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| 1999 Masters of Figure Skating |
| Report From Green Bay, Wisconsin - October 16, 1999 | By Mary Lally
The location for this event was the Brown County Arena (located across the street from Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers). The ice surface was small and the ice quality didn't appear to be very good. Both conditions had an impact on the skaters. I thought I saw debris falling from the arena ceiling onto the ice. At one point, I think after Shiskova and Naumov skated, a flower girl came out to pick up something that had landed on the ice.
There was some confusion as to whether spectators could use cameras at this event, the ushers behind us said we couldn't take pictures even though a short time later there was a PA announcement indicating that only flash photography was not allowed. We decided not to risk taking pictures. We later learned we could have and so we did for the evening interpretive free skate programs.
The seating arrangements were unique. There were two rows that ran along both lengths of the ice surface and a small stand at the far end of the rink, the other end was Kiss and Cry. The judges were set up along one side and the walkway right behind them had to be restricted when the event was in progress, audience members were not allowed to walk behind them so as not to disturb them. The bleacher stands were on either side of the length of the ice.
The afternoon short program was not very well attended and initially a little on the subdued side but they started to show enthusiasm when Todd skated.
It was announced that Nicole Bobek had to withdraw due to illness. Angela Nikodinov was a last minute replacement, she got the call Thursday night and arrived on Friday for practice.
Our seats were in the second row and abutted the judges seats. Pretty good seats for watching Russian skaters since I couldn't help but notice that their programs are often geared solely for the judges' benefit. We sat on the opposite side in the evening and that's when I really became aware of all the views of the Russians' backsides.
We came prepared to show our support for Todd with signs and pennants which Todd tried to avoid noticing but we could see during the warm up when he skated by the boards in front of us he had a big grin on his face.
Short Program - Cabaret
Todd is continuing to use the Cabaret technical program he used last season, but with a few modifications. His new choreographer made a few adjustments beginning with the opening. The big change though is that Todd has decided to use the new eligible style short program jump requirements. Rather than Todd's usual 3 Axel-3 Toe combination, 3 Lutz for the solo jump and the required 2 Axel program, Cabaret was redesigned so that he will now use the 3 Axel as a solo jump, for the Masters, Todd executed a 3 Lutz-2 Toe, 3 Axel and 3 Toe (this was probably a last second replacement for a 3 Loop out of footwork because he ran out of ice).
This program really woke up the audience and Todd received a very loud response not to mention a lot of flowers and beanie babies at the conclusion. I thought due to the proximity of this event to Lambeau Field that it would be fun to throw a small football on to the ice. The football caught Todd's eye and he scooped it up as he skated off the ice and tossed it into the air and caught it. Todd was in first place at the conclusion of the short program. Now we just had to wait until the evening's Interpretive free programs.
Interpretive Free Program -- The Glory
I attended the Keri Classic (the event that ABC chose not to air any of the men's competition) so I got to see The Glory costume's animated muppet scarf's attempt to make a break for it in the middle of Todd's program in Orlando. Todd's coach, Richard Callaghan, assured us that the scarf which he thought did a quad at the Keri, would be securely pinned to his skin for this event. When Todd came out during warm ups, he once again fussed with the collar and scarf, so I guess the pin job wasn't working out.
As Todd was running through his jumps in the warm up the time was ticking down when he finally got around to warming up the 3 Axel. His first pass through looked good, but he doubled it. He quickly regrouped and set up to try again, but this time popped it into a single axel. There was little time remaining and he set up to try one last time and success! He left a great final impression in front of the judges of a beautiful 3 Axel at the conclusion of the warm up.
The skate order was a little nerve wracking for us fans as Todd was slated to skate last following Alexei Yagudin whom Todd had not beaten since the Olympics.
Kurt Browning used an oldie but goodie Antares for his Interpretive skate and received great marks from the judges. Alexei follow up with a well skated Broken Arrow with marks from the judges that left very little room for Todd. If Todd was going to retain his Masters title, he had to be perfect.
When Todd skated out onto the ice, we noticed that he had removed the muppet scarf, he didn't need any distractions, a wise decision. Todd gave the audience an incredible performance to The Glory. As the program progressed he and the music kept building as he began landing all the jumps he had planned and then adding in more to increase his technical scores. Jumps landed included a 3 Loop, a beautiful 3 Axel, a 3 Lutz, then what was probably intended to be a solo 3 Toe suddenly turned into a 3 Toe-2 Toe combination (Yagudin did not include a combination jump in his program) and to clinch the technical difficulty Todd finished off with a double axel. By the time Todd began his final combination spin (as always fast and centered), his program had literally drawn the crowd to their feet. It was an awesome sight to behold.
A quick tally of the marks showed that the final placements were very close and we thought Todd won but we had to wait until the conclusion of the Ladies event for the announcers to proclaim the winners.
When they announced Yagudin as the 2nd place finisher we were thrilled because that meant Todd had won! When Todd skated out onto the ice, we noticed that Todd being Todd he came out wearing the muppet scarf again. It'll be interesting to see how he tries to keep the scarf secure for his next event. Any suggestions?
