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For the exhibition practice, I think only one pairs team showed up, which became the theme of the morning. The ice dance exhibition practice was fairly entertaining, with Gwendal Peizerat and Victor Kraatz both skating without their partners. Krylova & Ovsyannikov skipped it entirely, while Romanova & Yaroshenko and Lobachova & Averbukh dutifully arrived. I was very glad to hear that all the skaters who participated would get to do exhibitions; it only seemed right considering how small the field was, and as a final tribute to having made it into the event by skating well throughout the fall.
Gwendal Peizerat came onto the ice wearing a black bodysuit-type warm-up outfit that was sleeveless and had a zipper down the front. It was partially unzipped when he got onto the ice; he skated over to his coach, who promptly zipped him all the way up. My section found this very amusing. He got into all kinds of mischief on this session, chatting with Victor and finally getting Victor to show him some solo hydroblading. Gwendal tried hydroblading himself and promptly fell on his butt, skidding several yards, much to the crowd's merriment. After this little misfire, Gwendal tried it again, this time with both Victor Kraatz and Igor Yaroshenko getting into it as well. I'd have to say that Igor's hydroblading looked the best to me ... obviously he's been doing this at home! Then, of course, when Anissina & Peizerat's music played, Gwendal had to act out the majority of the exhibition, minus Marina, to great audience cheering. Victor tried a little of this to his and Shae-Lynn's music, but I don't think he's quite as much of a ham as Gwendal was that morning. I don't think I'll soon forget the image of Gwendal coming onto the ice, half- zipped, carrying a bottle of Evian and a whip. (Well, you have to know the exhibition program...) :-)
The men's exhibition practice included four of the men, no Ilya and no Aleksei U. Ilya hadn't even turned in his music, prompting one of my friends to panic and assume that he had gone home! I was pretty disappointed not to see Aleksei; I was hoping for another up-close view of him after his skate the night before and to see how cheerful he might be. Dmitri looked tired and Little Aleksei looked to be in outer space. :-) During his warm-up, Irina and Olga came and stood by the Zamboni entrance (also known as the end of "Aleksei Urmanov Quadruple Toe Loop Lane") and chatted with Yags, both holding their skates and laughing with him about something or other. Todd Eldredge seemed light- hearted, although there were some groans from my section when we found out he was skating "This is the Moment" (although nothing compared to the vomiting noises made during Bourne & Kraatz's exhibition music). {Nothing that the skaters could *hear*, of course}. When Little Aleksei's music was played, the audience seemed very curious to see what he was going to do. Little Aleksei stroked very slowly and pensively down the ice, around the corner, down the ice again, around the corner again, down the ice again... looking at his feet, sort of thinking to himself... putting hands on hips... taking hands off hips... Never did any of the program whatsoever. I found this very amusing. By the way, Aleksei Mishin was not there either. After the last man's music was played, we heard the familiar strains of the "Bettles" medley being played and we knew that indeed, we would have more Beatles from Alyosha in the exhibition. Not that this is bad... I'm just hoping that Aleksei comes up with something new for the summer tour.
The women's exhibition practice included a full roster of Russians, all working on their programs, with Irina and Olga doing some chatting at the boards. Olga and her coach, Yelena Vodorezova, were really cracking up over some of the moves Olga was working on in her program. At the very end of her program, Olga reaches over and places her hand firmly on her butt ... or maybe she gives it a bit of a slap. She couldn't stop laughing when she was working on some of the more outrageous parts of this program. Meanwhile, Irina was going through her program holding a hankie in one hand, which in fact she held for the actual program. Olga, by the way, has the habit of wearing one glove during practice, although she will sometimes take it off mid-way through. Maybe she gets the ol' left and right mixed up. Maria was still "all business" during the exhibition practice. It just seemed in marked contrast to the chorus of giggles coming from Slutskaya and Markova. Aleksei Yagudin, repaying his coaching debt, sat in the coaches' area near Vodorezova and Gromova (Irina's coach), just watching with a spaced- out expression on his face.
