"Thin Ice" - March 18-21, 2010

[Isk8NYC]

Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut is hosting a figure skating show with a number of elite skaters from March 18-21st. Looks interesting.

http://www.mgmatfoxwoods.com/thiniceifs.aspx


Featuring:
Shizuka Arakawa
Shae-Lynn Bourne
Jamie Salé
David Pelletier
Michael Weiss
Patrice Lauzon
John Zimmerman
Elena Berezhnaya
Stephane Lambiel
Marie-France Dubreuil

Hosts: Kurt Browning, Elisabeth Hasselbeck
Judges: Kristi Yamaguchi, Katarina Witt, Dick Button


If I lived closer, I'd go just to see Lambiel skate in person.

[luvdisny]

Am I the only one who watched this? I enjoyed it. It was nice to see the mix up of teams.

1. John Z and Shae Lynn

2. David P. and Elena B.

3. Jamie S. and Patrice

4. Shizuka and Stephane

5. Michael and Marie-France

[Isk8NYC]

I watched it tonight - it was a nice format and we enjoyed it. Man, was Dick Button giving Katerina Witt the business or what?

I was really impressed by Weiss and Bourne as well as Arakawa and Lambiel - it must have been difficult to compete as a couple with a background in singles.

Glad they mixed up the married couples, but it would have been interesting to see the spouses' reactions.

[MQSeries]

I liked it. It was fun and had good skating in it.

Shae-Lynn is so much better skating with a partner than skating solo. Very entertaining number to Poker Face with John Z.

I would've paired David P. and Elena B. with non-pair skater for partners. They were hampered with lousy choreography and staying within their pair comfort zone.

Stephane and Shizuka were cute. Agreed with Dick that they skated too much as individuals though, especially in the first number.

I hope this show comes back but please ditch Elisabeth Hassleback and maybe Kurt Browning also.

[Isk8NYC]

Hasselbeck was STUNNING in those gowns. I didn't really listen to her because the dresses were so beautiful and well-tailored. I agree- she was just eye candy.

I liked Kurt Browning and "Yama." I thought Witt tended to remark on chemistry and sexiness in almost every review, but I wonder if perhaps that was her role as a judge? While the premise was "entertain us," perhaps having each judge focus on something might be interesting.

I was surprised to find that this was NOT a Disson production, given the cast. It's produced by Terry O'Neil with O'Neil Entertainment.
It's also interesting to note that this was on ABC, not NBC and its various cable affiliates.

I hope they continue this in the future. I'd like to see a single skater version as well.

[Petlover]

Hubby and I really enjoyed this competition/show. Dick Button was right on in his remarks, as usual. I really hope this becomes a regular show.

[Artemis]

I hope they continue this in the future. I'd like to see a single skater version as well.

A single skater version? How would that work -- unless it would be a pro competition like in the days of yore?

I really miss those. For a while there were far to many, with goofy gimmicks, but now there are none. Sad. :cry:

What I would have liked for this particular competition was to have it continue for a bit longer. When you're pairing two skaters for the first time, it take a while for them to jell. Having the event go on for even one more week would have really showed what they were capable of. That was one of the strengths of Battle of the Blades -- how the pairs progressed over time. Mind you, for that event it was the hockey players that needed to learn how to skate as figure skaters, but still.

[Isk8NYC]

Yes, pro singles competing just like the olden days - I'm guess I'm being nostalgic, but I miss seeing skaters compete based on artistry and interpretation. It's all technical stuff now and you need a CPA to figure out the scoring. Just kidding. Sort of.

I was wondering how the hockey players in "Battle of the Blades" adjusted to the figure skates. One of the biggest blunders in our "Skating With Celebrities" was challenging the comedian Dave Coulier to switch from his lifelong hockey skates to figure skates. He was awful on the figure skates and ended up having the toe pick ground off. I wasn't sure if it was just ego ("ewww...figure skates...I'm a Hockey Player!") or if they put him high level blades with a huge honking toerake, setting him up to fail. Probably both.

[Artemis]

I was wondering how the hockey players in "Battle of the Blades" adjusted to the figure skates.

Most of them stuck with their hockey skates for the first week, then moved to figure skates after that. (In the first week, Barb Underhill donned hockey skates herself -- that was an extremely cool performance, a lot of power and speed.) Yes, there were a few stumbles ("toe pick!"), esp. in the "behind the scenes" footage, but most of them got the hang of it. More or less.

There was an interesting comment from Craig Simpson, who was the eventual winner with Jamie Salé. He said that he'd never been that strong of a skater in his hockey days, but found that when he put on figure skates, he was much better. I guess he missed his calling!

BTW, CBC has confirmed that they're bringing back Battle of the Blades next fall. I can't wait!