Summernight on Ice 2000/ Halle, GermanyThis show was fantastic!!! For those of you who don't know, Summernight on Ice is a show created by Katarina Witt, that takes place once or twice a year in Germany. This year, the two shows were in Halle and Riesa. I went to the show in Halle on August 19, and it was well worth going to!!! Of course I didn't go alone (where would the fun be in that?), but instead met up with Anne, Sharon (both of whom were at the Master's Miko in Paris, too), Kathrin and Anna. Since the actual event didn't start until 8 PM that night, we spent the afternoon sitting in the "official" hotel (which was located next to the rink), ordering lots of beverages (so as to have a reason to be there) and chatting. I love doing that, just sitting in the lobby, cause you never know who might be walking by. In our case, Katarina Witt was sitting with a bunch of friends not far from us, and some of the other skaters had to pass us on their way (such as Stefan Lindemann, Denise Biellmann or Rene Lohse, to name just a few)! Nobody of us caught a glimpse of Alexei, though, until the late aftenoon when Sharon and I went to get some more tickets (not all of us had any), and - literally - crossed paths with him. He was just on his way from the hotel to the rink (practise, I suppose), and let me tell you - he looked more gorgeous (and suntanned) than ever!!! He greeted us, and we said Hello back, and went our ways. A little bit later all of us went over to the rink to take our seats. The show started shortly after 8 PM (don't they ever start on time???), and it was fantastic! The skaters performing in the show were Katarina Witt, Alexei Urmanov, Denise Biellmann, Renee Roca & Gorsha Sur, Alexei Yagudin, Nancy Kerrigan, Mandy Woetzel & Ingo Steuer, Kati Winkler & Rene Lohse, Josef Sabovcik and Stefan Lindemann. Irina Slutskaya should have skated, too, but her skate broke 10 minutes before the show, and she didn't have any extra skates, so she had to pass. The show opened with Katarina Witt and the two ice dance teams performing to "Summertime", and it was followed by many great performances. For example, Alexei Urmanov skated a nice program to the music of "Prince of Egypt", Kati Winkler and Rene Lohse skated a really interesting program to music by Santana, in which they each held onto one end of a rope, and thus stayed connected for the duration of (almost) the entire program. I also liked Mandy Woetzel and Ingo Steuer's "Last Dance". Another highlight would have to be "L'Eternita", sung live by Pierro Mazzochetti (I hope I got the name right, lol) and skated by Nancy Kerrigan. But of course, the man of the day (or night) was our beloved Mr. Yagudin!!! He performed his Nutrocker program, and later in the evening premiered his new long program GLADIATOR, which is just incredible! I daresay it's his best program ever!!! And to think what we saw was just a simplyfied version ... with only a few jumps! Alexei wore tight black pants, topped off with an even tighter sleeveless, black muscleshirt, and he had two toy swords in his hands, which added a truly dramatic effect to the entire program!!! Truly remarkable. After the show we headed back over to the hotel, and even managed to get two rooms (the hotel was fully booked, but apparently luck was with us that day), which helped us immensly in sneaking ourselves into the VIP party, which was being held in the lobby/bar of the hotel. At the party we got to meet all the skaters, which is always exciting. I got my picture taken with Alexei Urmanov, Mandy Woetzel and Ingo Steuer, Kati Winkler, and - last but not least - with Alexei!!! He was the last of the skaters to come to the VIP party, and he only stayed a few minutes before he left to get some dinner in the restaurant. As always, he was very nice and charming, signing autographs and taking pics with his fans. I told him how much I liked his Gladiator program, and he smiled and said that he still has no costume (what he wore in the show that night was just something he'd picked out of the pile, so to speak), in response of which I just told him to keep what he had worn in that show! (just a note: I have now seen his real costume for Gladiator, and it looks awesome, but I still think that the black outfit looked just as great) We stayed at the party a little longer (hey - we got drinks and beverages for free, lol) before calling it a night. This, like the trip to Paris for the Master's Miko, was truly unforgettable!!!
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Always smiling for a picture...
or wait, was Cindy Crawford standing behind me ... LOL!!! I asked him for this picture, and - nice guy that he is - he took position and smiled rightaway!!! Gotta love the guy!!! |
Alexei seems to love chatting and joking with his fans... |
Always gracious and willing to sign autographs for his fans! |
