The first night of Thin Ice aired Friday night on ABC. It was short and sweet and I thought it was the perfect amount of cheese and length for a professional skating competition like this. The show paired up skaters to perform at Foxwoods while Kristi Yamaguchi, Katarina Witt, and Dick Button played judges. The viewing audience was also encouraged to vote. Results will be announced on Sunday night.
I didn't really get why the skaters were forced to perform in pairs...but I guess it was a way to get more skaters out there in a shorter period of time.
Here's what I thought of the performances:
Shae-Lynn Bourne and John Zimmerman
Hair Poof Factor (Bourne): 0/5
Song: Closer by Ne-Yo mirrorball factor: 0/5
Signature Moves: This was actually very ice dancy. So it was more up Bourne's alley.
Togetherness Factor: 5/5
Best judge comments: Button: "You are smouldering, your eye contact was wonderful, and Shae-Lynn, you caressed the ice like I've never seen it done before."
Score: 27
Bourne is an ice dancer and Zimmerman a pairs skater. I thought these two skated like they were an actual pair and it was a nice performance, but the crowd wasn't too into it for some reason (Button actually called them out on this!). I thought the dancing/skating was superb. They were more cheesy-sexy than real sexy, but it seemed difficult even though the tricks weren't that big. It's still impossible not to look at Bourne when she is out there.
Elena Berezhnaya and David Pelletier
Hair Poof Factor (Berezhnaya): 3/5
Song: Hot N Cold by Katy Perry. mirrorball Factor: 2/5
Signature Moves: Lots of lifts and a crazy death spiral
Togetherness Factor: 3/5
Best judge comment: Button: (to the crowd) "Now, listen, all of you, I've been around long enough that I don't give a rusty hoot what you think."
Score: 22
First of all, their up close involved a recap of the big 2002 pairs scandal, and they were supposed to be joking about it. It was cute, of course. The skating was weird - as the judges picked up, they didn't seem together at all, despite the fact that they were doing some classic and not-so-classic pair moves. For some reason the whole performance did not come together. Also, the skating itself was super slow.
Hair Poof Factor (Sale): 0/5
Song: Sexy Chick by David Guetta. mirrorball factor: 2/5
Signature Moves: Lots of lifts and a death spiral
Togetherness Factor: 5/5
Best judge comment: Witt: "Jamie to watch you out there, I must admit the partner switch on the ice really suits you well." HAA!
Score: 26
This was great - I actually would have believed that they were a real pair, despite the fact that Sale is a pair skater and Lauzon is a dancer. He seemed comfortable throwing her around and they had a lot of fun together.
Shizuka Arakawa and Stephane Lambiel
Hair Poof Factor (Arakawa): 5/5
Song: Magic Touch by Robin Thicke. mirrorball Factor: 4/5
Signature Moves: Arakawa did her Ina Bauer and a three-jump combo, Lambiel had his spins and a quad
Togetherness Factor: 1/5
Best judge comment: Witt: "Shizuka, you're Olympic champion, be a diva out there."
Score: 24
Just have to say they were both so adorable in the up close. Lambiel talked about how he was sad his mom wasn't around when he landed his first quad. And Arakawa was talking about how she wanted to skate pairs but she was taller than the Japanese male skaters...hee. They may have come in with a disadvantage since they are both singles skaters and they were for some reason paired together. This performance made me feel like I had A.D.D. They had some dance sequences together, but overall, it almost felt like Arakawa would do a move and then Lambiel would do a move and who knew what the other was doing when the first was doing his or her move. Each alone was fun to watch, and I am duly impressed that Lambiel attempted a quad in a professional competition. He put his hand down, but it was still fun to see.
Michael Weiss and Marie-France Dubreuil
Hair Poof Factor (Dubreuil): 4/5 (Weiss): 5/5 (it was a mohawk, but it sure did have height)
Song Meet Me Halfway by The Black Eyed Peas: mirrorball factor: 3/5
Signature Moves: Weiss did his patented backflip
Togetherness Factor: 4/5
Best judge comment: Witt: "MIchael, please do me a favor. Lose those baggy pants until Sunday. Skaters work so hard to get those firm, tight butts. Don't hide it!" Also, Button referred to Weiss as "whatshisname." HEE
Score: 28
I really liked this performance. They also seemed like a pair, although Weiss is a singles skater and Dubreuil is an ice dancer. She held her own while he did his backflip, and they had a cute dance aspect to the performance as well.