Hm....why all the talk of what jumps were done and who fell in Stars On Ice? I just got back from the Staples center and I have to say this was the best ice "show" event I've seen in a couple years. We had no trouble with the lighting and the only big flop-a-rue fall was by Todd Sand when he caught an edge skating backwards (really funny looking).

But the music and performances were sensational! The entire Simon & Garfunkel montage was choreographed great with Browning and Cousins in "Me & Julio"....and "Sound of Silence"(Scotty w/ the three pairs) and "Bridge over t.w."(Kristi) being my favorite parts.

It was very interesting the way they handled the Simon & Garfunkel montage with Kristi. Scotty skated to "Sound of Silence" as a person lost being followed around by Betchke/Petrov, Meno/Sand and Roca/Sur... the arena was quite dark and the pairs all wore black! As that number faded out and they skated off the ice, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" started and out came Kristi dressed all in white....it was quite a contrast to the last number and it worked well. I love that song and when Garfunkel hit those power notes Kristi was landing her triple... I'll tell you, the hair on the back of my neck stood up...

Meno and Sand skated to "Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing" sorta out of character for them but it sure did work...very fun. Browning did continual clown/outcast routines throughout the show that I liked and he also hit on all cylinders with Rag-GIDON-time.

I was worried they wouldn't be able to keep up the high level in the second half but boy was I wrong! It opened with a fun number in which Tara woos 4 fellows away from Kristi and Lu, and then hit a big homer with a Tara/Browning routine to two different songs "He's got a way" and "La Valse Moderne".

The house really rocked with Bechke & Petrov's "Czardas"...the best technical performance of the evening. Ekaterina and Kulik then paired up as a team...Kulik really looked good as a partner. Let's see....Kristi skated to Santana's "Smooth", a number I've seen before and really liked and then Kulik came out and skated to a rap song "Baseball Cap"....He looks like a natural showman to me.

The numbers that didn't rise to the top would be Scotty's Don Quixote, Ekaterina's Ribbon (leave that stuff to Rudy Galindo :-), and Steven Cousins (he was a bit outclassed here and it showed).

Overall it was a great skating night even though it cost me seeing most of the titan/colt football game. I'd go see it again in a heartbeat.