Champions On Ice

I went to see Champions On Ice at the Rose Garden in Portland today. I took the MAX, which is pretty convenient (there's a MAX station at the Rose Garden) except that they were having some kind of electric problem on the Steel Bridge, so the trains weren't crossing the river. There was a shuttle bus running across instead, so it wasn't a big delay, but it was annoying.

The show...

• Sasha -- wow. Sasha skated beeyootifully. Really, when the commentators are blathering in your ear about how she chokes under pressure, etc., it's easy to get distracted from the fact that Sasha is a very talented, very beautiful skater. She was awesome.
• Shizuka -- she skated a very "Kwan-esque" program, but I don't think she quite pulls it off yet. She has come a long way, though, and her artistry has definitely improved; but she is a very strong and powerful skater and this program didn't show that much.
• Surya -- yes, she can do a backflip, and she's very powerful. She's kind of sloppy though.
• Plushy -- he doesn't really do it for me, but he did skate nicely.
• Evan -- he's so darn likeable! Really. I like his skating a lot, almost as much as Timothy Goebel.
• Johnny Weir -- he did his "My Way" program. It seemed to lack energy. He does have amazing flow and line, though, and he's a joy to watch.
• Irina -- how can you not like her? She's terrific. She skated to "Big Spender", though, and somehow she's just too darn cute and smily to pull off the sex kitten thing.
• Michelle -- ah, Michelle. I love Michelle, of course. She's an icon in our sport. Alas, she clearly is still recovering from her injury since she did a very simple program with no jumps. Even so she's a joy to watch. Watching her expression and artistry it's easy to see why she is America's most-decorated and probably best-loved skater.

I found that overall I did not enjoy this COI as much as I have previous ones. I don't know if it's because I was a lot higher up than previously (my seats in Tucson were on-ice) or what. Also, alas, Kimmie Meissner was not skating in Portland. It's too bad. I'd dearly love to watch her skate.