Rachael
04-08-2002, 10:49 PM
Relaxed champions entertaining
By Sharon Robb
STAFF WRITER
Posted April 8 2002
SUNRISE · Sarah Hughes may be the reigning Olympic champion, but four-time world figure skating champion Michelle Kwan is still America's Sweetheart.
That was never more evident than at Sunday's John Hancock Champions On Ice Olympic Tour.
Kwan, who has yet to win Olympic gold, earned a rousing standing ovation from an estimated crowd of 7,000 at National Car Rental Center.
Hughes, with her exhausting routine that featured six jumps and exquisite grace, was a close second. Still, it was obvious the unlucky Kwan, wearing a gold dress, won the hearts of the local crowd with a stirring performance Fields of Gold.
They were joined by a star-studded troupe of flamboyant, athletic and artistic skaters from around the world.
Irina Slutskaya, 23, current world champion and silver medal winner at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, was the most underappreciated of all the skaters during the glittery two-hour show.
Phillipe Candeloro, 30, who has two bronze medals from earlier Olympics, and Ukraine's Victor Petrenko, the 1992 Olympic men's champion, are still popular with audiences. Candeloro stripped off his shirt and flirted with women in the front row during his solo performance to Wild, Wild West.
Petrenko's routine featured a huge, stuffed dog strapped to his right arm as he skated to Who Let The Dogs Out.
After five shows on the four-month, 85-show tour, the skaters still need work with the new, upbeat well-choreographed material. There were no huge miscues or nasty spills. Several skaters didn't attempt risky jumps. Some popped out of planned jumps, others improvised. Irina Grigorian included her six hula hoops and giant slinky in her routine. As usual, the Russian solo and pairs skaters were dark and dramatic to classical music.
The grand opening and finale routines featured all the top skaters. Though out of sync at times, Olympic medal winners and five other champions skated to the emotional strains of Ray Charles singing America the Beautiful.
There were demure and athletic skaters, clown skaters and the Canadian cross-dressing pairs team of Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler. Eisler wore women's clothes and a brassy red wig. Brasseur wore biker clothes and did most of the heavy lifting for jumps and spins.
Hughes, looking angelic in all-white, skated to Maureen McGovern's I'll Never Say Goodbye.
It turned serious in the finale, Tribute to America, with excerpts from speeches by Presidents Kennedy and Theodore Roosevelt and patriotic music as the skaters, dressed in red, white and blue, skated in unison and then broke out for quick solos to end the show with fireworks and large flags unfurling over center ice.
Not all the skaters will perform in every one of the 85 shows. Hughes and Sasha Cohen, another teenage phenom, both plan to fly home several times to take exams or keep up with their classes.
The show returns to National Car Rental Center on Dec. 29.
Sharon Robb can be reached at srobb@sun-sentinel.com.
Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Sharon Robb
STAFF WRITER
Posted April 8 2002
SUNRISE · Sarah Hughes may be the reigning Olympic champion, but four-time world figure skating champion Michelle Kwan is still America's Sweetheart.
That was never more evident than at Sunday's John Hancock Champions On Ice Olympic Tour.
Kwan, who has yet to win Olympic gold, earned a rousing standing ovation from an estimated crowd of 7,000 at National Car Rental Center.
Hughes, with her exhausting routine that featured six jumps and exquisite grace, was a close second. Still, it was obvious the unlucky Kwan, wearing a gold dress, won the hearts of the local crowd with a stirring performance Fields of Gold.
They were joined by a star-studded troupe of flamboyant, athletic and artistic skaters from around the world.
Irina Slutskaya, 23, current world champion and silver medal winner at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, was the most underappreciated of all the skaters during the glittery two-hour show.
Phillipe Candeloro, 30, who has two bronze medals from earlier Olympics, and Ukraine's Victor Petrenko, the 1992 Olympic men's champion, are still popular with audiences. Candeloro stripped off his shirt and flirted with women in the front row during his solo performance to Wild, Wild West.
Petrenko's routine featured a huge, stuffed dog strapped to his right arm as he skated to Who Let The Dogs Out.
After five shows on the four-month, 85-show tour, the skaters still need work with the new, upbeat well-choreographed material. There were no huge miscues or nasty spills. Several skaters didn't attempt risky jumps. Some popped out of planned jumps, others improvised. Irina Grigorian included her six hula hoops and giant slinky in her routine. As usual, the Russian solo and pairs skaters were dark and dramatic to classical music.
The grand opening and finale routines featured all the top skaters. Though out of sync at times, Olympic medal winners and five other champions skated to the emotional strains of Ray Charles singing America the Beautiful.
There were demure and athletic skaters, clown skaters and the Canadian cross-dressing pairs team of Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler. Eisler wore women's clothes and a brassy red wig. Brasseur wore biker clothes and did most of the heavy lifting for jumps and spins.
Hughes, looking angelic in all-white, skated to Maureen McGovern's I'll Never Say Goodbye.
It turned serious in the finale, Tribute to America, with excerpts from speeches by Presidents Kennedy and Theodore Roosevelt and patriotic music as the skaters, dressed in red, white and blue, skated in unison and then broke out for quick solos to end the show with fireworks and large flags unfurling over center ice.
Not all the skaters will perform in every one of the 85 shows. Hughes and Sasha Cohen, another teenage phenom, both plan to fly home several times to take exams or keep up with their classes.
The show returns to National Car Rental Center on Dec. 29.
Sharon Robb can be reached at srobb@sun-sentinel.com.
Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel