October 23, 2003
SCOTT HAMILTON AND FRIENDS
by Xrystal
Well as usual I wanted to get to the show early so we got there in plenty of time. But really I spend all day getting ready for the show. My friend Vladimir helped me write a sign for Katia in Russian that said, “Katia, We Love You!” So I spent the day making that and one for Steven Cousins that said, “Nothing Beats Cousins” making the N, B, and C in red (NBC is airing the show).
So once we got there I met up with Holly (from the SOI message board) and we talked while we waited for the doors to open. Once the doors FINALY opened she went with my mom and me to our seats before she went to hers. They gave out programs (If you can call them that lol, they were nothing like SOI programs just paper… glossy but only one page making the front back and insides…) so since they weren’t charging I took two! I have no idea what I will do with the other one…
I made small talk with the usher lady (she was only 20 and fun to talk to) until the show began. The whole show was great and everyone kept making jokes. The atmosphere was great. I didn’t take any notes of the show because I had a camera to my face most of the time but I will give a kind of review for what I remember. You guys can watch it on TV then to see how it looked.
Scott was the first to be out and he sat at the piano and banged around while the singer, Michael Feinstein, walked out carrying skates. Scott skated and then the cast came out and everyone skated. I had great seats, row one, so I could see everything just great. I’m not totally sure of the order that everyone skated so I will just give a run down as best as I can remember.
Steven Cousins skated two programs! I was so glad to see him out there! I am going to miss him so much this year with SOI. I wish he was still with them! I don’t remember what he skated to for his first number to but his second number he skated to “Grate Balls of Fire!” WOW what a performance! After seeing something like that I can’t understand why he doesn’t have a multi year contract with SOI!!! He was so spectacular! I don’t know how to describe it other than he was Steven out there. The smile on his face… you could just tell how much he loves being out there and how much fun he is having when he is skating.
Katia Gordeeva also skated to two numbers. The fist one she skated too was “Smile” and she had on a pinkish red dress on. She did a beautiful job and didn’t make any mistakes. She shown and it was just so special to see her! The way she skated was just magical. I was in total awe of her! I felt like I was watching a dream! After she skated to “Smile” I held up my sign and SHE SAW IT!!! She got a big ol’ grin on her face and waved to me. I was so excited I couldn’t believe it! My mom and I were so excited and I was screaming (not loudly of course) and people in my section were looking at us and laughing. It was so great!
The second number she skated too, I can’t remember the name of the song but it was beautiful! Darlene Love sang it for Katia. I LOVED the dress Katia had on for this program. I’m not really sure how to explain it. It was a maroonish purple color and make out of lace. It looked exquisite on her! This program she had problems with two of her jumps (I was going to remember what they were but I forgot…) but it was still a beautiful number.
Roca and Sur skated just beautifully. They skated to a song called something about a special year…. I know that helps huh? They were so soft and gentle out there that it was a pleasure to watch them skate! I have always loved R&S and when ever I see them skate I believe in magic! I just can’t get enough of them. I could sit and watch them skate for hours and still be caught up in it all.
Yuka Sato skated to, “Someone To Watch Over Me.” When she skates I swear her blades never touch the ice. She just floats across the ice like a fairy. She messed up on two of her jumps but it didn’t disturb the program at all. She also skated with Jason and of course they were great. I love to watch them skate together. I was thinking while they were skating, Yuka went from a singles skater to skating pairs with her husband. Katia went from skating pairs with her husband to skating singles…. Just something to ponder.
Jennie Meno and Todd Sands skated a great number. They were fun to watch and skated beautifully. I always like seeing them skate they are fun to watch and it is nice to see a husband and wife out there enjoying each other and their jobs. Jennie is such a cute little thing.
Jumping Joe (Jozef Sabovcik) was great to see. It was my first time to see the great jumper live and it was an honor. I have looked up to his jumping since I first saw him skate. To see it in person other than on TV made me realize how HUGE his jumps are. He did a have little problem with a couple of his jumps but I think it was just because they were SO big.
Brian Orser, skated two number too (I believe). He skated to one I have seen him skate on TV before… I can’t think of the name of the music but he wears yellow pants and a black shirt with white poka dots on it. You guys know what I mean? This was also my first time to see him skate live. I had fun watching him.
Rory Flack Burghart (I had never heard of her before) was a great skater. She had trouble on several of her jumps and fell out of her death drop but she was still fun to watch. She gets great height on her split jumps! She skated to a song with an umbrella. It was a nice number I enjoyed watching her.
Scott Hamilton… I think he probably skated at least once in the show! To tell the truth I don’t know how many numbers he skated too. The last number he did though was very touching! It was about how life is so short and there are so many people in this world, but that we still impact other people’s lives. He said before he skated that this song reminded him of his mom and dad and a friend he lost this year, but also of his new baby son.
He also skated with Jumping Joe and Brian (The three of them make up the 84 Olympic Men’s Podium) and they had a great time out there. They were making fun of each other and themselves. They all had jerseys on and on the front it said 1984 and on the back it said their last names. They got a standing O and Scott make a joke about how nice it was for us to stand up and use all the oxygen to give them a standing O!
