.a show to remember.

If I had known Stars On Ice would be such an awesome experience, I'd have bought tickets for the Anaheim show as well as the LA one.

The Staples Center is huge and set up for hockey, which means the seats are really close to the ice and nicely layered so you can see. I was in Row 7 at the end of the ice, and the view was fantastic. The lower seats and box seats of the arena were completely filled up, and the LA crowd was very responsive.

The programs were expensive but really big and nice, so of course I couldn't resist buying one, with Alexei being the headliner and all. He was the first skater on the first page and got all sorts of accolades. 'Three-time European Champion, Four-time World Champion, Olympic Champion.' Whoo hoo. That's my boy.

The complete cast list, as billed: Alexei Yagudin, Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze, Sale & Pelletier, Katarina Witt, Kurt Browning, Todd Eldredge, Meno & Sand, Ina & Zimmerman, Roca & Sur. Scott Hamilton also came out and did some of his comedy routines.

The opening number was an Ozzy Osbourne instrumental, and to my pleasant surprise, it worked. All the skaters skated out individually and did signature elements. Alexei came out last. [He was wearing a pink shirt. That made me laugh.] I get so proud when he receives this much recognition. His Olympic win got buried in the pairs controversy, and it's awesome to see him get top billing in a show that features both of the pairs.

After the opening, Kurt tossed Alexei a set of leather gloves and a black leather jacket, and 'Born to Be Wild' started playing. He milked this number for all it was worth - such a sexy thing he is. There was a little breakdancing bit in the middle which got a good response. Lots of catcalling. The girls surely loved it.

Ina & Zimmerman did a nice routine to 'Bed of Roses', then Sale & Pelletier did one, and Todd Eldredge, who I always enjoy much more in exhibitions than in competitions. Katarina did a number with John Zimmerman and Gorsha Sur, which struck me as filler - she has a nice layback spin, but there wasn't much substance to the routine. Scott came out at this point to do his golfing number, which was quite amusing and a real crowd-pleaser. There were a few prop mistakes, but he handled it well.

After seeing 'Overcome' live again, I think I might have to reevaluate my choice of my favourite Alexei program. It's just so amazingly powerful. He did two triple toes and a triple-triple-double, which had the audience in an uproar. The moonwalking and Yoshiki-moves were shiver-inducing, as usual, and the straightline footwork down the middle of the ice had the audience cheering and one of the dragged-along husbands behind me exclaiming, 'Now THAT'S cool.' He finished and the crowd erupted. Partial standing ovation. I was beaming as everyone sitting around me exclaimed, 'WOW! That was really good!' I just wanted to yell 'Of COURSE it was! It's ALEXEI!'

There was a cute bit with Jeni Meno segueing into Meno & Sand's number, in which she offered Alexei a rose and he got all gooey and then refused. Heh. She had to save the rose for when Todd came out and grabbed it between his teeth. Entertaining routine to 'I'm Your Man'.

Kurt did a nice Tony Bennett routine, although his trademark footwork was curiously absent until the end. He's a really nice skater to watch though. Very smooth and balletic. Todd Eldredge did a spoken-word routine with Anton & Elena and Jamie & David - 'Who can judge me?' I thought it would be overbearing and cheesy, but it was nice. It's nice to see the pairs coming together, at least. I always preferred Anton & Elena and felt really bad for them during the whole Olympic thing.

Intermission. It was going too quickly.

Finally, the moment I'd been waiting for - Alexei, Kurt, David Pelletier, John Zimmerman, Gorsha Sur, and Todd Sand, skating to Elvis's 'A Little Less Conversation', wearing tight jeans and cowboy hats. Oh. My. GOD. It was the best thing ever. Forget the circus - THIS is the greatest show on Earth.

I saw the NBC SOI broadcast, so I knew what I was getting into, but the same can't be said for the rest of the audience. The straight men in the audience just sort of sat there like dummies, while everyone else was whooping and hollering. They did lifts, pelvic thrusts, spread-eagles - even down on the ice pushup moves, a la Alexei [who got lifted twice - hee]. It was bloody hysterical. All I can say is that the people sitting in on-ice seats during this one must have some AWESOME self control, because at one point all the guys skated over and waved their asses at them. Personally, if Alexei or John Zimmerman was waving his butt in MY face, I'd have to glue my hands to my lap.

They finished by hanging the cowboy hats on their crotches and putting their hands behind their heads. Some of the guys inevitably lose their hats at certain shows, but Alexei, of course, never does. ;) I'd pay the fifty bucks all over again just to see this number. Even the grandma-types were going nuts. I heard one lady say behind me, 'That Alexei is such a doll!' Haha.

Katarina Witt did a nice solo routine, but in all honesty, it was kind of anticlimactic directly following such a hoot. Todd did a nice number to 'Miserere', although the audience started applauding too soon when they thought he was done. Roca & Sur's number to Charlotte Church and Josh Groban's 'The Prayer' was very pretty, and the audience really enjoyed it. I think, though, that the song had more influence than the skating in this regard.

Kurt did a comedy routine called 'Slippery Side Up', which went over well with the audience. I'd rather see real skating, but who can complain? Kurt has a great sense of comedic timing.

Another filler number with three pairs, and then Kurt rolled out Anton and Elena covered in white sheets, dusted them off, and left with the crowd going 'Huh?' Soon the Elvis music began and Anton threw off his sheet and everyone got into it. The Elvis and Marylin routine worked much better live than on television. Anton IS Elvis. Jamie & David did their 'Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' number, which was very sexy and fun to watch. It definitely works better in an exhibition setting [I first saw it at the Hallmark competition].

'Racing' was next, and I screamed 'GO ALEXEI!' into the darkened arena. It's so much fun to watch live. He skates like the devil with footwork that always gets the audience going. Three perfect triple toes and lots of great facial expressions, as usual. It's hard not to dance when Safri Duo is being blasted into the arena. He holds such sway over the audience, though, that everyone just stares until he's done. Wonderful.

Scott Hamilton finished up with a great routine in black with lots of backflips that received a standing ovation. Everyone loves him, and the number was really fun.

The finale was Will Smith's 'Can't Stop'. Black leather for the boys [daammmnn] and sparkly black and pink fishnet dresses for the girls. When everyone first came out for the beginning, I scanned for Alexei but couldn't find him, and kept thinking 'Where is he? Where is he?'

Not to worry. He skated out, finally, the rest of the skaters lined up, he slid through the line and ended up in front to massive cheering, and he led the entire line in a sequence of 'Winter' footwork down the ice. This was the other highlight of the show for me. The audience went bonkers and it was so fucking cool to see Alexei's influence on figure skating being put into concrete terms.

The finale finished up with a bunch of cool dance moves. At one point Alexei lost his footing and almost plowed into Renee Roca. He gave a little shrug and an embarrassed grin, which was cute. All the skaters went over to rinkside and gave a few hugs and signed some autographs.

Then the show was over, too soon. Hearing audience reactions afterwards is always fun. 'It was excellent,' 'Scott was great,' 'That was fun,' 'The Alexei guy was cool.'

Shows like this always win people over.

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