Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy's "Out of Africa"

Last season, German pair Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy's freeskate to "Out of Africa" by John Barry was simply magical, marvelous, magnificent...you get the idea!

The first video from the 2010 World Championships in Torino (where the pair finished 2nd) features no commentary so you can enjoy the beauty and reverie of the music and movement.

Video 2 is from the pair's gold-medal winning performance at the 2009 Skate Canada, which includes commentary from Peter Carruthers and Andrea Joyce on NBC's broadcast.

Enjoy!

A Black Friday Treat: Brian Boitano's "Shenandoah/ They Call the Wind Maria"

Brian Boitano skates this masterful performance in the 1998 World Professional Championships. I love Brian's bold, sweeping, powerful movement. My favorite parts begin at 3:35 in the video with Brian's spread eagles and stunning death drop. I love watching the crowd rise at the end. Gives me chills!

Happy belated Thanksgiving! Enjoy!

ON THE RADAR: Javier Fernandez

Today's "ON THE RADAR" skater is 19-year-old Javier Fernandez of Madrid, Spain. He is the 2010 Spanish National Champion. He finished 14th in his Olympic debut in February-- the first time a skater from Spain had competed in the Olympics in more than 50 years--8th at the European Championships, and 12th at his first World Championships in March. Javier recently finished 5th at Skate Canada with an entertaining freeskate to "Pirates of the Carribean."

Javier, capable of a gorgeous quadruple toe loop and high-flying triple axels, is a skater who pays attention to the choreographic details of his programs in that he incorporates humor and plays to the crowd. His "Pirates" freeskate includes a moment where he mimes drinking whiskey and a "drunken" footwork sequence ensues! Javier has a spirited presence on the ice, and I'm sure working with the gifted choreographer and coach, Nikolai Morozov (who was yesterday's ON THE RADAR skater, Adam Rippon's former coach) also helps bring out the jovial pirate character he plays on the ice.

Upon watching Javier's skating, my sister, Devon declared, "I like his skating quality! It's imaginative and refreshing!"

Indeed, Javier is an exciting new face on the international scene. His skating is as refreshing as a few glugs of cold whiskey would be for a pirate after he's set sail on the high seas!

Enjoy Javier's "Pirates of the Carribean" freeskate from Skate Canada!

ON THE RADAR: Adam Rippon

Today's On the radar skater is Adam Rippon of the U.S. He finished 5th at last year's U.S. Championships with an impressive freeskate. With the absence of three of the top Americans this year (Evan Lysacek, Johnny Weir, and Ryan Bradley), Adam is in fine position to challenge for a top spot at this year's nationals in January. Along with Armin Mahbanoozedeh (previously profiled on ON THE RADAR), Adam will give 2-time reigning champion Jeremy Abbott a run for his money in vying for his 3rd U.S. Championship in a few months. It's going to be incredibly exciting and I can't wait! The plot thickens among these three, as not only did Adam win last year's prestigious 4 Continents event, and finish 6th to Jeremy's fifth at Adam's world debut in March, showing that he's competitive with the best in the world, Armin beat Adam for a bronze medal at the recent Skate America event. What this equals is an intriguing rivalry between these three talented contenders!

Adam incidentally is from Clarks Summit, PA, near the Scranton area, which is a stone's throw away from my hometown in Stroudsburg, in the Poconos. Adam, the oldest of 6 children, was born deaf, according to his Wikipedia entry, but an operation at Yale University when he was young, allows him to hear almost perfectly. However, on the recent Skate Canada broadcast, commentator Terry Gannon says that Adam was born with a serious eye infection, (no mention of being born deaf was made) and it wasn't discovered until he was 8-months old that he had 80 percent hearing loss. He had corrective surgery, and treatment afterward. (I believe Terry Gannon over Wikipedia since Gannon's facts come from sports researchers, who probably checked the facts with Adam).

The stories about Adam's early hearing troubles aside, Adam certainly doesn't have any trouble interpreting music, as musicality and artistic interpretation are two of his strengths. Adam is also a wonderful jumper and spinner. An incredible talent! He's a natural on the ice, and I am very much enjoying his growth as an artist, athlete, and person in his amateur skating journey so far.

Adam has two beautiful programs choreographed by Canadian choreographer David Wilson this season, but instead of posting one of those programs, I'm going to show you his short program from last season to a moving instrumental version of "Dear Father" by Neil Diamond. With this engaging performance at last year's Trophee Eric Bompard competition in Paris, France, Adam made a statement that he was a contender! He finished third overall.

