Initial impressions from the Halifax show:
Tickets sales were decent, not as high as last year but comparable to other previous years
I enjoyed the group numbers. I can`t tell you the names of all the songs for the group numbers as I didn`t recognize them all (I must be getting old

) But they opened to
Lady Gaga, Born This Way and closed to I
Get By With A Little Help From My Friends, and had a group number to 90s songs
["Pump up the 90s" by various artists] which was really cute. (I said this was the soundtrack to my university years....haha!)
Tour Newbies:
- Nam was the first skater and he did great! I enjoyed him a lot on the tour. He seems to be a natural performer and know what the audience likes. "Runaway Baby" by Bruno Mars; "There will be Time" by Mumford & Sons & Baaba Maal
- I enjoyed Evgenia too. She skated to a dancey version of My Favorite Things and also an emotive song I didn`t recognize. You can tell she is a bit injured as she kept the technical level fairly low but she is a great addition to the tour. "7 Rings" by Ariana Grande; "Beautiful Mess" by Kristian Kostov
Tour Oldie but Goodies:
- Kurt and Elvis! Elvis just keeps getting better and better every year. He threw in a triple lutz in one number and did some awesome hydroblading.
He puts my 40-something self to shame.
Kurt is like a fine wine....always good and brings creativity even if you didn`t realize you wanted it. I`m not a huge fan of clown numbers, but it was funny and the crowd laughed a lot. ["Popcorn Perils" by MusicComedy] I LOVED his Gordon Lighftoot number. ["If you could read my mind"]
So heartfelt. It was a quintessential Canadian moment. Elvis - "Original Fire" by Audioslave; "Simple Man" by Shinedown
- Meagan Duhamel is not letting pregnancy hold her back. She and Eric brought is as they always do. Can`t remember what they skated to but the lifts and tricks were amazing. "Get what you give" by Felix Cartal; "On our own" by Bruno Major
Dancers:
- It was great to see Piper and Paul on the tour. Their first number was to In The Mood [by Duke Ellington;The Brian Setzer Orchestra] performed with a stick. Interesting. But the show stopper was their [Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) by Govardo] number. It is shortened (leaves out the up tempo section) but just gorgeous.

- Kaitlyn and Andrew had programs to Alanis Uninvited and a fast dance number based on traditional samba songs (I know I suck at remembering the songs names....sorry!
) "Groove Me/Land of 1000 Dances" by King Floyd/Wilson Pickett They skated both numbers very well.
Other cast members not previously mentioned:
- Patrick skated a beautiful program to the music To Build a Home and another program to Justin Timberlake, Suit & Tie/Rock Your Body. The Justin Timberlake is definitely a departure for him. I`m not sure if it really works for him or not. But it was good.
- Kaetlyn Osmond skated numbers to Proud Mary and A Million Reasons, by Lady Gaga. I loved the Lady Gaga number. She seems to be really embracing touring and having lots of fun. I`ll be really surprised if she comes back to competitive skating.
Overall:
- This was a good show. It was more slower paced than last years show but still nice.
- I liked last year`s show better. I think the obvious theme of Olympics and the Gold Medal win made an exceptionally outstanding show last year. But this year`s compares favorably to other years.
- Lindt is not a sponsor anymore so no free chocolate.
