Figure Skating in Harlem's Skating with the Stars on April 5

Guess where I'll be Monday night -- rubbing elbows with Kristi Yamaguchi, Dorothy Hamill, Johnny Weir, Mirai Nagasu and my many other close friends at Wollman Rink in Central Park. Nah, I'm just kidding. I'll be asking them questions (and hopefully they'll want to answer them) at Figure Skating in Harlem's annual benefit called Skating with the Stars. This year, Kristi, Law and Order's Tamara Tunie and Figure Skating in Harlem board chair Candace Matthews are the honorees. Lots of skaters will be in attendance, including Jeremy Abbott, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, Sasha Cohen, Meryl Davis and Charlie White, Rachael Flatt, Sarah and Emily Hughes, and Viktor Petrenko. (No Evan Lysacek, who is an honorary board member, as he is tied up with Dancing With The Stars.) The event starts at 6 p.m. and for more information, contact Figure Skating in Harlem at (646) 698-3440. See you there! (Photo below, girls of Figure Skating in Harlem perform at end-of-season recital on March 20, 2010)

Evan Lysacek dances the Jive on Dancing With The Stars

Here's Olympic champion Evan Lysacek and partner Anna Trebunskaya dancing the Jive last night on ABC's Dancing With The Stars. This is Week 2 of the competition and Evan and Anna are currently in second place overall. Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls and Derek Hough are in first.

Johnny Weir and Rachael Flatt to perform in Ice Dreams in Chicago

CUTIES® CALIFORNIA MANDARINS BRINGS THE WINTER OLYMPICS TO CHICAGO WITH THE PRESENTATION OF “ICE DREAMS”

Olympians Johnny Weir and Rachael Flatt to Perform Alongside 100 Local Junior Skaters in this One-Time-Only Event Hosted by the Legendary Dorothy Hamill

LOS ANGELES – Fresh-off competing at the Vancouver Olympic Games and the World Championships in Torino, Italy, Johnny Weir and Rachael Flatt will fulfill the dreams of 100 Chicago-area junior skaters as they perform together in this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Also participating in the show are former Olympians in ice dancing Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov as well as 2008 and 2009 National Champions in pairs Rockne Brubaker and Keauna Mclaughlin. “Ice Dreams Presented by Cuties® California Mandarins” will be hosted by the legendary Dorothy Hamill and will showcase the medal-winning talents alongside the skaters of tomorrow in a two-hour spectacular on April 1 at 7:00 p.m. at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville, IL.

“Ice Dreams is simply that – a chance to make dreams come true for young skaters – performing alongside their Olympic heroes,” said Tara Modlin, president of Fireworks Sports Marketing, producer of Ice Dreams. “Olympic dreams start every day at ice rinks across the world, and Fireworks is lucky enough to see young skaters become champions. And who knows, maybe our next Olympian will make their debut performance in Ice Dreams!”

The 100 kids and teens will be selected in an American Idol-esque search at four casting-call events in the Chicago area. Ice skating classes will perform within their age and skill set categories. Judges’ scores will then be tallied along with the fan votes from the audience to pick the show’s lucky Cuties Corps d’Ice Skating.

“Cuties is excited to bring this skate-tacular experience to our biggest fans,” said Ashley Martorana, Cuties Citrus director of marketing.  “We hope fans and family will come out and cheer for their star skater.”

About Fireworks Sports Marketing

Founded by former competitive skater Tara Modlin, Fireworks Sports Marketing is a New York-based sports and entertainment marketing firm with a large focus in talent management and event production in the sport of figure skating.

About Cuties® Brand

Cuties is a joint venture between Paramount Citrus Association and Sun Pacific. For more information about Cuties brand mandarin oranges, visit www.cutiescitrus.com.

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To purchase tickets, log onto www.icedreams2010.com

2010 World Figure Skating Championships: Mao Asada wins gold, Yu-Na Kim silver

What an exciting finish to the 2010 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Torino, Italy! Mao Asada from Japan won the gold, Yu-Na Kim from South Korea won the silver, and Laura Lepisto from Finland won the bronze. Mirai Nagasu from the U.S. was first after the short program and just couldn't hold onto her lead in the free skate. She finished 11th in the free skate and finished seventh overall. Yu-Na Kim fell apart in the short program and was standing in seventh place before she came out strong and won the free skate. The only consistent skater in the short and the long was Mao Asada from Japan and how happy she must feel after a "disappointing" Olympics last month where she won the silver.

The U.S.'s Rachael Flatt finished ninth overall, so based on the performances of our two U.S. ladies, the U.S. will send two ladies again to Worlds next year in Tokyo, Japan. In order to receive three slots, the placements of the two ladies needed to be at most 13, and Mirai's seventh place and Rachel's ninth place finish just weren't enough (7+9=16) to guarantee three entries.

There were 55 competitors and only the top 24 after the short program moved onto the free skate. Results for the top 24 ladies are below. (Note: SP=Short Program; FS=Free Skate)

FPL	Name	Country	SP	FS	Points
1	Mao ASADA	JPN	2	2	197.58
2	Yu-Na KIM	KOR	7	1	190.79
3	Laura LEPISTO	FIN	3	6	178.62
4	Miki ANDO	JPN	11	3	177.82
5	Cynthia PHANEUF	CAN	8	4	177.54
6	Carolina KOSTNER	ITA	4	5	177.31
7	Mirai NAGASU	USA	1	11	175.48
8	Ksenia MAKAROVA	RUS	5	8	169.64
9	Rachael FLATT	USA	6	9	167.44
10	Viktoria HELGESSON	SWE	9	10	161.79
11	Akiko SUZUKI	JPN	20	7	160.04
12	Sarah HECKEN	GER	13	13	153.94
13	Alena LEONOVA	RUS	14	14	152.86
14	Jenna MCCORKELL	GBR	15	12	150.90
15	Julia SEBESTYEN	HUN	10	15	147.66
16	Yan LIU	CHN	18	16	141.29
17	Cheltzie LEE	AUS	17	17	137.78
18	Elene GEDEVANISHVILI	GEO	12	21	137.33
19	Kiira KORPI	FIN	16	20	134.49
20	Sonia LAFUENTE	ESP	21	18	133.316
21	Elena GLEBOVA	EST	22	19	132.85
22	Min-Jung KWAK	KOR	23	22	120.47
23	Anastasia GIMAZETDINOVA	UZB	19	23	113.89
24	Manouk GIJSMAN	NED	24	24	111.94

One Step Closer: AIDS figure skating fundraiser today in NYC featuring Oksana Baiul, Tai Babilonia, Elaine Zayak and many others

There's going to be a terrific skating exhibition today at 2:45 p.m. at Lasker Rink in Central Park, NYC. Produced by Tim David, an adult competitive skater and director of the Lasker Rink Skating School, the show is called One Step Closer and all proceeds will go to the AIDS Resource Foundation for Children. Tim is a great guy and with Brian Mancuso, Executive Director of One Step Closer, they are trying to improve the lives of children and families living with AIDS and HIV, well, one step at a time.

Among the folks who will be either speaking or skating are Oksana Baiul, Tai Babilonia, Elaine Zayak, Angela Maxwell, Parker Pennington, Lucinda Ruh, and Melissa Bulanhagui.

(Visit One Step Closer on Facebook here.)