US Stars on Ice tour (Feb. 18-April 9, 2011): articles, reports, photos, etc.

[joemauerlover]

I finally got Katia's second SOI number up, and the act 2 opener, with her dropping something?!?!? check it out!

Act 2 Opener: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9PRqMtSwWg

Katia's Whitney Houston number: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCVYpufwnHY

[inthemiddle]

Thank you joemauerlover. I love you detailed description of the show and your videos. I saw the show in Anaheim on the beginning of the tour. Some details seem little different in your video which is great that they still working on it to make it better. I loved the show and it is nice to see it again on your video. I already subscribed to your you tube channel
Please save your videos somewhere else as many FSU members complained that their private skating videos were removed from youtube and they didn't have a backup. I'll hate if that will happen to you too.

[skatesindreams]

Ice skating stars visit Central Florida
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/...yssey=nav|head

Great interview with Tanith and Ben

I couldn't get that link to open.
Here's another: http://www.floridatoday.com/article/...ll|text|Home|s

I don't see anything about skating in my hometown paper very often!

[christine_daae]

Hi everyone! I haven't posted in years but attended the St. Paul show and thought you might enjoy seeing my photos. Here they are!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d_aisy/

[joemauerlover]

Thanks for the tip about the videos, I plan to save them! Great pics christine_daae (love POTO!) We were sitting to your right, you got some great pics!

[ChrisYandek]

Review of the show:

http://www.cyinterview.com/2011/03/c...-stars-on-ice/

[victoriajh]

jamie tweeted that her back is bothering her (spasams) so they did not skate tonight?

[Sylvia]

Meryl Davis mentioned in Thursday's Detroit Free Press article (linked in this post) that she and Charlie White will not be skating in the final 6 shows of the SOI tour in order to focus on training for Worlds. Those stops are:
4/1 Uniondale, NY
4/2 East Rutherford, NJ
4/3 Cleveland, OH
4/7 Rochester, NY
4/8 Portland, ME
4/9 Bridgeport, CT

[Charlini]

jamie tweeted that her back is bothering her (spasams) so they did not skate tonight?

I went to this show last night. Jamie & David only skated in the group numbers and I had wondered why. My personal favs for the night were Joannie Rochette, Tanith & Ben and Sasha.

[Calico]

I attended the Pittsburgh show last night, the first Stars on Ice in our new Consol Engergy Center. The show went well. Jamie and David did perform their solo numbers so her back must be improving. I was lucky enough to shake Ben Agosto's hand at the end.

[Jaana]

I noticed this review on the SkateFans list:

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group...message/201626

[Sylvia]

Here's a fun Q&A with Kurt Browning that was published today in the Cleveland Plain Dealer: http://www.cleveland.com/pdq/index.s..._into_the.html
Notable excerpt:

Last summer, you had an encounter with a leaf blower. What happened?

I Twittered about that a little bit, just to say thank you to people. What happened is my fancy little car, which after 10 years of skating as a pro I bought for myself, leaked. It was a soft-top convertible, and it was parked on an incline, and there was a massive amount of water in the back. So being a country kid, I try to figure out how to solve this problem myself. So every once in a while, I'd go down in the garage and set up the leaf blower and just let the air blow underneath the carpets and dry it out, so that no mold would come into play. And the third day, my theory is that it was pretty dry, because something went wrong, either the leaf blower sparked, or it got overheated, or it slipped, because I had it tied it off so it wouldn't move, but maybe it plugged either one end or the other and overheated. My cellphone went off, so I left the garage so I could hear, and then I heard the garage door open. I thought, "That's really weird. Why would the garage door open?" I opened it up, and the car was engulfed in flames. The fire department was under restoration. They didn't come for about 16, 17, 18 minutes. And that was enough. The fire took hold from the basement into our living room, into our bedroom, into the roof and burned most of the roof off the house. And five and a half hours later, they had it under control. So I was just trying to get my car dry. It's dry now.

Ouch.

I'll be honest. You asked me, am I pegged as just the guy who did the quad 20 years ago? I was honestly worried that I'd be pegged as the guy who burned his house down with a leaf blower. And that worried me. I've worked really hard on my career, on my reputation, and I want my sons to grow up with a dad who was an athlete and a performer, not somebody who made this stupid mistake with a leaf blower. Maybe I underestimated people and the media. I don't think that that's happened. People have been really good about it. But I was worried that you can just do one thing wrong, and then that's who you are? It hasn't seemed to happen that way.

[HeatherC]

The Cincinnati SOI show was earlier today and I had a total blast. I hadn't read too much about the show because I like being a little surprised by it and I'm very glad for that now. I thought the show was awesome, one of the best shows they've had in several years. There were no solo numbers that I didn't like (I even liked Michael Weiss and I am SO not a fan, LOL), the group numbers were really great, and the music choices were all fun too. The cast looked like they were having a blast and that made it fun for the fans. We also had a show with NO FALLS. There were a few doubled jumps here or there but NO falls! There was a pretty large crowd there tonight too and I LOVED seeing that because Cincy usually doesn't get big crowds. The show here is usually on some random weeknight like a Tuesday or Thursday so finally having one on the weekend was wonderful. It's also pring break for most of the schools this week so that could have helped with attendance too. Please keep the show on the weekend SOI!!!

