Please tell me I'm not hallucinating.

[rikibeth]

Back around, oh, 1994-1996ish, there were some really fabulous exhibition skating programs. A lot of them from skaters who'd retired from amateur competition. I KNOW they weren't amateur programs because they were done to popular music with lyrics.

Caryn Kadavy wore an ice blue costume and skated to a Celine Dion song -- "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" -- which I later learned had been written by Jim Steinman, and would have been a LOT more enjoyable as a Meat Loaf song.

Josef Sabovcik wore jeans and a T-shirt and a red bandanna in his hip pocket and nearly gave me a heart attack before the music started and I realized he was only copying the album cover for "Born In The USA." Then he nearly gave me another heart attack when he did a backflip.

I'm pretty sure that was where Scott Hamilton did the program to "Hair," proving he could laugh at himself.

And Katarina Witt did a program to Melissa Etheridge's "I'm The Only One" where she did camel spins in perfect time with the guitar part. I was trying to explain to the kid that watching those camel spins was like watching Mistoffelees do fouettes.

I KNOW these routines existed. I REMEMBER THEM.

Why can't I find them on YouTube, dammit?

ETA: Thanks to trowa_barton's good memory and a bit of Google-fu, I've placed it: Fox Rock 'n' Roll Skating Championships 1996. If someone can link me to video (Witt and/or Sabovcik) I will bake treats for you!

Comments

[shadowflyer.livejournal.com]

They existed. They completely did. And you probably can't find them on YouTube because of Viacom or somebody's copyright butthurt.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

MUST SHOW KID CAMEL SPIN. Viacom or whoever can kiss my lily-white ASS.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

That was when the Olympics were on ABC (as God and Jim McKay intended I HATE YOU NBC)...but these days, ABC = Disney = does not play well with fair use.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Didn't Meat Loaf DO that song?

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Yes, but only after Celine Dion did it, I think.

He did it much better, of course.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he did. But there was a Celine Dion song that sounded just like a Meat Loaf cover, but was original to her. The video even looked Meatloafy. Guy on a motorcycle and everything!

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Ha. Yeah, that's the one I was thinking of.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

It wasn't the Olympics. It was the 1996 Fox Rock 'n' Roll Skating Championships. We can say bad words about Fox now, although I'll retract them if I find video.

[seajules]

You're not imagining them. I used to have them on video tape, before the tape fell apart. Most are from a professional competition, at which Kurt Browning did "Brickhouse," and I believe the "Lightning Crashes" routine that brought me to tears. Kristy Yamaguchi did a number to Björk's "It's Oh So Quiet." It might have been called "The Rock 'n' Roll Skating Competition," and I believe was in Atlanta. Some of the routines were later used in "Stars on Ice" and for other competitions and shows. Karyn's wasn't part of that, but I remember it distinctly from a few other things.

Err, ice skating used to be a fandom of mine. I might have wanted to marry Paul Wylie at one point.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Found it, see note above!

And I don't blame you a bit for wanting to marry Paul Wylie. I would have picked Kurt Browning myself at the time.

[seajules]

Did you find it on Youtube? Here's Kurt doing "Brickhouse", if you haven't. Though, wow, I'd forgotten how annoying the announcers could be (except for Dick Button; it's impossible to forget that Dick Button is annoying).

I adored Paul, but I thought Kurt the more innovative skater. There was a routine he did to a jazz number a few years later that involved choreography such as had never before been seen. I thought it might revolutionize the skating world, but I haven't seen any evidence this was the case.

[thisside.livejournal.com]

Hahaha. I have this on VHS somewhere. Too bad I don't have a VCR.

[kitwench.livejournal.com]

OMG you are NOT crazy, (or we both are) because I watched and loved those!

[donnad.livejournal.com]

I was so into Scott Hamilton...

And yes, I remember watching him skate to Hair and in the end turn all yuppy and pull off the wig and put on a tie.

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Don't know where you'd find these--wish I did and could tell you.

Happy Birthday!

[conejita-diabla.livejournal.com]

I *LOVED* that Sabovcik routine. Hell, that whole evening, mostly! And add me to the club of people who wanted to marry Paul Wylie. :-) I agree that Browning was the more innovative skater, and I always really liked him as well, but I thought Wylie's stuff had more emotional impact...

If you do get links, I'd be eternally grateful for a repost...