Austin and Dallas COI

[bbtano]

Austin, TX
I was able to nab some good seats at the last minute for the Austin show and was excited because I wanted to see Winter and FOG twice.....and also because Ina & Zimmerman didn't have Dallas listed on their website (but they were there afterall--whoo hooo!)

The ice in Austin was very small.....there were flowers all around the edges and a pretty big walkway in between them and first row of the audience. Sasha seemed to be the one who had the most trouble with the ice size.

We were surprised by the sparse crowd when we took our seats about 30 minute before the show. (which started about 20 min late, as usual) It did fill up to maybe 3/4 full, but ended up talking to Tom Collins for a few minutes afterwards and he definitely wasn't happy with the number of spectators. He asked us where everyone was....why more people didn't attend.

I'm sure by now all of you know what everyone is skating to....costumes, order of skate, etc so I'm just going to write some general comments.

Nicole skated with a lot of energy. I like the way she plays to the crowd.
Ina & Zimmerman were wonderful....he's such a hottie! :D
Philippe fell out of his lutz and did his usual audience involvement and stripping, but fortunately we were having a film problem and did not have to endure watching it.
Dan fell on a 3t, but his backflip was great.
L&T were smooth (and he looks awesome in that tank top :P )
Cohen did a really nice 2a, then had trouble after she landed her lutz....ran out of room and had to step into the flowers, then she tripped doing backward crossovers a little while later (not sure if she got too close to the edge again and ran into it or if she ran over something that was on the ice), next was a barely landed sal (a double, I think) and then a clean 3t. I think this program suits her personality and I enjoyed watching her, despite the technical problems.
Weiss was his normal Mr. Macho
P&S: Can someone explain the theme or story to their program to me? I just don't get it! LOL
Surya did 2a, 3t, 2a, 3s and two backflips, one landed on one foot
Rudy....I tried not to look so don't know what he did....just cheered immensely when it was over.
B&E Got the crowd laughing....cute program, but my friend and I decided there's too much cross-dressing in this year's COI :roll: (Also, we didn't watch that much of their program because a guy across the arena from us was passing out letters for people on the front row to hold up. They spelled out "Kristi, will you marry me?" I hope she said yes!)

Intermission

Irina G--hoola hoop girl is what I call her! :wink: I love the part where she has two on her arms and four on her stomach and she somehow separates the ones on her stomach so that one goes down to her knees and two come up higher so all four end up with space in between them.....I like the slinky too. I was wondering something, though. How in the world did she end up on COI?
B&K-I'm not that much of a dance fan, but for some reason I really like this program! They did a nice job with it.
Stokjo The crowd went beserk for him. 2a, 3z, 3t
Besedin & Pol?? (can't spell his name and I didn't buy a program....so sorry) HUGE crowd pleasers....some standing when they finished. I've seen them do this same program WAY too many times to count (in three different costume ensembles over the years) so I would've preferred to see something new, but one thing I am amazed by (besides their incredible strength) is that I've never seen them make any mistakes at all!
Tim Hmm.....hmm....well, he's a cutie but I don't care for this program or his costume. I should stop there.
Irina S She no longer wears a cowboy hat for part of the program, but it's still cute. She really gets into it. 3l, 3s, 2a
Victor Cute concept, but would like to see him skate without a prop and do more challenging jumps. Also, the cut of the song he is using is way too long IMO
K&D I always enjoy them. :) I love the program they're doing this year.
Plushenko Not my favorite skater because I don't care for his style, but he's a great technician and I actually like parts of his Carmen program. 3t, 3f, 2a, 3z, 2a
A&P Someone hand me a towel (for the drool ;))......Gwendal started off doing the stomping part right in front of us! :lol: I like this program a lot! Maybe I'm turning into a dance fan and not realizing it? LOL
Yagudin & Kwan Sorry.....no notes for them....I was too busy soaking in the performances. They were both wonderful. Strong, but gentle....smooth. Loved them! (My friend said Kwan doubled her lutz in the program)

more to come.....

[bbtano]

Dallas

This was the first time COI has been in the new arena (American Airlines). I'm curious to know what the skaters thought of the ice quality, so if anyone around here is an insider and heard them talking about it.....please let me know if they liked it or not! LOL

The ice was TONS bigger than Austin, of course, since the the arena was built for the Stars. There were flags on the boards instead of flowers and no walkway since the front row of spectators were directly behind the boards. I like it better that way! (esp when I'm on the front row, but I wasn't this time) The soundsystem works REALLY REALLY well. 8O Maybe I should take some earplugs to Nats with me? LOL It wasn't too bad on every song, but there were two or three programs that hurt my ears.

