Kristi Yamaguchi and Friends 2009

So here's my review of the show. I will post details on our whole trip, since we had so much fun! ENJOY!

Kristi Yamaguchi and Friends
October 23rd, 2009
US Airways Arena
Phoenix Arizona

First of all I was SOOOOO excited to see Kristi’s show. She doesn’t skate a lot anymore, so it’s always fun to watch my favorite skater and to have one of my favorite bands singing was an added bonus. My dad and I planned a trip to see Kristi along with some sightseeing, as we did last year.

I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale, and got ice on seats, which were amazing. I have never sat on ice and we’ve been trying to get those seats for Stars on Ice forever, so it was great!

We flew into Phoenix on the Friday morning of the show, and actually arrived in plenty of time at the arena. We got there about 5:30, since we didn’t have specific directions, but we knew where to go.

We then went into the lobby at about 6:00 and they had a HUGE poster with Kristi and the Backstreet Boys, and they had a video playing of all the skaters in Halloween costumes with the song Monster Mash playing, and it was funny because my dad thought Scott Hamilton was skating, and I had to tell him it was Kurt Browning!! While waiting I remembered that no flash, and I just got a new camera, so I called my friend trying to figure out how to get my flash off, but I couldn’t, so I just took pictures of the skaters while bowing, and the when near the BSB, I figured they were used to flashes!!! J

They then let us into the arena, and we walked around for a bit, I was hoping for some kind of Kristi souvenirs, but I knew there wouldn’t be anything since it was a Disson show, and then we went to our seats and they were kind of in the corner opposite the stage, and they were AMAZING, but then a bunch of girls came down that were all dressed in BSB stuff, so that got me worried. But behind us were some ladies wearing sweaters with pictures of Kristi, so it was nice to know there were some skating fans!

The show started a bit late, but I think because there were hardly anyone there, it was ridiculous. Even down center ice there was no one sitting there, so we eventually moved down at intermission so we were further from the rude BSB fans! We found out they sold about 3,000 seats, but it sure looked a lot less than that. I think there needs to be a way to advertise the show as a SKATING show with a musician. I bet the skaters get really annoyed about it.

Anyway the show started with the Backstreet Boys singing Everybody. I LOVE that song too! The ladies were wearing black dresses with cool red leggings. The girls wore super cute black and red dangly earrings and matching black and red bracelets. The girls came out first and strutted their stuff and then the boys joined them. It was a fun opening! It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was just fun. Kristi also did a pairs lift with all the guys too, and they flipped her over! It seemed like the BSB were into the skating, especially Brian!

Next was Yuka and she skated to another one of my favorites I Want it That Way. She wore her 2004 SOI Sunscreen dress, and she did a PERFECT double axel and just had fun with the number!

Jumpin Joe was next, and he skated to a number that was not characteristic of him, it was a slower number, and he had a hard fall on a triple toe. I don’t really like Josef’s normal style, so this was nice to see him doing something else. He also did a delayed axel, which my dad didn’t know that, he just said that he singled it, so I explained that to him, that it was on purpose!! I knew he was going to do his laid out back flip and that the crowd would go crazy, and they did! J

Sined and John Kerr were next, and I was hoping they would do there Johnny Cash number, since my dad loves Johnny Cash, and they did. They had a problem at the beginning when it seemed like there blades got stuck together, but they continued on. It was a lot of fun, and I discovered that I really like John!! It was very energetic and FAST! The audience both BSB fans and skating fans loved it! I really liked the ending where he’s pretending to drive.

Kurt was next. I love him! His program was I’m Yours, and he was your typical goofy and funny Kurt! It was great to see him since I haven’t since his last US SOI show. A lot of the BSB girls really liked his shirts, so I thought that was nice that they were getting into the skating.

Katia was NEXT!! YAH! I was so excited that she was a part of Kristi’s show this year. She wore a beautiful light purple dress with a jeweled collar, which reminded me of Yuka’s Misty dress from 2004 SOI. I really wish they had a program list because I knew the singer sounded like Beyonce, but I wasn’t sure. She was SOOO wonderful, and my dad loves her too! He remembers us shaking hands with her and Ilia after SOI in 2000! She did a double toe, a double axel and a double lutz, which she singled, but that meant we got to see her redo it later! Her footwork is always amazing, and she is just so fast! She also had beautiful spins and did her slide spiral too! I love that move. So graceful!

Steven was next, which I was excited about because he usually does fun and vibrant programs, but he did a slow program. He made a few mistakes, so I knew there would be retakes from him later.

