Sunday, March 30 - Exhibition Practice
Congratulations Are In Order
I returned to the seat in the second row of the section to the left of the autograph wall and skater warm up area. I met Emika there, and she told me the story of Tomas Verner and the gift bag. There was a woman in the section near center ice, across from the judges, who had a seat close to the front. Emika met this woman in the entrance to that section. The woman agreed to give her ticket to Emika since Tomas was the first skater of the evening. So, Emika was able to show the ticket to the seating attendant, sit in a seat for Tomas' performance and present the gift to him at the boards after his skate. Then, Emika returned the ticket to the lady for the remainder of the Men final. I was glad Emika had found the woman who had made such a nice gesture.
Qing Pang and Jian Tong were on the ice skating to The Prayer when I arrived.
Chengjiang Li was skating to music with Spanish lyrics.
Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov skated to a clip from last year's free dance that included the instrumental of Michael Jackson's In the Closet. They did the part to 'There's something about you baby that makes me want to give it to you' and so on. The next part of their selection is Cha Cha Cha music. Tatiana was almost unrecognizable without make up and hair done up like in competition.
Sasha Cohen skated to her Romeo and Juliet program.
Takeshi Honda was at the boards facing what use to be the cameramen wall. Fumie Suguri was off ice on the other side of the boards. She could barely be seen over the top of the boards at first because she was stretching behind them. She and Takeshi were talking and laughing.
Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov skated to Dance Me to the End of Love. They didn't do a full run-through, but it was the version from last year's Worlds exhibition and not the one from the 1998-1999 season. There had been some changes. They included the lift with Maria folded over Alexei's knee. They did a throw double jump.
Anabelle Langlois and Patrice Archetto sat in what use to be the judges' section watching exhibitions. Maria Petrova passed through the backstage area in front of where I sat and joined Anabelle and Patrice in the seats. They smiled when they saw her. Alexei Tikhonov took the easy route and hopped backward from the ice to sit on top of the boards, next to the area where Maria had climbed.
Takeshi skated to a rock song. The male voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't call it.
Tatiana Totmianina now sat on top of the boards next to Alexei Tikhonov.
Roman Kostomarov put his hands on Elena Sokolova's shoulders, like he was going to give her a massage. Then, Tatiana Navka greeted Sokolova with the kiss on both cheeks.
Alexei Tikhonov and Takeshi Honda faked like they were going to do a lift, Alexei to lift Takeshi.
The exhibition choreographer called for all the pair teams to come together:
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin
Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov
Qing Pang and Jian Tong
Anabelle Langlois and Patrice Archetto
Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn
Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao were not present
Alexei put his hands on Maria's shoulders as the choreographer instructed the pair teams.
Tanith Belbin, Benjamin Agosto and Tim Goebel talked while the pairs practiced their ending ensemble.
Viktoria Volchkova, Elena Sokolova and Tatiana Navka talked in the area right in front of where we sat.
Roman Kostomarov and Maxim Staviyski talked together.
Takeshi and Victor Kraatz joked around.
Michael Weiss, seated on top of the boards in front of the judges' section where Alexei Tikhonov had been, shared some words with Victor. Shae-Lynn came and sat on the boards next to Weiss.
A few minutes later, Michael Weiss, still seated, began talking to Tim Goebel who was in the area. Yes, Tim and Michael talked. They talked for several minutes. Tim seemed to be very upbeat, and there were no signs of any bitterness. Tim eventually sat on the boards alongside Michael.
Fumie and Alexei Tikhonov shared a hug and seemed to be congratulating each other.
Petrova and Tikhonov returned to sit on the boards and talked to Maxim Marinin.
The choreographer called the men to practice their closing:
Tim Goebel
Michael Weiss
Takeshi Honda
Chengjiang Li
The choreographer asked the guys where Plushenko was. No one seemed to know.
Michelle Kwan entered the ice and shared a hug with Takeshi. Then, Tim and Michelle hugged.
Evgeny finally came out. His first act, greeting the ladies - Elena Sokolova, Viktoria Volchkova, Michelle Kwan, and then Sasha Cohen as they were all assembled in the same general area. The area right in front of where I sat.
Roll call for the ladies included:
Viktoria Volchkova
Elena Sokolova
Fumie Suguri
Sasha Cohen
Michelle Kwan
When the choreographer made a call for the ladies, Evgeny volunteered to join them since he was already surrounded by them. He's a ham. The choreographer took this opportunity to give Plushenko a briefing of what the men had planned for their section of the show's finale. Michael Weiss skated up behind them, and he and Plushenko patted each other's shoulders.
The choreographer reverted back to instructions for the ladies. Then, he called for everyone to assemble for the victory lap.
After the victory lap, Ilia Averbukh gave Michelle Kwan a hug.
Evgeny Plushenko gave Irina Lobacheva a kiss on the cheek.
Alexei Tikhonov and Ilia Averbukh greeted each other.
The choreographer called them to practice the introductions of the disciplines - ladies together, men, pairs and ice dancers. They also practiced the bow in the middle of the ice where everyone held hands in a line and bowed first to the judges' side of the center, then the opposite side. The choreographer told them they should be clapping and dancing around while they're out on the ice together. He said they should be entertaining the audience. 'Make it look like it's not eleven o'clock in the morning after a night out,' he emphasized with humor.
Fumie wore gloves during the practice and happened to drop one of them. Maxim Staviyski picked it up since he was standing nearby and pretended to be taking it away from her. She had to chase him to retrieve it from him. He's a tease, also.
The choreographer dismissed the skaters who practiced the first part of the exhibition and said they could leave. They turned the center's lighting down to exhibition lighting at this point. After a short break, the skaters of the second part took the ice.
Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn skated to Frozen by Madonna. The bass was turned up pretty loud, and it was vibrating the building. This song is a good fit for their style.
Evgeny Plushenko now had the heart balloon as a prop with the audacious costume he introduced the spectators to yesterday.
Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviyski practiced their Shakira number again.
Fumie skated to the soft Sanctus number by the Vienna Boys Choir.
I discovered Irina Lobacheva had worn a hairpiece in the competition events because her hair was in a layered cut and shoulder length instead of the long ponytail. Hair extensions are popular at this time and convenient to wear.
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin skated to a jazzy, instrumental version of Your Song that goes 'Hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words, how wonderful life is while you're in the world.' This selection suits them.
Tim Goebel skated to With Arms Wide Open by Creed.
Ilia Averbukh still skating to Some Sun. He practiced without Irina Lobacheva. She was not in the rink at this time.
Evgeny returned wearing the head, but had regular training clothes on and not the get up that goes along with it.
I noticed many of the banners hung around the center had already been taken down, despite thoughts that they would remain at least until the exhibition ended. Guest Services informed that they would check with the previous night's cleaning crew to find out where the banners had ended up. I forgot to return after exhibition ended to inquire.
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