Here is my report of the Stars On Ice show I attended during the 1999-2000 tour.
I went to the show on February 12, 2000, at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. We sat in Section 214 (in the upper bowl, center ice), Row 6, Seats 12-14
Last night was Stars On Ice!!!! It was SO fantastic!!! I've been waiting so long for it, and it was just enormously beyond my expectations!!! Every moment was just pure heaven!! This was my first time ever seeing skating live.
We (my mom, my friend Kami, and I) got to the Palace of Auburn Hills (which is 15-20 minutes away from my house, depending on traffic) about 6:10. We had to wait around in the foyer until 6:30, when they let us in. I was so excited, I could hardly stand it!!!! I bought a program first thing when they finally let us in. The programs are absolutely gorgeous. A pic of the cast from the finale, What A Wonderful World is all across the back cover, front cover, and inside front cover. Right on the front are Kurt , Kristi , Scott , Tara , Katia , and Ilia .
We went right to this little merchandise stand first thing, so we didn't have to wait in line, and we got our pick of everything they had. There were 2 really nice SOI staff guys running it. I bought the Best of Stars On Ice video, the Target-exclusive SOI calendar, a really lovely picture of Katia standing by a tree--it was autographed, so I think it's a give-away at $20!! I got this year's cast photo on the Zebra Couch and a picture of Katia from last year's Four Corners/Tell Me Everything . I really wish they would've had pictures from this year's programs! (They did of most of the other skaters--I was really hoping to get pics from Di Bolero and Ribbon/Petrarch Sonnet ) I also got a mouse pad for which has a pic of the whole cast standing on the ice in street clothes, and their autographs are on it. (BTW, does anyone else think it's unfair that they sell Scott's book and Kristi's book, but not Katia's?) They give really cool SOI shopping bags when you buy stuff. The sides of the bag are kind of translucent, with the Target SOI logo and a pic of Ilia, and the ends have lots of little pictures of the skaters. You can also get a free SOI duffel bag for free if you sign up for a Target Guest Card! The bags are black, with the logo embroidered, and they're really nice!
Then we went to our seats, which were really good, considering that we were in the upper bowl! Our section was in the middle, and we were in the sixth row, so we had a great view!! After we settled in our seats, I decided to go ahead and find someone to give my Valentines to, so I wouldn't have to worry about them the whole evening.
I made a Valentine for Ilia and one for Katia and Daria . I wrote them each a note, and I wrote John 3:16 in Russian on the note. I also gave them each a keychain that my brother made, and pictures of myself, and I gave Katia a picture that my little sister drew for her. We went and asked the guy in charge at the Target Card booth who it would be best to give them to, and he sent us to the little merchandise booth. He told us that the guys there see the skaters all the time, cause they get the autographed pictures! So I'm thinking, I better propose to these guys!!
So back we went to the booth, and the guys are like, "Oh no" when they see me coming, because I kept asking them if they had any more Katia stuff, and they were like, "no you already bought it all!" When we get back there, one of them asks me if I came back to buy the other calendar. And I said, "no, because it's got an error!" He's like, "where?" And I showed him where the caption is wrong [in the other SOI calendar I have, the February picture is of G&G,, and in the caption for the picture, they have the wrong name of the program.], and he's like, "you're a fanatic, aren't you!" I gave him the Valentines, and he promised me he'd make sure they got them. (I didn't ever tell him that I already had that calendar)
We went to our seats, and sat for 20 minutes saying stuff like, "Ooooooooh I can't believe I'm here!" "I can't wait for it to start!" I was so excited I thought I was going to explode!!
The opening number, Strobe's Nanafushi was AWESOME!!!! It set the tone for the whole show!! When I saw Katia, I just about screamed, and when they announced her name, I started crying! It was so thrilling to finally be at SOI and see her skate in person! And I was really excited to see Katia and Kristi's Demain since it wasn't on TV.
Kurt's clown number, Rag-GIDON Time was so hilarious! He is sooooo incredibly talented! He made us practically fall out of our seats laughing, even when we're far away and can't see his priceless facial expressions!
I don't really remember much from Roca & Sur's Ghost It was the only number in the whole show that wasn't that great to me.
Katia's Ribbon (Petrarch Sonnet) was exquisite. She is the best ever. I cried the whole number. She was so lovely! And she landed all her jumps. The choreography is absolutely breathtaking in person! My friend and I gave her a two-person standing ovation.
Ilia's Blue's for Narada didn't really impress me that much when I saw it on TV, but in person, it blew me away!! So powerful. He fell on one jump and singled another
Meno & Sand's Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing was excellent. I never realized, from watching on TV how fast all the pairs elements are, especially the lifts! It's so much more gorgeous in person!!
I'm not a big fan of Tara, and I've seen Genie In A Bottle a lot on TV this season, so it didn't do much for me. Especially since she fell right on her but on one jump. But the crowd loved it! She's sort of a hometown girl, so she got the biggest cheers all night except for Scott. But the crowd was just threw the roof for everyone.
I absolutely LOVED the Simon & Garfunkel act!!!! Scott's You Can Call Me Al is so much fun! The crowd roared when he came out, at the end, and when he did his back flip. It was vintage Scott.
