The Proximus Stars on Ice shows in Antwerp 2005

Act II

by Joyce Geurts & the rest of the 'AS-Antwerp Crew'.

Photos © Joy & EMJO

After the ice-resurfacing break, the show continued with a little demonstration, or a mini CoP-course if you’d like.
Kevin came on the ice to present this, but first he got to make someone in the audience happy by giving away a mobile phone. He called the seat number and… nobody responded. This happened on Saturday, and it was hilarious. On Sunday it went perfectly, just as planned. Kevin then told the audience he had asked some of his colleagues, Emanuel, Ruben, Brian and Susanna, to assist him in showing some of the elements.
Emanuel started by showing a combination-spin (after receiving a prep-massage by Brian), Ruben did a double Flip and then his double Axel, Susanna showed some spirals. Brian demonstrated a backflip, something “you’d never see in competition because skaters are forbidden to make such moves”, and the audience cheered.

To finish up the demonstration, Kevin was asked to do a quadruple jump (first a triple, then a quadruple to be exact). At least that was the way it was supposed to be… But during the Sunday show, Kevin accidentally forgot Susanna and went straight on to Brian, and after Brian’s backflip, Kevin handed him the microphone to go on. So Brian pointed out his omission and Susanna finally got to do her spirals. Kevin looked at her, very apologetic… ;)

When this little demo was finished, the show continued with Brian Orser skating his own number. Dressed in black and white, he did a routine to Tony Bennett’s “Let’s face the music” and “dance/steppin out”. Again he did a backflip. The music worked up to a highpoint and so did his skating, and the response by the audience worked accordingly.

Then it was Susanna’s turn for her second program. Wearing a brown/silver dress, she skated to Nino Rota’s “Romeo and Juliet”, a classical and romantic program which she performed very nicely. We noticed that although Susanna was a quiet person in practice, in the show she really shone. Her ending pose, with fingers widely spread, made an awesome effect with the showlights from where we were sitting.

Susanna was followed by Katie Orscher & Garrett Lucash who skated to “Sampson and Delilah” by Saint-Saëns, dressed in red and black. This was part of their long program and again their elements were very impressive.

Next came one of the highlights of the show: Kevin van der Perren with his free program “Pirates of the Caribbean” by Klaus Badelt. He wore a sparkling red/black/white outfit and with a red bandana on his head, he definitely looked like pirate! Add a sword and an eye-patch and he could have walked right into the movie! Great jumps and even his quad succeeded! The moves were well put to the music, there was elegance, beauty, drama… this program had it all! And it even improved over the weekend, this guy is on!

There was time for a little rest, but not in a bad way. Ekatarina Gordeeva’s second program was as beautiful and elegant as the first one. This time she wore a flowing bluish green dress, which went perfectly with the sound of water. Her choreography was set in circles, first a big one, then two smaller ones, and the last one she repeated as close to the audience as possible. She really danced in those circles, showing some terrific footwork that would have been up to par with any eligible program without any problems!

Emanuel Sandhu returned and at first I thought: “What the @#$% is this?” He was wearing black, with colored sparkles pants and a fluorescent yellow/green shirt and a black jacket. It was wild to say the least, but it really fitted the program, “Gopher/Let’s Go” by YMA Sumac/Shawn Desman, although that shirt was a bit painful to my eyes… The program was a blast and he pulled off some really good skating as well. This guy has everything: he is beautiful, entertaining, elegant, funny and knows how to do jumps… If he’s in shape at the Olympics, watch out everybody…

After Emanuel, Margarita Drobiazko & Povilas Vanagas took the ice once again. They performed in something black/brown/yellowish. I think their “Latin”, by Miriam Jurado/E-Type, started with a samba, and they skated very fast. Next to their awesome lifts they also executed the mandatory twizzles and dance steps.

Ilia Kulik with Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” was next. Ilia portrayed a broken toy which had to be wound up from time to time. He wore baggy, patched clothes, and it was a very funny program, and again, the audience loved it. Is this guy made of rubber? And how could he still see anything with those sun glasses on?

Next Maurizio Margaglio asked his partner to “Unchain my heart”, and Barbara Fusar-Poli complied. The program starting with a chair, a paper, an empty bottle and a feather boa, but still a lot of great skating was performed. When she finally got him in the mood, they skated with a lot of passion, until the end where she left him on the ice, alone. Of course she returned to receive the applause, which were long and warm.

Another group-number choreographed by Brian Orser, ended the show. A funkier version of the already heard “Fever” (this time by Sarah Vaughan) was used. Besides great steps and fun moves, there was a nice intimate moment between 4 couples skating around each respective 'partner' and hugging; Kevin & Susanna, Margarita & Povilas, Katie & Garreth and Ilia & Ekaterina. Aaaw! (Be on the lookout for future photo-albums for nice practice photos of this moment! ;))
The cast performed for the last time in Antwerp this year, and bid the audience goodbye.

It was a great show, in my opinion even better than last year, and it definitely made me start looking forward to next year, so ESOI 2006, “here I come!”

Don't forget to take a look at the already published album of the Saturday show and keep an eye on AS for all the other goodies to come!