Stars On Ice 2018 Tour - US

[el henry]

Hi, all! Long time lurker venturing into her first post here. My friend and I drove 250 miles up and back to Hershey for the show on Friday, so I thought I'd share our experience.

Overall I thought the show was fantastic. This is only my second SOI, and this one was way more fun than the one I attended 8 years ago. The show is fun and well put-together, and the cast this year has a lot of personality and charm.

High Points
- I can now say I've seen a quad in exhibition! Thanks for that, Nathan. I absolutely loved his "Back from the Edge" program in person. When he's able to have fun, he really is an interesting skater. He likes to move fast and stretch his torso and arms in lovely balletic ways, and it can be quite lovely to watch. I know he'll never be everyone's style, but I'm so excited to see what he does next season after seeing what he can do when he's having fun.
- Jason Brown's showmanship really is second to none. He brought to much charm and energy, and SOI is a great vehicle for him. Cartwheels on ice!
- I thought Ashley's "I'm Still Here" program was a real highlight. She's a lot of fun when she's up-tempo and enjoying herself, and the crowd got really into it.
- Charlie and Meryl. I've always appreciated them, but I definitely have a deeper love for them now. They are both beautiful, expressive skaters, and both of their programs came across so well emotionally. Charlie is also a total ham with the audience. It's hard not to love them.
- The ladies number and closing group number were both really nice. Using Dear Evan Hanson was a stroke of genius.

Low Points
- Oh my God, the "Shape of You" program made me deeply uncomfortable. Echoing what an earlier poster said, pairing Nathan and Ashley together was so cringe-worthy. There was a part where Nathan had to run his hand up her thigh and my friend and I both started giggling uncontrollably because it was so uncomfortable. It was probably a fine program if I could have looked at either of the other pairs, but I couldn't look away.
- The opening group number was super boring and I honestly can't remember anything about it except that I didn't like the costumes.
- I was a little underwhelmed by both Mirai and Adam, though both preformed well. I love them both, but somehow the energy I was hoping for just wasn't there. Neither challenged themselves much (which, understandable) and the result was kinda flat.
- Karen Chen was really hit-or-miss. There were moments when she looked great and moments where she looked very off. Her jumps were tough to watch and she fell on a couple of them. I hope she gets the equipment and coaching she needs for next season so she can put it all together.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience. Totally worth the drive. I can't wait to hear how much experience matches up!

Thank you for signing up and for giving us your report, Outside Edge. I'm loving hearing the details of other people's viewpoints from other shows. 250 miles, am I impressed! You have my drive beat by 246

At my show, (Allentown), both Adam and Mirai fell on jumps. It could be that they were tired, I did not think of that. In Allentown, being so close to the Rippon homestead, the audience would have screamed for Adam if he did crossovers and waved his hands, and I think he appreciated the love. I appreciated his softer, what I think of as "blond curls Adam" side expressing itself, so the program's "ease" didn't bother me.

I wasn't crazy about the Shape of You, but I didn't notice those details, the lyrics, every time I learn more, yeech. Although as I said earlier, I was more bored during the one minute mini-ice-dance. I didn't see the point of those either.

You and me both that Nathan brings that charm from the First Act to his competitions next year. :agree: And of course, this kind of set up was custom made for Jason, which makes me as a Jason fan, quite happy.

Meryl and Charlie can skate in every SOI between now and 2044 as far as I'm concerned. I see why they have been invited back time and again.:yes:

Now if I wanted to drive 300 miles, I could go to Pittsburgh

 

[shine]

I went to the Long Island show on Saturday night and the show was actually surprisingly good. Sitting in 3rd row near the middle I was able to really feel the presence of the skaters. The general flow of the show was very pleasant with little to no breaks between the performances. I think I did enjoy the 2nd half more mostly because the last few numbers really spoke to me. The only complaint I had was they were letting people in DURING performances and it was quite distracting to have people trying to get seated either in front of me or next to me a couple of times while skaters were skating. It could've been so easily avoided if they just didn't let the people in until the programs were finished!