Seeing these shows back to back on such different sizes of ice was an eye opener. The show is Austin was great....and most of the skaters did a nice job with their programs, but the quality of the skating was definitely higher in Dallas.....and I assume it's due to the increased space to set up for jumps, gather speed, etc.

Not to be negative, but I'll just comment on the mistakes since it's a much shorter list than commenting on all the clean skates!
Philippe fell on his lutz again.
Sasha skated much better in Dallas, no falls.....or stepping in the audience! LOL
Weiss had a bit of trouble landing a few of his jumps cleanly, but he didn't just fall all over the place.
Surya had a bad fall on what was supposed to be a 2a....looked kind of scary! :o
I didn't write down Rudy's jumps in Austin since I tried not to watch, but he did 2a, 3t, 2a, 3t/2t, and 2a in Dallas. No one tried any jump combos on the small ice in Austin, but four or five skaters did some combos in Dallas.
(My friend and I congratulated each other for enduring yet another performance of Rudy's YMCA program......I don't get why/how the crowd loves that one so much?!?)
Plushy shocked us by falling on a lutz. He did a 3t/3t/2l earlier in the program, though.....and again during the finale (although that one was kind of sloppy)

Yagudin was fast and energetic. I don't recall his jumps because I was practically holding my breath during his performance! *g* I love the choreography in Winter and was thrilled to see it live, and seeing it twice was even better. My only complaint is that it's too short!

Kwan was magical. She skates so quietly.....calming and peaceful. There just aren't enough positive adjectives to describe it. I wish I could see Winter and FOG over and over and over again!

I forgot to mention that in Austin we went over by the bus after the show ended and several skaters were very gracious to walk over and give autographs/pose for pictures after they put their things on the bus. Michelle, Sasha, Tim, Surya, Irina and John Z are the ones I recall seeing. I took a picture of my friend with Michelle and he also spoke to John Z, but we stayed back most of the time because there was a mob and neither of us are into pushing our way through the crowded masses! LOL

[Debbie S]

Hi bbtano! Glad to see you made your way here from FSW.

Wow - two shows! You're so lucky! Especially getting to see Yags and I/Z. I agree with you about MK and FOG. I've seen it live three times, and each time I find myself getting so pulled in that I almost don't notice what elements she's doing because everything seems to flow so perfectly.

[SisterMaryKendra]

I also went the Dallas COI on June 18. It was only my third ice show ever (unless you count Disney on Ice when I was really little!) I guess I will just list some of the things that I found interesting about the show since the skaters' programs are already pretty well known by everyone here.

*I found that I almost liked watching the pairs and dance teams more than the single skaters. I thought it was easier to keep up with the pairs/dance skaters while the single skaters seemed to blend into the background.

*My mom loved watching Ina and Zimmerman because they skated to Elvis. She told me she got chill bumps from the song. We both gave them a standing ovation.

*The flashbulbs during Michelle's performance! Flash photography was permitted in the American Airline Center, but no person had as many flashes as Michelle. She also got the biggest standing ovation, both before and after she skated.

*The "Swan Guys" got a huge reception from the crowd. I was almost afraid that they would get the biggest standing ovation of all. Luckily, Yagudin and Kwan changed all that. (BTW, the acrobats are amazing but I would rather see more skating.)

*Surya's scary fall was right in front of my section. It looked like she got lost in the air in the middle of her double axel and fell. My mom said that Surya looked frightened before she fell.

*I could see Irina's rosy cheeks, even from 13 rows back. :oops:

*I loved seeing so many of the programs I had seen all year performed live. (Michelle's [i:1d22f81100]Fields of Gold[/i:1d22f81100], Yagudin's [i:1d22f81100]Winter[/i:1d22f81100], IZ's [i:1d22f81100]American Trilogy[/i:1d22f81100], etc.)

*The women behind me thought that Gwendal had a nice butt. The little girl that sat next to my mom told her that her favorite skater was Michelle Kwan. I think she and her friend/sister also liked Sasha and Timmy too. :D

Well, that's my first ever skating show review ever. Hope you like it!

[Blue Ridge]

thanks! enjoyed your comments!

[HSF]

Dang, bbtano, after reading your review I am really regretting the fact that I didn't drive down for the Dallas show. :-(

Glad you had a chance to meet so many of the skaters.

HSF