For figure skating fans

[DAMfan]

Johnny Weir says he won't compete at the World Figure Skating Championships later this month, Weir is the second U.S. man to drop out of world championships in Turin, Italy, March 22-28. Olympic champion Evan Lysacek said last month he won't defend his world title.

[Cat]

However, not entirely surprised. Weir has been spending the whole week doing a media tour. It would be hard to come up with routines for Worlds in two weeks.

Honestly, I think Johnny Weir is transitioning out of comeptitive figure skating. He's been doing this sport for well over a decade. He may not have medalled in Vancouver but the mega-attention and support he got far outstripped all that. He is looking to get into FIT in NY and use his high profile in a different venue. Fashion, maybe TV presenting. He already fronts his own docu-show.

It's the end of an era in men's figure skating. Stéphane Lambiel announced his retirement from the sport yesterday (and on an OT note, I always sort of wished that sexy Lambiel and Weir had a romance going!). Evan Lysacek is unlikely to return to the hard slog of figure skating after DWTS. Plushenko might not retire just yet but God knows he should (although having seen him dance on the ice to "Sex Bomb," I hope he doesn't give up gala performances because they are hilarious and cheesetastic). These guys have dominated for 5 years and a younger generation is rising through the ranks now.

I just hope Weir keeps a steady head on his shoulders and doesn't get too blinded by all the insta-fame and attention.

[alphanguy74]

Cat, I love your avatar, BTW! SFK is going crazy, i'm sure! LOL I hope if he DOES go into fashion, he's able to make better choices, cause sometimes he looks like a gay russian pimp. I guess we'll see where it all leads. I guess if all else fails, he could do one of those ice tours, aren't those pretty lucrative? He could put on a FANTASTIC show, the folks would eat it up!

Edited March 10, 2010 by alphanguy74

[Cat]

Thanks, alphanguy! I love it, too, and couldn't bear to not have a JW avatar at the moment.

However, I hate to say it, but I think "gay russian pimp" might be exactly the look Weir is going for. Furs, diamonds, bling. Well, it could be worse -- "gay Italian pimp" comes to mind (think Versace circa the early 90s). I only hope he does get a masters at FIT because otherwise he'll be tagged as being a glorified skating costume designer.

Would love to see him tour in a professional capacity, but Scott Hamilton won't let him join Skaters on Ice along with the other skaters. Apparently, there's some selective gay bias going on.

[alphanguy74]

Won't let him join? do tell... sounds like a juicy thing going on there. But whichever tour Rudy was a part of would take him, don't you think? Might as well put the two of them together in the same show, you get a double gay draw. See which one can out-camp the other. they should break some damn ground and do a male pair routine. People would LOVE IT!

Edited March 11, 2010 by alphanguy74

[Rhiannon]

The other skating tour that used to be around Champions on Ice went out of business in 2008.

Neither SOI or COI ever came or come anywhere near where I live and they seem to have quit showing the entire Stars on Ice program on TV....

[jcar03]

Normally they just use the same routines they have been using all season.

This normally happens after an Olympic year where tons of people retire and move on. I have been watching the Sundance show on Johnny and he basically said this was his last chance going into this Olympic season. We will probably see some random World Champions this year. I think Kim Yu-Na is planning to skate on the ladies side though.

Scott Hamilton's tour is Stars on Ice.

Rudy was a part of Champions on Ice that went out of business as someone else mentioned.

[Cat]

Well -- I have no idea if this is true so feel free to correct me, people. The gossip is that Hamilton is Church of Christ which in of itself may not be a big deal. Except that SH is apparently evangelical about not "tainting" the sport of figure-skating with Teh Gay. For sure he always seemed dismissive of Weir's skating and his supposed campness on NBC commentary duties.

The irony is that Johnny Weir's skating is not "camp" in the sense of being over-the-top or ridiculous. I actually find it very classical, very Russian, very balletic and beautiful to watch, frankly. His long-program at the Olympics was entitled "Fallen Angel" about Lucifer's fall from heaven, and that is as classic a ballet subject as, say, "The Swan" (another skating program he did at the 2006 Olympics) or "Romeo and Juliet." To me, campy is some twit in a checked shirt and chaps doing a hoe-down on ice. In trying to be all masculine and manly, it ends up looking like a Village People routine. Or when NBC are all "Evan Lysacek is so athletic oh and he's totally straight too, look he's dating Nastia Liukin!" It just makes me think that the lady doth protest too much.

Anyhoo, back to Scott H. He runs the Smuckers Stars on Ice tour and he seems to only want to include skaters who fit a certain profile. SOI is losing a ton of money and advertisers must be asking themselves "who are the skaters who would bring in ticket sales?" Nu-Ya Kim is one. Evan Lusacek and Virtue & Moir are undoubtedly others. But you can't ignore Weir and his *huge* fanbase, either. I would have thought that Weir's inclusion would be a no-brainer.

I would actually love male pairs skating, if only to see Weir and Stéphane Lambiel recreate what they did when messing around in practice:

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="

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name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="

name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Edited March 12, 2010 by Cat

[DAMfan]

Johnny Weir has thrown his support behind 80 years old moon man astronaut Buzz Aldrin, to win DWTS.

[alphanguy74]

This is what I'd LOVE to see!:

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[Cat]

Team Brenda Walsh! LOL, actually, I love Buzz Aldrin, too, so I hope he goes far.

alphanguy, love the vid. And the gasps of wonderment at the way the triple axel was performed.

[DAMfan]

2010 US Championships SP Johnny Weir.avi

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[Mike_Cady fan]

growing up i would watch the figure skating w/my mom.. my favorite was Nancy Carrigan[sp?] but i dont much for it nemore..

Edited March 14, 2010 by Mike_Cady fan

[DAMfan]

When Johnny Wear gets nervous he uses Pledge [as in Lemon Pledge] on everything in my room," he says. "Some people eat, some people drink – but I Pledge everything."

[lovely_m]

The World Figure Skating Championships begin on March 21-March 28.

I would love to see someone beat Plushenko without a quad.

Hopefully Jeremy Abbott, Ryan Bradley, and Matt Sovie/Tim Goebel love child Adam Rippon do well at these world championships. It's sad to see on era come to an end, but it's exciting to see new stars coming. During the olympic year we get a suprise champ (Kimmy Messiner WTF) that doesn't impact the skating world in the next 4 years.