Stars on Ice: Japan! Takahashi, Asada, Buttle, Weir etc. Jan 5-6 Osaka | 12-14 Tokyo

[PinkFeathers]

05-06 January
Kadoma Sports Center, Osaka, Japan

12-14 January
Ariake Colosseum, Tokyo

Cast (Varies between dates, see website):

Daisuke Takahashi
Mao Asada
Akiko Suzuki
Kanako Murakami
Shizuka Arakawa
Takahiko Kozuka
Alexei Yagudin
Jeffrey Buttle
Kurt Browning
Johnny Weir
Ilia Kulik
Ryan Bradley
Joannie Rochette
Irina Slutskaya
Dorothy Hamill
Sean Sawyer
Sinead & John Kerr
Philippe Candeloro
Yuzuru Hanyu
Kim Navarro/Brent Bommentre
Ekaterina Gordeeva

This sounds like an awesome show!!

[kamarinabitto]

Johnny!!!!!!
i cannot wait!!!

[Amy03]

what a great line up, can't believe that they managed to bring so many retired skaters to attend this event, the fans sure will get something for their money!

[Sylvia]

Re-posting from this post in the Japanese news thread:

Kozuka is out from Stars On Ice Japan Tour on this weekend in Osaka and the next in Tokyo.

http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/soi2013/
says it's due to injury of the right foot.

[lulu]

Too bad about Kozuka's injury. The cast list looks amazing, I'm looking forward to reading the reviews of the show!

[Marroncream]

I went to the opening of Stars on Ice Japan.

The arena was fully paced. A lot of people around me (on the upper deck) seemed like casual fans.
In the last year's show, a skater introduced the performer, but there was no introduction this year, so if you can't identify the skater, you have to check the screen above.

The show started with Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know. Skaters were all in black costume. There were so many acts happening simultaneously and seamlessly. It was an artistic program. It was supposed to be a serious number but I almost burst into laughing when I saw who John Kerr was coupling with. John lifted Shawn and to my surprise Shawn lifted John, too. In the number Shawn was featured a lot. He also did side by side backflips with Ryan. When the last skaters, Joannie and Shawn, were leaving the ice, Shawn's pink umbrella was inside out. I wandered if it was an accident or it was supposed to be so.

The first solo number was performed by Dorothy Hamill. Her skating was elegant. This is my first time I saw her skating live, and I thought her skating was like Yuka Sato.
The next skater was Ryan Bradley. He skated to Ho Hey and of course a backflip was included. I noticed that his skating changed. It was softer and smoother. From my seat, if you hadn't checked the skater's name on the board, you may not have known it was him.
The third performer was Akiko Suzuki and she did her Kill Bill Short Program. She was the first Japanese skater and because a lot of audience only knew Japanese skaters, when people recognized who the skater was, there were cheers. She skated as energetically as Akiko should be.
Then, Jeff Buttle skated. I think his music was Both Side Now. It was like watching a contemporary dance. He didn't do jumps, but it was beautiful skating.
After Jeff's program, there was a small transition. Jeff was leaving with music and the Kerrs were moving towards the center ice at the same time. The Kerrs skated to Mad World. It was also a beautiful program.
There was the same kind of transition as before with the Kerrs and Shawn Sawyer. Shawn skated to Alegria. He was really Cirque du Soleil-ish. It was amazing to see how flexible his body was! The program had a lot of Shawn tricks, spirals, spins, spread-eagle (Japanese skating fans call it Klimkin Eagle), and backflips. The audience loved him and there were some standing ovations.
After Shawn was Kanako Murakami. She skated to Adele's Someone Like You and Rolling in the Deep medley. She popped the first jump, but later she did 3s-2-2.
The next was Philip Candeloro and his music was Saturday Night Fever. In the slow part, he went to the front row seat and danced with a lady. He hold her hand and put it on his hip...ewww He must've been the model for Chazz Michal Michaels! There were a lot of Candeloro movements, such as hops, cloth taking off, and he finished the program with Candeloro spins.
Then Navarro&Bommentre skated. I think their music was Simply Irresistible. There aren't any pair teams in this tour, but they did some scary pair exhibition moves. Awesome.
Next was Yuzuru Hanyu and he skated to Hello I Love You (Glee?). His opening jump was a quad! I couldn't see if it was T or S. He did a 2A but he definitely intended a 3A, because after it, soon he jumped again, and it was a 3A.
The last number for the first half was 3 Japanese skaters (Mao, Daisuke, & Kanako) and 3 Canadian skaters (Kurt, Jeff & Joannie) special group number. The music was Take My Hand by Blaise Plant. His band, Monkey Majik, consists of 2 Canadians and 2 Japanese. Daisuke unexpectedly tripped after a split jump. We were worried, but he seemed okay after that.