Me and Julio was the funniest! I laughed so hard watching Kurt and Steven!! A new twist on pairs skating :0)
Cecila with Katia and Scott was so cute! Katia was so funny! I loved seeing her in a different kind of character! She is so talented, she can do anything!
The Sound of Silence was fantastic. I wish I could've watched all of them! (Scott, Meno & Sand, Roca & Sur, Bechke & Petrov)
Kristi was beautiful in Bridge Over Troubled Water I love the song, and she did a terrific job with it, IMHO!!
Old Friends was a great way to end the first act. The choreography is perfect for the song and the skaters. It's so cute the way they pose for the camera! I love the part where they all jump together!
Kurt was so funny on the Zebra Couch at the beginning of the Club AC act!!! He made me think of someone's little brother trying to crash their party!! And when they were all coming out and gathering on the couch during Club Tract, the guys's acting was so perfect!!
Luv Me Luv Me where all the guys (Ilia, Steven, Denis, and Gorsha Sur) were all chasing Tara around was really cute. Their body language was so funny!
Steven was fabulous in It's About That Walk. He's such a fantastic skater!!! How come I never noticed him before?!?!
LuLu's It's Not Right (But It's OK) was awesome. It was so funny to watch Steven's reactions while she skated! And Kristi got down off the Zebra Couch and picked up something off the ice during it.
Jazzin with Kristi, LuLu, and Steven was terrific, but IMO it was even funnier on TV when you could see Steven's facial expressions. I just LOVED the whole Club AC act!!
Kurt and Tara's He's Got A Way was outstanding. It was like he was this stuck-up guy who's full of himself, but for some reason she loves him anyway even though he doesn't seem to know she exists. And then in La Valse Moderne/Dada Je Suis it's like he finally realizes she's there and they are happy together. It was so sweet.
Bechke & Petrov's Czardas totally blew me away. It was wonderful! It really made me wish I could've seen Katia and Sergei skate live. Their programs are so wonderful even on TV, imagine what it must have been like for those who saw them live!
I didn't pay much attention to Casi Un Bolero with the pairs, because I knew what was next! I didn't really like it on TV, and it wasn't much better in person. But the lifts were cool. And no one fell :0)
Si Tu No Estas/ Casi Un Bolero Katia and Ilia were just perfect. They just took my breath away. The whole entire Palace was holding its breath, except to cheer!! I cried all through it. The SBS jumps were huge, and perfectly landed! The arena just exploded when they landed them!! But you know, even though Katia and Ilia were so fantabulous, I still get the impression of two singles skating together, not the beautiful unit that she and Sergei were. They don't even seem as much a one as Jenni and Todd, IMO. But I just loved the number. It was absolutely gorgeous!
Kurt's Play That Funky Music was unbelievable. He looked like he was having the time of his life: and I was too!! It looked to me like his jumps were so powerful he could hardly land them! He stepped out of a couple, and I think he put his hand down once. (I didn't take notes, cause I didn't want to miss a minute!)
Ilia's Baseball Cap was really cool. I love the way he kept turning it around on his head, and putting it on the ice and stuff. And I loved his little intro to American Woman
Tara's American Woman was so exciting and full of energy!! The crowd started out really pumped, and got more and more excited with each number, so by this point, 'the joint was jumping'!! But IMO both this and Genie In A Bottle were too suggestive for a family show, performed by a 17-year-old!!
Scott's Don Quixote was hysterical!!! It comes across a lot better in person than on TV. He fell on a jump--he, Ilia, and Tara had the only falls of the night. He got a standing ovation from the crowd.
I was very sad when WWW, What A Wonderful World started, cause I knew it was almost over, but the finale was OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!! It was phenomenal!!!!!! Incredible!!!!! I think it's the best SOI opening or finale ever!!!!! The music in each solo part is perfectly suited to the skater. The whole number was just AWESOME!!! The audience was on it's feet screaming at the end!!!
I cannot wait for next year. I can't believe how much better it is live than on TV. For one thing, they chop it up and switch all the numbers around, so you don't realize how it all flows together and the programs all complement each other. On TV, you get this idea of it being just a lot of great skaters doing their own numbers with a few ensembles, but it's SO MUCH MORE than that!! It's really a big family, and everyone works together, even though sometimes they're out there by themselves. It was SO fantastic. It was out of this world. Every number blew me away. I have never cried and laughed so much!! Of course the biggest thrill was seeing Katia, my hero, my inspiration (she's so lovely and graceful and perfect) but the whole show, all the skaters, were just fabulous. Words cannot describe how much this evening meant to me!!
As we in the car, in line to get on the expressway, I turned on the radio, and guess what was playing: "I Will Remember You" I burst out crying (again) but it was probably partly from happiness. It was such a wonderful, beautiful evening. The best experience of my life. I will treasure this memory always! Thank you so much, Scott, Katia, Ilia, Kurt, Steven, Kristi, LuLu, Tara, Renee & Gorsha, Elena & Denis, and Jenni & Todd! (And also the guys at the stuff booth--you're the best) STARS ON ICE IS THE BEST TOUR EVER!!!!!!
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