Elaine Zayak: Catching up with World and US figure skating champion

On March 27, we caught up with Elaine Zayak, the 1981 U.S. national champion, 1982 World Champion and 1984 Winter Olympian, at Lasker Rink in Central Park, NYC. Elaine was there to support One Step Closer, an ice show to benefit the the AIDS Resource Foundation for Children. Yes she's older, wiser, a mom and a coach -- but you know what? She's still got that bubbly, girly voice that still brings me back to her heyday in the 80s...

Click here to see more from the One Step Closer AIDS benefit!

Grassroots to Champions and Audrey Weisiger create internet ice skating competition

Grassroots to Champions and Kids On Ice announce national internet ice skating competition for young choreographers

Audrey Weisiger, World and Olympic ice skating coach and creator of Grassroots to Champions, has partnered with D.C.’s Kids On Ice non-profit to create a virtual Internet-video ice skating competition for young (29 years-old and under) choreographers.

For five weeks from June through August, finalists will compete in themed and skill-specific challenges, record their choreographic work on video, and submit the videos to the competition website for expert review and online voting. In a final event—that will be webcast live on the Internet—fans and young skaters will vote and text-vote for their favorite young choreographer. The winner will receive a scholarship award, created through tax-deductible donations to the event. A portion of the proceeds will also benefit Kids On Ice skating programs. In addition, the winner will have a chance to work with the Ice Theater of New York, and create a performance for one of their exhibitions.

Weisiger has worked with young people her whole life and she sees the benefits of kids-in-the-arts programs, every day at the D.C.-area ice rink where she coaches. “I wanted to encourage artistic ice skating and development in young, budding choreographers,” says Weisiger. “I started talking about my idea for the Young Artists Showcase, and the response from the skating industry—and beyond—has been phenomenal. Great skaters from around the world have entered.”

Famed and successful professionals from around the globe have signed-on to help, including such Olympic and World stars as Michael Weiss, Kurt Browning, Sarah Kawahara, and Debi Thomas. Some of these famous skaters will be celebrity judges, taping commentary and review about the submissions, and others will be creating interest about the competition with skating tips and “behind-the-scenes” interviews to appear on the website.

Skaters and choreographers will be able to submit audition videos to the G2C website YouTube dedicated channel. Videos will be on display on the site to create interest prior to the summer event. Finalists will be selected and complete five videos (submitted to the competition through the Internet). Internet votes and expert and celebrity judges’ scores will be tallied to select the champion.

“My goal is to get more young people excited about ice skating and expressing themselves through movement and choreography,” explains Weisiger.

Please visit grassrootstochampions.com or contact Sheila Thelen at G2C for more information (651) 257-1004.

One Step Closer AIDS benefit brings out the stars (video)

The One Step Closer AIDS benefit was held in March 2010 at Lasker Rink in Central Park, NYC. Celebrities coming out to support the organization included Oksana Baiul, Elaine Zayak, Angela Maxwell, Melissa Bulanhagui, Parker Pennington, Joelle Forte and the cast of Rent. The event, the brainchild of Tim David and Brian Mancuso, raised over $5,000 for the AIDS Resource Foundation for Children. Our exclusive interview with Elaine Zayak is coming up next!

Evan Lysacek dances freestyle on Dancing with the Stars finals

[UPDATE May 26: Nicole and Derek won the Mirrorball Trophy, Evan and Anna placed second, and Erin and Maksim placed third. I'm sure Evan was very disappointed since he is a competitor at heart, but boy, did we appreciate that he gave 110% on every dance.]

Here are Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya dancing their freestyle dance on last night's Dancing With The Stars. This is a two-part final and they'll redeem themselves tonight with two more dances. I didn't like their freestyle dance at all -- too jumpy.

And to contrast, here are Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough dancing their freestyle which was awesome.

And for good measure, here are Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovskiy doing something, not dancing, but it looks good.

Tanith and Charlie: Worst kept secret ever

• Johnny Weir confers with the folks at Jim Henson Productions to dress for the Miss USA pageant. [Aunt Joyce's Ice Cream Stand]

• Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski retire from competitive skating. [icenetwork]

• Timothy "Quad King" Goebel pursues finance while keeping ties to the skating world. [Columbia Spectator]

• Guess who surprises Evan Lysacek in his Dancing With The Stars dressing room? [ET Online]

• Rachael Flatt contemplates chemical engineering or biomechanics at Stanford. [Los Angeles Times]

• Alissa Czisny shares with us what exactly goes on in Stars On Ice tour. [Stars On Ice]

• Kirk Douglas is a huge fan of Yu-Na Kim. Yes, that Kirk Douglas. [MySpace]

• What are the two foods Yu-Na Kim cannot do without? [Korea Times]

• Listen to Dr. Michelle Kwan give keynote commencement speech at Southern Vermont College. She's kind of awesome. [YouTube]

• Laura at Required Elements breaks down ISU Communication No, 1611. [Required Elements]

• Tanith Belbin and Charlie White come out as a couple. (Photo at right, Tanith and Charlie pretend not to be a couple at Figure Skating in Harlem's Skating with the Stars benefit, April 5, 2010) [People]