Then Elena and Andrei were next and I knew they were going to get the crowd with their tricks, and they sure DID!!! They did the head banger, and my dad was yelling at them to be careful and that he would talk to her later because it was so scary to watch them, which I thought was funny! I also loved the song, Total Eclipse of the Heart. They did two versions, the first one I loved, the second I didn’t know, but it was good. They do amazing lifts and tricks!

Then it was Michael’s turn and the BSB came back out. I love Michael, so I was excited, and he was having a great skate until he stopped, which I figured was a skate issue, and it was. I’ve seen this happen on SOI, and was glad that he was okay to keep skating his next program! The BSB just kept going, so at least the audience got just BSB, and it was nice that I could focus on them too, since I love them, but skating more. Michael did do retakes of the last half of the program.

THEN KRISTI!!! YAH!! I love her! (Can you tell?) I knew from interviews that she was skating to BSB newest song, which I love, so I was excited and knew that I would record her because you know how they cut the skater out during the program. She was so cute. She wore black pants and a sparkly red top. I videoed her program, which you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKz6XsRBhXk

Sorry for the annoying noises I make, and my singing along! J You can hear my dad saying it looks like she took her advil, because on her twitter account before we left, I saw that she wrote she was having problems with her Achilles, so I was worried, but she was WONDERFUL!! Her DWTS time has served her well; she just looked like she had a ton of fun. She fell out of her double flip, but I was okay with that, since it would mean we would get to see her again in the replays! The lyrics are about a girl who shoots someone, so Kristi did a lot of gun pointing with her fingers, which I think the BSB thought was cute! She also did different spins, instead of just a camel spin, so that was nice too! She also did a super nice double toe; I know she doesn’t skate a lot anymore, so I didn’t care about her jumping content. And she did a split jump literally right in front of us, if you watch the telecast (more on that later!) look for me when she does a split jump. I am wearing a brown jacket, and my dad is wearing a bright red jacket. And she did her beautiful spiral and a hydroblading move. She also had a footwork sequence too! She had tons of content in her program; I could talk about it forever. I knew she only did one program in last year’s show, so I was hoping for another one, but it wasn’t to be, but she was AMAZING! For not skating all the time, she was great! Love her! Towards the end she went up to the stage and hung out with the guys, and I could tell Brian loved it!! She is just so cute! J

Okay I’m done Kristi gushing, but after that there was a 20 minute intermission, which a concession guy went around trying to sell cookies and water, which I thought was hilarious, since I am a baseball fan and they sell beer and hot dogs at games! During the intermission we asked a worker if we could move away from the BSB fans, and she said that was fine, so we were DEAD center ice, right under the Clorox sign and were able to spread out, which was great, but sad since someone bought that tickets and didn’t show!

After the intermission it was Michael and Tracy’s turn and they were a cute junior team. Turns out according to Kristi’s intro that she was mentoring them, which I thought was cute since she used to be a pairs skater. BTW Kristi didn’t do any hosting from the ice, it was all taped, and the program also said Kurt was hosting, maybe it was because of her injury that she didn’t do it like last year, but she did say some closing words after the replays! Anyway back to Michael and Tracy, they skated to “Don’t Stop Believing” and they were so great. They did have a fall with their throw jump, but Leann Miller told everyone that this was there first time skating under a spotlight, and BTW I think there was something wrong with the ice. Almost everyone (which I think was everyone) had to redo some jumps. We kept seeing small pieces of confetti falling from center ice, so we knew no one was throwing it onto the ice, so I’m thinking it was just really bad ice.

Then Steven came back with the Backstreet Boys and another classic Quit playing Games with my Heart! Steven was back in his element with a song like this, and it was fun to watch. I don’t remember if he had to redo jumps from this program or not.

Then Katia again with the BSB this time to All I have to Give, which is another song I love! So I did video of Katia to this song, which is uploading at this time, so just look up joemauerlover! J
Katia wore a beautiful blue dress with black. She did a double loop, double axel (SOLID in both programs!) and a double flip. It was a nice dancy type number! She also did a split jump right in front of us; I guess we were on the split jump side!! J Then she gets on stage and dances with Brian, which he seemed to like, and then all of the sudden she gets back on the ice, and the music stops while she is in a spread eagle. She kept going, but they did retakes after this, and did the whole routine and it happened again. They chatted for a few minutes with someone, and she looked kind of like “I can’t keep skating this all night!” and the BSB seemed like they were sad that it kept happening too, which was nice. But then again we got to see the whole program again, so I liked that! I’m anxious to see what happens on tv since they never came to a conclusion on what to do. In fact, I was just looking at some pictures and found one of me in the background: http://www.kurtfiles.com/images/photos/2009/Kristi%20Yamaguchi%20and%20Friends/IMG_6223.JPG. I am filming! haha!

