"American Gold Live" Dec. 13, 2025 1 & 6 pm shows in Philadelphia w/ Malinin, Liu, Levito & more

McBeath/P did their SP.

Junior woman Meghan Huffman dedicating her skate to her friend Edward Zhou, who died on Flight 5342. Female emo version of One.

Z/K skated to Mannheim Steamroller's Carol of the Bells, did twizzles (L4, +5 GOE :)), good lifts, i'm glad they are getting the opportunity to do shows.

Many thanks for all your posts, Debbie! And to @just tuned in too.

Could be that Z/K chose Carol of the Bells because of its Ukrainian origin, as well as its holiday flavor?
After the second show today, hope that they and others from GPF can catch their breath before Nats.
Glad that McBeath/Parkman also received this show opportunity.
Really appreciated the detail that Meghan Huffman dedicated her skate to her lost friend Edward Zhou.

Penn Ice Rink's album of nine photos from first show:

Christine Brennan shared two photos from the afternoon meet-and-greet.

ETA:​
The Daily Pennsylvanian's album of five photos:

ETA:​
Local NBC video report including show clips and pre-show comments from the cast:
"American Gold Live took to the rink in University City on Saturday as Olympic hopefuls got the chance to show off their skills. NBC10’s Siobhan McGirl has more."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpWqXFPQ-44 (2:10)​
 
Last edited:
Thank you @Sylvia and everyone who provided clips, articles, links, etc about the show!

Thank you for the on site PBP @Debbie S and @just tuned in ! Much appreciated!

Being from Philly I sure wish that I could have gone to those shows! But alas, I'm currently in the Florida Panhandle!

The tributes from the young skaters who lost their friends in that horrible crash sound like they were especially moving!

I'm so glad that Z&K got to do the shows too! I would have loved to have seen them in person, along with Alysa, Ilia, and Isabeau! I hope that they all rest up a bit now before gearing up for Nationals and the Olympics! And I hope that Ilia and Alysa will now be kept away from the hype machine and each allowed to quietly focus on themselves and their respective training regime as they prepare for the Games.
 
This IG account has clips of each skater/team in the stories:

https://www.instagram.com/adam.s.reisinger
Thanks! Adam Reisinger has posted Isabeau's full performance to "Believe" (Jackie Evancho): https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSOZA6yjeKc/
I will post the link to his show report when it is published online.

NBC10's Siobhan McGirl shared clips of Ilia's footwork/backflip in "Cage of Bones": https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSN6PC4ElKh/ & the 2nd half of Isabeau's SP: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSN2aMdEhtV/
ETA (@ice coverage linked to this NBC10 news story above):
Perhaps NBC10 will broadcast a highlights show during the holiday season?

Ilia's full "Running": https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSO14-LkqMx/
Boitano interviewing Ilia: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSO3XGlErbZ/
Ilia's full "Cage of Bones": https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSO5CtCElwv/

Cute moment of Ilia & Alysa "pair spinning" together in the finale: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSPYiydEu-s/

ETA:
ETA:​
The Daily Pennsylvanian's album of five photos:​
Their recap article:
The host of the event, 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano, expressed his excitement to support rising skaters through the fund.
“There’s never been a fund that has supported young skaters before, and we felt like keeping their memory alive,” Boitano said in an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian. “From terrible, tragic things, some good things grow out of it ... I really feel that they will use the history of those young kids as something to help them move forward and help inspire them in their skating.”
 
Last edited:
Attended the afternoon show:
As I already posted in their fan thread, Z/K are just amazing to me, even more than you get from tv. They included great content considering it was an exhibition program, including their competitive lifts and a full-out twizzle sequence that
:kickass: I couldn't take my eyes off of them! Emilia performs to everyone in the room and Vadym is also super charismatic. /gushing done

Isabeau did 2 lovely programs, an exhibition and her short. She looks great just with a couple double jumps and singled axel in the sp. Could be the theatrical lighting, which seemed a little spotty to me.

Unsurprisingly both Ilia and Alysa seemed a little tired, I thought, but solid jumping and good programs, and the trademark angsty goth hip-hop-y content we love from Ilia. And smiles from Alysa :)

Jacob Sanchez has gorgeous flow across the ice and musicality. Impressed.

