Gush Alert - anyone who hates the word "best" will probably hate this review!

WOW!!!

This ranks with the 96/97 show for being my all-time favorite. The opening ensemble number was fantastic - the Kodo was a great choice, as were all the songs they used for this (although I must admit, the Kodo section was my favorite of the entire piece!)

I've seen Kurt's clown number a few too many times, so I was a bit disappointed that he included it here, although I thought the use of the character throughout the show with the travel bag was kind of cute.

Ghost may be the best thing I've ever seen Roca & Sur do - absolutely exquisite.

Katia's ribbon number is breathtaking!  She absolutely never missed a catch (or a jump!). I think this number shows she's totally "arrived" as a soloist.

Omigosh - Ilia's turned into a real performer! Blues for Narada was great. And Jef Billings, who I must admit is usually my catchword for garish and overdone costumes, outfitted him perfectly in the muted outfit for this number.

I've been saying for years that I wanted to see Jenni and Todd do something with some attitude, and they've finally done it. Baby's Done a Bad, Bad Thing was great. Jenni does the sultry routine really well - I loved it!

I've heard some complaints about Genie In A Bottle, but I thought it was cute (although my favorite part was when she was carried in - Denis and Gorsha, bare-chested in harem pants, was worth the price of the ticket alone!).

I've also heard some knocks on the Simon & Garfunkel set, but I thought it was wonderful.  In the music folder several people had suggested You Can Call Me Al for Scott, and it was a brilliant choice.  The footwork was amazing!  Now, I admit that it's hard for me to see anyone do a piece I've already seen Torvill & Dean do (I mean, how do you follow them???), but I liked Scott's set with Katia to Cecilia, and Kristi had me sobbing like a baby during Bridge Over Troubled Water.  I was so proud of her - four triples in a show program, including the lutz, flip and loop! What can I say - she's awesome!

The second-half opening was fun. I see Lulu's learned some major slink as a professional. Stephen's solo during this set raised my temperature - he's a sexy dog!

Tara's duet with Kurt was amazing, considering she's never done pairs, and he's only done token pairs bits with Kristi (TV special a few years ago). They even threw a perfectly timed side-by-side triple toe!  Great stuff - I'd like to see more of this from both of them.

Czardas was absolutely, positively the best I've ever seen Bechke & Petrov skate. They nailed every element dead-on. I don't care how much money IMG has to cough up to keep them from retiring - DO IT!!!

I've heard a lot of controversy about Katia and Ilia's pairs number - some people don't want to see her skate pairs with anyone but Sergei. I admit it gave me a bit of a pang, but I thought it was beautiful.  I wonder if the real issue here isn't that people don't want to think of her loving someone else (or maybe jealousy? She does have spectacular taste in men!). If this is "the real thing," then I'm happy for them. I mean, we really didn't expect or want her to be alone for the rest of her life, did we?  I hope we see more of this from them.

I had heard that Kurt was including Antares again, but I was glad he dropped it in favor of Play That Funky Music (although I was disappointed that they dropped the little cut of Brick House that they had included when he did it for Ice Wars). Beautifully done, with terrific footwork.

Smooth was a great number for Kristi. Her versatility continues to amaze me.

Baseball Cap was a brilliant choice for Ilia. He never missed a toss or a beat - see my foregoing note about him becoming a real performer on the ice. Viktor Petrenko notwithstanding, it will still take a bit of time for me to get used to Russian rappers, though!

American Woman was ok, but it's not one of my favorite songs, and not one of my favorite Tara routines.

When I first saw Scott do Don Quixote, I thought he'd finally hit a dud. Was I ever wrong! Of course, the first time I saw it he was doing it outdoors, in a high wind and 5 degree temperatures! This time, under controlled conditions, with an audience to play off of, he was wonderful.  I don't think it's the equal of Figaro (one of my all-time favorites of his), but it was spectacular on its own, with great footwork and lots of comic attitude (I especially loved the part when he grabbed the rope and swung over the heads of the first three rows!)

I loved the finale - I don't know who sang that arrangement of Wonderful World, but I loved it.  And the costumes were great!

Two sidebar notes - I'm glad Sandra decided against a Millennium theme (she's right, too cliche), and I like the new announcer. Great voice - definitely in the James Earl Jones league!

I wish this show was coming to this area again next week. I'd see it again in a heartbeat!