what I love about Cirque du Soleil and good skating. And my-oh-my, doesn't he look buff in a sleeveless shirt?! 8O (Sorry I zoned out there.)

I didn't like the baby boomer generation music choices (and I am one) for the group skate. I felt a bit pandered to....and I was actually embarassed for B&S choice of routine and agree that Sarah Hughes failed to thrill. On the other hand I liked the men's 30's vintage boxing skate. I found it clever.

All in all a mixed bag I guess.

GoldSeals
03-13-2005, 09:26 PM
You Guy's.This is a show.Most people dont know a salchow from an axel.They are there to enjoy those brilliant costumes, and see the skaters in person :lol: A night out on the town.This is not a competition.
Regards,GoldSeals ;)

icedancer2
03-13-2005, 09:40 PM
You Guy's.This is a show.Most people dont know a salchow from an axel.They are there to enjoy those brilliant costumes, and see the skaters in person :lol: A night out on the town.This is not a competition.
Regards,GoldSeals ;)

Thank you!

dbny
03-13-2005, 10:15 PM
You Guy's.This is a show.Most people dont know a salchow from an axel.They are there to enjoy those brilliant costumes, and see the skaters in person :lol: A night out on the town.This is not a competition.
Regards,GoldSeals ;)

Right, supposedly a SKATING show, not a side show. I don't know why you said "You Guy's", as I seem to be the only one here who really did not enjoy the show.

Artemis
03-14-2005, 11:27 AM
Well I didn't think it was the best SOI ever, but nor did I think it was terrible. There were a lot of really nice, vintage SOI-style programs, both solo and ensemble. Sure, there were a few duds, there always are. (ITA with icedtea about B&E's dance mix. Icky. And Yags' "Shout" number was same old same old.) But the good programs outnumbered the bad by far.

My biggest disappointment was Sarah, though. Didn't attempt a triple? I'm not sure she even attempted a double! Hard to believe she won Olympic gold only 3 years ago. She did have some nice interaction moments ... but making her "the" star (and the host of the TV broadcast) was a big mistake, IMO. The best thing I can think of to say about the fluff pieces is that at least they were short.

The Village Idiot
03-14-2005, 12:47 PM
I'll help you here dbny - I didn't see it live, only on A&E, and thought the show was a painful shadow of its former self. Way too much posing and not enough skating. Sarah and Tara (in former years) cannot hold a torch to the pros in the past. The other "problem" is that there really are no 'old pros' left to sort of transition the new kids in (like when Kristi was a 'new kid'). I guess Tara was that transition person, but that was lost when she figured out acting was her true calling in life. :??

I love Yags as a competitor, but he as a pro has yet to capture my imagination the way Scott, Kurt, Paul, etc did. I'm not sure exactly why, but he doesn't. I liked S&P's programs though.

Originally Posted by GoldSeals
You Guy's.This is a show.Most people dont know a salchow from an axel.They are there to enjoy those brilliant costumes, and see the skaters in person :lol: A night out on the town.This is not a competition.


I disagree. I think the SOI crowd is pretty knowledgeable and the problem with is that the technical ability has been there in the past...and now all of a sudden your headliner can't even do triples? For anyone who saw it later on - did Sarah's triples eventually come? Or was it a double tour for her. And I think even the most lay-fan can tell a double from a triple.

flyingonglass
03-14-2005, 02:36 PM
They are there to enjoy those brilliant costumes...
Regards,GoldSeals ;)

Brilliant Costumes? Really...? Hum... :??

Vicki
03-14-2005, 03:29 PM
Sarah did doubles when I saw the show in mid-January.

snoopysnake
03-14-2005, 03:50 PM
I think the show was much more effective in person than on TV. BTW, they also chacked Todd Eldredge's 2nd number which was one of the highlights of the show. TV audiences were also cheated out of many cute transitional vignettes. The whole of Stars on Ice these days is greater than the sum of its parts, but that does not come through in the TV packaging.

Kurt was in that broadcast show in group numbers but I wonder why they chacked his solos. Could it be contractual, or maybe they couldn't get music clearance?

The main problems the pros aren't keeping up their technical skills are that there are not any pro competitions any more to give them that incentive, plus the increased jump difficulty and emphasis on quads and triple combos burns out the top skaters faster. Lipinski, Yagudin, Stojko, and Urmanov are notable examples of the latter. Goebel and Honda are likely past their peak too, and Cohen and Plushenko are likely to have shorter careers than pro skaters of decades past.

In Sarah Hughes' case, if she went into Olympic-eligible training full-time, she could possibly regain her jumping prowess. But perhaps she has peaked early, simply because she grew up physically and won't have the youthful body that helped her win competitions. Even so, I think she could be a very mature and striking pro skater but she needs much more sophisticated material (e.g. classical music like her 2002 and 2003 long programs) and packaging to achieve this. Nonetheless, it is great seeing her back on the ice.

NJSk8Fan
03-14-2005, 06:59 PM
Wonderful post Snoopysnake.
You bring up some very good points.
Personally, I couldn't care less when seeing shows like SOI if the skaters do triples or doubles. I didn't hear anyone complaining about Kat Witt & Roz Sumners as they got past their peak and near the ends of their time with SOI and they didn't do all triples, nor were they teeny-tiny waifs.
There's no reason why Sarah can't grow as a pro skater in SOI or any other show. I didn't attend SOI's from it's inception, so I wonder, did Scotty and Kurt have that great appeal they have now from the very beginning or did they grow into it? Look how Todd is opening up as he gains experience with the show.

dbny
03-18-2005, 05:12 PM
I didn't attend SOI's from it's inception, so I wonder, did Scotty and Kurt have that great appeal they have now from the very beginning or did they grow into it? Look how Todd is opening up as he gains experience with the show.

Kurt definitely grew into it. He just keeps getting better and better. You are quite right that the triples are not necessary if the fantastic skating is there. Unfortunately, with Sarah still so young, and without the kind of interpretive skating that Kurt and Scott do, she really fell flat, in my estimation. I agree with you about Todd, another one who is getting better in terms of showmanship and displaying the kind of technical skill that just wows you.

b2tfuture
03-31-2005, 11:41 AM
I have to agree Sarah Hughes looked very sluggish. She looked like she was struggling with every jump she tried. Honestly, for Stars on Ice, I expect high calibre skating, I want to see the triples, great edges and beautiful spins. We pay good money for tickets and I expect to be entertained with what you would expect from Olympic and World level skaters.