Listed below are the results as well as the scores along with some comments. I didn't take substantive notes aside from the scores, so it's based on my hazy recollection. If you're looking for expert commentary, you won't find it here. <G> | Results of Short Programs | Men
1. Todd Eldredge, United States, 1-1-1-1-1.
2. Alexei Yagudin, Russia, 2-2-2-3-2.
3. Kurt Browning, Canada, 3-3-3-2-3.
4. Brian Orser, Canada, 4-4-4-4-4.
Ladies
1. Michelle Kwan, United States, 1-1-1-1-1.
2. Yuka Sato, Japan, 2-3-2-2-3.
3. Maria Butyrskaya, Russia, 3-2-3-3-4.
4. Angela Nikodinov, United States, 5-4-4-4-4.
5. Ekaterina Gordeeva, Russia, 4-5-5-5-5.
Pairs
1. Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao, China, 1-1-1-1-1-1.
2. Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, Russia, 2-2-2-2-2.
3. Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, United States, 3-3-3-3-3. | Results of Interpretive Free Programs | Men
1. Eldredge, 1-1-3-1-1.
2. Yagudin, 2-2-1-3-2.
3. Browning, 3-3-2-2-3.
4. Orser, 4-4-4-4-4.
Ladies
1. Kwan, 1-1-1-1-1.
2. Butyrskaya, 3-2-3-2-2.
3. Sato, 2-3-4-3-4.
4. Gordeeva, 4-4-2-4-3.
5. Nikodinov, 5-5-5-5-5.
Pairs
1. Shishkova and Naumov, 1-2-2-1-1.
2. Ina and Zimmerman, 2-3-3-2-2.
3. Shen and Zhao, 3-1-1-3-3. Men
1. Eldredge, 1-1-3-1-1.
2. Yagudin, 2-2-1-3-2.
3. Browning, 3-3-2-2-3.
4. Orser, 4-4-4-4-4.
Ladies
1. Kwan, 1-1-1-1-1.
2. Butyrskaya, 3-2-3-2-2.
3. Sato, 2-3-4-3-4.
4. Gordeeva, 4-4-2-4-3.
5. Nikodinov, 5-5-5-5-5.
Pairs
1. Shishkova and Naumov, 1-2-2-1-1.
2. Ina and Zimmerman, 2-3-3-2-2.
3. Shen and Zhao, 3-1-1-3-3.
| Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman - USA | | Required Elements | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | | Presentation | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | | Music | Truman Show | | Costume | Black and very shiny. | | Notes | Ina fell out of a jump (John may have as well) and she put her hand down on a throw. | | Xue Shen & Hongbo Zhao (CHN) | | Required Elements | 5.8 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | | Presentation | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 5.6 | | Music | Firebird | | Costume | Black with red flower like pattern on top. | | Notes | Sitting in the second row you can really get a sense of just how fast and powerful they are when they move across the ice. | | Evgenia Shishkova & Vadim Naumov (RUS) | | Required Elements | 5.5 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.3 | | Presentation | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.8 | | Music | Summer of 42 | | Costume | Light blue velvet. | | Notes | | | | | | Kurt Browning (CAN) | | Required Elements | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 5.3 | | Presentation | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | | Music | American in Paris | | Costume | White pants, blue shirt, white T-shirt | | Notes | Kurt really is the Gene Kelly of the ice, but the ISU short program continues to be a nemesis. He was obviously very disappointed that he wasn't able to land the jumps. | | Brian Orser (CAN) | | Required Elements | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.6 | | Presentation | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.5 | | Music | Swing, Swing, Swing | | Costume | White shirt and black pants. | | Notes | It just wasn't Brian's afternoon either. He was really disappointed. Not a good afternoon for Canadians. | | Todd Eldredge (USA) | | Required Elements | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | | Presentation | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.8 | | Music | Cabaret | | Costume | Black shirt, vest and pants | | Notes | See above for more details. | | Alexei Yagudin (RUS) | | Required Elements | 5.6 | 5.3 | 5.6 | 5.0 | 5.6 | | Presentation | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.9 | | Music | Nutcracker | | Costume | Green velvet with instruments appliquéd on the leg and sleeve, etc. | | Notes | The costume is too busy/distracting and so are all of the hand movements. If they are trying to replicate last year's circus short program, I think they are trying too hard. He missed the required combination jump and no 3 Axel, hence the technical marks. | | Michelle Kwan (USA) | | Required Elements | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | | Presentation | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.9 | | Music | A Day in the Life (Jeff Beck instrumental of the Beatles song) | | Costume | Red dress with cut outs using flesh-colored illusion fabric. Looked a bit like a Maya Usova red costume except as a dress. | | Notes | Very bluesy and she showed a lot of attitude. | | Maria Butyrskaya (RUS) | | Required Elements | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 5.4 | | Presentation | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.8 | | Music | Enente D'Amour by Sarah Brightman | | Costume | Light blue hues. | | Notes | Another off day for Maria. I sure wish I could attend an event when she was having a better jump day. | | Yuka Sato (JPN) | | Required Elements | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.3 | | Presentation | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.7 | | Music | The Islay Maiden | | Costume | Deep blue velvet dress. | | Notes | I love watching her skate, she skates with such softness, not the least bit jarring. | | Ekaterina Gordeeva (RUS) | | Required Elements | 4.3 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.3 | | Presentation | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | | Music | Night Hawk's Dream by