Who would have ever thought that I was coming back to Paris that fast? and even see Johnny skate again!
After reading about the show and seeing that Johnny was taking part at it I still only had 3 weeks to plan this whole trip. Luckily Janina said she would come with me and since she has never been to Paris we also planned to make a small tour (I will post a different report and some pics about that in the off topic). I knew it was somewhat impossible to manage all the things like train, hotel and tickets and even discussing with my coach if I was allowed to go, but I knew I had to be there especially after seeing this list of skaters Irina, Sasha, Evgeni... Our last-minute organisation went well and Janina already drove over to my place on Sunday evening. Sorry, Janina once again, I hope the shock about my family was not too big LOL, but I warned you
Monday we stood up very early (4 am) and took at first the train from Krefeld to Cologne and then straight to Paris. After arriving at our hotel and seeing the arena suddendly very good memories came back from TEB 2004... After that we did a small tour through Paris. We managed to visit all the important places and returned to our hotel to get ready for the show. Minute to minute we got more exciting. I think Janina even more, because this was going to be her first figure skating event to watch live in an arena and especially seeing Johnny skate live is always just exciting!
We still had some time, but we decided to go to the arena earlier. Then something strange and funny happened. As we wanted to go and search our seats some of those volunteers asked for our tickets to show us our places. The man did look at our Angel buttons and was like Who is that? and I was like Johnny Weir!. Then this woman brought us to our seats and asked if he was Amercian. We said yes and then she asked Where do you come from and why do you support an Amercian? I was thinking WHAT a question!! and saying He is just the best... or something along these lines... What a strange lady LOL. Then I told her to look for Johnny at the show and that she would understand then why we love him! Now I just hope she really watched his performance.
Anyway, the arena was quite filled up after some time and we were really looking forward to the show! The atmosphere was really nice and we were getting more and more nervous even if this was just a *show*.
(The actual report of the show will not conclude everything, because I cant remember all the numbers and music choices etc...)
In the opening some skaters and a speaker were presenting the history of the Olympic Games right from the beginning. Mentioning some of the most important historical facts, the skaters skated to different music and costumes fitting the presented time. Actually we didnt understand everything the speaker said lol. After that the skaters were finally introduced one after another. They were coming on the ice and each of them showed some elements. I cant remember all the different songs the skaters used, just a few details. BTW there was a *super important chanteur* singing the songs. First of all it was a really nice surprise to see Elena Sokolova skating, because she wasnt mentioned at the official list of the show (nor was Johnny actually, but ok). Johnny came on the ice wearing his broken heart costume (YAY this is sooooooo glittery and I love glittery costumes!
) and his casual fluffy hairstyle (YAY I love fluffy long hairstyle!
). Skating really soft and delicate along to Angels from Robbie Williams (YAY great choice!
) she showed one jump and spin, if I remember correct. He looked just great and it was awesome to see him skate live again! Irina skated to Beautiful which was of course beautiful
But after everyone skated to the rink I was realizing that someone was missing there: Sasha Cohen! I was really looking forward to her, but sadly she wasnt there
. Later we also noticed that Shizuka Arakawa (surely, because of her gold medal), Stephane Lambiel (?) and Elena and Anton werent there, either...
Anyway, the first skaters to to show a number were Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder skating to a song from Johnny Hallyday. They delivered a lovely program showing some of their signature moves. Of course the crowd just loved them. Unfortunately I cant remember everything from every skater, so I hope no one will be disappointed if I leave out some things. Next was Elena, but Janina and I couldnt decide which of her two programs she skated at first the one with the pink dress or the one with the hat. I am convinced that it was the one with the hat she already showed at the Gala at Europeans, but I could be wrong, too LOL. Surya Bonaly followed and the crowd supported her through her entire program. She has really strong jumps and of course she showed her back flip. Grushina & Goncharov skated to their show number they are already using three years I think, but they are a nice couple to watch... Okay lets go on to Johnny
wheeeee still wearing the purple broken heart costume. We were freaking out and I am sure some of those french people near us looked at us like huh?, but who cares?
Our hearts were pounding more and more and he took his position. When his music started everyone was cheering (you can hear it in the clip, too) and it was Unchained melody - Coming to Paris I thought and secretly wished he would perhaps skate to My Way, but then again all his programs are just a joy to watch and I have never seen this one live. The crowd really appreciated this program, too, and of course Janina and I were clapping like nuts. He showed three jumps and one in combination. But what mesmerized me the most besides his amazing catch foot into the lutz were the perfectly centred and brilliant spins and combinations. Its already impressive on TV, but live even more. We were like *siiiiigh* through the whole performance and just in deep awe. After Johnny finished we were still clapping and clapping and I decied to run down to the ice to throw my small gift for Johnny to the ice. The moment he wanted to pick it up after his bows his music started again to play and he decided to skate a small encore with a cute cute cute expression on his face
. After showing his great combination spin he picked up the gift and said Merci beaucoup
. I went back to my seat and Janina and I we were still soooooo excited and trembling the whole time. Its such an experience to see Johnny skate live. His fluidity and care on the ice is priceless and so unique. Oh, I could go on and on about his amazing ability... So after Johnny Besedin&Polishouk took the ice and the crowd went crazy over their Olympic program. Their acrobatic lifts are breathtaking and their expression is just too funny. Right after them Tatiana and Maaim skated to their Olympic gala number to Andrea Bocelli. They were wearing their super-glittery red costumes and what a joy it is to see them both skate. They have such a high standard and even if Maxim missed his first jump they are such an emotive couple on the ice live even more than on TV IMO. Fter this harmonic number, Irina was to skate and she also used her Olympic gala number here. Shes such charming person and skater and its impossible to not *adopt* her happy smiling face when she looks to the audience. It seemed like she really enjoyed this evening. As soon as she left the ice the crowd started to go even more crazy and it was clear that Brian Joubert was on now, especially with all these small girls screaming for him. I dont remember the music he skated to and it was entertaining and the crowd just loved him. After his skate he was asked how he felt after this Olympics and he immediately apologized for skating not his best. The audience suddendly went all over with *awwwwwwwwwwwww* - really sweet and funny moment. The it was up to Evgeni, who skated to his Tosca short program delivering all his solid jumps and again the crowd went crazy for him shouting Zhenya Zhenya all the time. Last to skate before the break were Anissina & Peizerat with their Star Wars number- really interesting and brilliant program. It was great to see this innovative couple skating live and of course everyone was very impressed.
Okay, its somewhat later here and I still have to get some things done... I will post the second part of the show tomorrow and you can loom forward to some more funny and great stuff from the show. I hope you liked it untill here. I am sorry I dont have pics of the show, because it was impossible from our seats to take pics and I actually dont have the best camera. But there are already some videos available.
So, bientot Angels!
After reading about the show and seeing that Johnny was taking part at it I still only had 3 weeks to plan this whole trip. Luckily Janina said she would come with me and since she has never been to Paris we also planned to make a small tour (I will post a different report and some pics about that in the off topic). I knew it was somewhat impossible to manage all the things like train, hotel and tickets and even discussing with my coach if I was allowed to go, but I knew I had to be there especially after seeing this list of skaters Irina, Sasha, Evgeni... Our last-minute organisation went well and Janina already drove over to my place on Sunday evening. Sorry, Janina once again, I hope the shock about my family was not too big LOL, but I warned you Monday we stood up very early (4 am) and took at first the train from Krefeld to Cologne and then straight to Paris. After arriving at our hotel and seeing the arena suddendly very good memories came back from TEB 2004... After that we did a small tour through Paris. We managed to visit all the important places and returned to our hotel to get ready for the show. Minute to minute we got more exciting. I think Janina even more, because this was going to be her first figure skating event to watch live in an arena and especially seeing Johnny skate live is always just exciting!