My fave numbers: Kurt's "Steppin' Out" with the voice over (HILARIOUS), both of Joannie's numbers (the Burlesque one was really cute), Jamie & Dave's numbers (Scream went over VERY well!), Tanith & Ben's "Use Somebody" (they haven't missed a beat since retiring from amateur skating), and Todd's "That's Life" (he hammed it up a bit for us). I took a ton of pictures but I won't be able to post them until tomorrow night. I took way too many pics again but what else is new?!

BTW-I loved the group numbers too and we got an extra treat in the Act 1 finale number when Dave split a hole in his pants! I have no clue when it happened but about halfway through the number, maybe not even that far, we noticed that Jamie was cracking up as she was posing with David during one part of it and we saw her pointing at something. My mom finally figured out that she was laughing because he had about an eight inch hole on the back area of his pants! When they starting skating again, Dave was trying to use his hand to cover up the hole (which made it even funnier) and then the rest of the audience starting cracking up because they also figured out what was going on which made Jamie and the cast start laughing even harder! It was hilarious. I have no idea how they all got through the rest of the number and eventually, Dave gave up trying to hide the hole and I guess he had a nice breeze going down there for the rest of it, LOL Funniest moment I've had during a show in a long time and I haven't looked yet but I REALLY hope I got some funny pictures of them in that number!

[WildRose]

Jamie posted a picture of David's torn jeans on Twitter I can see why the cast & audience were cracking up
http://yfrog.com/h77l8qyj

Thanks for the review!

[Jaana]

Chicago show photos by MarkA (link originally posted on SOI forum):

http://www.jmarkimages.com/index/soi2011/soi2011.htm

[marysy]

Hi everyone,

I'm planning on going to the SOI shows in E. Rutherford NJ and in Long Island this weekend. I haven't actually bought tickets yet and was thinking about getting a fan membership to go to a meet and greet. Is it too late to get a membership? I wasn't sure if the meet and greet passes have to be mailed sometime before the show or if they could be picked up at the arena the day of. (As an aside, do you think the fan membership is worth it?) Also, do you have to buy your tickets while logged in as a fan club member? Would I still be eligible for a AAA discount as a member?

Also, how early would one need to arrive at the rink for the meet and greet?

Thanks in advance for any info!

Mary

[Chele615]

If you are a Fan Club member and register for a Meet & Greet, you will receive an email stating where and when to meet for the meet and greet. I have never done the meet and greet, but did see a group meeting for it when I was with a friend picking up tickets at the box office back in Boston. That was around 4:30ish (for a 7:30 show).

You need to already have a ticket in hand in order to go to the meet and greet because one of the arena staff will scan your ticket when you go in. I don't see why you wouldn't be able to use the AAA discount to buy a ticket. You can pick the ticket up at the box office when you pick up the fan club information. I know that the NY/NJ ones were still open as of this past Monday when I registered for the Portland, ME one, but you might want to sign up ASAP because I am pretty sure that they close a couple days early.

I have a Fan Club membership, but have really only used it to buy the premium seating. This will be the first year that I will do the Meet and Greet part of the membership. The price is definitely steep for what small perks you do receive. Also, I don't like how you aren't able to bring a friend with you who is not also a fan club member to the meet and greet. If you are buying 2 fan club tickets for the show, then IMO you should be eligible for 2 meet and greet passes.

[marysy]

Thanks very much, Chele615! I did end up signing up for a meet and greet and just received the email confirmation saying to show up at the arena at 4:45 for a 7:30 show. Looking forward to seeing the show!

[Sylvia]

Any reports from the NJ SOI show last night?

[Garden Kitty]

I went last night and really enjoyed it. Katia had a fall, but that was the only one for the night. She looks amazing, though.

Joannie had some problem with a skate lace in the finale. The skaters were all lined up at one end and she was bending down fixing her lace and Kurt kept telling her to hurry up. At one point in the finale, Todd must have said something to Kurt, because when he skated by Kurt was laughing out loud.

I particularly liked the quiet ensemble numbers - On Golden Pond and the picnic in the park. Loved the crowd reaction when Kurt pops the red balloon.

The "alumni" in the crowd were Lucinda Ruh and Kyoko (they mentioned she'd be skating with them next weekend).

Jamie and David were still very impressive. I wasn't sure if it would seem odd to see them skating together, but they were fantastic.

ETA: I forgot to mention how much I love seeing Ben in the group numbers. He's always giving 110% and seems to be doing just a little bit more. Even when he's just standing around with some other skaters while someone does a highlight move, he's always interacting with the audience or cheering for one of the other skaters.