Sunday 11/21 NBC broadcast of Improv-Ice with online fan voting

[Wyliefan]

So Alissa does eat. I had been wondering. She loses the shilling competition.

But she wins the competition for most uses of the word "healthy" in a 30-second spot.

Add me to the list of those who are disgusted by the constant cutaways to the band. Someone needs to get to the family members of the NBC higher-ups and convert them all to skating fandom, and get them clamoring for better coverage of the skating. Then we wouldn't have to put up with this crap.

[museksk8r]

Maybe dance rather than pairs?

Interesting that Jeremy relates better to a partner than he does as a single to the audience. Maybe if in his SP he could imagine a partner on the ice- it might come across better?

I do wish they'd work up an exhibition -they look well together on the ice.

Jeremy was once a competitive ice dancer and a pairs skater as well, so it's no surprise to me that he has a good ability to relate well with a partner on the ice.

[MichelleTodd]

Evan looks good in those leather/pleather pants imo.

In my opinion, too.

[MichelleTodd]

Where was the improv, Evan?

The black-and-white shirt in the first number and the leather pants in the second one I've never seen him wear anything like either one before!

Seriously, improvisation isn't Evan's forte, megafan though I am. The only guy I loved was Ryan "Dirty White Boy" Bradley. For the gals, I enjoyed Flatt, Rochette, and Czisny.

[sk8sue]

My highlight was Ryan Bradley telling the story of his first improv competition, as a child, when he had just learned to do a single axel, so he did a program that consisted of something like 14 single axels, one after another.

[LilJen]

Well. I totally spaced this, but it looks like I didn't miss much. Thanks for posting the routines upthread. . . each of them includes approximately 10-15 seconds showing the actual skater. If that. Per clip: Five seconds of "Cold-Eeze Improv Ice," 2 seconds of skater, 5 seconds of aging rocker, 3 seconds of skater, 4 seconds of aging rocker, 5 seconds of skater, und so weiter, und so weiter, und so weiter, for a total of 45 seconds of the program. Sigh.

[neptune]

it's really amazing how much this new lead singer sounds like Lou Gramm.....as i totally date myself here,

He does kind of sound like Lou Gramm, or at least Lou Gramm before he had an operation. Unfortunately, his voice is just not the same nowadays. Gramm's new band put out an album last year, and his power is largely gone.

I'm probably the only one who's watching for Foreigner.

Don't be so sure. I was just changing channels and saw the program. I had no idea it was going to be on. I heard Foreigner and saw skating and was like, "I'm so sorry I didn't tape this!" By that point, though, it was almost over. But based on some of what I've read here, maybe I didn't miss all that much, except for the live music.

[neptune]

Thanks for the heads up Sylvia.

It's so clear, I'm sorry to say...
But if you wanna win you gotta learn how to play
Head games.

BTW, did anybody skate to that one?

[mtnskater]

Overall, a pretty clean skated event. Evan was the only skater to fall.

Actually not true! I attended this event live in Loveland and Jeremy had an awkward fall on a 2 axel in the Foreigner portion of the event and I was very surprised that they edited out his fall but not Evan's. They did not do any re-takes the night of filming so I expected all falls to be in the televised show. You can search the archives for my review of Improv ice after the filming in September. Interesting how live and TV the skaters come across differently. I thought Sasha won it that night but her skate didn't come across quite as fab on TV. Also Rachel pumped up the volume and really was impressive in the Foreigner number live but the edits really took away from it. Plus it seemed that the edits on Evan doing Foreigner showed a lot of back crossovers but I remember much more content from him in his Foreigner number. I knew the edits for the 2nd half would really wreck the feel of each skater's entire performance.

Also forgot to mention that Alissa Czisny fell on a triple loop during the filming and they edited it out. If I were Evan I would lodge a protest!

[mtnskater]

Heh. I was just thinking that their sponsorship wasn't working. I have a cold and have no urge to buy their product. I'm sticking to soup and hot apple cider. But, you do have a point about voting.

BTW I swear by Cold-eeze. Always have some in my purse and around home. Have told tons of people about it. My 80 year old mom swears by it too. The trick is you have to take it at the first sign of a cold...like the first twinge in your throat or peppery nose!

[love skating]

Thanks for the info mtnskater. Did Alissa have a fall or something in her Foreigner number? When they showed the promo in the very beginning it looked like she was having a mistake and then when they showed the actual number I didn't see her even jump. So I thought they might have done a cut to the band edit for a mistake.

I enjoyed Sasha, Jeff and Ryan the most. But I thought everyone did a good job. I was surprised at how many Foreigner songs I knew!

[mtnskater]

Thanks for the info mtnskater. Did Alissa have a fall or something in her Foreigner number? When they showed the promo in the very beginning it looked like she was having a mistake and then when they showed the actual number I didn't see her even jump. So I thought they might have done a cut to the band edit for a mistake.

