We got there in plenty of time and were seated about 5 rows up in the middle of the arena. They were GREAT seats! :-) Good view of the ice and under the stands. While we were waiting for the show to start I was watching the people come from underneath to the on ice seats. All of a sudden something caught my eye. It ball and Steven Cousins and Jean-Michel Bombardier were throwing and kicking it around. They kept it up until they almost hit a spectator. I saw Michael Seibart, Doug Ladret and Lara Ladret.
It was an interesting night that is for sure with some opening night problems but nothing major. Most of the jumps were on but when the skaters fell it was always a wierd time for them to fall.
The show started with the opening. I thought there was nice red and black costumes. They did some interesting formations on the ice, there was alot of starting and stopping.
Elizabeth Manley was first. She skated to The Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin. She landed a nice double toe loop. It was an interesting performance.
Josée, Steven Cousins, Michelle McDonald and Martin Smith did a group number to No Quarter by Led Zeppelin. Josée landed a HUGE double axel, Steven Cousins landed something -- I think a double toe loop -- but I was not really watching him, I was watching Josée.
Next were Kurt and Brian doing a performance to the song Moby Dick by Led Zeppelin. It was interesting. No jumps were attempted but many split jumps, death drops, spins. Also in this one Kurt came out in HOCKEY SKATES!!! You could just hear the crowd go, "AHHHHH!" Though right in the middle of the footwork he stumbled. It looked like he caught a hole because his leg bent like it had stopped but the rest of him had kept going.
Right after were Kristy Sargeant/Kris Wirtz skating to Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin. Kristy landed a throw double axel and they did a REALLY low death spiral.
After that came the Muse whom I think was Brian Orser but I could not really tell with the sunglasses.
Jayson Dénommée -- who was next -- was the hit of the night. He skated to Jukebox by Medley. The crowd just went WILD!! Especially after he ripped his costume in the middle of his program!! :-) He had on a black jacket, red shirt, a white shirt under the red one and black slacks. About 1 minute after he started he took off his jacket, when he went to throw the jacket out of the way he somehow got it caught in his skates and got so twisted up that he fell down. He got back up and did a nice triple toe loop. Then the red sleeves were detachable off of his shirt so he ripped them off. After he fell on another triple toe loop, he skated over his sleeves and ripped them into 5 pieces which scattered across the ice! Jayson ended with a big backflip. One of only two we saw during the show.
Next were Michelle Menzies and Jean-Michel Bombardier. They skated to Everybody Hurts by REM. I have to say it was skated from the heart. It was so full of feeling and power yet they looked so graceful out on the ice. They did an AWESOME death spiral. The skating was very polished from these two but you feel that the program came from their hearts. Also a note about this program -- Doug Ladret choreographed it. Michelle landed a huge throw triple salchow. She wore a pale purple skating dress -- very simple but elegant. Jean-Michel wore a dark purple shirt and pants.
After were Michel McDonald and Martin Smith skating to Crush from Romeo & Juliet. Interesting performance. This team reminds me of Bestomovina and Bukin (I know them as B&B, the 1988 Olympic Ice Dance Champions) but Michelle and Martin have their own style. Michelle wore a black sleevless skating dress with silver sides. Martin wore a black t-shirt and shiny silver pants. Two things did bug me about this performance: one -- he REALLY needs to loose those silver pants. They were very distracting. two -- the choreography. Some of it did not fit the music. Yes, there was many interesting moves but the program as a whole could have fit the music way better. Overall I heard many good reviews about this ice dance couple.
Next were Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz. They skated to Climbing by Lionel Richie. Again they were brilliant. They wore their long program costumes....the yellow that fade into red at the bottom. Up close this pair is very polished and has LOTS of speed. There were two great death spirals. She really does get close to the ice........so close that she had ice chips in her hair. There was a nice throw triple salchow. A huge split double twist. Some interesting lifts but I did not have time to write them all down. I was too busy watching.
Then out came the Muses again, skating to Topsy by Count Basie. I really did not understand too much of what was going on so I did not write much. One of them I think was Elizabeth Manley but I could be mistaken.
After muses came Brian Orser who skated to 5 Months, 2 Weeks, 2 Days by Louis Prima. Interesting performance. It really got the crowd going. He landed a double axel, double loop, another double axel. Brian did a HUGE death drop and ended with a backflip. He had on a vest I think. I really must have been not concentrating because I can't remember much of Brian's program except that there were clocks on the ice. (The lights did that.)
Elizabeth Manley was next and she skated to Fly by Celine Dion. WOW! I wish Liz would do more "soft" and slow pieces, she is good at them. This one was incredibly tender. She landed a double toe loop, double flip, a single axel which I think was to be a double. She had lots of speed, passion, feeling. She wore white sequined dress with a french roll in her hair. Liz looked very elegent and calm. You could tell she feels that song and that skate came from the heart.
