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| All Star Ice Skating Review at Moody Gardens | | Location: | Galveston, TX | | Date: | Saturday, January 2, 1999 | | Cast: | Todd Eldredge, Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow, Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen, Andrea Gardiner, Anna Claire Drake, Vadim Shabeco, Julia Kirillova, and Eddi Vallon. | | Reports by: | ToddFan and Virginia Blalock (Click on an author to read the review.) | | Report by ToddFan | Before the show, Todd was warming up where we could actually see him, and he was hence also seen by our whole side of the rink, and he was mobbed by kids. Security didn't do anything for quite a while, so he ended up signing autographs right then and there. But he eventually escaped!
The rink was very nice, if the ice *was* small, and it ended up being quite full. There seemed to be a lot of kids and parents from rinks in Houston, etc., and they were quite excited about seeing Todd.
The exhibition started with a introductory group number (sorry, don't recall the music), with the headliners (Todd, Liz & Jerod, Yuka and Jason, etc.). Todd was the last out - he was kind of the "centerpiece" of all of these things. Then, Todd did a bit of MC-ing, though it was combined with a lot of huffing and puffing. You could definitely tell that whomever produced this show considered Todd THE headliner.
hotels Jurmala Then, a young Houstonian named Anna Claire Drake (I believe a Texas newspaper ran an article on her recently) did a nice little number to "Under the Sea", with some neon, blacklit fish wandering around in the middle. The fish, rays, fronds, etc., actually worked out very well IMHO - very well-choreographed to the "oceanic" music and all.
Then, Andrea Gardiner (U.S. National Junior Champ?) skated a nice program to classical music. Someone behind me said she used it last year, but I don't know. I just remember it being pleasant, though not perfect. Someone later said she was recovering from an injury.
Torquay alberghi aeroportuali By the way, all of the skaters seemed to have trouble with the size of the ice or something - Yuka especially had some falls, and some of Todd's landings were a bit quirky
Then, Yuka and Jason skated a very lovely piece to a love song. They weren't perfect (Jason seems a bit weaker than Yuka and their side-by-side jumps did not work out), but they have some very high lifts and IMHO a very pleasing style - very elegant and "pretty". I liked it very much, though in all honesty I have no live pairs experience to compare them to.
Then, some young Houstonian skaters did a group number to a Gloria type of thing, dressed in white under the black lights. They had some bobbles, but there was also a Bielmann spin, a Detroiter, etc.
Before the intermission, a comedic skater named Eddi Vallon acted like a snooty "world-class" skater tangling with a janitor.
They tried to spice up the intermission with a Zamboni driver in a flaming (as in design, not smoking!) bodysuit and shades... ok....
After the intermission, Vadim Shabeco did a rock thing, but he seemed to just do more of that generic male rocker skating, to me.
Julia Kirillova, of Russia, also skated; she used a Celine Dion song which I recognized but do not know the name of. I loved her white costume and thought she was very graceful and had great presence, but some of her spins seemed a bit out-of-control and her jumps weren't the biggies But I really liked her nonetheless - very nice.
Punsalan and Swallow did their "The Beat Goes On"/"I've Got You, Babe" hippie montage; I know other people despised their colorful costumes, but I loved them And while I don't feel that technically this program should be used for a competition, it was very enjoyable - Jerod especially seemed to be into it.
Yuka skated to "Hat Full of Stars" in that lovely blue costume (yes, I simply must mention the costumes), and even though she fell, the program was still so beautiful. I think it's magical. Then the young Houstonians did some conga number, and Eddi Vallon skated with pyro stuff.
Finally, Todd did "Impossible Dream" in the all-black costume with black rhinestones. He was definitely the crowd favorite - much applause whenever he was announced, and at various times "I love you, Todd" and (from both males and females) "Go Todd", etc. As mentioned before, some of his landings were a bit wonky, but he never fell and skated very well. It's true that his scratch spin is so fast that it almost looks as if he *isn't* moving - wow! His last one was so fast, he did have a bit of trouble getting to the final pose. He got the only standing ovation of the night, and it was a doozy (of course, it may have also seemed that way to me because the kids next to me were also stomping for him. I'm not sure how this program will stack up technically against some of Yag's and Kurt's programs (if they skate cleanly) in a competition. But it was still a great program.
This seemed to be a great crowd (it was actually FULL), and it heartily applauded everyone, even when they did fall, etc. After the show, the skaters stayed on the ice to sign autographs, and TONS of people went down there. I hope more figure skating shows, etc., will come to Texas in the future. | | Report by Virginia Blalock | Visit Virginia's Skating Page
This show was pretty good for what was essentially a local ice show. The ice was pretty small, though, and you could tell when the better skaters were skating by how much trouble they had with the ice size (although Todd had the most success skating with the small ice surface).
The cast for this show was Todd, Punsalan and Swallow, Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen (as a pair and Yuka as a single), Andrea Gardiner, Anna Claire Drake (a local kid-in fact as I recall, there was an article written about her in the Dallas paper a couple of months ago), Vadim Shabeco (a "Russian Champion"), Julia Kirillova (another "Russian Champion"), and Eddi Vallon, who also was the assistant director of the event. The event was directed by David Kirby, who runs several ice rinks here in Texas including the Houston and Dallas gallerias. There was a pretty good crowd and it looked to be close to a sellout.