Keiko Matsui | | Costume | Purple velvet top with lavender skirt. | | Notes | This may have been Katia's first ISU style short program as a single skater. | | Angela Nikodinov (USA) | | Required Elements | 4.6 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.1 | | Presentation | 5.3 | 5.6 | 5.3 | 5.5 | 5.5 | | Music | Eyes Wide Shut with a waltz? | | Costume | Plain black. | | Notes | I liked the way it opened, but was baffled when the music cut over to a waltz. | | | | Pairs Interpretive Free Programs | | Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman (USA) | | Skating Technique | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.5 | | Presentation | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | | Music | Anastasia | | Costume | Brown and cream. | | Notes | Better than at Keri Classic. | | Evgenia Shishkova & Vadim Naumov (RUS) | | Skating Technique | 5.7. | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.8 | | Presentation | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.9 | | Music | Verdi opera Il Trovatore | | Costume | Clown costumes. | | Notes | accommodation in SiofokVery clean and fast. Just my opinion but it seems as though if you are not seated on the same side as the judges, you end up seeing a lot of Russian backsides. <G> | | Xue Shen & Hongbo Zhao (CHN) | | Skating Technique | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.4 | | Presentation | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 5.5 | 5.4 | | Music | Mulan | | Costume | Lavender and purple costumes. | | Notes | Something didn't seem quite right with Xue, she seemed a little disoriented in the warm ups and it carried over into the program. Hopefully, she's okay. They were very fast, but had trouble with jumps and lifts. | | | | Men Interpretive Free Programs | | Brian Orser (CAN) | | Skating Technique | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | | Presentation | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.7 | | Music | Ebb Tide | | Costume | Blue shirt and pants | | Notes | He's great in the presentation department, but the jumps were not happening. The ice wasn't the greatest either. But the audience loved him. | | Kurt Browning (CAN) | | Skating Technique | 5.8 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.7 | | Presentation | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.8 | | Music | Antares | | Costume | Blue floral shirt and black pants. | | Notes | I'm so glad I finally got to see this program in person. Wow! His footwork is spectacular and that spread eagle across the length of the ice is super. He seemed to have recovered from his disappointment of the afternoon. Another crowd pleaser. | | Alexei Yagudin (RUS) | | Skating Technique | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.9 | | Presentation | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | | Music | Broken Arrow | | Costume | Black with bulls-eye and red fabric shaped blood stains. | | Notes | Again as at Keri, I find the costume disturbing/distracting. It also seemed that Alexei looked worn or tired. The audience was rather quiet except for a vocal Russian skating fan contingent | | Todd Eldredge (USA) | | Skating Technique | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.9 | | Presentation | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.9 | | Music | The Glory | | Costume | Gray shirt, blue pants (took off the scarf after the warm up) | | Notes | AWESOME, see report above. | | Ladies Interpretive Free Programs | | Angela Nikodinov (USA) | | Skating Technique | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.4 | | Presentation | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | | Music | Dust in the Wind by Sarah Brightman | | Costume | Red sleeveless dress | | Notes | She was called at the last minute to replace an ailing Nicole Bobek. All things considered she made a great effort at this competition. I would think the more exposure she has skating with the likes of Katia, Yuka, Michelle and Maria will only help her. | | Ekaterina Gordeeva (RUS) | | Skating Technique | 5.6 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 5.5 | | Presentation | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | | Music | Fragile | | Costume | Yellow floral print dress. | | Notes | Katia made a nice recovery from the afternoon program. She has a lot of fun with this program. Still not on with the jumps, but there's should be more to skating than jumps. | | Michelle Kwan (USA) | | Skating Technique | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | | Presentation | 5.9 | 5.8 | 6.0 | 5.9 | 5.9 | | Music | Kissing You | | Costume | Lavender | | Notes | Another 6.0 for Kwan. | | Maria Butyrskaya (RUS) | | Skating Technique | 5.8 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 5.6 | 5.6 | | Presentation | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.8 | | Music | The Habenera from Carmen | | Costume | Black with heavy use of black illusion fabric on the bodice and a yellow underskirt. Also work black gloves. This was a different costume than she wore at Keri | | Notes | I hope I get to see this program when Maria is having an "on" jump night because otherwise she skates it so well. | | Yuka Sato (JPN) | | Skating Technique | 5.8 | 5.6 | 5.3 | 5.5 | 5.6 | | Presentation | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.6 | | Music | Summertime by Janis Joplin | | Costume | Bright yellow with floral print. | | Notes | Not sure that I care for this particular musical version, but it is always wonderful to see Yuka skate. | | |