McBeath/Parkman did a nice sp, considering the lighting.

Beautiful skates by our juniors Matt Jacoby/Anna Waugh and Meghan Huffman, and the Synchro team (I guess from Ice Works? Didn't catch the introduction, but great job on the synchronized axels :) )
 
Andrea Goldstein's YT channel has uploaded 7 videos (thanks for the heads up, @ice coverage!):

Opening group number: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TEDLMlv3dU
Zingas/Kolesnik's Christmas Eve/Sarajevo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfxOuOjX0ic
Jacob Sanchez: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFB7Y5hvnHI
Isabeau's SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmUHfQ-kb4c
Alysa's "Dancing in the Dark": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRIEedLvf1Q
Ilia's "Running": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzvl_f8lEeA
Ilia's "Cage of Bones": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22HWSfBUgE8

ETA 3 more videos by @apgold :):

McBeath/Parkman's "Vale" SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHQA-K0YEeY
Isabeau Levito's "Believe" by Jackie Evancho: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvTCwjdDAyM
Group finale to "A Million Dreams" (very touching, I thought): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhmnFEsCJTE
:D at Ilia pushing his buddy Jacob onto the ice for his brief solo in the finale!
 
Last edited:
Andrea Goldstein's YT channel has uploaded 7 videos (thanks for the heads up, @ice coverage!):

Opening group number: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TEDLMlv3dU
Zingas/Kolesnik's Christmas Eve/Sarajevo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfxOuOjX0ic
Jacob Sanchez: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFB7Y5hvnHI
Isabeau's SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmUHfQ-kb4c
Alysa's "Dancing in the Dark": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRIEedLvf1Q
Ilia's "Running": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzvl_f8lEeA
Ilia's "Cage of Bones": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22HWSfBUgE8

ETA 3 more videos by @apgold :):

McBeath/Parkman's "Vale" SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHQA-K0YEeY
Isabeau Levito's "Believe" by Jackie Evancho: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvTCwjdDAyM
Group finale to "A Million Dreams" (very touching, I thought): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhmnFEsCJTE
Sylvia did a fabulous job of posting my videos on this thread, nothing more to add here!
 
Crossposting my review at the request of @Sylvia

Yesterday, I traveled to Philadelphia’s University city neighborhood to see American Gold Live aka Gold on Ice Philly fka Legacy on Ice Philly. This show was originally scheduled to happen on Labor Day but was pushed out to December, presumably to accommodate Ilia Malinin’s schedule, as the main producer of the show is his manager, Ari Zakarian.

I attended the first of two shows of the day, and it was far from sold out, except for the on ice seats. The Class of 1923 rink was freezing even in the back row where I sat with my friend.

Despite the chaotic behind the scenes vibe the event organizers gave off, the show was a good one with various levels of American talent, some of whom we will see in Milan in February, as host Brian Boitano told the audience when he was introduced. Having Brian Boitano host was a good move after Johnny Weir dropped out, because everyone loves Brian, the 1988 OGM.

Among the cast besides the (endlessly hyped by the organizers) Ilia, Isabeau and Alysa triad, were first year Senior (and 2024 JGPF champ) Jacob Sanchez, GPF participants and on the rise ice dancers Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik and current US pairs Silver medalists Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman. Some local skaters, including Meghan Huffman, a current US junior who skated a lovely tribute to her friend who died in the AA5342 crash. a synchro team and a troupe of skaters dressed in lighted costumes rounded out the cast for the 70-minute show.

[rant incoming] Did I know that Jacob or M/P were in the show? Other than a random post by Golden Skate’s socials where Jacob said he would be skating in Ilia’s show (they are good buds), I would have had no inkling. Katie and Daniil were a pleasant surprise, I wonder if they were a last-minute addition because I didn’t see anything about them skating here. Again, chaotic vibe.

I took a bunch of videos of the more prominent skaters, enjoy! The performances were good with a few mistakes here and there but otherwise a solid and entertaining way to pass an hour or so on a pre-holiday weekend.
 
Crossposting my review at the request of @Sylvia

Yesterday, I traveled to Philadelphia’s University city neighborhood to see American Gold Live aka Gold on Ice Philly fka Legacy on Ice Philly. This show was originally scheduled to happen on Labor Day but was pushed out to December, presumably to accommodate Ilia Malinin’s schedule, as the main producer of the show is his manager, Ari Zakarian.