Some of my highlights were:

Jason's Hamilton - it was awesome being able to see this SP in person. His performance quality is truly exceptional and I love how big he skates and how much he projects. Every move is always done with 100% commitment and he dances really well. He's a true showman if there ever was one!

Ashley's Lala Land - I didn't really feel this program at US Nationals but at SOI it really moved me. I can't say i have followed Ashley's career too closely up until this point but this is the first time her skating has really moved me emotionally. The music was beautiful and it was obvious she was telling a story that was personal to her - it could be seen with every extension of her arms, every tilt of her neck, and every ephemeral pause she took. The emotions felt genuine and nothing was overdone. It was a stunning performance. I read a review which said (paraphrasing) Karen and Bradie are not yet on par with Ashley when it comes to performing and that Ashley will remain the head female star in SOI for years to come - I must say I agree.

Shibutanis' both numbers - Live their skating is really impressive and the overall quality amazing. There's no question in my mind they are better than H/D. In the second number where I believe they skated to a combination of Fix You and their Olympic FD, their smooth movement quality and innate musicality really stood out in the show especially since many of the programs were upbeat and many skaters were doing a lot of sharp, fast movement. I know they'll probably take a season off but I really I hope after that they keep on skating until 2022.

D/W's scarf number - I've never been much of a D/W fan but this was a heart felt performance and there was a dark intensity to the performance which I've never really seen from their skating before (granted I haven't really seen much of them since 2014) and the concept of the entire program was brilliant. It's always wonderful to see skaters continue to grow and mature past their eligible days.

Nathan's Nemesis - live it was SO powerful. Nathan is not your typical showman--and most people probably liken the word to skaters like Jason or Adam, with their very extroverted and outward kind of expressiveness--but he's got a very unique style and aura that you simply can't take your eyes off of and truly reminds me of no one from all my years of watching figure skating. The mix of intense and cool is so magnetic. It was incredible sitting in my 3rd row seat watching that well defined masculine (for lack of a better superlative ) danciness pour from his body and fill the arena. Here's a skater who feels every beat, nuance, melody and emotion of the music and dances to every second of it. And I could watch his arms in his rolled up sleeves forever and ever.

I also really enjoyed Feel It Still (the boys number). It was fun seeing how the skaters danced to this song in their all somewhat different movement styles.

Mamamiia in the Nathan FF recorded some videos in super high quality (!!!), and here's one of the boys number:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnRU22dQH2U

I think I was the least impressed with Bradie and Adam. While with Bradie it was somewhat expected, I was a little surprised at how poor Adam's skating skills were. His Adele program was lyrical and clearly skated with lots of emotions, but it was so much upper body posing than actual skating. In his SP I was shocked at seeing how laboured his turns were and how shallow his edges were. But of course, he got the loudest applause of the night for being Adam.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I went to the Long Island show on Saturday night and the show was actually surprisingly good. Sitting in 3rd row near the middle I was able to really feel the presence of the skaters. There general flow of the show was very pleasant with little to no breaks between the performances. I think I did enjoy the 2nd half more mostly because the last few numbers really spoke to me. The only complaint I had was they were letting people in DURING performances and it was quite distracting to have people try to get seated either in front of me or next to me a couple of times while skaters were skating. It could've been so easily avoided if they just didn't let the people in until the programs were finished!

Some of my highlights were:

Jason's Hamilton - it was awesome being able to see this SP in person. His performance quality is truly exceptional and I love how big he skates and how much he projects. Every move is always done with 100% commitment and he dances really well. He's a true showman if there ever was one!

Ashley's Lala Land - I didn't really feel this program at US Nationals but at SOI it really moved me. I can't say i have followed Ashley's career too closely up until this point but this is the first time her skating has really moved me emotionally. The music was beautiful and it was obvious she was telling a story that was personal to her - it could be seen with every extension of her arms, every tilt of her neck, and every ephemeral pause she took. The emotions felt genuine and nothing was overdone. It was a stunning performance. I read a review which said (paraphrasing) Karen and Bradie are not yet on par with Ashley when it comes to performing and that Ashley will remain the head female star in SOI for years to come - I must say I agree.

