2012 Stars on Ice in Japan (Jan. 7-9 in Osaka; Jan. 14-15 in Tokyo)

[Sylvia]

Official site: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/soi2012/

Scheduled to perform in Japan: Kurt Browning, Jeff Buttle, Todd Eldredge, Sasha Cohen, Katia Gordeeva, Joannie Rochette, Ryan Bradley, Pang/Tong, Kerr/Kerr, Ina/Zimmerman.

Osaka cast: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/soi2012/osaka.html
Japanese skaters: Shizuka Arakawa, Daisuke Takahashi, Miki Ando, Takahiko Kozuka, Yuzuru Hanyu, Kanako Murakami.

Tokyo cast: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/soi2012/tokyo.html
Japanese skaters: Mao Asada and Takahashi/Tran, in addition to the ones in Osaka.

Looking forward to reports, etc.!

[Marroncream]

I went to the opening of Stars On Ice Japan Tour.
The arena seemed less than half packed. We had Nationals in the same arena 2 weeks ago, and there were other shows where Japanese top skaters performed during the week, so it might be bad timing.

I'm going to write what I remember. I didn't take notes, so some part might be different from what actually happened.

It started with Adele's Rolling in the Deep. At First, I thought the beat sounds were recorded, but when Kurt moved, the sound changed with him and I realized the sounds was from their blades. Though that wasn't perfect moves, but it was cool! Then, all Stars on Ice cast appeared. It seemed like Miki Ando was featured in the opening number.

After the opening, Kurt and Koyo stayed on the ice. Kurt spoke in English and Kyoko did in Japanese. They said "Hi" to us and wanted us to say hi to them too. Kurt blamed the short side people for giving less cheer. Then, they introduced the first solo performer.

The first skater was Daisuke Takahashi. He skated to The Crisis from The Legend of 1900. The flow of his skating was beautiful. He did 3A!

The next was Kanako Murakami skating to Amarti Si. Her jumps looked good until the last 3-2-2. The audience clapped hands for the jumps then she fell. Ouch.

Then, Ina/Zimmerman came and skated to Johnny Got a Boom Boom. They missed one lift, but the audience liked their acrobatic tricks. My right side was a lady who wasn't a figure skating fan but came because her daughter was a fan. She seemed enjoyed the tricks.

Next was Ryan Bradley skating to The Best is Yet to Come. Surprisingly, he seemed a little distant to the audience. But it might be how the program goes because he teased audience in the final. The audience liked his back flip.

Yuzuru Hanyu was next. He did his SP.

Then Sasha performed. She skated to Big Spender. When I saw her, the phrase, "she's a dirty dirty dancer" popped in my mind. As she went backstage, she flirted with Kozuka. He couldn't take his eyes off from her, so Kurt had to turn him around.

And Kurt and Kozuka skated together. They did the same moves, but when Kozuka did the first 2A, Kurt pretended he couldn't do it because he had a backache. But later they did a series of 2As.

The Kerrs skated their last year’s FD. The lady next to me liked the lifts.

Well, well, next one was from Todd Eldredge as a waiter. He poured real water on John! As the customer left the bill, he gave it to the one of the audience. The audience loved the program. The lady next to me laughed loudly.

Then, Kozuka came on the ice and introduced Miki. She skated to I am a Thousand Winds. She was beautiful and her jumps were strong.

That's the end of the first half.

[Thanksmate]

Wow thanks for the report.
I am going to the show tomorrow, and I am getting more excited reading your post.
Where was your seat? I do not have an expensive ticket, I hope I get to see it ok.
I will wait for the report on the second half!

[Marroncream]

Thanks Thanksmate.
My seat was in the "Stand" area that looks like on the second floor from skaters. Though people in the area were not as enthusiastic as the people in the "Arena" area, the same level as the ice, and I honestly envied them, If you want to enjoy the show, you sure can!

[Marroncream]

The second half started with Kurt, Todd and Sasha's clown number, the one with balloons and kite. That was cute!

I don't remember the rest of the skating order well. I wish I had taken notes.

Pang/Tong skated their SP?? The first side by side jump looked doubled, but it was a beautiful and strong performance.

Jeffrey Buttle skated to Harder Better Faster Stronger. Though he fell on the first jump, he knows how to entertain the audience. He stopped and danced in front of them and they screamed!

Joannie Rochette knows how to entertain, too. She skated to Formidable. She has a beautiful skating technique and knows how to move her upper body too. I really like her! Since Japanese skaters tend to skate to beautiful slow songs this season, we need performance like this.