There was also a group number with red hats. The whole cast was out and they put Michael out on the ice with them. They had the piano he was playing just in front of my mom and me so we had a great view. Katia kept looking over at me and smiling but I kept missing it. My mom would say, there she is looking at you again. FINALY I got it. She would smile and wave. It was great that she remembered me from my sign and that she put forth effort to show me that she saw it and me. And this isn’t my imagination either! The usher lady told me at intermission she saw it. I was so happy! Now my imagination and reality go along together!
This is a first for me! I’m not sure if Katia remembered me from the day before when I met her or just from my sign but either way I was VERY HAPPY!
Jennie Meno was just in front of me and saw me trying to take a picture of her so she stopped to pose, but my camera strap got in the way and by the time I got it fixed she had to move. Oh well.
I went camera happy on Katia and Steven. I saved those roles aside from the other ones so I can get them printed first. I PRAY that I get some good pictures.
During intermission just about when it was over some guy said that since this was for TV they needed some special affects and would we please make some noise. Well of course we all did. I turned to my mom and laughingly I said, “This is so dumb” but I was laughing, screaming, and clapping too hard to mean it too much!
The finale came MUCH too soon. And the two times Steven had skated he didn’t see my sign I had held up for him. I wanted him to see it so bad! So I held it up after the finale and HE SAW IT!!! He waved at me and I waved back! Also I guess some big shot saw my sign at some point in time because as things were starting to wind down and we were all clapping for all the skates a man with a camera came up to me and got right in front of me and filmed me holding up my sign. Well I didn’t know what to do so I smiled and waved. I don’t know if the will put that in the final cut but if you see a girl holding up a sing for Steven it is me! Also just at the very end the cast was lined up whey the tunnel and I was still holding up my sing. I couldn’t tell for sure but I THINK it was Yuka, kind of tapped Steven then pointed at me and my sing. He smiled and nodded. I think she was trying to show his and he was saying yes he saw it.
They took retakes of the mess-ups. It is fun to be able to have that extra little time with the skaters. Katia couldn’t get one of her jumps and we were all cheering her on but she just couldn’t land it clean. You could tell she was getting upset with herself so Scott came out and told her just to have fun! She still didn’t land it totally clean but finally she said good enough. I wanted her to keep trying because I was still trying to get shots of her and the more she had to retire the longer I got to see her!
When Steven came out to do his retake Scott when on and on about how Steven was his best friend and how Steven was his babies Godfather. Steven seamed VERY happy with that!
Scott said he blamed his mess-ups on the altitude… I don’t know Scott… you LIVE in Colorado… But I GUESS I will let him get by with it this time. He also had trouble with one of his jumps… the triple loop was it? I don’t remember…. But he got it after SEVERAL tries. Then he yelled, “NEVER GIVE UP” and of course that got him applause!
Jumping Joe had trouble with one of his jumps too and finally stopped when they had an ok one.
Michael had to re-sing one of his songs (the one that Rory Flack Burghart skated too) While they were getting the cameras ready he told us that while he was singing Yuka’s song he had a fly right on his forehead! Lol He also tried to keep the audience entertained by playing the Monsters song and having us snap. Of course it did entertain us! Are we a hard crowd to please or what?
Scott also tried to keep us entertained by telling us a joke, it took him a while to think of a CLEAN one but he got one and it was cute.
After the show some people close to me had some stuffed animals for some of the skaters. They called Joe over and he got his animal. He also signed some autographs and of course I had to have one too! Then Joe, Brian, and Scott did a photo op with their 84 jerseys on. When Brian got done the same people called him over for a stuffed animal and he signed autographs too. I got my picture taken with him! He is really nice and very soft spoken. I really like him.
After the two of them were done we waited for Scott but he had a lot more photos to take. Then when he was done he went to the other side of the ice to sing autographs first then came to us. He was so nice he singed EVERY SINGEL autographed and even gave some people more than one. I’m sure there were 50-100 people he took the time to talk to, take pictures with and autograph things for. I thought it was very sweet of him!
I talked to him for just a little bit. He was very nice (a pleasant change from the first time I met him) and very accommodating. He signed several autographs to people besides just sinning his name. I told him that I was upset that Steven wasn’t in SOI and he gave this face like he was discussed! (Not that I said anything but that Steven wasn’t in the show so he was mad) Then he said something like, “Yeah I made sure he wasn’t in it. Not” or something like that. He said that there were a lot of changes this year and they were trying to fill seats. I think that was his way of saying what we already knew. Steven is a great skater but didn’t have the medal count they wanted. GRRRRRR!!! I got my picture taken with him and I congratulated him on his son. He was so funny he said, “He looks just like me, he is BALD! Three weeks and his hair line already stared receding!” It was so funny!
After that we left so that Scott could get to the rest of the people who wanted to meet him. Then I came home and started wring this. It is almost 1:30am now and I am very sleepy. If I forgot anything I will add it later. Hope this wasn’t too long!
the G&G corner - Copyright © Su-jan Yip, September 1996 - 2007