Then it was Yuka’s turn and she did an old program to Jewel’s 1000 Miles Away, and she is so soft and lyrical! She missed a triple loop, so she had retakes as well, but I love this program!

Then Josef skated, and surprisingly it was to country music. I know he’s a hard rock kinda guy, so it was kinda cool to see him do something different 25 years after winning the bronze at the Olympics. He got the crowd into this program, and did his usual backflip.

Then Sinead and John came back with their Scottish number, with the kilt, which I didn’t really like, I thought the kilt was a bit much. The music was way out there for me personally, but I still liked there number, especially when she lifted him, that got a big reaction from the crowd!

Then Michael came back with Butterfly Kisses, I LOVE that song, and it was fitting because Kristi’s intro mentioned this was Michael’s daughter Annie Mae’s favorite song and I was on a trip there with my dad, so it was special to me too. I am thinking he planned this for her show for the family part, but I was bummed when I first found out it was going to be no kids, but it was a really good show without them too! I just liked seeing the skaters with their kids. But he skated really well considering the problems with his skates!

Then it was Elena and Andrei’s turn, and they got the crowd going with their big moves again!! It was another fun program from them. They also did a lift where she is in a total split, which is amazing!

Then Kurt skated to the BSB with a song that I didn’t know. It was a slower program, and Kurt had trouble with a jump and skidded onto the side, and was so upset with himself and then the program ended, so he was still like being “oh man, I can’t believe I did that!” so he did retakes for it, which turned out funny since Leann was like “Do the ending of the program, so the audience can’t tell you made a mistake” and in typical Kurt fashion he yells, “But I did!”

FINALE time, which was Larger than Life, and I love that song too!!! J It starts with the guys, minus Kurt since he did the last number, and Sinead and then the girls came out later, and I was just waiting for them since I love Kristi and Katia, and Yuka, so they did spirals together, which was lovely. Then Kurt comes out and does his SUPER crazy, but fun and fast footwork. It was a typical finale with everyone doing their little part, and I really liked the ending pose. And they wore the beautiful sparkly dresses from the 2008 SOI opening, I like recycled costumes when it’s not a Disson show that uses the same ones over and over, so I approved! And the BSB actually stepped onto the ice for the bows, which I thought was funny. I mean I know the musicians do that, but I always feel like they are going to slip or something! J

Then it was time for retakes, and as I mentioned before there was a lot of retakes. Katia was the first one since she had to do her live BSB number again, so Leann was telling everyone, “Let’s see how fast she can go!” and the BSB did there number, but the same mistake happened with her ending before the music, so I am curious to see what happens during the telecast. Brian came out on the ice and gave her an encouraging hug!

Michael redid the part where his blade broke, and was perfect! It must be so hard for the skaters to pick up where they made the mistake, since they have to do 20 seconds before and 20 seconds after. Some with music and some without.

Kurt’s was funny, since he was hamming it up for us, and acting like he was on his marks and getting ready to run! Almost everyone did retakes and hit them right away. Katia did a retake of her Beyonce number and fixed the double lutz. Yuka fixed her triple loop in her Jewel number. Michael and Tracy fixed there throw jump.

Kristi did her double flip as a retake, and she started to early, so Leann told her to stop, then she does it and flubbed it again, so she does it again and Leann said because it’s there night and they need to fix the music, which didn’t take long at all, so Kristi just does a double toe and a spin to keep warm, and then does the double flip, no problem! J

The show was great, and I enjoyed it a lot more than last year, even though I missed the kid element. Then another confusing part happened when Leann was telling us to tune in November 1st, and then Kristi got the mic and thanked everyone and said to tune in Thanksgiving Sunday. We asked an arena worker and he said it was Thanksgiving Sunday, so confusion all around. I would say tune in this Sunday and Thanksgiving Sunday and we shall see what happens.

All in all, it was a terrific show, and I found out on Kristi’s twitter this might be her last show, boy do I hope not! My dad and I already want to go to next year’s show, especially if it’s in Phoenix since there is so much to do around there, although it’s a drive, but a fun trip! She seems to like Phoenix since she’s had it there the past three years, so we shall see what happens next year, since I know the Disson contract is through 2011, but I am hopeful it gets renewed. I think if Kristi stops doing it, Katia should do it, since she’s never had a show with her name on it.

Great show and the BSB were awesome! I’m adding my videos as we speak so keep checking youtube. I will get to my pictures soon, although I didn’t take a lot!