Shibutanis' both numbers - Live their skating is really impressive and the overall quality amazing. There's no question in my mind they are better than H/D. In the second number where I believe they skated to a combination of Fix You and their Olympic FD, their smooth movement quality and innate musicality really stood out in the show especially since many of the programs were upbeat and many skaters were doing a lot of sharp, fast movement. I know they'll probably take a season off but I really I hope after that they keep on skating until 2022.

D/W's scarf number - I've never been much of a D/W fan but this was a heart felt performance and there was a dark intensity to the performance which I've never really seen from their skating before (granted I haven't really seen much of them since 2014) and the concept of the entire program was brilliant. It's always wonderful to see skaters continue to grow and mature past their eligible days.

Nathan's Nemesis - live it was SO powerful. Nathan is not your typical showman--and most people probably liken the word to skaters like Jason or Adam, with their very extroverted and outward kind of expressiveness--but he's got a very unique style and aura that you simply can't take your eyes off of and truly reminds me of no one from all my years of watching figure skating. The mix of intense and cool is so magnetic. It was incredible sitting in my 3rd row seat watching that well defined masculine (for lack of a better superlative ) danciness pour from his body and fill the arena. Here's a skater who feels every beat, nuance, melody and emotion of the music and dances to every second of it. And I could watch his arms in his rolled up sleeves forever and ever.

I also really enjoyed Feel It Still (the boys number). It was fun seeing how the skaters danced to this song in their somewhat different movement style.

I think I was the least impressed with Bradie and Adam. While with Bradie it was somewhat expected, I was a little surprised at how poor Adam's skating skills were. His Adele program was lyrical and clearly skated with lots of emotions, but it was so much upper body posing than actual skating. In his SP I was shocked at seeing how laboured his turns were and how shallow his edges were. But of course, he got the loudest applause of the night for being Adam.

I'm going to agree with you on everything but Adam. He usually has great edges and movement, flow. He's exhausted from everything since the Olympics and functioning on 3 hours of sleep a night max.

 

[Mrs. P]

It's fun to see Meryl and Charlie get so much love here! Even though they were never a team I was a super fan of, I always had such great respect for their technical and performance ability ever since I saw them live the first time back in 2013 when they did their Giselle Polka SD! So fast, so fun. I am so excited to see Meryl and Charlie again. It looks like we're going to the last show of this tour in Portland. The P gang will be doing a long weekend in PDX so we're heading back to the Moda Center for SOI! (We went to Moda in 2014!). First SOI for Toddler P! that she will be able to sit through it.

Anyone else on GS going to Portland? It would be kinda fun to do a post-show dinner or pre-show brunch or something.

 

[NoNameFace]

It's fun to see Meryl and Charlie get so much love here! Even though they were never a team I was a super fan of, I always had such great respect for their technical and performance ability ever since I saw them live the first time back in 2013 when they did their Giselle Polka SD! So fast, so fun. I am so excited to see Meryl and Charlie again. It looks like we're going to the last show of this tour in Portland. The P gang will be doing a long weekend in PDX so we're heading back to the Moda Center for SOI! (We went to Moda in 2014!). First SOI for Toddler P! that she will be able to sit through it.

Anyone else on GS going to Portland? It would be kinda fun to do a post-show dinner or pre-show brunch or something.

Only the best feelings/experience for Toddler P at first SOI!!!, I hope You all will have a blast

Find me a teleportation machine and poof - I'll be in Portland

 

[iluvtodd]

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I really liked "The Shape of You" program @ the Hershey, PA show. Nathan CAN dance! Meryl & Charlie are exquisite! I could watch jason do Russian Split Jumps for hours!

 

[Victura]

Videos from the Hartford show:

Dream (ladies): https://youtu.be/9uMJy2bO7zA
Feel It Still (men): https://youtu.be/OxeWFonFA5c
Shape of You (ice dance trio): https://youtu.be/jHYJpXlrsck
Nemesis - Nathan Chen: https://youtu.be/s-DAXaOJGO0

 

[Skater Boy]

It's fun to see Meryl and Charlie get so much love here! Even though they were never a team I was a super fan of, I always had such great respect for their technical and performance ability ever since I saw them live the first time back in 2013 when they did their Giselle Polka SD! So fast, so fun. I am so excited to see Meryl and Charlie again. It looks like we're going to the last show of this tour in Portland. The P gang will be doing a long weekend in PDX so we're heading back to the Moda Center for SOI! (We went to Moda in 2014!). First SOI for Toddler P! that she will be able to sit through it.