The exhibitions began with some local skaters doing a number that was mercifully brief and then we went straight into the competitors themselves. I believe I have already posted the details of who skated what program. As for jumps and such, I believe that Irina did a triple sal, and Ilya did a triple axel out of the spreadeagle. Aleksei did a couple of triple toes, I think, and I can't really remember much else of the technical content. Aleksei Yagudin's "tribal" number was a little tamer than it was at Skate America, but it was still very weird and did include a layback spin and the ritual corn-husk tossing. The crowd was also a little more into it this time. I did hear from a woman who was at Skate America that apparently, the black "body paint" on Little Aleksei's body in Springfield was actually black boot polish for skates, and that it took him a really long time to get it off. I had to wonder if he had gotten a more temporary solution to use for this event or if he is still striped right now. :-)
Olga's program was to Louis Armstrong's "Go Down Moses" (which I am now combing the record stores looking for) and it was one of the best exhibition or professional numbers I've ever seen from a woman skater. I had always though that Olga couldn't make it as a pro because her style was too avant-garde; however, this proved how versatile she is, and the crowd just ate it up. Olga staggers out onto the ice wearing a giant green feather boa and alternately swoons around, losing herself in the sweeping parts of the music, and teeters on the edge of total calamity, an intoxicated and occasionally salacious little number that just kept getting better until the final hand on the butt. Irina's program was quite adorable and in marked contrast; she skated to "Kalinka" and wore a traditional red dress with her hair in pig tails. It suited her very well and she looked very robust and rosy cheeked! Maria, meanwhile, opted for the "Bond girl" look, doing a program to "Goldeneye" that might work better on TV than it does in person, with a lot of poses and slow moves at a standstill. The crowd response was a bit tepid, compared particularly to the response to Olga.
Krylova & Ovsyannikov did their "Tosca" program which I have never cared for too much, although there was a bit less rolling around on the ice in fetal position this time than in times past. For music that I love and skaters that I love, it's a program that really does nothing for me. Bourne & Kraatz were gooey; Tara was perky; Todd was peppy; Elvis was actually somewhat entertaining, at least for one number which looked like a Steven Cousins number, as someone commented on some 'net mailing list. Yeltsova & Bushkov's program seemed very short, and lacking in technical content. Meanwhile, Wötzel & Steuer's program seemed like something I would expect from Urbanski & Marval or Stiegler & Zimmerman, very different from their usual, more artistic style (and for me, disappointing). Ilya did a lovely job with his "Liebestraum" number, but it still didn't look 100% to me. I don't know quite what it is, and I do like that he is doing something very different to this music, but Ilya just does not come across as a musical skater to me. He is passionate and he has flair and he throws himself into what he does, but it is not coming *from* the music, and so sometimes it seems to me that he is beating the music into submission.
As someone noted, Aleksei Urmanov had a fun time during his Beatles number and ran down the length of the ice at full speed, stopping just at the boards and spraying the front row with ice. He was really cutting loose and it was very cute. As he did for the entire week, Alyosha really had a loud and supportive audience backing, which I thought was great. It seemed like a nice send-off to Lausanne and I hope Alyosha does himself proud again.
As we left the Sheraton to check out from the other hotel (we had to move mid-week because the skaters' hotel was booked solid for Friday and Saturday night), we saw a huge pile of luggage on the floor and a few of the Russians downstairs checking out (Marina Yeltsova and Maria Butyrskaya). In with the Russians, out with the Russians. At the airport we spotted Tamara Moskvina and Artur Dmitriev. In a way, I enjoyed being at this event a lot more than I enjoyed being at '96 Worlds (I mean, before I even knew what the results were or were going to be). It was just a "fun" event and relatively low-pressure, and most of the best skaters in the world were all there together under ISU rules. Although this event produced some results that may not ever arise in a World championship, that is what makes each skating event so special and so fun to be a part of. Seeing an event on television makes everything seem part of a greater whole or very similar in feel, when in fact every competition is like a small trip that a group of people go on together, destination uncertain. Be warned: this is addictive stuff.