Watch for Adam's awesome signature move, the "Rippon Lutz"--a triple lutz jump with both arms over the head. The irony is that the "Rippon Lutz" takes 1998 Olympic Champion Brian Boitano's famous "'Tano Lutz"--a triple lutz jump with one arm over the head--to the next level. Adam's coach, Brian Orser, was Boitano's chief rival throughout his career. The two Brian's went head to head in the highly-tauted "Battle of the Brians" at the 1998 Olympics in Calgary. In his free skate last season, Adam performed a "'Tano Lutz" directly before upping the ante with a "Rippon Lutz" on the other end of the rink. This season, he performs his "Rippon Lutz" in the early part of his freeskate, and later performs a "Tano Lutz" in combination with two double toe loops with his arm over his head. Talk about a point-getting sequence!

I know you'll enjoy Adam's 2009-2010 short program!!

A little redemption: Johnny Weir, Melissa Gregory, and Denis Petukhov's "Fallen Angels"

For those of you who tuned in to last night's debut of Skating with the Stars, and were disappointed, (as is the general consensus among people I know, including myself), please watch the below video, which features one of the show's judges, 3-time U.S. National Champion, Johnny Weir, and one of the show's pro skaters , 6-time U.S. National medalist Denis Petukhov (paired with actress Sean Young on SWTS) and his on-and off-ice partner, Melissa Gregory, as redemption for the contrived cheese-fest last night. "Fallen Angels" is an innovative, magnificent routine that was the brainchild of Weir, Petukhov and Gregory, on the long plane ride home from Toyko, Japan after the 2007 World Championships. I had the pleasure of seeing its live debut, at the 2007 Marshalls Showcase exhibition event in Reading, PA in April of '07. The program was such a success that the trio was asked to perform it at other exhibitions, including on the last ever Champions on Ice tour around the country that summer. "Fallen Angels" is a powerful vehicle for three superb skaters. You won't be able to look away! Enjoy!!

Battle of the Carmens: Round 1

Which Carmen do you like better? Please leave a comment with your pick! The winner of this round will compete against another Carmen performance in round 2!

Alexei Yagudin's Carmen from 1997 Cup of Russia:

Evgeni Plushenko's Carmen from 2002 Winter Olympics:

Ladies, This is How it's Done...

If you've been watching the Grand Prix series this fall, you may have noticed that there has yet to be a female skater who has made a name for herself this season--no one has created buzz or set an early standard. Though the fall competitions are traditionally the time to test out new programs, and work out kinks before the top competitions later in the season, it is also the time of year to set the tone for the rest of the season, to emerge a skater to beat, or a skater on the rise. No females have done that this season. While the men's field hasn't been perfect this fall, a number of skaters have turned in strong, exciting performances: Jeremy Abbott, Florent Amodio, Daisuke Takahashi, Armin Mahbanoozedeh and Adam Rippon, to name a few. In comparison, the women need to step it up! A reader of this blog, Cindy Walker, made this insightful comment that really hits the nail on the head:"The men are outstanding. The women are like female birds, pale alongside the bright plumage of the male."

If you've noticed, besides when I write about Michelle Kwan, I haven't posted much about female skaters this season. I have yet to be truly inspired, (though I am a fan of Alissa Czisny's new long program to the music of George Winston). Since no one has really captured my attention this season, I've decided to reminisce a bit and post three great short programs from the Grand Prix Series of years past. The first is Michelle Kwan's 1996 Skate America short program to "Dream of Desdemonda" (a fictional continuation of the story of Shakespeare's Othello). It is sophisticated, elegant, mature, and dramatic!! It has always been one of my favorite short programs! The next two videos are reigning Olympic Champion Yu-Na Kim's stellar short programs from the 2008 and 2009 Skate Americas. Both programs, the first to Danse Macabre by Camille Saint Saens, the second to a James Bond Medley, are dynamic, powerful, and brilliant!!

See it is possible to throw down the gauntlet (aka: lay the smack down) during the fall competitions, so take note competitive female figure skaters!!

Michelle Kwan's "Dream of Desdemonda" from 1996 Skate America:

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

Yu-Na Kim's "Danse Macabre" from 2008 Skate America:

Yu-Na Kim's "James Bond Medley" from 2009 Skate America

As requested from a blog reader, Yu-Na Kim's "James Bond Medley" from 2009 Grand Prix Paris :