I attended the first of two shows of the day, and it was far from sold out, except for the on ice seats. The Class of 1923 rink was freezing even in the back row where I sat with my friend.

Despite the chaotic behind the scenes vibe the event organizers gave off, the show was a good one with various levels of American talent, some of whom we will see in Milan in February, as host Brian Boitano told the audience when he was introduced. Having Brian Boitano host was a good move after Johnny Weir dropped out, because everyone loves Brian, the 1988 OGM.

Among the cast besides the (endlessly hyped by the organizers) Ilia, Isabeau and Alysa triad, were first year Senior (and 2024 JGPF champ) Jacob Sanchez, GPF participants and on the rise ice dancers Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik and current US pairs Silver medalists Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman. Some local skaters, including Meghan Huffman, a current US junior who skated a lovely tribute to her friend who died in the AA5342 crash. a synchro team and a troupe of skaters dressed in lighted costumes rounded out the cast for the 70-minute show.

[rant incoming] Did I know that Jacob or M/P were in the show? Other than a random post by Golden Skate’s socials where Jacob said he would be skating in Ilia’s show (they are good buds), I would have had no inkling. Katie and Daniil were a pleasant surprise, I wonder if they were a last-minute addition because I didn’t see anything about them skating here. Again, chaotic vibe.

I took a bunch of videos of the more prominent skaters, enjoy! The performances were good with a few mistakes here and there but otherwise a solid and entertaining way to pass an hour or so on a pre-holiday weekend.
Echoing your assessment of the chaotic organizing. The extraordinarily high ticket prices were probably most of the reason that there were so few people in attendance. The second reason could have been poor marketing and the multiple very confusing, crappy websites. (Not that it mattered very much, but the ZIP code was wrong on the website.) There was no event program -- even though one was promised -- let alone no full slate advertised.

What makes the sloppiness more unforgivable is that the organizers had TWO chances to get it right -- first around the original Labor Day date and the second around the December 13 date. There were several local entities involved: NBC10 (the broadcaster), Univ. of Pennsylvania (the rink), and Phila. Skate Club and Humane Society. What happened???
 
What makes the sloppiness more unforgivable is that the organizers had TWO chances to get it right -- first around the original Labor Day date and the second around the December 13 date. There were several local entities involved: NBC10 (the broadcaster), Univ. of Pennsylvania (the rink), and Phila. Skate Club and Humane Society. What happened???
I assume the skating club's involvement was promoting the event to their members. And a couple of their members were asked to skate in the show, which was nice. The club may have helped the organizers identify skaters with a connection to victims of the AA crash.

It seemed like the ticketing and on-site logistics were handled by the rink. The staggered entry times were probably Ari's thing, that's how the Leesburg show was run. But the chaos at entry and ticketing system breakdown were likely the rink's fault. And as someone near me in line noted, they should have had the badges strung in advance instead of doing them one by one as people waited. As I posted upthread, they should have just ditched the "check-in" from the beginning and had people directed to sections based on their ticket.

As the media sponsor, the TV station's role was to promote the show...i'm not in Philly so I don't know exactly what they did but I did see some posts on IG that were shared by the skaters. It's not surprising they would focus on Ilia, Isabeau and Alysa, since those are the names the general public would recognize. But I agree that the rest of the cast should have been posted on the website and promoted by the show''s social media so at least the die-hard skating fans like us would know.

The tickets were expensive which may have been a deal-breaker for some. People might have been more willing to spend if the fundraising part of the show was more heavily promoted. Most of the promotion i saw was framed around 'see top skaters before they go to the Olys'. I think there was a local article posted here about the Novice Dance team but didn't mention that Matt was previously partnered with Alydia Livingston.

I think messaging/branding was a problem from the beginning. It was initially called Legacy on Ice 2, or something like that. Then the name changed...a smart move...and the show was billed as a holiday celebration. It was muddy what exactly the show was trying to be.

It might have helped to have more up and coming skaters from area clubs. That might promote more interest from the local skating community. But again, ticket prices.
 
Jumping in to share some impressions from the show, and to echo that I found it sloppily organized. IMO this felt like a sad skating club exhibition, which is not what the skaters nor audience signed up for.

