December 29, 2002
STARS ON ICE (Washington DC, USA)
by Lisa
Greetings and Happy New Year to all. I saw Katia in SOI at the MCI Center in Washington, DC. Introduced during the second half of the program, she performed just one number -- the Russian folk dance. She skated beautifully but did take one fall on a jump. I think it was the triple toe but honestly I can't tell the difference between the jumps. I was thinking that it must be difficult to come out in the second half like that with what appeared to be no chance to warm up on the ice and get her feet under her. If she did have an on-ice warm up, it must have been several hours before it was her turn to skate, so that's pretty tough.
It was my first time seeing her in person and, though I did not think it possible, she is actually much more beautiful in person than on TV. I realize this sounds corny, but she looked like an actual angel from where we were sitting (pretty close up). Even my boyfriend, who is normally somewhat reticent about his likes and dislikes in other women, said she had an incredible smile.
Regrettably, the arena was only about half full, which may be due to a number of factors, including 1) this was SOI's first time at MCI arena 2) weak economy 3) expensive tickets 4) the show was on a Sunday evening after Christmas week. But I also feel that, if they recruited Katia hoping her name would help sell tickets, they certainly didn't take full advantage of the situation. The ads on TV did not mention her. Even at the show, they did not have anything about her in the program and did not even mention that she was in the show until the second half when it was her turn to skate. I think they were correct in assuming that her name would help sell tickets, but then they didn't use her name to sell the tickets, so that was kind of weird.
Overall, the show was very good and I and my five friends had a great time. My boyfriend said that of all the skaters, he enjoyed seeing Katia the most. I guess because of all the tapes that he's seen of her from my collection, he considers her to be a living legend.
All and all, it was a thrill to see her in person. I really wish she would skate again with Ilia, though, because I loved the programs they did together before she stopped touring to have Elizaveta.
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing her on television some more this year.
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