Anyone else on GS going to Portland? It would be kinda fun to do a post-show dinner or pre-show brunch or something.

Adam is probably tired having to be America's self proclaimed sweet heart and coming up with all those witty sarcastic comments

 

[Skater Boy]

I am curious how they decide who gets top billing. Davis and White as former olympic champions? Nathan Chen as the current men's world champion? The Shibsibs as Americas only individual olympic medallist? Do the skaters get different amounts paid depending on their popularity? Who is paid the most?

 

[el henry]

Adam is probably tired having to be America's self proclaimed sweet heart and coming up with all those witty sarcastic comments

I don’t know about other shows, but Adam going into the show I attended was far and away the most popular, nothing self-proclaimed about it and he comes up with witty comments rather naturally, no work at all.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I am curious how they decide who gets top billing. Davis and White as former olympic champions? Nathan Chen as the current men's world champion? The Shibsibs as Americas only individual olympic medallist? Do the skaters get different amounts paid depending on their popularity? Who is paid the most?

It's showcasing our Olympians for the most part and that's it. Who cares anyway, they all deserve to be there.

 

[ice coverage]

Adam is probably tired having to be America's self proclaimed sweet heart ... .

... nothing self-proclaimed about it ...

Adam's self-proclamation was the stuff of headlines during the Olympics.

He was joking , but it exemplified his entertaining personality that made him into a media darling -- and a darling among the public.

But I digress. My thanks to el henry, apgold, and many others for their detailed SOI reports in this thread.

---

... Do the skaters get different amounts paid depending on their popularity? Who is paid the most?

I assume that those answers would be available only on a need-to-know basis. And that none of us on GS need to know .

 

[Ducky]

I am curious how they decide who gets top billing. Davis and White as former olympic champions? Nathan Chen as the current men's world champion? The Shibsibs as Americas only individual olympic medallist? Do the skaters get different amounts paid depending on their popularity? Who is paid the most?

Going from the website billing seems to be arranged by who has the most recent prestigious medal: current World champion, previous Olympic gold medalist, current Olympic Bronze medalists, former World Silver medalist followed by everyone else (listed as US Champion, except for some reason Hubbell & Donohue are billed behind Jason and Bradie despite being current World Silver medalists). And judging from the promotional photos, Nathan Chen has top billing.

As for skaters getting paid different amounts: IMG runs Stars on Ice and manages most of the talent so all of those skaters are probably getting paid the same rate. If anything, I would speculate that certain skaters may get a bonus if shows sell out a certain number of nights or reach x capacity enough times.

 

[georgia]

For the record Mirai has been landing 3A's and Nathan 1-2 quads at some tour dates.

I haven’t see, or heard of Mirai landing triple axel on SOI. Actually I haven’t see her trying one in competition after the team event at the OG

 

[oatmella]

I haven’t heard of Mirai doing 3A at SOI ?

And as far as I know, Nathan does one 4T in ‘Back from the Edge’ and his other jumps are triples

 

[KwanIsALegend]

I went to the Long Island show on Saturday night and the show was actually surprisingly good. Sitting in 3rd row near the middle I was able to really feel the presence of the skaters. The general flow of the show was very pleasant with little to no breaks between the performances. I think I did enjoy the 2nd half more mostly because the last few numbers really spoke to me. The only complaint I had was they were letting people in DURING performances and it was quite distracting to have people trying to get seated either in front of me or next to me a couple of times while skaters were skating. It could've been so easily avoided if they just didn't let the people in until the programs were finished!

Some of my highlights were:

Jason's Hamilton - it was awesome being able to see this SP in person. His performance quality is truly exceptional and I love how big he skates and how much he projects. Every move is always done with 100% commitment and he dances really well. He's a true showman if there ever was one!

