Mirai Nagasu tells it like it is

• Dorothy Hamill is busy planning a November wedding! [Baltimore Sun]

• Jeremy Abbott's parents start their own blog about being skating parents. [Life on the Edge]

• Kristi Yamaguchi is the face of influenza. [Babble]

• Ryan Bradley prepares for life after skating as an ordained minister. [icenetwork]

• U.S. ice dancing teams of Piper Gilles & Zach Donohue and Jane Summersett & Todd Gilles announce coaching changes. [US Figure Skating]

• Catching up with orthopedic surgeon Debi Thomas a/k/a Olympic bronze medalist and World champion. [TribStar.com]

• 

  Spain's Javier Fernández makes history in his homeland. [Goldenskate]

• Book review of On Edge: Backroom Dealing, Cocktail Scheming, Triple Axels, and How Top Skaters Get Screwed (see right). Bottom line: Read chapters 9, 10 and 11. [Ice Mom's Adventures in Figure Skating]

• NBC televised skating schedule begins on October 25 with Halloween on Ice. [icenetwork]

• Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, three-time World pairs champions, come out of retirement to go for Olympic gold. [China Daily]

• Required Elements advises that the Japan Open begins this Saturday. Japan Open -- is this important? There's a mix of current and retired skaters. I'm confused. [Required Elements]

• Mirai Nagasu channels her 30-year-old spirit and says, "[Skating is] like the love of my life. When you love someone, sometimes you want to break up." [ESPN]

Nobunari Oda channels Charlie Chaplin in free skate

I just filed my petition to adopt Nobunari Oda! He is the cutest, most cuddliest skater I've ever met, and after speaking with him, you just wanna take him home and make him some soup. Nobu (he asked that I call him Nobu) was in Danbury, Connecticut on September 26 to perform in Stars, Stripes and Skates. This is the 8th year that Tara Modlin (Johnny Weir, Jeremy Abbott and Rachael Flatt's agent) has put on the show and it benefits the Heritage Foundation of 9/11.

Nobu brought the house down with his Charlie Chaplin freeskate. Oh my gosh, did we witness an Olympic gold medal-worthy performance? He may have been outdone very slightly by Johnny Weir's exhibition number to Poker Face by Lady GaGa. I'd never really heard Nobu in an interview (in English anyway) so I was looking forward to meeting him. His soft-spoken nature belies the unbelievable powerhouse of a skater that he is. The 22-year-old reigning Japanese national champion said that his idols growing up were Elvis Stojko and Takeshi Honda, and that his Grand Prix assignments for the 2009-2010 season are Trophée Eric Bompard and Cup of China. And he had a special message to his Japanese fans. I don't know why I always ask the Japanese skaters to send a message to their Japanese fans. I stopped myself from doing that with Miki Ando, who is coming up next!

Johnny Weir debuts new short program for 2009-2010 season

Johnny Weir debuted his new short program yesterday at the 8th Annual Stars, Stripes and Skates Icetravaganza in Danbury, Connecticut. The event was to benefit The Heritage Foundation of 9/11, which promotes patriotism, heroism and volunteerism as a way to honor the lives lost on 9/11. Johnny skated to I Love You, I Hate You, composed by Argentinian pianist Raul di Blasio. The number was also choreographed by his new choreographer, Canadian David Wilson, which is a departure from Johnny's previous "I must have Russian choreographers" mantra. I thought the program was good. I loved the costume and the colors (as usual), but the program itself didn't grab me as some of his other numbers. I don't know if it's still being tweaked, if he was tired (he was at the Danbury Arena Rink the entire day), if the reality show crew following him around was a distraction, or maybe it's as simple as -- I liked the program, I didn't love the program.

By the way, the crew filming his reality series Be Good Johnny Weir (beginning January 4, 2010 on the Sundance Channel) was filming Johnny being interviewed by me. It was kind of surreal since I'm used to just seeing my lone video partner doing it all. It actually made me nervous to be surrounded by an additional cameraman, a soundman, an assistant to the directors, the directors, and god knows who else. It also made me appreciate all that my chief cook and bottle washer Joe does when we produce video stories.

Johnny, Nobunari and Miki headline Stars, Stripes and Skates

(From left to right): Felicia Zhang, Taylor Toth, Kate Gosselin, Johnny Weir, Melissa Gregory, Denis Petukhov, Derrick Delmore, Madison Chock, Greg Zuerlein, Miki Ando, Nobunari Oda, Chris Reed, Cathy Reed.

AMAZING evening at the Stars, Stripes and Skates Icetravaganza (to benefit the Heritage Foundation of 9/11 founded by Tara Eve Modlin) in Danbury, Connecticut! Let me download all the videos and photos onto my computer to share with you all. Coming up...interviews with everyone plus their skates:

• Debut of Johnny Weir's new short program I Love You, I Hate You. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it.

• Nobunari Oda's free skate to Charlie Chaplin -- Nobu brought down the house with this number. Overhead: Wow, that little guy can skate! He's like a little bird!

• Miki Ando's free skate (I think) and her shimmery dress is gorgeous on her. BUT, I have to say, I interviewed her before hair and makeup and this young lady illuminates natural beauty. I kind of like her more without the glammed-up makeover.

• Cathy and Chris Reed's original dance to a folk melody complete with kimonos and fans. I didn't realize Chris was so tall -- over 6 feet!

• Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein's original dance to Afro-Cuban folk music. The duo is making their senior debut this season -- I'll vote them cutest pair ever.

• Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov's very sexy, strange, glowing, Halloweenish, dominatrix-inspired, can't take your eyes off, number to Black and Gold. And yes, as you might have guessed, it depicts a love story. Kind of.

• Felicia Zhang and Taylor Toth, a new junior pairs team, with their free skate. When we were in China, we saw Chinese acrobats doing death-defying stunts without nets. They've got nothing over Felicia and Taylor.

• Johnny Weir's Poker Face by Lady GaGa. Will I ever tire of seeing this number?

• Finale with all the skaters.

Also, my hilarious interview with co-host Frank DeCaro, Sirius XM radio personality (see right), who felt a kinship with Johnny and described their relationship as "mother and daughter." Plus, Real NYC Housewife Jill Zarin, who I think, dissed famed Russian coach and choreographer Nikolai Morozov during the interview. See? I told you it was an amazing evening! Oh, and couldn't interview Kate Gosselin as she was not "giving interviews." Sheesh, it's for a 9/11 benefit, get over yourself. Okay, enough writing, stay tuned...

Results of Junior Grand Prix - Minsk, Belarus

The fourth of the 2009-2010 Junior Grand Prix (JGP) Series concluded today in Minsk, Belarus. The JGP consists of seven competitions held throughout the world, culminating in the JGP Final. The events are:

• Junior Grand Prix Budapest, Hungary (August 26 - 30, 2009)
• Junior Grand Prix Lake Placid, USA (September 2 - 6, 2009)
• Junior Grand Prix Torun, Poland (September 9 - 13, 2009)
• Junior Grand Prix Minsk (September 23 - 27, 2009)
• Junior Grand Prix Dresden (September 30 - October 4, 2009)
• Junior Grand Prix Zagreb (October 7 - 11, 2009)
• Junior Grand Prix Istanbul (October 14 - 18, 2009)
• Junior Grand Prix Final, Tokyo, Japan (December 3 - 6, 2009) 

The top ten finishers for the junior ladies, men, pairs and ice dancers for JGP Minsk are as follows:

JUNIOR LADIES:

FPl	Name	Nat	Points	SP	FS
1	Polina SHELEPEN	RUS	151.08	1	1
2	Yuki NISHINO	JPN	141.81	6	2
3	Ksenia MAKAROVA	RUS	126.42	2	3
4	Kristiene GONG	USA	123.74	3	4
5	Jasmine Alexandra COSTA	EST	120.56	4	5
6	Malin MAGNUSSON-RUF	SWE	112.74	8	7
7	Kexin ZHANG	CHN	111.96	5	10
8	Karolina SYKOROVA	SVK	109.72	11	9
9	Belinda SCHOENBERGER	AUT	108.25	12	8
10	Alexandra NAJARRO	CAN	107.12	16	6

JUNIOR MEN:

FPl	Name	Nat	Points	SP	FS
1	Artur GACHINSKI	RUS	178.67	1	2
2	Nan SONG	CHN	178.11	4	1
3	Stanislav KOVALEV	RUS	165.64	2	3
4	Jiaxing LIU	CHN	157.75	5	5
5	Eliot HALVERSON	USA	153.70	8	6
6	Romain PONSART	FRA	152.10	10	4
7	Alexander ZAHRADNICEK	USA	152.10	7	7
8	Liam FIRUS	CAN	145.48	3	8
9	Ryuichi KIHARA	JPN	134.59	9	9
10	Kamil BIALAS	POL	131.29	11	11

JUNIOR PAIRS:

FPl	Name	Nat	Points	SP	FS
1	Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN	CHN	152.55	1	1
2	Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG	CHN	133.09	3	4
3	Kaleigh HOLE / Adam JOHNSON	CAN	131.83	7	2
4	Alexandra VASILIEVA / Yuri SHEVCHUK	RUS	130.14	8	3
5	Maddison BIRD / Raymond SCHULTZ	CAN	126.95	6	5
6	Ksenia OZEROVA / Alexander ENBERT	RUS	124.25	5	6
7	Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV	RUS	124.00	2	8
8	Duo CHENG / Yu GAO	CHN	121.71	4	7
9	Kristen TIKEL / Ian BEHARRY	CAN	112.58	9	9
10	Brynn CARMAN / AJ REISS	USA	102.72	10	12

JUNIOR ICE DANCE:

FPl	Name	Nat	Points	CD	OD	FD
1	Ksenia MONKO / Kirill KHALIAVIN	RUS	167.65	1	1	1
2	Rachel TIBBETTS / Collin BRUBAKER	USA	152.32	4	2	3
3	Alisa AGAFONOVA / Dmitri DUN	UKR	148.01	3	4	4
4	Tatiana BATURINTSEVA / Ivan VOLOBUIEV	RUS	147.10	5	6	2
5	Karen ROUTHIER / Eric SAUCKE-LACELLE	CAN	145.66	2	3	5
6	Maria POPKOVA / Viktor KOVALENKO	UZB	129.93	8	5	7
7	Anastasia CANNUSCIO / Colin MCMANUS	USA	129.81	6	7	8
8	Xueting GUAN / Meng WANG	CHN	125.78	7	8	9
9	Nicole ORFORD / Malcolm Rohon O'HALLORAN	CAN	125.59	11	9	6
10	Tiffany ZAHORSKI / Alexis MIART	FRA	119.06	9	10	10