I enjoyed Sasha, Jeff and Ryan the most. But I thought everyone did a good job. I was surprised at how many Foreigner songs I knew!

Yes, I corrected my post because Alissa did fall on a 3 loop in her Foreigner number and also I recall Jeremy falling twice...not just on the 2 axel in Foreigner. I looked back at my post event review on the Board posted in Sept. and that is indeed what happened. Really lame for them to only show Evan's fall and also to show mostly crossovers during Evan's Foreigner. It was really good live. I reported in Sept. that my friends that I went with who had never seen live skating thought Sasha and Jeff were best. I also thought Rachel was fab in Foreigner and I'm no fan of Rachel's skating

[neptune]

All eight routines performed to Foreigner (complete with continual cut-a-ways to the band) are up online @ http://www.coldeeze.com/vote/index.html. You don't have to watch the telecast.

Thanks! I just watched all the, um, "routines." If that's really all they showed on TV, then what a joke!

Let's see...Nobody was awful. I'll start with the guys. Evan skated decently, but he didn't really improvise. Jeremy had the right idea, but I didn't like his outfit and his skating was kind of empty. Ryan had both the right idea and right outfit (for that song, at least), but he was standing in place too much and hamming it up too much as well. I was never a big fan of Jeff's amateur skating, but I thought his routine was the best of the eight. He had an attractive outfit, he had the right interpretation and energy, and his skating was excellent.

Now on to the ladies. Sasha was very good. The main problem was that she got saddled with one of Foreigner's generic new songs. Nobody knows that song, so why even use it? But she did her best with the limited material. For "Hot Blooded," I thought the blonde skating to it was doing an excellent job. It was hard to see the person's face, and I was thinking, "Everyone is so right!! Rachael Flatt does do much better with modern music!!!" Then at the end, I looked down and saw..."Joannie Rochette." Oops. Of the women's, Joannie's was the most "rocking" IMO. Although I didn't think black was very flattering on her, Rachael did a pretty decent job to "Waiting for a Girl like You," and maybe she does need something modern to bring out the best in her. Alissa did a fine job as well, but her skating and outfit didn't really seem to match the music IMO. Both her costume (which was very dressy) and moves seemed like they would've worked better with a GFB.

Anyway, I voted for Jeff. Then I was just curious to see if you could vote more than once, and apparently each time you hit the button, you get another vote. Real sophisticated voting system there. I wonder if they'll consider using it for the 2012 elections.

I wish Sasha had gotten one of Foreigner's better ballads instead of that bland new one. They had a couple of stunning ones from the '90s: "With Heaven on Our Side" (great chorus, even though the song gets way too sappy at the end) and "Until the End of Time." I think Sasha would've done a fine job with both of those.

If the producers had shown full-length routines and not cut away to the band at all, this could've been a great program. But the way it was, it should have been titled, "Live with Foreigner...and a Few of Their Skating Friends."

[neptune]

Actually not true! I attended this event live in Loveland and Jeremy had an awkward fall on a 2 axel in the Foreigner portion of the event and I was very surprised that they edited out his fall but not Evan's....Also forgot to mention that Alissa Czisny fell on a triple loop during the filming and they edited it out. If I were Evan I would lodge a protest!

Did Plushenko help with the editing or something?

[manhn]

Wow, Ryan Bradley is looking great again! Love the short hair!

[AYS]

IMO, no one really holds a candle to Buttle in the improv ability. Jeremy is pretty good too.

I only saw Evan's first number, but despite the fact that they tried to give him a song that wouldn't make him have to do anything hip-hoppy or popular looking, he still looked like a fish out of water...or rather, he looked like typical Evan on ice.

[Wyliefan]

Per clip: Five seconds of "Cold-Eeze Improv Ice," 2 seconds of skater, 5 seconds of aging rocker, 3 seconds of skater, 4 seconds of aging rocker, 5 seconds of skater, und so weiter, und so weiter, und so weiter, for a total of 45 seconds of the program. Sigh.

Yep, that was about the size of it.

[Skate Talker]

Totally disappointed and underwhelmed by Ryan. If you are going to stop skating like that all the time then you had at least better be doing some great dancing in place. Jeffrey gets my vote for best improve of the men.

The ladies - all of them had one number that was pretty generic looking. Best single performance for the ladies was Joannie's second number.

It's looking like improv goodies like Kurt's Meditation just aren't on the cards anymore. I'm not sure the current formula allows for it or if the skater's are just too inhibited to really let it go, or something else.

[Sasha'sSpins]

I was born in 86, but I still love them. Don't think that younger people only like what's current.

Just catching up on some older threads.

My twin nephews are 15. They love the Beatles. You're never too young to appreciate the old Masters.

[paskatefan]

My twin nephews are 15. They love the Beatles. You're never too young to appreciate the old Masters.

Glad to hear that. You can't go wrong with the Beatles. IMHO, their music is timeless, and I'd much rather listen to them than a lot of the current stuff on the radio that passes for music.