You can imagine my surprise when I showed up at 5:45, walked right in with no one scanning my ticket, and found a seat in a noticeably sparse crowd. If they knew ticket sales were soft, it would have been easy to keep the audience on one side of the rink to make it feel fuller. This is what the Le Patin Libre shows did and the tickets for that sold out well in advance.

(Or even better, make the call the day before to have it be free and open to the public. Also worth noting LPL did a ton of outreach in the weeks leading up with free performances at Riverrink and workshops.)

Then Jacob Sanchez came out with the house lights still on and just started skating. No introduction, no announcement. It wasn't clear the show had even begun, and he wasn't introduced afterward either. Brian Boitano did a great job stepping in to host, but he's a seasoned pro. The NBC host was clearly newer, and while it's nice to see someone getting experience, the segments with her felt unnecessary.

The performances themselves ranged from fine to great. You could sense from some of the skaters, particularly Ilia, that the turnout was a mild disappointment. He stuck mostly to triples, which felt like a curious choice given the "Quadgod" varsity jacket he has been sporting all this week. The LED skaters (also featured in DC) didn't really land here, though I know the IceWorks TOI team stepped in to perform with Adam, which was a nice opportunity for them.

The real standouts for me were Jacob Sanchez (esp the kimono program) and Zingas/Kolesnik (the speed, the drama, everything—would have been a nice touch to mention they just competed at the GPF). Isabeau was another highlight and did the best job connecting with the audience IMO. The crowd was oddly muted not applauding for things most skating fans would normally react to: jumps, spins, big elements. Strange energy overall, so I wonder who actually bought tickets.

I was genuinely excited to have another skating event in Philly (one I can literally walk to). It was a bummer to have this be a total bust, especially for anyone who was still riding the GPF high. But it underscores how critical a competent producer is. LPL's collaboration with Penn LiveArts set a high bar for what's possible. I hope the featured skaters come back and hopefully with someone better to show off their talents.

ETA: Just to be clear, this was technically just a private rental for Penn. NBC10 and PSCHS were involved as media and promotional partners. The shortcomings can be chalked up to whoever was responsible for staging/producing this event.
 
Last edited:
.....
Then Jacob Sanchez came out with the house lights still on and just started skating. No introduction, no announcement. It wasn't clear the show had even begun, and he wasn't introduced afterward either. Brian Boitano did a great job stepping in to host, but he's a seasoned pro. The NBC host was clearly newer, and while it's nice to see someone getting experience, the segments with her felt unnecessary.
........
This is how the afternoon show started as well, so that's what they meant to do apparently, ie, having Jacob come out and start the group number off before Brian came out (at least in the afternoon show, the rest of the skaters came out after a moment or 2). Jacob's actual number was later in the show.
 
The performances themselves ranged from fine to great. You could sense from some of the skaters, particularly Ilia, that the turnout was a mild disappointment. He stuck mostly to triples, which felt like a curious choice given the "Quadgod" varsity jacket he has been sporting all this week.

The real standouts for me were Jacob Sanchez (esp the kimono program) and Zingas/Kolesnik (the speed, the drama, everything—would have been a nice touch to mention they just competed at the GPF). Isabeau was another highlight and did the best job connecting with the audience IMO. The crowd was oddly muted not applauding for things most skating fans would normally react to: jumps, spins, big elements. Strange energy overall, so I wonder who actually bought tickets.

Agreed on Jacob and Z/K being standouts (I had not seen either live before and was happy I made the trip to see them, not like the organizers really promoted them much) and Isabeau being very charming. I really enjoyed when Isabeau and Alysa were on the ice together to compare their skating styles. I have seen Alysa, Isabeau, Ilia, and Katie/Daniil before. This is actually my 6th (!) time seeing Ilia skate live and I've noticed that he doesn't really do quad jumps in his Exhibitions. He also did "Cage of Bones" at ITNY this past May, and did not do any quads, so I really wasn't expecting him to do any at this event. Rarely do I see any skater do quads at Exhibitions, maybe due to the lighting? I remember Nathan Chen hurt himself badly doing a quad years ago in an EX so perhaps a cautionary tale?

The energy at the 1PM show might have been different, the audience seemed into the highlights. I'm sorry to hear the crowd was muted at the later show. In hindsight, it might have been better for the organizers to just do one show and there might have been more of an audience in the rink.
 