[jjane45]

Thank you Marroncream for the report! Kudos again to Yuzuru Hanyu for including quads in his exhibitions

[Suze]

Thanks so much, Marroncream! I enjoyed reading your report. The John Kerr - Shawn Sawyer pair lifts must have been a riot. I'm happy to hear that Philip Candeloro was a part of the SOI Japan too: haven't seen his name on this forum much lately. Also, I'm very delighted that Yuzuru, my latest fave, included a quad for a show performance! I hope that means he's fully recovered from whatever illness left him looking to frail and gaunt during the Japanese championships a week or two ago.

[lulu]

Thanks for the great review Marroncream

[judiz]

Can't wait to hear about the rest of the show.

[jjane45]

Group photo 1, 2, Mao's costume...

Brief clip 1, 2.

[Akira Andrea]

Move

[Marroncream]

Here is the second half of the first day.

After a 25 minute break the second half started.
The opening number here was The Beatles' Come Together. It was an interesting program. Skaters did various acts in small groups, but in the end they skated all together!
This time, solo numbers were started by Shizuka Arakawa. She skated to Music Of The Night from Phantom Of The Opera. As always, her skating was beautiful. Something happened at a take-off for an Axle and she couldn't do it, but like Hanyu, in a second, she jumped a 2A. Her Ina Bauer to 3T sequence was gorgeous.
Then, Dorothy came on ice in a white dress and skated beautifully. We thought it was her second solo number, then Katia, Kim, Ilia, and Brent came on the ice and Dorothy left. Ilia and Katia skated as a pair/couple and Kim and Breat another. They skated to Pink's Try. I was amazed to see Ilia doing lifts and Death spiral! Ilia's character treated his lady (Katia) like a princess. On the other hand, Brent's character treated his girl like a rag, sort of, like the character in the song's music video.
Joannie Rochette was the next and skated to That Man. She totally knew how to move with music, and did solid 3S.
Ilia appeared on the ice next. He just had skated a skater ago but he was very energetic! He nailed a 3Lz and a 3F! His music was Galvin Harris' Let's Go.
Katia came on the ice and she skated with Ilia for a little while. Then, she skated her solo number, Ellie Goulding's Lights, but the version of the music was different from what I hear on the radio. I'm not sure if that version suited for her. Whatever it was, her skating had a beautiful touch.
This segment of the show consisted of a series of Russian Skates. So, the next skater was Johnny Weir. Johnny skated to Christina Aguilera's Army of Me. His costume was family unfriendly (fishnet pantyhose), but hey we already had a family unfriendly program (Philippe Candeloro). Even in that bitchy costume, his skating had a sort of elegancy.
And, the last Russian skate was Irina Slutskaya. Her music was Lara Fabian's Je Suis Malade. Her skating was powerful. Even though her Loop was double, fans loved it.
You could tell that the show would end soon because it was Daisuke Takahashi's turn to skate. His music was Poeta. He has amazing musicality. He did a 3A and some more triples. The audience loved it.
Then, a man in a suit and a lady in a white dress appeared on the ice. They were shy, but the lady finally kissed the guy, and he was on cloud nine. That was like watching an old movie. The man is a suit was Kurt Browning and he skated Singin' in the Rain. Every move of him was amazing. He even did 3T-3T jump! There were standing ovulations.
The last skater was Mao Asada. She was Mary Poppins. She was very cute and the audience adored the program. She did two 2A and some triples, but doubled a Loop. When she finished her number, she opened her umbrella again. Then, the US cast came to her with their umbrellas. Mao skated around with them, and then left.
The last number of the show was OneRepublic's Marchin' On. It was like a Grenadiers Guards march, but they had umbrellas instead of guns. They were handling their umbrellas nicelyl and effectively. It was a cool program. Before Kurt skated solo, he was waiting at the front row of the audience seats. He might've sit on one of the audience's lap because there was some laugher.
After the cast bowed the rest of the skaters came out and bowed together. They went backstage, and we called for an encore. Then, they came out once again and bowed and went back.
It was such a great fun to watch all those skaters performing, and I was glad that I was there. Like the last year's, group numbers are sophisticated and amusing.

[judiz]

Thank you for the review of the show, from Johnny's twitter he said he will be replacing Army of Me with Swan Lake for the rest of the tour. It sounds like a wonderful show, such a shame this current SOI cast is not appearing in the USA, I would definitely buy tickets.

[KatieC]

What a wonderful review Marroncream. Thanks so much for keeping us up to date.

[kittyjake5]

Thank you Marroncream for your detailed review. Sounds like it was a fabulous show!

[rayhaneh]

Yes, thank you so much Marroncream for taking the time to write such detailed reviews - this is greatly appreciated ^-^

[skatesindreams]

Thank you Marroncream for your detailed review. Sounds like it was a fabulous show!

Indeed! I also wish we could see this in the US!

[paskatefan]

Thank you Marroncream for your wonderful review! What a line up!

[barbk]

Great review. That is one heck of a line-up.

Is Jeff Buttle injured, or does he simply choose to do programs without jumps now?

Amazing that Dorothy is still skating professionally.