I just got back and I had a lot of fun...I thought the venue was great. The average age of the audience members made me feel young , but it was a good crowd and very supportive of all the skaters. It was unusual to see pairs & men practicing together, ladies & ice dance...but it didn't seem to be a problem for anyone. Team Europe didn't have any flair or silly hats but they had Christopher Dean, who made up for it. I knew who he was but wasn't really familiar with him as T&D are way before my time, but he is a true class act. Some of the scoring seemed a little wacky to me, but it's not worth getting upset about. I felt so bad for the Euro men especially during the short program...with each one I thought it couldn't get worse, and lo and behold... Skaters I hadn't seen before live who impressed me - Adam (esp. in the SP), Boyang's SP, Gabby Daleman, & Rika. Still not a big Shoma fan, but major props to him for the 4F. I was very relieved Jason ditched the old corny SP, although I am not sure if I like his Appassionata more than Adian's. His FS was really good. What else...oh, I was surprised to see that Michael Cera is now ice dancing for Korea. Hated their music though. Didn't like that the pairs & ice dance only got to do their FS, kind of seems a waste to bring them all this way and only skate once. Evgenia is unstoppable right now & I can't figure out how she managed to be that good AGAIN, without seemingly any jet lag or exhaustion. Just WOW. The girl is an absolute queen.
Also, everywhere I went in Spokane (granted it was all downtown), people were talking about the skating event & there were welcome signs everywhere. I hope they will host more skating events in the future...it was so nice to be able to walk through the lovely park in the intermission, and there was a mall on the other side with a food court & several other restaurants & cafes nearby. It was a very pleasant weekend all in all.
I really need to do Bloomsday one year. My friend and I might do it next year.
I so loved the awesome photos and the great play they got in the Spokesman (also, I know both photographers who were there, so I'm a bit excited for them too).
silverfoxes, I'm glad you had such a great experience and that you got to see some of your faves live.