Fever by Elvis Presley started out the Elvis Presley medley. This one was skated by Josee Chouinard, Kurt Browning and Brian Orser as the Muse. It was an interesting skate. No jumps but very interesting choreography. The next song -- Are You Lonesome Tonight -- was skated by Kurt Browning. He landed a triple axel, double axel, double axel, triple salchow and a double loop. Interesting program with a fall in the cross overs. Just looked like he caught and edge because the ice was very chewed up. Josée was next skating to Too Much and she landed another huge double axel, a triple toe loop. It was AWESOME the performance. Then Kurt and Josée did a duet of sorts to Surrender. It was another brilliant performance. The part that I especially liked was when Kurt did a double axel as Josée was doing a spread eagle.
That was the end of act one. Act two started off with the Muses walking through the crowd, down the isle that we were sitting by and onto the ice. That really got the crowd going.
Steven Cousins skated to Love Rears its Ugly Head by Living Color. He landed a triple toe, double axel, triple toe loop. He did some HUGE split jumps. This program was one of the best that Steven has done, IMO. He wore green slacks and a white shirt.
Next were Michelle Menzies and Jean-Michel Bombardier, skating to Are You Jimmy Ray? by Jimmy Ray. I don't remember the costumes they wore. They did a split triple twist and a throw double axel. Both were very clean. I really don't remember much about this performance except the crowd just roared when the team finished.
After was Jayson Dénommée skating to Reet Petite by Jackie Wilson. He landed a triple axel, triple toe loop. Had another backflip. He wore black and white. I think black pants, white shirt and a black vest. He too can do some awesome split jumps. Jayson really played to the crowd. He had all the teenage girls screaming.....including me! :-) Jayson is going to make it big soon, he is so talented.
Michelle and Martin again took their turn skating to Perfect Day by Trainspotting. Again a really interesting program. They wore purple costumes I think. There was one part where Martin slid under Michelle while she was skating forward, and then stopped her by grabbing her ankles all the while they are skating really fast. It was interesting.
Next was supposed to be Emmanuel Sandhu but for some reason not given Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz came out and started skating to Why'd You Lie by Colin James. They only did one jump -- a throw double axel -- which Kristy fell on. It looked like she hit the side of the rink when she jumped. It was a pretty hard fall because that was a HUGE throw. They wore red costumes.
After Kristy and Kris, finally came Emmanuel Sandhu . He skated to Carmen by Bizet. A very interesing program. He is really flexible and the speed he has is incredible. He landed a double loop, triple lutz. Emmanuel landed the only jump combination of the night -- a triple toe loop/triple toe loop -- which was right in front of us. That was a very dramatic peice but I think that the second part could have been better choreographed. His spins sometimes look like they are off center just a bit.
Josée Chouinard skated next to Sweater by Meryn Cadell. It was way better than on TV as we could hear the lyrics. she landed a double lutz, triple toe loop and another huge double axel. She got the sweater tangled up at the end so had some problems getting the ACRYLIC to show the crowd.
Steven Cousins skated again to Belfast Child by Simple Minds. He landed a huge triple axel, double axel, triple toe loop, triple toe loop. There was lots of speed in this program. It was more soft not the rock 'n roll he usually does. Could see that the music came straight from the heart. He really is a fast spinner that the TV does not give a good look. The crowd was really loud when he finished! I don't remember what he wore. He wore a brown costume I think.
Elizabeth Manley skated again to Proud Mary by Tina Turner. She had a wild double axel but it was landed. Right after she did another double axel and it was perfect. Also landed a triple toe. Again the crowd got into it. I think she wore a gold dress.
Brian Orser skated again to Namaste by Beastie Boys. He wore a checkered shirt and black pants. The best thing in that program was a backflip into a triple toe loop. He also landed a double axel, triple loop, and a single axel. It was an interesting performance.
Kurt Browning skated the last before the finalé. He skated to Antares by the Tragically Hip. It was an interesting performance. The first jump he did I missed because I was watching the lights on the ice. They would start small, then enlarge, then shrink. He landed a triple toe, a spread egale into a double salchow, another triple toe loop, then footwork into another triple toe loop. It was a GREAT performance. Really got the crowd going.
Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin was the finalé song. There was GREAT choreography. Not too many jumps. I missed them all because I was too busy watching other skaters. Sorry there was so much going on I forgot to write on my piece of paper! I still can't believe I did that. I know that the costumes had sequens and the skirts rustled when the female skaters moved.
All in all, it was a great night of skating. And I hope other people find it as exciting as I did. I have to mention that the more skating the crowd saw the louder it got until we were making the skaters laugh. Kurt was laughing his head off after he finished his trgically Hip number. And Jayson Dénommée looked really shocked when the roof almost blew off because of the noise. His mouth was open, a really surprised look was on his face. I think it was great. I'll never forget the night.