Jan. 24, 1999, Baton Rouge LA
My brother and I had on-ice seats again. The steps were blocking the far right corner (lutz corner), but fortunately not too much happened there.
ROCK THIS TOWN: I'm glad they made references to Baton Rouge in the opening. It really wound up the crowd. The opening was a lot more polished than on TV. And Gorsha JUMPED before the introductions began. I don't know which jump because I didn't expect it to happen. Backflip #1
JUMPIN' JACK: Ilia's toe pick caught on the first axel, and he stumbled quite a bit. But he nailed the second axel. And his footwork was a tad scratchy, but fast. His speed reminded me of Kurt.
SLEEPWALK: I loved the coupling before Tara's number. Jenni and Todd were a little slow, though. As they were exiting from our corner, Scott was gearing up for Russian splits. He had to shout "Coming through, coming through" so he wouldn't run them over. The crowd was a little slow in calling Tara's name, but we caught on.
JUMP, JIVE AN' WAIL: Tara was fast! She landed a gorgeous flip or salchow. I couldn't tell; it was on the other side of the arena. She almost had the landing of a triple loop. But she moved too far back on the blade, and I knew she was going to fall...and she did, right on her derriere. But she recovered very quickly. It was a spunky number.
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS: Steven was a riot. He was the surprise of the night, such a joy to watch. Everyone was laughing or waiting to see what was next. At one point, he was "scrubbing" the ice, backside towards us. It deserved a "catcall" from our section, but no one was doing it. So I did it, and my brother elbowed me. Fortunately, a couple other ones chimed in. But he was great, and the others were cool when they joined him.
I NEVER LOVED A MAN/PLEASE ACCEPT MY LOVE: As last time, Renee and Gorsha have such great line and extension. And their performance was passionate. It looked better in person. And Renee's costume, although it could have been better, looked better in person than on TV.
FRAGILE: Katia was elegant as usual. She landed clean doubles and a triple toe near the end. Her layback is breathtaking; she certainly excelled at learning that singles' element. The program flowed very well, and she definitely felt the music last night.
ONE WEEK: Scott was on that night. His jumps were huge and oh-so clean; I don't know if they were doubles or triples. His speed and scratch spin are back; he hasn't spun that fast in a while now. And his footwork...magnificent. Backflip #2.
MY FAIR LADY: She landed a great salchow and loop, and had a close call on one other jump. She was energetic, but the program lacked something. It didn't hit the right emotional note. But it's obvious she loves the spotlight and skating.
VIOLIN CONCERTO: I always thought some people were harsh about Kristi's sexy or "hip" numbers. Professionals experiment to see what works, and Kristi's good at those numbers. But last night I why saw they feel that way because she's sooo good with classical numbers. She was so elegant on the ice. She landed solid triple lutz, toe, and flip. I especially loved her elegant spiral. Breathtaking.
SEISOUSOS: Kristi and Ilia look nice together. But it went too fast.
TANGO: My brother loved the bass on this one. I loved the passion he expressed in this number. It's so subtle you can't see it on TV, but it's the right dramatic touch live. All his jumps were solid, especially his triple axel. And he was fast.
NOSING AROUND: Lu Lu was adorable as the "clean-up clown." At first I thought she was someone crossing in front very slowly, which was close to irritating me. But I looked up and saw it was her with a finger to her lips, signaling us to be quiet while Roz and Katia put the hook on Steven's pants. So cute.
Unfortunately, I had to leave and missed Scott and Tara copying each other, but at least I didn't have the greatest view. And there was one extra benefit, at least to my brother: Katia sat down in my chair!!!!!
They even chatted! He could have danced all night after that (sorry; I had to use that!).
I came back to see Tara skating around the others oh-so sad. And I got to see how it looks from higher up. It's strange and cool at the same time.
And I found out I missed getting sprayed by Scott's flower! My glasses could have used the cleaning.
When they all glide to one side, Denis sprayed us with ice, then smiled. Elena gave him a look like "I WAS supposed to do that." What I did see was cool, though. And I could hear the crowd laughing from outside. The balloon takeoff was a little off, though. She stopped floating before they grabbed her skate.
ACT II: The "glow-in-the-dark" look was cool. My brother's shirt was glowing, too.
I AM INVISIBLE: I didn't think I would like this number at all. And I found him slow compared to the techno music (he went with the slowest rhythm for most of the number). But I found it cool, especially with the neon shirt. The spin was awesome, and his jumps were the best I've seen him do. If only he skated that way in competitions. The audience loved this one.
AFTER ALL THESE YEARS: When seeing this on TV, I found it rough and a little empty. Not so here. Rosalynn seems more comfortable with this number now, and it was so elegant. Her jumps were solid, including her double axel. She had a beautiful spiral, although I was on the backside of it.
CREATION OF THE WORLD: On the emotional level, I enjoyed last year's "solo" number more. But Elena and Denis have such an elegant technique that they can never disappoint. Elena almost had to put her hand down on the throw, but the death spiral, jumps, spins and lifts were breathtaking as usual.
SANTANA MEDLEY: Renee and Gorsha were hot and very intricate with this number. I'm sure my mom hated missing the music. Lu Chen landed a beautiful double axel in front of us, more so than Roz did last year. She finally landed that troublesome triple loop (although she might have doubled it; she was rotating while coming down). But she fell on the toe jump. She's great at classical, and she can do sexy (Peel Me a Grape), but this music wasn't quite right. She's better at softer music. Jenni and Todd performed textbook style. They did the throw AT us. She landed it beautifully. They'll grow in time. The injury just delayed its start.
TELL ME EVERYTHING: I didn't know what to look at with this number. Katia looks secure alone on the ice, but she looked stronger with this number. And beautiful as she appeared years ago. Denis and Ilia were good, but I tried to pay attention to Elena. It was worthwhile; she portrayed the emotions of being the fourth wheel beautifully.
POEM: Kristi changed her costume to a red one with Japanese writing on the side. But I found the peach one went better with the softness of the number, IMO. Elegant as usual.
TAP: I don't have the program, so I don't know the exact name, but Ilia was awesome. I loved how interactive it was. One girl kept squealing, and he stopped and gestured like "Well, come on." She let out one more squeal and stopped, and he shook his head and continued. The footwork was awesome.
SECOND ELEMENT: This was the best of Tara's numbers, minus Nosing Around. She was solid, and she definitely felt and interpreted the music. Can't wait to see her grow.
KEEP THE CUSTOMER HAPPY: Wonderful, as usual. Backflip #3. I loved Scott's efforts in trying to get one child to clap. He wouldn't do it, so Scott patted the boy's hands, shrugged, and went back on the ice.
FACE THE FACE: It was so cool. They stopped in front of us to do the shoulder shake, and I began doing it with them. Ilia and Steven smiled at me, and then I couldn't stop doing it. The cast then came to shake hands. Kristi shook mine, I asked if she could give the envelope to Scott. She tried to reach for it, went to shake others' hands, then came back and got it from me. She gave it to Scott, who took the envelope with the Challenge certificate and tried to put it in his back pocket.
Overall, there were fewer moments, but all the numbers were better and far more enjoyable. It was great.
Michelle
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