Kristi Yamaguchi & Friends 2009

My trip to Phoenix was great. I went to see the Kristi Yamaguchi & Friends event for 2009. Little to my knowledge, the kids of the figure skaters did not take part in the show. I was very disappointed in Kristi for not letting us know, because for the past 7 years (I believe), the kids have been included in every aspect of the show's program. It seemed like a really cheesy, televised event. Not so much a family show anymore.

I loved Katia Gordeeva's new program "Halo". That was a song I had used for a montage in dedication to her late husband Sergei for his death anniversary last November, and is a personal favorite. Even though her daughters Daria and Liza didn't skate with her, Liza was watching contently from the side, and giving her mom soft hugs. She was adorable!

To my knowledge, Katia's husband Ilia Kulik was backstage fixing Michael Weiss' skate when it fell apart, but didn't skate in the event.

My favorite program was Yuka Sato's "1000 Miles", by Jewel.

After the show, they had to do retakes. Basically, all their money is made off of the televised program, not the tickets sold for the event. So we stayed to support them in making it a flawless sequence. It was a treat seeing Katia again, and finally seeing Kurt Browning in person.

I thought the way the crowd reacted to the skaters in spite of the live musical guests The Backstreet Boys was insanely disrespectful. Michael Weiss' skate malfunctioned as I mentioned before, and in the meanwhile, the crowd just kept chanting "BSB, BSB!" I was younger than many of these crowd members, and I'm pretty sure most of them were all older than Daria (17).

A couple rows of the audience were standing up to record video of "the boys", and didn't even let three rows behind them see Katia skate. It was pathetic. At times you could hardly hear the music, their screams were so loud. This isn't a concert, sweetheart!

At least I had a good time, despite my ranting.

Here are some videos I took from the event:
Halo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4whkBtnuDYg
All I Have to Give: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUOw1AH9SMw
Retakes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyx9Qbz_uWM