New Year's Eve Spotlight: Paul Wylie's "On the Waterfront"

New Year's Eve Spotlight: Kurt Browning's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" by Elton John

One of my favorite Kurt numbers.

New Year's Eve Spotlight: Scott Hamilton's "Don Quixote"

Vintage Scott!

New Year's Eve Spotlight: Nancy Kerrigan's 1994 Madonna Medley

Who doesn't love Madonna on ice?

Day after Christmas Bonus: Elvis Stojko's Techno Hip-Hop Short Program

As Verne Lundquist introduced him at the 1994 Olympics: "A combination Martial Arts exponent, dirt bike racer, terrific figure skater."

Day After Christmas Bonus: Nathan Chen's Philip Glass Medley

Otherwordly.

12 Days of Christmas Countdown: Day 1: Adam Rippon's "Arrival of the Birds"

Picture of the author with Adam Rippon at a fall of 2019 book signing event in Philadelphia for his book Beautiful on the Outside. The perfect example of how Olympic dreams do come true!!! Adam Rippon overcame adversity, naysayers, and a broken foot to make the Olympic team and lay down his dream performance to win Olympic team bronze. Pure magic. Adam is a swan on ice!

12 Days of Christmas Countdown: Day 2: Aliona Savchenko & Bruno Massot's "La Terre Vue Du Ciel"

One of the best Olympic performances of all-time. Simply sublime perfectly.

12 Days of Christmas Countdown: Day 3: Madison Chock & Evan Bates' Snake Charmer Free Dance

One of my favorite programs from all of last season. Seductive, creative, captivating.

12 Days of Christmas Countdown: Day 4: Michelle Kwan's "Spartacus"

En route to winning her 9th U.S. Championship title. Love the passion!

12 Days of Christmas Countdown: Day 5: Jeremy Abbott's "Lillies of the Valley" Short Program

I was in the audience to see this program at the 2014 U.S. Nationals in Boston. The feeling in the arena was electric!! Love Jeremy Abbott and love this!!

12 Days of Christmas: Day 6: Nancy Kerrigan's "Desperate Love" Short Program

This program is a triumph! Still amazes me that she overcome a brutal attack to deliver this performance a month later. Amazing!

12 Days of Christmas Countdown: Day 7: Nathan Chen's "Land of All" Free Skate

Super human. Commentator Johnny Weir pointed out that Nathan has an almost spiritual connection to this music. A signature piece.

12 Days of Christmas Countdown: Day 8: Paul Wylie's "Schindler's List"

An absolute masterpiece.

12 Days of Christmas Countdown: Day 9: Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy's "Out of Africa" Free Skate

Beautiful choreography seemlessly woven amid beautiful, sweeping music. This was a truly special pair. One of my favorite programs of theirs.

12 Days of Christmas Countdown: Day 10: Meryl Davis & Charlie White's Notre-Dame de Paris Free Skate

In 2013, Meryl Davis and Charlie White won their second World Title on Canadian soil over the homecrowd favorites, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir. That season, Davis & White had momentum on their side and shifted the trajectory away from the Canadians and toward their run at becoming the first U.S. ice dance champions to win an Olympic gold medal. The following year, they accomplished just that in Sochi, Russia, at the 2014 Olympics. This performance is filled with passion, precision, and power-- the perfect combination of strength & beauty. I love how the performance builds and they finish with an unbridled flourish that left no doubt that they were the best ice dancers in the world.

12 Days of Christmas Countdown: Day 11: Philippe Candeloro's D'Artagnan Freeskate at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Philippe Candeloro always put the crowd first. As Scott Hamilton said, "The judges didn't pay to get in. They're incidental." Ever the showman, Candeloro was capable of creating riveting characters on the ice with The Godfather in 1994 and 1995 and D'Artagnan in 1998. In 1998, Candeloro was considered a long-shot for a medal, not with other far more consistent and reliable athletes in the mix, but, as always Candeloro proved everyone wrong. After not medaling on the World stage in two seasons, he delivered two of his strongest programs in recent memory, along with a dazzling array of swashbuckling and sword fighting. I remember watching the straightline swordfight sequence in awe--I had never seen something so clever and entertaining and funny on Olympic ice. Afterward, he stumbled on a second and late-attempt at a Triple Axel. Hamilton Quipped: " I think he might be a litlte bit tired after all that sword fighting." Tired or not, Candeloro deliverfed the goods again, winning his second consecutive Olympic Bronze medal. Trés magnifique!

The 12 Days of Christmas Countdown: Day 12: Michelle Kwan's "Winter Song" by Ingrid Michaelson and Sarah Barreilles

In 2010, Michelle Kwan made a rare appearance on the ice, performing in Yuna Kim's star-studded "All That Skate Tour." It had been a solid four years since anyone had seen Kwan on the ice (the last time I can remember was in the December of 2005 at a made-for-tv event. She skipped Nationals that year due to injury, received a bye to the Olympics, then sadly withdrew before the event began in Torino), so it was such a thrill to see her skate again! What struck me about this program is how even with so much time away from performing, Michelle was as fluid and radiant as liquid gold. As Dick Button once described Michelle, she was "luminous with joy." After Michelle Kwan's historic 1998 Nationals freeskate to "Lyra Angela," which earned a record-breaking perfect scores of 6.0, skating legend, and Kwan's inspiration that year, Janet Lynn, found a passage in her bible from the Letter of Jude, that summarized Kwan: "Faultless...with exceeding joy." Kwan's "All That Skate" performances remind me of a shooting star: A brief, magical, dazzling moment in time to be savored and remembered. I never saw Michelle perform again on TV after this, but this moment of exceeding joy will never be forgotten. (Side note: for those of you with Instagram, follow Michelle Kwan. She often posts clips of herself skating!) https://youtu.be/IGmlMmMs4B4