We still had some time, but we decided to go to the arena earlier. Then something strange and funny happened. As we wanted to go and search our seats some of those volunteers asked for our tickets to show us our places. The man did look at our Angel buttons and was like Who is that? and I was like Johnny Weir!. Then this woman brought us to our seats and asked if he was Amercian. We said yes and then she asked Where do you come from and why do you support an Amercian? I was thinking WHAT a question!! and saying He is just the best... or something along these lines... What a strange lady LOL. Then I told her to look for Johnny at the show and that she would understand then why we love him! Now I just hope she really watched his performance. Anyway, the arena was quite filled up after some time and we were really looking forward to the show! The atmosphere was really nice and we were getting more and more nervous even if this was just a *show*.
(The actual report of the show will not conclude everything, because I cant remember all the numbers and music choices etc...) In the opening some skaters and a speaker were presenting the history of the Olympic Games right from the beginning. Mentioning some of the most important historical facts, the skaters skated to different music and costumes fitting the presented time. Actually we didnt understand everything the speaker said lol. After that the skaters were finally introduced one after another. They were coming on the ice and each of them showed some elements. I cant remember all the different songs the skaters used, just a few details. BTW there was a *super important chanteur* singing the songs. First of all it was a really nice surprise to see Elena Sokolova skating, because she wasnt mentioned at the official list of the show (nor was Johnny actually, but ok). Johnny came on the ice wearing his broken heart costume (YAY this is sooooooo glittery and I love glittery costumes!
) and his casual fluffy hairstyle (YAY I love fluffy long hairstyle!
). Skating really soft and delicate along to Angels from Robbie Williams (YAY great choice!
) she showed one jump and spin, if I remember correct. He looked just great and it was awesome to see him skate live again! Irina skated to Beautiful which was of course beautiful Anyway, the first skaters to to show a number were Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder skating to a song from Johnny Hallyday. They delivered a lovely program showing some of their signature moves. Of course the crowd just loved them. Unfortunately I cant remember everything from every skater, so I hope no one will be disappointed if I leave out some things. Next was Elena, but Janina and I couldnt decide which of her two programs she skated at first the one with the pink dress or the one with the hat. I am convinced that it was the one with the hat she already showed at the Gala at Europeans, but I could be wrong, too LOL. Surya Bonaly followed and the crowd supported her through her entire program. She has really strong jumps and of course she showed her back flip. Grushina & Goncharov skated to their show number they are already using three years I think, but they are a nice couple to watch... Okay lets go on to Johnny
wheeeee still wearing the purple broken heart costume. We were freaking out and I am sure some of those french people near us looked at us like huh?, but who cares?
Our hearts were pounding more and more and he took his position. When his music started everyone was cheering (you can hear it in the clip, too) and it was Unchained melody - Coming to Paris I thought and secretly wished he would perhaps skate to My Way, but then again all his programs are just a joy to watch and I have never seen this one live. The crowd really appreciated this program, too, and of course Janina and I were clapping like nuts. He showed three jumps and one in combination. But what mesmerized me the most besides his amazing catch foot into the lutz were the perfectly centred and brilliant spins and combinations. Its already impressive on TV, but live even more. We were like *siiiiigh* through the whole performance and just in deep awe. After Johnny finished we were still clapping and clapping and I decied to run down to the ice to throw my small gift for Johnny to the ice. The moment he wanted to pick it up after his bows his music started again to play and he decided to skate a small encore with a cute cute cute expression on his face
. After showing his great combination spin he picked up the gift and said Merci beaucoup Okay, its somewhat later here and I still have to get some things done... I will post the second part of the show tomorrow and you can loom forward to some more funny and great stuff from the show. I hope you liked it untill here. I am sorry I dont have pics of the show, because it was impossible from our seats to take pics and I actually dont have the best camera. But there are already some videos available.
So, bientot Angels!
Vicky
*Send my love to the angels* - Johnny
*Send my love to the angels* - Johnny