There was the opening number and intros. Todd did a double Axel and other stuff. After the intros, Todd introduced the show. The poor guy was winded and had to stop and catch his breath in the middle of it.
First up was Anna Claire Drake. She skated to The Little Mermaid. She's pretty talented (as I recall from a Dallas news article, she's 9). She included a double loop and flip in her number and performed well. Then there was our first sighting of the florescent fish! They had painted several types of fish (on paper and stuff) in florescent colors and skaters in black skated around with them and made them move in different directions. It was pretty neat.
Then Anna came back and finished off the number.
Next up was Yuka and Jason as a pair skating to My Funny Valentine. They did a lift that I want to say was a platter lift. Yuka did not stay up in the air long on this one. They also did a throw triple Salchow that was landed but would have been landed better if Yuka had a few more feet of ice surface! They also did side by side double Axels and a death spiral. All in all, not a bad performance at all. I think Yuka is still getting used to being lifted.
Andrea Gardiner was up next (she was the 97 US junior champ and trains in Houston). She is getting over a pretty serious injury (I believe to her hip) and it and the small ice size hindered her performance a bit. She skated what was I believe her ISU short program. The music was a lovely violin piece that I could not identify. She looks to have gained a few pounds, but I am sure those will go away as she trains harder. She did a nice layback (who knows what Dick Button would have thought of it). She did a triple toe that was 2 footed, a 2 loop (which will be a triple in competition) and a 1 Axel. She is a very lovely skater and I enjoy her. However, this was not one of her best performances. She looked to be a little tired toward the end.
Eddi Vallon was next. He did a comedy number which included a "fight" with a janitor. His skating is OK. The audience liked the number, though.
Then, they had a group of local competitors who skated a number to Glory. They all had white costumes and skated pretty well considering they usually skate individually. A few falls here and there, but nothing that disrupted the program too much.
Krakow hotel rooms Next up was Vadim Shabeco, who was a Michael Weiss clone with blonde hair. He skated to Bad to the Bone in the Elvis/Weiss macho style. It was enjoyable enough though. He did an under-rotated triple Lutz and a 3 toe in the performance.
After intermission (which included the Zamboni guy giving a mini show of his own in some flaming red and black outfit), Julia Kirillova skated. She skated nicely to what I would say is a generic female ballad, but did not have much technically. She did a 2 toe and a 2 loop and a nice move that was a split into what I think was a spread eagle, but am not sure.
Liz and Jerod were next. They did what I thought was a very entertaining piece that was to two Sonny and Cher numbers, The Beat Goes On and I Got You Babe. They were dressed in 60's garb. It appears that the goatee was passed on from Jason to Jerod. They did some nice lifts and holds, however they did have some trouble with the small ice. They looked to want to get more speed going into the moves and it showed in a couple of them. I think that if they are doing this number on the winter COI tour, they will get quite a good audience response with it.
And then..... back to the florescent fish! The skaters in black came back out with more fish and made them move and stuff. Maybe other reviews will be more specific on these fish. While I thought the effects of the florescent fish was neat, I am glad Todd was not called upon to skate with any of them.
Next up was Yuka. She did her Hat Full of Stars program (one of my faves!) She really had a hard time with the ice surface. Yuka is one of those skaters for me who is lovely no matter how much difficulty she may have with jumps. Her edges are so quiet and powerful! She gets so much speed that it caused her to have trouble. She did a nice double Axel. She got a lot of speed for her triple toe, but fell. She probably would have landed it if she had a few more feet. She then did a 2 loop instead of the 3 loop (smart girl!). She was her usual lovely self regardless.
Next......TODD! He wore the new Gethsemane costume with the new sparkling collar and cuffs (NOTE: this costume was at one time the Walk on the Wild Side costume and is also known as the former Father Todd costume) and skated to Impossible Dream. He told us later that he had some trouble with the small ice surface. You could tell sort of in the performance, but not as much as you could with the other skaters, though! He did a 3 loop and actually attempted (and LANDED) a triple Axel! Fan told him later that we were a little surprised that he actually went for it on that small ice and Todd's response was "me, too!" The only jump he had a problem with was the triple toe. He touched down on the landing and stepped out of it as well. Otherwise, Todd was his usual wonderful self. He also did a nice camel change camel and his famous spin combination that really got the crowd on his side, even more so than when he was introduced. Todd deservedly got the only standing ovation of the night. I did not notice this for some reason, but someone noticed that Todd made a cute "aw, come on" gesture as he was getting the standing ovation. He really was THE performance of the night.
Next was the sequel to the florescent fish... the florescent girls! The same group of girls that skated earlier skated to Conga in florescent costumes.
Then the closing number had Eddi Vallon skating with sparklers and other pyrotechnics. It was pretty cool. He did two back flips, one which he fell to his knees on. Later when he came into the hotel bar, I noticed that he was limping. I am not sure if the fall caused any injury or not though.
We all enjoyed the show. The skaters, as I said earlier, stayed for about 15-20 minutes signing programs and stuff after the show. Todd, of course, was the most sought after skater. At one point, Vallon had to come over and move people off the ice because they were surrounding Todd. So, Todd IS popular in Texas! | |
