Holiday Festival on Ice 2004

First off, this is the first show I have ever had on ice seats for which was neat, it's weird having the skaters that close, but a good weird I'm not use to actually feeling a gust of wind everytime a skater would fly by, but it's something I think I could get use to. The crowd was awesome too, the people around me were all just as crazy as me which always adds to the show. Anyway...

Opening - The show started to "O Tannenbaum" by the Boston Pops
At the begining a huge Christmas Tree was lowered from the ceiling and a young local skater named Ashleigh Parker came out and did a little intro skate thing and was then followed by the rest of the cast. When the cast came out they started by skating around the tree and were putting a few ornaments up on it and stuff and they then continued to do a group number. The gilrs were wearing little red dresses and the guys were wearing black pants with red sweaters....very festive! It was a good opener, totally full of energy. All the skaters looked like they were having fun out there.

Brian Orser was the first solo. In the first act he skated to "I Believe" by Frank Sinatra and in the second he skated to "O Holy noght" by Josh Groban. I haven't really seen him skate much before, he was really good. I can't believe that he can do a back flip on the ice....that's crazy. It scares me seeing people try them on the trampoline which is nice and soft so I give him sooooooo much credit for doing these on rock hard ice, WOW!

Putnam and Wirtz skated next. They skated to "A Mad Russians Christmas" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra for their first number and "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven for their second. I have never seen them skate live before and haven't really seen them much in general so I didn't know what to expect, but I thought they performed well.

Then came Shawn Sawyer who is a Canadian Jr medalist(I believe) and he is awesome!!! His first number was to "Jingle Bells Techno" by DJ Marceela and his second was to "La Cucaracha" by Lotti Helmut. Seriously, this guy was great to watch, he's like an elastic. I don't think I have ever seen a guy so flexable. His spirals looked like Sasha's as did his spins. He made spinning with his leg pressed up against his head look as easy as doing a waltz jump. All I could think was "ouch!" The rest of his skating was great too, he was also doing back flips all over the place.

Next were Anabelle and Patrice. I 've seen them on TV a lot , but never live. I love these guys, they have great energy and are just fun to watch. They started with "Barbie Girl" by Aqua which was perfect from begining to end. Even the costumes were great with all the hot pink and shiny stuff.....it was very barbie! From the moment they stepped onto the ice for this number they were plastic. It's neat how they made themselves look so fake. I can't really explain what they did to pull this off....I guess they just looked really stiff. If I were them I would have moved a finger or something, but they were in character for so long, even stepping off the ice. They did the element where the guy holds the girl from the feet and swings her up and down(I can't remember the name). It looked neat, but that move freaks me out. If someone did that to me I would be praying for my life, lol! Their second number was to "Christmas Prayer" by Matchbox 20. This program was also done beautifully. From the begining to end it flowed together really well. I love watching these guys skate....I wish i could say more, but I don't remeber I just know that I liked it

Okasana Baiul then came out and skated to "Ms. Santa" from Santa Clause 2 for her first number and "Goldeneye" by Tina Turner for her second. She looked like she was having tones of fun out there. Any type of program this girl does she can pull off well. Weather it be Swan Lake or some song from James Bond it looks great!

Emmanuel Sandhu was next. In the first Act he performed to "Oiche Chiun"(silent Night) by Enya and in the second he skated to"Rise" by Safri Duo. This guy has got to smile more, he looked so serious, but he skated well. His presentation is awesome, I love his spins....especially that butt in the air one

Jennifer(best name ever! ) Robinson then came out. She skated to "Murder he Says" by Tori Amos and "Prince of Peace" by the Tran-Siberian Orchestra. Both programs were done well. I didn't really notice any new moves, but it all looked good.

Then was Jeff Buttle, again another skater I have never seen perform live before. He looks like such a friendly guy, always smiling. His first program was "Lonley Christmas" by Ben Folds Five and the second was "Ave Maria" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Everything was done great, the jumps were perfect. It's amazing some of the jumps these people can do.

Finaly came Kurt Browning who in the first act skated to "Time in a Bottle". I LOVE this song. I don't think there has been a time where Kurt has NOT entertained. He is always so fun and full of energy no matter what he's doing whether it be skating or just talking to the audience. He makes everything look so simple which I know for a fact is not. His second number was to "Green Christmas" by the Barenaked Ladies which again was great! ( I wish I had a bigger vocabulary, hehe)

Jamie and Dave were next and they were obviously my highlight of the show. Their first program "Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt was perfect( Holy man that song gets stuck in your head easy). Dave came out in a Santa suit which the entire audience loved! During the program Daves beard would come off a bit and Jamie would jokingly put it back on for him. Jamie was wearing her LTS dress which fit nicely with the theme. They were totally having fun with it. How can you not have fun with Santa on the ice! All of thier elements were perfect including their handstand move. Seriously, I still don't know how they do that. Their second number "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Jewel was also perfect from begining to end. These two can do everything. They did this spin leg thing near the begining which looked neat ....and kinda fun. So many people in the crowd around me kept talking about how great they were....I'm tellin ya, there are smart people in Kelowna.

In the second act there was also a group number with Jamie, Dave, Kurt, Brian and some kids from Kelowna. This was another highlight. They skated to "Star to Follow" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The kids were so cute, they came out with their little roots sweatshirts, touques(sp) and these gloves that were way too big for them and did some little tricks. They must have had so much fun. It was so cute when they were all in a circle and Jamie and Dave were in the middle doing this lift and then Jamie and Dave joined the circle and this little boy and girl got in the middle of the circle and held hands and kind of did this spin thing. They were adorable, so cute!....but not as cute as my nephews, hehe!

Finale - For the cast number they were all in their little Santa hats and skated to "Here come Santa Clause" by Linda Ederwith The number was done well. The three pairs did their side by side death spirals which looked pretty cool. They were all just enjoying themselves on the ice, it was great! One more thing I like about on Ice Seats is how you get to shake the skaters hands at the end when they circle the ice, I forgot about them doing that.

After the show finished they did the retakes which is fun to watch. Kurt gave a little speech for the audience about what was going on, he then said hi to some of his family who were in the crowd and asked them to stand up. Jamie then came out and said she had family in the crowd too and was looking for them. Fun times! I have never been at a show for television other than WTC so it was different. I don't get why some people get mad that they have to stay to watch them. I mean it's more skating, isn't that a good thing? It must be frustrating for the skatiers when they don't get it right away and have to keep trying it, but they all did it! YAY! Half of the skaters that came out people were like, they made a mistake? Half the time people don't even notice.