Kwan steals Champions on Ice show
By Bruce R. Miller, Journal staff writer



If Michelle Kwan never wins an Olympic gold medal, it will be one of the true
injustices in the sport of figure skating.

As she demonstrated Saturday night at the Tyson Events Center, she skates with
more speed, style and grace than anyone. Watching her is like cheering Michael
Jordan, Tiger Woods and Barry Bonds at their peak. She's remarkable. With Josh
Grobin's "You Raise Me Up," she conveyed more emotion than the singer and nailed
every one of her jumps.

Unfortunately, she only had one solo turn as part of the Champions on Ice show
and brief bits in two group numbers. The show's producers needed to pay for
another solo and, possibly, cut one of the other medal winners' second spots.
Our choice: Nancy Kerrigan. While the two-time Olympic silver medalist has a few
signature moves, she didn't offer much in terms of style and had all but
eliminated jumps from her act. Dorothy Hamill, the 1976 gold medalist, was much
more interesting to watch, gliding across the ice with such power and assurance
you felt nearly three decades hadn't even passed.


Hamill did an impressive routine to "Unchained Melody" and had a moment with
Kwan in the closing "Rhapsody in Blue" that was pretty magical. Kerrigan,
meanwhile, skated to her own singing (which wasn't bad) and nearly fell into the
boards on her second number.

The men were more even. Elvis Stojko still had the spunk we remember. He did
more jumps than anyone and worked the crowd repeatedly (even kissing a woman in
the audience at one point).

Victor Petrenko, who the undisputed hit the last time Champions on Ice played
Sioux City, was fine on a serious number, outstanding on a humorous one. With a
female dummy attached, he did "Tango No. 5" and managed to convince the audience
he was skating for two.

The humorous bits, in fact, were the night's best surprises. Dan Hollander, the
guy hired to make the audience laugh, was impressive as both Elmer Fudd and Bugs
Bunny in one number, a "South Park" character and an old lady in another.
Foreshadowing Aerosmith, he was a great "Dude Looks Like a Lady" who did as many
backflips as Scott Hamilton when he was here during the winter.

Two relative unknowns, Vladimir Bedsedin and Oleksiy Polishchuk, were incredible
in a couple of male pairs routines. The first featured all the lifts you'd
expect. The second was done in slow motion -- impressive.

For sheer novelty, Irina Grigorian spun more hula hoops than the women on "The
Late Show with David Letterman." She even donned a Slinky at one point and got a
fair share of applause for doing so.

Rudy Galindo ended the first act with a Village People medley and got the crowd
to sing along on "YMCA." The number, like his second -- "Send in the Clowns" --
was one he did quite regularly on television exhibitions. He still had the jumps
(and guts to do things most male skaters wouldn't) and reminded fans why this is
such an eclectic sport.

If anyone came close to Kwan in terms of fluidity, it was Timothy Goebel --
another skater still in the hunt. He did fine work with Creed's "Arms Wide Open"
and Elton John's "Rocket Man."

The night, though, belonged to Kwan. She's the reason skating shows have a very
bright future.

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