November 22, 2003
STARS ON ICE BELGIUM (Antwerpen)
by Su-jan
Hi there,
As promised some more details from my Antwerp trip. Other people already have posted
comments on the show. Therefore, my report will focus on Ekaterina… ;-)
But before that I must mention my boyfriend, Stephan. He was doing me such a big favour by
coming with me to Antwerp and helping to video Ekaterina's performances. He knows how much
G&G (and therefore Ekaterina) mean to me and he was simply great. It was the first
skating show for him and he later told me that he enjoyed it and it wasn't boring to him
at all!
Saturday, November 22, 2003
I love both her new routines. "Sunday kind of love" is such classic Ekaterina.
Wonderful dress. Unfortunately, she fell on the triple toe, but her speed and lines were
simply beautiful to watch. By the way, due to the good seats I saw Ekaterina pretty
closely and she's stunning. Absolutely gorgeous. She's tiny and in great shape. Oh, I also
enjoyed "Red Scarf" a lot. Now I know what people meant with "intense"
– the music is really something. And I think Ekaterina used her prop very
effectively. Also loved the retro costumes for "We are Family". Fun number.
Ekaterina bumped into Ilia during that (or the other way round…). And I think she
bumped into Steven as well because she and him kept laughing during one point.
By the way, after all her solo numbers some fans were standing at the side with presents
for her (a young woman with bunch of flowers and later a man with a small box of
something). Ekaterina was one of the few skaters who actually skated to the side and
thanked and hugged them. The guy who gave her the box was sitting left to me and when he
got into his seat again he was pretty much jumping up and down. He was very happy.
In my previous post I mentioned that the skaters were staying at the same hotel. It was
such a surprise when I saw a sign of "Astrid Park Hotel" at the sides of the ice
rink. They were one of the official sponsors. I mean, when I booked the hotel I didn't
know that the skaters were staying there as well. My reasons why I booked the Astrid? Nice
looking picture of the swimming pool (which, eventually, we didn't use), breakfast was
included and it's in the centre of Antwerp. :-)
After the show, Stephan and I returned to the hotel. We were checking the videos –
they came out great – and freshened up a bit. Some time later (approx. 45 minutes) we
went downstairs again to have a drink at the bar. When we got out of the elevator a couple
of people (mostly German fans) were surrounding Katarina Witt. She signed autographs and
posed for pictures. She was really nice. I commented on her hand-bag – it had the
Swiss flag on it (Stephan used to live at the Swiss border) and she said "yeah, other
people live in Switzerland for tax reasons. I don't. So, I'll have a little bit of
Switzerland with me in the bag." I talked to one of the people next to me and asked
if Ekaterina had already arrived "yes, Ekaterina and Ilia already went
upstairs". I was definitely disappointed when I heard that. I missed them just
several minutes. Arghhhhh! Stephan was very disappointed for me as well. Actually, he
seemed to be more upset than me… Very sweet.
Anyhow, my boyfriend did pose with Katarina Witt (she's basically the only skater he
knows) and what a nice pic. After that my boyfriend and I went to the bar and ordered some
drinks. Soon after that Shae-Lynn was talking to the bartender asking if she could get
some food. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible because the kitchen already closed (it's now
about 23:15 h). So, the bartender tried to explain to her the way to the next restaurant.
She then talked to some of her friends and then decided to stay at the hotel bar and just
have some snacks (peanuts and such). Poor girl. She must have been so hungry! She and her
group was later joined by Kevin van der Perren.
Sunday, November 23, 2003
The next morning we had breakfast at about 8:45 h. The buffet was on the second floor of
the hotel and just before we entered the breakfast room I saw Jennifer Robinson going to
the elevators. We were seated and ordered our hot chocolate. I then gathered some bread
and hazelnut-honey spread for Stephan and for me some fruit salad. Soon afterwards the
skaters arrived one by one. Victor Kraatz started his breakfast next to us. He then saw
Steven Cousins and he moved then to his table. Then, Ekaterina entered the room. She was
wearing jeans, a white sweater and had her hair in a ponytail. She was alone. She ate her
breakfast (scrambled eggs, cereal / yoghurt and a cup of coffee) and then filled her plate
with a croissant and ham. Later I would see her with the plate going up again. My guess is
that she brought some breakfast to Ilia. Anyone, during the breakfast my boyfriend and I
discussed how we could get a picture of her – without intruding her privacy. He
suggested going to her and just ask. And I replied that I really don't want to do this
because she's having breakfast! It was actually pretty funny because he was making all
these suggestions and plans on how to have the photo taken – he was really
enthusiastic – and I was like "nah, we can't do this!" I really didn't want
to upset Ekaterina or make her feel uncomfortable. So, we didn't take any pictures then.
In my mind, I was making my peace with not having my picture taken. It was fine with me
because I had seen Ekaterina skating the previous day and, hey, we were sharing the same
hotel and breakfast room. That was exciting enough for me! My boyfriend was more upset
than me – he so wanted me to have the picture. Very sweet. Oh, we also saw Povilas
Vanagas, Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margalio having breakfast.
After we had breakfast we went to our rooms again and packed. At about 9:45 h we went
downstairs for check out. We saw Oksana at the reception – obviously waiting. Soon
after her all the other skaters joined her. Stephan and I were taking some pictures of the
hotel and some pictures of our travel bear Carlito (little stuffed bear who travels with
us and we always take a photo of him… :-) And, yes, also Ekaterina and Ilia came
down. Ilia was wearing a grey training suit and looked rather sleepy… Ekaterina
looked much more awake… :D When we saw them, my boyfriend took my hand, "come
on, that's our last chance!" and so we went up to her. He asked "would it be
possible to take a photo?" and she said and smiled (while chewing gum) "yes, it
would be possible". And, here I was standing next to Ekaterina, with Carlito in my
hands and just smiling and being happy. I told her that I "enjoyed the show" and
she said thanks. Very nice. Photo turned out to be really funny because it's a great photo
of Ekaterina and I'm smiling all the way – with my eyes closed.
All the skaters were gathering for pick-up – I assumed to the rink. Renee Rocca was
also there. At about 10:00 h they all get on little vans and Stephan and I left for our
train to Bruxelles. Very happy trip.
the G&G corner - Copyright © Su-jan Yip, September 1996 - 2007