Kurt introduced Takahiko Kozuka as his friend. He also said Kozuka's program was good because he choreographed it. Kozuka skated to Hello, Goodbye & Safety Dance. Now he knows how to skate to the audience. He seemed having fun with the cap.

Sasha's voice introduced Shizuka Arakawa. I don't know the song she skated to, but it was a beautiful performance. I hope someone fill this in.

Ekaterina Gordeeva skated to Feelin' Good. Her jumps were, I guess, doubles. She was sexy. When she was leaving, she said, "Feeling good?" to Kurt, and he also skated to Feeling Good. How old is he? He has speed. He fell on the last 2A. He must have been tired.

I think Jeff's voice introduced Takahashi's second number. He skated to El Tango de Roxanne, his 2006-2007 Exhibition. He nailed all jumps. I think he did 3A, but I couldn't hear many cheers for it, so it might be 2A. There were some standing ovations.
Daisuke opened and closed solo performances. It went to the final.

I don't know the song for the final group number. All the cast was wearing red costume. After the cast finished the number, Japanese skaters appeared and made lines for a bow. Kurt patted Ryan's head and then Kozukz's. That was cute.
Skaters skate around the rink and exchanged high fives with the audience in the front row. Ryan stayed at the one part and was greeting the audience there, but the cast still moved and left him. He ran to the line. Ryan also did a back flip before he left the ice.

We hoped for an encore and kept clapping our hands but that didn't happen.

[ostile17]

Thank you so much for the report!

I think Jeff's voice introduced Takahashi's second number. He skated to El Tango de Roxanne, his 2006-2007 Exhibition. He nailed all jumps. I think he did 3A, but I couldn't hear many cheers for it, so it might be 2A. There were some standing ovations.
Daisuke opened and closed solo performances. It went to the final.

It appears from this video that it was indeed a 3A!

[kittyjake5]

Thank you for your detailed report, much appreciated!

[Teenes]

Thanks so much for the review! It sounds like they're doing the Act I closer (Rolling in the Deep) as the opening of the Japanese show. Curious if the finale is Dog Days Are Over (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWOyfLBYtuU&ob=av2e). If not, I'm guessing it's the opening "Suite for Stars" that was written by Geoffrey Tyler.

Oh, and Kurt's 45, and will be 46 in June.

[kwanette]

Thanks so much for the review! Wow! What a group of skaters!

[Marroncream]

Thanks ostile17 for the video! I'm glad I was right.
Thanks a lot Teenes for the last number's song. It sure was Dog Days Are Over!
Kurt is 45!? Wow!

[Thanksmate]

Thanks Thanksmate.
My seat was in the "Stand" area that looks like on the second floor from skaters. Though people in the area were not as enthusiastic as the people in the "Arena" area, the same level as the ice, and I honestly envied them, If you want to enjoy the show, you sure can!

Thank you, I just came back from the show. Yes, I really enjoyed the show. It was so much fun! I may go back there tomorrow as the venue is only 30 min away.
I think some skaters skated different programs today. I will try to write my review tonight, though my knowledge in skating is limited.

[paskatefan]

Thanks for the review! What a cast!

[Thanksmate]

SOI 2012 Japan tour, Jan 8
My review may overlap with the one marroncream-san kindly provided yesterday. But as I wrote earlier, some skaters skated to different music today, so I will post anyway.

Opening
Kurt came out alone and spoke to the audience in English. He said this year’s theme is love and life. He said something like Japan being the greatest skating country on the planet. (no big cheer from the audience as no translation provided.)
Between his talk he moved his feet to make sounds with his blades. Then Todd, and Ryan joined Kurt to start making sounds with their blades. It was nice.
Rolling in the Deep
SOI regular casts plus Miki came out and skated. I first thought JohnZ was lifting Kyoko, and then I realized it was Miki he was lifting. I saw JohnK lifting Kyoko. Then, they switched the partners around and it was difficult to follow who was skating with who.

Daisuke Takahashi- The Crisis
Kurt introduced him. He mentioned about Daisuke’s beautiful 4T in SP at National.
Dai did 3A today as well. He did 3 triples and all of them were clean. This program is very beautiful. He draws the audience into the performance.

Kanako Murakami – Jumpin’ Jack (2010 SP)
When her name was announced by Daisuke, I was little worried she had to skate right after Daisuke's perfectly beautiful program. Then, boom. She did 3-3. Her performance was energetic and cute. Very bubbly and fun.

