Greetings/Salutations:

Hi everybody... I attended the 8:00P show on the 18th and it was my first COI and I was pumped up!

After watching all of these skaters on tv to see them in person was simply amazing. Crowd was really subdued though. Is Chicago considered a knowledgeable figure skating city? I am not sure if the audience knew what they were witnessing... Here are my impressions, w/o identifying jumps... I did not want to take notes because it would have taken away from my experience.

Disclaimer: No particular order, and this may not be everyone:

Noteworthy (for me) no shows:

Kerrigan
Baiul
Meno and Sand
Brausser and Eisler
Butyrskya
Slutskya
Pleshenko

The performances:

Michael Weiss - I really enjoyed him! He did not do When a Man Loves A Woman, he did a jazzy medley (Doors?)... I am not usually impressed with him, but I was thoroughly entertained by him - he does a HUGE triple lutz that I like. Great audience reaction.

Tonia Kwiatkowski - She definitely looks more "girlish" and soft in person (not so harsh) and she did great... nailed everything and looked as if she was having a blast! Glad the audience warmed up to her.

Alexei Urmanov - Skated great! I think he's back. Polite applause.

Nicole Bobek - (Did the Natural Woman/Respect medley) I think being in her native city inspired her to skate clean... Nailed all of her jumps and seemed to have a great time skating. She is really a good entertainer.

Surya Bonaly - (Techno/Opera medley) Backfilip queen! Also her speed is something to see although she looks pretty fast on tv. I love her backflip into triple sal... She fell in the opening, but 1 fall out of about 9-10 triples ain't bad at all. Great audience reception!

Lu Chen - (Peel Me A Grape) I was so excited to see this program live... Very sexy and sassy program from her. Doubled a lot of her jumps though. Artistry oozes out of her. Polite applause.

Rudy - How can you go wrong with YMCA?

K & D - Loved their speed and flow! I was really impressed by the current Olympic champs... One of the best of the night!

Petrenko - Very popular! Did the piano program and was VERY well received by the audience!

Candeloro - Saturday Night fever program... I just knew he was going to make love to one of the front row ladies and he did. I just wish he was near me so I could have gotten a good photo.

Pasha and Platov - I was already turned off by the Frozen number because of so many bad reviews of it on these pages so I think that my review is biased. However when they were groping each other, I felt uncomfortable. Lukewarm reception from audience.

Woetzel and Steuer - Never really paid much attention to them on tv, but they are really fast and clean... Great skaters! Nice audience reaction. Can't remember number, sorry...

Eldredge - Boring on tv to me, but he skated his program from the Olympics this year with the blue costume (First Knight?) and he really impressed me. He's got the whole package - explosive jumps, fast spins, great presence on the ice, I could go on and on about this guy! The live performance can really change your perception of a skater! Standing ovation!

The Kwanster - Did the Mulan program (I wanted to see Dante's Prayer live!) she was great, however she had a terrible fall on a triple lutz that I know stunned the audience and Kwan as well. Overall she got a semi-standing ovation because... Well she's Michelle... Great ice presence.

Kulik - "Ilia, Ilia, Ilia!" is all you heard during his performance! He did the Rhapsody in Blue program and I can go to my grave saying that I finally saw the yellow and black shirt in person. Only Michael Jordan has jumped higher in this building. Great jumps and speed! Standing ovation.

Lipinski - She is so cute. I know she is having a blast touring at 16. She hit all of her jumps 3sal, 3lutz, spins were right in front of me (I hope they come out). Still looks like she just wants to jump and everything in between is "fluff", however, you can tell she has really worked on her presentation. Audience reaction was louder when she was introduced - softer after performance.

Goebel - Not many people knew the Junior champion, but he was the 1st American male to land a quad in competition this year and his jumps were effortless. He is very young and I expect good things from him in the future.

Punsalan and Swallow - I knew that they were going to do the Sinatra number because they were in Chicago! Love this number already and really enjoyed it live... They have wonderful lines! One of the best performances of the night! Great audience applause.

Klimova and Ponamarenko - Not very effective number with a scarf... I have seen more effective numbers from them on tv so I was a little disappointed. It just moved too slowly, not as dramatic as I am used to seeing. But it was a great performance considering she just gave birth not too long ago! Decent audience applause

K and O - Did a number with red and black costumes that I did not care for too much... Great lifts and speed, but I guess I wanted to see Carmen from the Olympics - I liked the drama and overdone facial expressions! Decent audience applause

Usova and Zulin - (Sting) Love them! Very light and airy number. They move so effortlessly across the ice, you can tell that they have been skating together for years... Decent audience applause - should have been better in my opinion.

Michelle Encounter (my FIRST!)

At the end of the show, (I did not have backstage passes) I wanted to give Kwan a belated birthday present... I did a 20 x 30 oil painting of her doing a spiral to Lyra Angelica for a painting class that I took this past Spring and was planning to leave it with guest services at the United Center...

When I saw that the skaters came around to the boards (their final waves) I ran down to the front with my painting and called Michelle's name and she looked right at me! After the skaters took their bows at center ice, she skated all the way back to the corner to get the painting from me! (she could have easily ignored me, all of the other skaters skated directly toward the exit and there were fans waving things at them as they skated around) She is really pretty in person and up close! I wished her a happy birthday and she said "Thank you so much". I was so psyched! To be able to give her the painting personally gave me all the pleasure in the world.

Great experience for my 1st COI! I will definitely be back next year!