Ashley's Lala Land - I didn't really feel this program at US Nationals but at SOI it really moved me. I can't say i have followed Ashley's career too closely up until this point but this is the first time her skating has really moved me emotionally. The music was beautiful and it was obvious she was telling a story that was personal to her - it could be seen with every extension of her arms, every tilt of her neck, and every ephemeral pause she took. The emotions felt genuine and nothing was overdone. It was a stunning performance. I read a review which said (paraphrasing) Karen and Bradie are not yet on par with Ashley when it comes to performing and that Ashley will remain the head female star in SOI for years to come - I must say I agree.

Shibutanis' both numbers - Live their skating is really impressive and the overall quality amazing. There's no question in my mind they are better than H/D. In the second number where I believe they skated to a combination of Fix You and their Olympic FD, their smooth movement quality and innate musicality really stood out in the show especially since many of the programs were upbeat and many skaters were doing a lot of sharp, fast movement. I know they'll probably take a season off but I really I hope after that they keep on skating until 2022.

D/W's scarf number - I've never been much of a D/W fan but this was a heart felt performance and there was a dark intensity to the performance which I've never really seen from their skating before (granted I haven't really seen much of them since 2014) and the concept of the entire program was brilliant. It's always wonderful to see skaters continue to grow and mature past their eligible days.

Nathan's Nemesis - live it was SO powerful. Nathan is not your typical showman--and most people probably liken the word to skaters like Jason or Adam, with their very extroverted and outward kind of expressiveness--but he's got a very unique style and aura that you simply can't take your eyes off of and truly reminds me of no one from all my years of watching figure skating. The mix of intense and cool is so magnetic. It was incredible sitting in my 3rd row seat watching that well defined masculine (for lack of a better superlative ) danciness pour from his body and fill the arena. Here's a skater who feels every beat, nuance, melody and emotion of the music and dances to every second of it. And I could watch his arms in his rolled up sleeves forever and ever.

I also really enjoyed Feel It Still (the boys number). It was fun seeing how the skaters danced to this song in their all somewhat different movement styles.

Mamamiia in the Nathan FF recorded some videos in super high quality (!!!), and here's one of the boys number:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnRU22dQH2U

I think I was the least impressed with Bradie and Adam. While with Bradie it was somewhat expected, I was a little surprised at how poor Adam's skating skills were. His Adele program was lyrical and clearly skated with lots of emotions, but it was so much upper body posing than actual skating. In his SP I was shocked at seeing how laboured his turns were and how shallow his edges were. But of course, he got the loudest applause of the night for being Adam.

Adam is doing SOI and DWTS promos and rehearsals. He has been going non stop since the Olympics. I don't know how he does it honestly.
SOI is about skating fans seeing their favorite skaters, it's not a competition of any sort. I don't think anyone cares if Adam or any other skater messes up a little, it's all about having fun.

 

[shine]

Adam is doing SOI and DWTS promos and rehearsals. He has been going non stop since the Olympics. I don't know how he does it honestly.
SOI is about skating fans seeing their favorite skaters, it's not a competition of any sort. I don't think anyone cares if Adam or any other skater messes up a little, it's all about having fun.

That's understood. But I never said he messed up or how he was compared to other skaters. I only made an observation about his skating skills, and IMO being tired is no really relevant in this context (I don't think skaters just lose skating skills all together when they are tired). And since this is all about having fun, you also don't need to take my comments about show skating that seriously

 

[SnowWhite]

That's understood. But I never said he messed up or how he was compared to other skaters. I only made an observation about his skating skills, and IMO being tired is no really relevant in this context (I don't think skaters just lose skating skills all together when they are tired). And since this is all about having fun, you also don't need to take my comments about show skating that seriously

Well I'm no figure skater, but it would make sense to me that when you're tired, your skating quality/skills goes down. Like a dancer's technique might not be as precise when they're tired.

 

[alyssamarie]

I'm pretty sure that Mirai did a 2a and nathan did a quad at the providence show. No triples or quads

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I haven’t see, or heard of Mirai landing triple axel on SOI. Actually I haven’t see her trying one in competition after the team event at the OG

Doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

No, it doesn't mean she's landing them at all the shows but she has at at least one or two shows. Also, Nathan did two quads in one show alone.