Stars on Ice (Canadian)

[b2tfuture]

Went to SOI in Ottawa on Saturday night and have to say this was one of the better SOI's I have seen and I see them every year so that is saying alot.
The highlight had to be Jeff Buttle skating to "I wear my Sunglasses at Night" He was amazing. I am going to say if he gets a quad, he will beat Plushenko and win Gold at the Olympics. He loves what he does and it is evident.
Yagudin did this thing with a sheet hanging from the rafters, we had front row seats and he did this in right in front of us. It was amazing, but terrifying. He had himself wrapped in this sheet then, at times was hanging upside down, holding himself only with his feet wrapped around the sheet. I felt like I was at Cirque de Soleil, he finally came down and then did some skating.
Sale/Pelletier, amazing as usual.
Jennifer Robinson, she was ok, but somehow looked like she did not really want to be there. She still looks tentative when doing her jumps. She nailed one beautiful triple sal, but it was the only one that she did well.
Ina/Zimmerman were also amazing. I enjoyed watching them as much as Sale/Pelletier and got to shake Zimmermans hand at the end. (O:
Shae lynn - who else can make skating so entertaining without having one jump!! She is so elegant, she has edge work like no one else.
Kurt - always entertaining, his toy box routine is getting better over time.
Tod - still great, but I feel he does not get the applause he deserves. "clap clap clap!" (O:
Must not forget Steven Cousins - this guy is an entertainer. You have to admit he has done well for himself for someone who was not that well known. He is great to watch.

If you go, enjoy Buttle, it was a real treat to see him.

Cheers!

[Blade1]

Thanks for the review. I am going to the show in Hamilton this coming weekend and I am looking forward to the show. Can't wait !!!!!!!! I'm a HUGE Buttle fan, so I can't wait to see him skate again, and best of all skating with "THE BEST"

[AuroraBorealis]

I went to the show in Hamilton just yesterday. :) It was GREAT! I just love Christopher Dean's choreography and this year, the cast pulled the theme off really well ("Imagination"). The transtitions were hillarious! :) :) :)

Some of my impressions (probably in random order):

- Todd: I enjoyed his first number to "Let Me Entertain You", and it was nice to see him something a bit different; the only thing the program lacked for me was a backflip - I don't know why, but the music just called for me! His second numer was more of the "usual Todd", but I liked it even better
- Jamie & David: I just loved "Who Wants To Live Forever." I saw it on video before and it left me cool, but yesterday I just wanted them to keep skating it over and over and over.
- Jennifer: another nice surprise, I've never been a big fan but I liked both of her numbers a lot. She seems to have improved a lot in terms of expression, but it's true that her jumps still look hesitant and even akward at times.
- Kyoko & John: some great lifts, but can't remember much else
- Steven Cousins: he actually went out there without a shirt and then Jamie pulled it out of a magician's hat, lol! Nice program and nice to see him back.
- Shae-Lynn: I found her entertaining, but the moves seemed very repetitive
- Kurt: the routine with the toy box was fantastic, and we got to see it again during retakes (no idea why they made him do the whole program again); where does he get those ideas from, lol?
- Alexei: Passion (the number with the sheet hanging from the rafters) was awesome! I read a lot of not-so-nice reviews, but found myself liking the program a lot; the transition from the acrobatics to the skating was very smooth too. The second program, "Shout", was very fun. My overall impression was that either he wasn't too much on last night, or that he wasn't much into the group numbers.
- Jeff: "Ave Maria" was another highlight for me, it was awesome to see this program live; the one with Sunglasses was very different, but he was great!

That's all I can think of now :)

[ngcskate]

Kurt's toybox routine had to be completely reskated because he totally messed it up during the show..so much so that he bagged the ending and just (what looked like) gave up on it. During the show itself the little orange plastic puck he puts on his toepick went awry and the orange "Jitterbug" hat went missing altogether. I think Kurt also messed up some jumps. However, during the retakes...poor Kurt...he started from the top and first he kicks the fireman helmet when landing the double axel over the box. Restart. Kurt goes to fill the helmet up with water again and yells out that he feels like he's in front of 8000 people telling them a joke he just told them! Then the puck went wrong again. Restart. Then the jump rope caught on his toepicks. Over and over and over again. Kurt resorted to mock hanging himself with the rope at one point it was going so bad. Someone in the audience yelled out "It was perfect last night!" Kurt made a gesture that said - "I know!". He finally got the skipping down and finished the program to huge applause. After Jennifer Robinson redid her lutz, Kurt had to come out again to retake spotlights for his second number "Mr. Bojangles". He came out miming to skipping and then slapped himself in the face. Very funny stuff, but very professional as well. I don't know if others would have been as patient through all the miscues.

Jeff Buttle was a highlight, he fits in perfectly with the cast. Both numbers were spot on. "Sunglasses at Night" was great because it showed versitility, and I was impressed that he could land the jumps and do the spins with sunglasses on and the jacket hood pulled over his head.

[AuroraBorealis]

Kurt's toybox routine had to be completely reskated because he totally messed it up during the show..so much so that he bagged the ending and just (what looked like) gave up on it.

Thanks for the explanation! It was the first time that I got to see this routine, so I had not idea he messed it up - it looked fabulous the way it was.
It was cool to see the whole thing again, but I felt so bad for him during the retakes... over and over again, poor guy!

[ngcskate]

Not a problem...I had thought at first that maybe he was doing the second part of the number later, just for TV, because the ending was so weird and then I realized what Kurt had messed up. Oh well, he had no problems tonight with the number - I'm sure he was saying a little prayer before pulling that skipping rope out of the box!

[jeb]

Here are my photos from the Hamilton show:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2127667580&code=15680640&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

[LTM]

saw the show in Calgary, enjoyed it so much more than last year. My hat of to Chris Dean.
Highlights for me:
Jeff Buttle's skates both of them. Jame and David's "Do You Want to Live Forever" Those numbers have so much more punch live.
The show was lots of fun, my favorite transition was the
"singing flea"
Took an only very occasional skating fan friend with me and
I think we've converted her.
She really liked the show too.