I really enjoyed when Isabeau and Alysa were on the ice together to compare their skating styles. I have seen Alysa, Isabeau, Ilia, and Katie/Daniil before.
Yes! I enjoyed this, too. I recall a show with gymnasts Shannon Miller and her Russian counterpart (sorry, too lazy to look it up) doing the compulsory floor routine together. This reminded me of that, although Isabeau and Alysa were side-by-side for only a moment.
 
Agree with @apgold about the audience at 1 p.m. They cheered for all the jumps and Ilia's backflip. It would have probably been better to have only one show.

I wasn't expecting Ilia to do quads, especially considering how cold the rink was, likely meaning the ice was harder than optimal figure skating ice. And after competing at the GPF, this is more of a downtime for him, as he ramps up his training for Nats.
 
Group finale to "A Million Dreams" (very touching, I thought): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhmnFEsCJTE
:D at Ilia pushing his buddy Jacob onto the ice for his brief solo in the finale!
I was wrong - it wasn't Ilia (the tallish male who pushed Jacob out looked like Daniil Parkman??). Group finale as filmed from the other side of the rink (cross-posting here from Ilia's fan thread):
I was at American Gold Live! in Philadelphia on Dec 13, and this clip of finale, especially the second half, is focused on Ilia. Enjoy! 😁
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiMx66JPcIU
Adam Reisinger has posted Isabeau's full performance to "Believe" (Jackie Evancho): https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSOZA6yjeKc/
I will post the link to his show report when it is published online.
Reisinger published his detailed report today in his Substack - Stars shine at American Gold Live and it includes many embedded videos: https://adamreisinger.substack.com/p/stars-shine-at-american-gold-live
Excerpt:
Meghan Huffman - One
Huffman, who skates out of the Philadelphia Skating Club in nearby Ardmore, Pa. performed a tribute to Eddie Zhou, one of the skaters who died in the Flight 5342 tragedy. She opened her program with a voiceover message about her friendship with Eddie [video is embedded in he report].
She then skated a beautiful program to Cinematic Pop and McKenna Breinholt’s cover of U2’s “One,” a touching tribute and a fitting homage to the original concept for this show.
"One" was Meghan's Junior FS this season (she placed 6th at Eastern Sectionals one month ago).

Reisinger has since posted 2 more reels on his Instagram - Huffman's "One" and Zingas/Kolesnik's EX: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSTP41Ijfvp/
 
Last edited:
Adam wrote a great recap, thanks for posting. So the organizers are going to mail the program? I'll believe it when I see it, lol.

I can't believe he flew in for the event, that is dedication. I follow him on IG and he follows me back so I know he goes to a lot of skating shows around the country.

I mainly stick to local shows or if I can get there by Amtrak, like with Philly or even Newark, Delaware. No way am I getting on a plane for a skating show, lol.
 
AFAIK, Ilia doesn't jump quads for Christmas shows.

As others said, the show was a bit disorganized, and I'm wondering where Johnny was - he originally publicized this. I suspect that there might be managerial changes (challenges?) that could have contributed to the disorganization of the show.

In any case, the skaters did a superb job, and they seemed to be having fun, too.

I am also impressed that the show had a full opening and finale, especially since some of the skaters had just returned from the GPF.

Some impressions and clips:
(Note: I had trouble adjusting the camera's exposure, so the clips were generally overexposed :cry:)

- Opening (Jacob started it and all skated minus Ilia): One Republic's I Lived.
I missed Jacob's part at the beginning since as someone said, the show started all of sudden.

- Jacob Sanchez (Your Idol): Loved this type of program from him! He skated with power and conviction. Very cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yztCV3eLcHY

- Ilia Malinin (Running) - he was singing all the way as usual.

- Zingas & Kolesk (Christmas/Sarajevo 12/24): I was really impressed by their performance here. It wasn't even their competitive program, yet they skated with passion and intensity. I was taking photos, but then I thought maybe I should record this to better capture their passionate performance, so I recorded the second half of the clip.

- Finale (A Million Dreams): The 2nd half of this clip follows Ilia and you can see he was having hun with Alysa and Jacob.
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top
Do Not Sell My Personal Information