We're attending Johnny's New Year's Eve party tonight in New York at the Russian restaurant Mari Vanna. Johnny has told us that he feels like Russia is his adopted country and he has plenty of Russian fans, so this is a natural choice for the party. To add to the festivities, the production crew from the upcoming Sundance Channel reality series Be Good Johnny Weir also will be filming.
If you have any questions that you would like to ask Johnny, please post a comment on this thread and we'll pass them along. Video story and photos (of course!) to come soon of all the decade-ending festivities.
For those of you who will be in town tonight, tickets may still be available, so please contact the restaurant at 212.777.1955 or marivannanyc@gmail.com for more information.
This morning Brian Boitano, the 1988 Olympic gold medalist, skated at Rockefeller Rink in New York City for the Today show. Boitano skated to Al Jarreau's classic Since I Fell For You and was also promoting his television special the Brian Boitano Skating Spectacular, which will air on NBC on New Year's Day, 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. This is his 13th New Year's day special and he was especially excited about this one as the band Chicago will be the featured musical act. He told Matt Lauer that he grew up listening to Chicago (his sister, also a huge fan, played all their albums 24/7 in their household), so it was difficult for him to select just nine songs to use in the show. I watched from above and what a thrill (as always) to watch him live and in person. At age 46, is anyone more fit and athletic than Brian Boitano?
For the Skating Spectacular, Boitano will be joined by co-host Peggy Fleming and he will also perform alongside three-time U.S. champion Michael Weiss, World champions Yuka Sato and Kimmie Meissner, reigning U.S. champion Alyssa Czisny and eight-time British champion Steven Cousins. I've already set my TiVo -- ooh, I hope Chicago does Saturday in the Park, that's MY favorite Chicago song.
Boitano also will be headed to Vancouver in February to take part in a few Today show Olympic stories, including a cooking segment. His Food Network show What Would Brian Boitano Make? (see photo above) has been renewed for another season and he's slowly but surely carving out a second career as the next Rachael Ray, without the "EVOO" and "sammies" lingo.
The 2009 Japanese Figure Skating Championships concluded today and I'm in the process of watching it all on YouTube. As far as results go, Daisuke Takahashi soundly won the men's event with a total of 261.13 points. Nobunari Oda came in second with 244.30 points and Takahiko Kozuka came in third with 236.13 points. Takahashi and Oda have made in onto the Olympic team, and I'm certain Kozuka will take the third remaining slot for the men.
The ladies results were closer with Mao Asada taking the title with 204.62 points, followed by Akiko Suzuki with 195.90 points, Yukari Nakano with 195.73 points and Miki Ando with 185.44 points (Photo above, from left to right, Suzuki, Asada and Nakano). Japan is also sending three skaters for the ladies field and Ando is definitely on the team as she had an amazing Grand Prix season. I'm certain Asada will be as well as a four-time national champion but her season has been rocky and Suzuki and Nakano have had semi-breakout seasons. It will be very interesting who the Japanese Federation selects as the third team member. [UPDATE: Suzuki is in, Nakano is out of the Olympic team.]
In pairs, only one team competed so Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran won the pairs, and in ice dance, the brother and sister team of Cathy and Chris Reed took first place, ahead of Emi Hirai and Taiyo Mizutani.
Top ten results for men at 2009 Japanese Figure Skating Championships:
FPl
Name
Points
SP
FS
1
Daisuke TAKAHASHI
261.13
1
1
2
Nobunari ODA
244.30
3
2
3
Takahiko KOZUKA
236.13
2
3
4
Tatsuki MACHIDA
215.02
4
4
5
Yasuharu NANRI
201.01
7
6
6
Yuzuru HANYU
195.22
13
5
7
Kento NAKAMURA
188.39
10
7
8
Keiji TANAKA
187.26
9
8
9
Akio SASAKI
179.83
12
9
10
Takahito MURA
177.78
5
14
Top ten results for ladies at 2009 Japanese Figure Skating Championships:
FPl
Name
Points
SP
FS
1
Mao ASADA
204.62
1
1
2
Akiko SUZUKI
195.90
4
2
3
Yukari NAKANO
195.73
2
3
4
Miki ANDO
185.44
3
4
5
Kanako MURAKAMI
176.61
5
5
6
Haruka IMAI
166.16
7
6
7
Fumie SUGURI
161.29
6
9
8
Ayumi GOTO
159.15
8
8
9
Nana TAKEDA
158.81
12
7
10
Yukiko FUJISAWA
157.88
9
11
Final results for pairs at 2009 Japanese Figure Skating Championships:
FPl
Name
Points
SP
FS
1
Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN
151.17
1
1
Final results for ice dancing at 2009 Japanese Figure Skating Championships:
Been vacationing recently in the Pacific Northwest, so took some time off from Lifeskate for the past week. Did drop through Vancouver, the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and Whistler, the site of many alpine Olympic events (see above picture for how I spent a few of my vacation days). Also got to see where the Olympic figure skating competition will be held, and hope to compile a short video story soon.
To skating fans around the world, happy holidays and more new stuff coming soon!