Kyoko and John
John looked gigantic compare to other skaters. I was happy to get to see them live. Lots of tricks.

Ryan Bradly – Footloose
I think it was footloose. Of course he did a backflip. Ever since I saw his backflip in FujiXerox commercial 4 or 5 years ago, I wanted to see it live. He is really entertaining.

Yuzuru Hanyu – Somebody to Love
Jeff introduced Yuzuru as he is the future of skating (or something like that). I think he has a star quality. He is not reserved, and really tries to express himself. In the program, where he stops in one spot and dance, I kind of used to think he looks little bit awkward (sorry!). Today watching him live, it wasn’t. He was dancing. He did 3A. Also 4T or 3T, I could not tell.

Sasha Cohen –
Kurt’s voice introduced Sasha as “one and only”. I am sorry I do not know the music.
The program had all the positions I wanted to see from her. Ina bauer, spirals in different positions (charlotte, Y, arabesque, fan, etc), and layback spin.

Kurt and Takahiko
Kozuka introduced the number himself. His voice was trembling from nervousness. It was a fun number. They looked like a father and a son. Also, they looked like a mentor and a student.

Sineard/John Kerr
I think Morning by Grieg was used in the beginning, and I now forgot what was the music played after that.

Todd
Todd brought a table and two chairs. Todd is a waiter. Kyoko and JohnZ came out as his customers. It was like watching a musical. When he tries to seat the two, he pulls the chair too far and John falls down on the flour. I think I like Todd’s spins. Then he brought water in a tea pot, splashing water over john. He brought two trays of food and almost spilled all over them. As Todd skating alone the customers left the table angriy. Todd comes back to the table, he looks puzzled they are gone.

Miki Ando – Balck Swan
Daisuke introduced Miki.
She is a beautiful lady. Her skating is not my cup of tea, but she skated beautifully.

[ostile17]

SOI 2012 Japan tour, Jan 8
My review may overlap with the one marroncream-san kindly provided yesterday. But as I wrote earlier, some skaters skated to different music today, so I will post anyway.

Opening
Kurt came out alone and spoke to the audience in English. He said this year’s theme is love and life. He said something like Japan being the greatest skating country on the planet. (no big cheer from the audience as no translation provided.)
Between his talk he moved his feet to make sounds with his blades. Then Todd, and Ryan joined Kurt to start making sounds with their blades. It was nice.
Rolling in the Deep
SOI regular casts plus Miki came out and skated. I first thought JohnZ was lifting Kyoko, and then I realized it was Miki he was lifting. I saw JohnK lifting Kyoko. Then, they switched the partners around and it was difficult to follow who was skating with who.

Daisuke Takahashi- The Crisis
Kurt introduced him. He mentioned about Daisuke’s beautiful 4T in SP at National.
Dai did 3A today as well. He did 3 triples and all of them were clean. This program is very beautiful. He draws the audience into the performance...

Thank you so much for the report.

[skamper23]

Yes thanks for all the reports from the Japan shows! I love to hear about the changes from the U.S. version and the extra skaters!

Thanksmate, you mentioned that John Z is carrying Miki in the Rolling In the Deep number and John K is lifting Kyoko. In the U.S. version John Z lifts Sasha and John K. still has kyoko.

[Thanksmate]

Thanksmate, you mentioned that John Z is carrying Miki in the Rolling In the Deep number and John K is lifting Kyoko. In the U.S. version John Z lifts Sasha and John K. still has kyoko.

Thanks. I kept looking for Sasha and could not find her in the number. I was wondering why because I thought she was one of the leading casts of the show. As Marroncream-san said, Miki was featured in the group numbers both the opening and the finale. I bought a program and Miki was the first one to be introduced, followed by SOI regular casts. SOI Japan is featuring Miki, and was wondering why.
It makes sense now as Miki is the reigning World champion.

[Jaana]

Thanks so much for your reviews Marroncream and Thanksmate!!!

[kittyjake5]

Has anyone found video of Dai skating to Roxanne?

[midori]

The first broadcast will be 19:54- on Jan. 15th.

I went to Osaka shows and loved the show. Especially, the finale was very well choreographed and refreshing. Kozuka-Kurt's program was fun. The opening (Rolling in the Deep) was also great other than the first day.

The skaters' condition was much better than the last year. The last year they were obviously right out of the holidays and many did not remember what to do in the group numbers, especially for one from the past season. This year it was not like that.

I wish they would also have done the four-guys program like they did in US, but overall I am very happy about the show.

[YukiNieve]

Mao's 3-3!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZajPKeiOzY8