Friends on Ice 2014

August 22 -24, Shin Yokohama Skate Center

This show is produced by Shizuka Arakawa every year. Because she is pregnant now, she herself didn't perform this year. But she appeared in her skates during the opening number, at the lottery time and the finale.

I went to the public rehearsal on Thursday, Friday show, 1st show on Saturday, and the last show on Sunday.

Dear Friends (Public dress rehearsal) on August 21

There were still some strange timing of music or start of programs, but it was fun to see the rehearsal.

In 2010 and 2011, Evan arrived very late, and at those times it seemed that he hadn't yet completely mastered the choreographies of group numbers at the point of the dress rehearsal. But this year, he arrived earlier and seemed to have practiced well till the dress rehearsal.

When he took a vacation in July, I worried very much whether he might have been injured again. So, I had wondered how his condition was this time. But he was perfect at the rehearsal. He landed clean 3F (from spiral) and 3Lz during his Tango de Roxanne. He was in a black tank top (a bit grayish) and black pants with black side tapes. His performance was just amazing and might have been too good for a rehearsal. I was very impressed with it, even almost became teary.

At the finale, he looked very cheerful and active.

When skaters were running around the rink after the finale, I waved my sign of "Welcome back to Shin Yokohama, Evan!". He noticed it and waved to me merrily. When he came near to me again, I waved it again. He almost passed it, but found it again and gave me a small waving reluctantly like "Again?".

After the finale, there was a group photo session. I saw it from their back. Evan was of course in the back row. He was chatting with people around him. I think they were Sasha Smirnov, Brian, Shae-Lynn, Yuka and Daisuke.

The overall impression of the show

This year's show was the coolest and most sophisticated ice show that I have ever seen. The choreographies of group numbers were detailed and complicated. The music choices were modern and entertaining. Great skills of each cast made it possible to perform an excellent show. On the other hand, I missed Shizuka's own program and her collaboration numbers with kids. But other skaters made up for her absence very well and it was certainly an incredibly gorgeous show.

The first half

The Opening

First, we heard some voices talking on background music. And the lighting was gradually getting darkened. Maybe it was the conversation of the skaters before the show. It was the beginning of the show.

Next, laser beams projected countdown numbers and some words like "Vogue" or "Fabulous" on the walls. Then, the skaters appeared one by one. The costumes of the opening number were collaborated with Vogue. The cast introduction was made like a fashion show. Skaters performed runway models in various fashionable costumes. Ladies were in fur coats or botanical printed dresses. Men were in various coats or jackets. They walked out to the rink backward, and turned and posed at the center of the rink. Evan was in a blue coat with hood and yellow ocher inner suit. His body shape was breathtakingly beautiful! He took off the hood before turning. It was incredibly stylish and he looked like a real top model. It was as if this direction had been made for him.

I love Yuko Kavaguti's black printed dress. She was very cute with her short hair.

Skaters walked on the midline of the rink one by one with posing, and went to the both site of the rink. At the last, former ice dancer and choreographer, Kenji Miyamoto in a black suit escorted Shizuka who was in a gorgeous fur coat on a white dress.

After Kenji and Shizuka left the rink, other skaters began to skate a danceable number. It was very cool and Evan danced much better than I had expected. He was very sharp and brisk with his long limbs. I thought he had been very much improved in dancing even after the Kazakh shows.

Saya Ueno (“Get the chance” spot)

"Vamos a Bailar" in a pink and purple dress. It was her favorite program choreographed by Jeff Buttle. I was glad to hear the music. She was cute and looked enjoying her great opportunity.

Dear Kids 1

She skated to classic music in a blue dress. (On Thursday and Sunday, it was white.) The speed was very good and she tried 3Lz and some other jumps.

Akiko Suzuki

She skated Zigeunerweisen at the rehearsal. In actual shows, she presented a new show program choreographed by Pasquale Camerlengo. I think it was a musical number. Jazzy music. She was wearing a white cute coat at first. Later, she took it off and skated in a black and silver stripe dress. With many tap dance steps, it was a fun program with her nice expression. She faked doing back flip. (It was a part of choreography.) It made us laugh.

Yamato Tamura

Zatoichi

He appeared to the rink with a red Japanese umbrella and skated to Japanese percussion music. In recent years, he had skated comical programs, but this this year, it was a serious and cool program. Instead, his message before skating was funny as always. (He hasn't recovered from last year's fatigue yet because Shizuka always drives him hard, or he doesn't know how he show his true ability. lol)

Shae-Lynn Bourne

She performed a flamenco program with percussion by her husband. She was in a red flamenco dress with a red patterned stole. It was really nice to see a great dancer every year. She is always fascinating, but this time I felt more power, brightness and passion than before. The highlight of the program was her passionate dance around her husband who sat at the north entrance of the rink. I was just thrilled and many people seemed to have the same feeling with me. Love for her family enhanced her performance, I think.

Yuko Kavaguti & Alexander Smirnov

Meditation from Thais on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This was their first appearance of this show. I'm glad they came here. She was in a beige beautiful dress and he was in black shirt and pants. It was a very beautiful program with a triple twist, SBS jumps, a throw jump, and lifts that showed her flexibility. She is from Japan, but I felt they had a very traditional Russian pair style.

On Sunday, their skated their FS, "Manfred", which was made in last season. They couldn’t compete last season because of an injury of Sasha and I heard that they keep it for this season. It was amazing. Dramatic, adult and gorgeous! It was also technically wonderful. I believe Yuko landed a throw 4S at the last show.

Yuka Sato

She always skates with excellent smooth edges. Her program featured them very well. She gives me tender feeling every time. The music was something about positive thinking, the MC explained. She was in a flower printed casual dress. She could still land beautiful 2A. It was amazing.

Takeshi Honda

Talking to the Moon. Blue sparkly shirt and black pants.

He looked very well fit. Good jumps and emotional expression with his highlight, spread eagle sequence. Everyone admired it. I like the music and it fit to him very much. FOI crowd loves him always.

Group number 1

It was a modern group number by many skaters. First, two pairs appeared and Takahiko Kozuka joined soon. They were wearing monochrome stylish outfits. They showed various tricks of pair and single skating. They skated around in a circle hand in hand. It was difficult to see them all at a time. I wished I had had more eyes. I thought this music would be very good for Taka if he use it for competitions. And the gray shirt is also nice for him.

Later, ladies came to the rink with jackets on their own dresses. They did some group skating, hydro-blading or spins, etc. and it was also fun. After that, pairs and Taka returned and skated together. Ladies skated around 3 men who were folding their arms in the center.

Group number 2

3 male world champions’ collaboration number by Evan, Brian and Daisuke

“On The Run”

First, Evan appeared on the ice alone. He was in the black costume with a silver zipper on his back, which he wore in Kazakhstan.

After he performed a little, Daisuke and Brian came to the rink. It was high-tempo Latin rhythm. Daisuke danced wonderfully as always. Brian showed his nice character and energetic moves. Evan used his body freely and lightly, and his beautiful body line was appealing. He did his splendid sit spins near the south arena seats. It was never disappointing. Low posture, excellent axis, beautiful free leg and good speed. Evan and Daisuke did SBS jumps near the north. At the same time Brian jumped in the south. Brian did his famous "running on ice" choreography during this program. Evan and Daisuke did it with him, but it was kinda awkward and funny at the rehearsal. I felt they did it more modestly than Brian in the actual shows. They skate around the rink by spread eagle of bended knees. It was very cool. Daisuke was outstanding in dancing, but other 2 men had their own styles. Mixture of various styles was rather interesting than uniformity in this program.

After the finish, Evan pumped his fists when he landed his 3T. (I think he nailed it only once of the 3 shows. But it has often happened at shows as far as I have seen, and I don’t mind. SBS jumps are difficult for single skaters). And they high-fived each other.

Lottery time by Shizuka, Yamato, Takeshi and Takahiko before interval

The second half

Libertango collaboration by Daisuke Takahashi and Akiko Suzuki

First, Kenji Miyamoto in a suit and a hat was on ice and performed a little. After he left, Daisuke and Akiko appeared and performed together. It was not ice dancing but a collaboration of single skaters. They hold each other a little, but mostly skated separately. In the middle part, Daisuke lay down on ice and Akiko grabbed him by the collar to make him get up. It was impressive. Their facial expression was serious. The highlight of the program was their SBS step sequence. It was strong and wonderful. Everyone applauded them very much.

Dear Kids 2

A girl in a pretty pink dress performed “Valpurgis Night”. She tried many jumps.

Takahiko Kozuka

He skated his new FS on Thursday and Sunday. It was Italian vocal music of classic type. I heard that Lori Nichol had choreographed it. He is the only top level skater in this show who plans to compete in this season. He looked great with good speed. And I felt strength had also been added to his smooth skating. It was really worth seeing. For some reason, it reminded me Patrick. Maybe, good flow of the entire program by Lori's choreography is the reason.

On Saturday, he performed a flamenco program in a black lace shirt. It was also nice. The costume may be a challenge for him.

Irina Slutskaya

She acted a woman who lost love by using men's jacket hung on a chair. She was much slimmer than last year. She expressed sorrow feeling with her entire body. During the program except on Sunday, she pushed the chair too strong to rink side, and it was blown to the arena seats. It was funny for that sad song, and she seemed to be embarrassed after the finish.

Brian Joubert

"I've Got the Feeling"

He was in a black jumper and black pants. He moved a lot with the speedy music. He appealed to as much fans as he could. He was really cute and nice. It might be a comparatively simple program, but he gave us very much fun. I love him and was really glad to see him in this show. I wish him to come here again.

Miki Ando

She skated two programs in rotation. On Sunday, I saw "Say Something". She expressed a matured and emotional feeling very well. And it was strong, also. Another one was a program with tenderer vocal music. She performed it in a blue beautiful dress. It was soft and feminine. Personally I preferred this. I think both programs included 2A and 3S.

Evan Lysacek

Roxanne

The message by his own voice before the performance was approximately as follows. "This is the first show where I participated in this country. After the difficult year that I had to give up Sochi Olympic Games due to injury, I want to celebrate return to ice in this show."

To tell the truth, Japanese fans had wished him to show one of his recent competition programs. So it was somewhat disappointing for us that it was the same program in 2011. But this time, it was marvelously evolved. He landed 3F from spiral and 3Lz cleanly in all three shows where I attended. The cross foot spin which he sometimes lost balance before was well executed. Not only technical solidness, but his musical expression had been incredibly improved. He had gained skills of adding accents and nuance to his moves, which made his expression profounder. I was deeply impressed with it and became fraught with emotion.

On Thursday and Friday, he skated it in a black tank top. On Saturday and Sunday, he was in the costume of Poeta (maybe) which was used for the Citi Olympic campaign. When I saw it for the first time I was a little surprised. I prefer the tank top because it featured his arms very much and it was very attractive. The one with white thin line on the side of his legs looked something like training pants. And the decoration of the upper body was not very remarkable in the dark show lighting. To be honest, I am not a big fan of it.

Qing Pang & Jian Tong

The music was "Angel". She was in a nice pale blue dress. It was a casual one among their programs, I think. They were beautiful with any music. Their deep expression was fascinating. Great twist and throw jump were still their highlight. And lifts of beautiful positions were very much appealing.

Daisuke Takahashi

His new program was a big band taste "Caravan". He was in a black suit with pink buttons and pink necktie. It was lively music good for heaping up the last of the show. It seemed that a large part of the crowd was his fans with "D1sk" banners. (I felt at least 80% people in the building were enthusiastic Daisuke fan.) They kept excited with everything Dai did during the program. Of course, he was very enchanting with his incredible dance ability, edge work and charming expression.

Finale

“A Little Party Never Killed Nobody”

“Happy”

Skaters were dressing as school boys and girls. Ladies were in white shirts with black ties and red check skirts. Men were in various casual wears. Evan was in a white shirt with a bow tie, black pants ripped on knees and a navy hat. When skaters danced as pairs, his partner was Shae-Lynn. It was very detailed choreography and they danced busily. Evan and some other guys did small sprit jumps. It was cute. Pair skaters did lifts. There was also a part that males and females danced separately. They used upper body very much. It must be tough. Everybody danced cheerful and it was very much fun.

In any shows, Evan seems to get along with pair skaters. Maybe his body size is familiar to them. I saw he was talking something with Sasha or Jian after the finish.

During the last rotating around the rink, I saw he touched hands with many people in the front row. (Unfortunately, I was not in the front row.) I think it didn't happen in 2011. He was somewhat curt at the finale at that time. He was in a much better mood this year. I’m glad he seemed enjoying the show.

Encore

Special encore of the last show was "Libertango" by Kenji and Daisuke. They performed seriously like Daisuke and Akiko did just one hour before. Then Akiko appeared with an angry face and push them down and grabbed them up. And the three did steps together.

After that, other skater came out again, and played some fun things. Akiko and Shae-Lynn did change foot hydro-blading. Evan and Brian went out together. Evan tried hydro like as the ladies did, but couldn't do it very well. Brian showed his running on ice.

At the last show, Shizuka greeted fans. She said that next year will be 10th anniversary of Friends on Ice. She did her famous Ina Bauer in the last. Everyone in the arena worried because her belly was swelling with pregnancy. She did smaller layback than usual.

I truly hope those nicest skaters, especially Evan, will back to Shin Yokohama again next year.