Image Credit: Rochette:Paul Drinkwater/NBC; Hasselbeck: Bob D'Amico/ABC; Lambiel: Reuters/Ints Kalnins/Landov Details are beginning to emerge about ABC’s live two-night figure skating competition Thin Ice airing March 19 and March 21. Today, it was announced that Canada’s Joannie Rochette, who brought us to tears with the courage she showed competing in Vancouver and earning a bronze medal after her mother’s sudden death, will make a special appearance on the first evening to skate a tribute to her mom. Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who’ll host the event with Canada’s four-time World Champion Kurt Browning, told reporters today that like everyone, she was glued to the TV during Rochette’s performances at the Olympics. “I didn’t know I could hold my breath for that long. I believe that there is that relatable compassion, fear, and hope that everyone watching had. Talk about uniting the globe in a matter of minutes. Everyone was pulling for her, feeling for her, having been through the experience or fearing it happening to them too….What a chance to see something like that again,” Hasselbeck said, “to capture that moment and have another dedication to her mom, it’s truly a gift. I can say without any hesitation or doubt that everyone will be holding their breath again.”
Thin Ice will partner 10 professional figure skaters — from all four skating disciplines — into five first-time couples. They’ll perform two two-minute routines, one each night, to pop music. Dancing With the Stars’ Mark Ballas and Fatima Robinson, known for her work with the Black Eyed Peas, are among the choreographers being used. The only program requirement is that it entertains the voting public and the judges (Kristi Yamuguchi, Katarina Witt, and Dick Button). The $220,000 in prize money will be determined by a four-part vote: At-home viewers and the judges on Friday night, and the judges and 3,000 audience members at Connecticut’s Foxwoods Resort Casino on Sunday. The pairings:
Switzerland’s Stéphane Lambiel (2006 Olympic Men’s silver medalist, who finished fourth in Vancouver) & Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa (2006 Olympic Ladies’ gold medalist)
Canada’s David Pelletier (2002 Olympic Pairs’ co-gold medalist) & Russia’s Elena Berezhnaya (2002 Olympic Pairs’ co-gold medalist)
Canada’s Patrice Lauzon (five-time Canadian National Ice Dancing champion) & Canada’s Jamie Salé (2002 Olympic Pairs’ gold medalist)
America’s John Zimmerman (three-time U.S. National Pairs’ champion) & Canada’s Shae-Lynn Bourne (2003 World Ice Dancing Champion)
America’s Michael Weiss (three-time U.S. National Men’s champion) & Canada’s Marie-France Dubreuil (five-time Canadian National Ice Dancing champion)
What do you think? Worth tuning in for? Watching Lambiel spin is always a delight, reliving the 2002 Olympic Pairs’ judging scandal is guaranteed with producers shrewdly pairing Pelletier and Berezhnaya, and one never knows who Button will turn on. Also, as I’ve previously admitted, when I was a young, I loved Kurt Browning enough to look up his hometown in an encyclopedia. So, I’m in.
She didn’t bring me to tears.
Barry – so you don’t have a mother then? Or are you just clueless?
I had a mother. I don’t watch ice capades; the only ice skating I watch is ice hockey which NBC “banishes” to cable networks.
So you weren’t watching and have no business stating your opinion here. Next time use your head before you make a fool of yourself..
I have a mother, and she didn’t bring me to tears. I was happy for her, and thought she did great considering the circumstances, but I just don’t tear up. And yes, I have a mother.
Maybe he didn’t fall for the sap story.
I felt bad for Joannie but I didn’t cry either and I am with the other people. I would rather see Kwan.
You are a jerk and need to respect other peoples opinions
OK OK i do feel sorry for her and losing her mom. But right now it seems like she is milking it for all it is worth. If it was me i would have skated and did my best then went home and buried my mother and grieve for awhile. Not pop up interviewing and getting her 15 mins out of it. You all can call me cold but thats how I see it
You’re cold.
But Joannie is not you….everyone grieves differently.
She can’t take too much time off to grieve. The World Skating Championships are at the end of the month. She’s going to be skating full time anyway to prepare for that, so why can’t she also skate for this show? ABC is probably paying her which helps her offset her regular training and travel expenses. I say good for her.
This girl does not need the money. She has plenty of sponsors in canada. Not to mention that canada spent 117 million dollars to train the athletes they cut federal fund from social services programs, education etc. Not to mention that for each athlete who won a medal won prize money so she does not need the money. Oh yeah and she’s getting a trip to st. Lucia she mentioned that nbc.
Just so we’re clear, Canada did not spend 117 million – they spent 11 million. After the Olympics, they announced that it would be doubled in the next budget to 22 million.
Joannie refused interviews after the short program because she did NOT want to exploit the situation. Her mother was her biggest fan, and she skated for her because of all the sacrifices her parents had made. Her father was right by her supporting her decision, and the COC (Canadian Olympic Committee) publicly announced that they would respect her decision should she decide not to skate. But athletes like that don’t invest all of that time and money to give in. They have a mental fortitude and focus I could only wish to have. Her mother would have wanted her to have the entire Olympic experience — that’s why her mom was in Vancouver to start with. And since skating has been her life for so long, I’m sure it is a great help in the grieving process. And if she wants to skate in tribute to her mom, you can bet I’ll be watching! (I’m Canadian, so I’d be watching her anyway!)
Joannie is fantastic and a brave lady. At least she is going to the worlds to defend her bronze medal performance. Evan Lysacek is doing that two-bit DWTS instead of defending his gold medal. He’s afraid to compete against the worlds best and knows it was a fluke that he medaled at the Olympics.
I wouldn’t say Evan’s gold was a fluke because that dude consistently delivers everytime he skates. He’s not a Sasha Cohen.
Why would anyone even care about Worlds after winning an Olympic gold anyway? Pretty much all Olympic gold medalists take off from that year’s Worlds. Evan’s soaking up the experience so good for him.
yeah because the definition of fluke is winning worlds and then winning a gold medal at the olympics without a quad
You know what I watched that event and he did a great job. Evegny did not when he jumped he was crooked in the air and you are supposed to be straight in the air. Besides all the athletes come back and decide to pursue other ventures. Tara lipinski went professional right after the olympics. So don’t be judgin him cindy
Evan was also the reining world champion. He doesn’t need to prove anything since he already has that gold and the olympic gold medal.
Evan sure seems like he’s trying to prove he’s straight with the trophy girlfriends he always has on his arm…sure doesn’t show much affection for them though.
Kyle,you’re probably just jealous that Evan can date such beautiful women!!You’re also probably jealous that he probably has more class than you’ll ever have!!
Very judgmental. I got back to work as soon as I could after each of my parents passed – I loved them so much that sitting at home was making me sick, and I needed to get out into the world. I know that they are always with me, and Joannie may feel exactly the same way. To say she is ‘milking it’ is incredibly insensitive.
She’s buring her mother today – happy?
Life goes on. She has to,as well.
Um BJ, I think you need to learn how to read. Where do you see her being interviewed in this article???
Do you really think her parents sacrificed, skrimped, saved, and second-mortgaged their home so at the critical moment Joannie could hide? No way, dude. This is lightning in a bottle and I am sure her mom would ok with her making the most of it. Not to do so would be like fumbling on the one-yard line! It’s sad, but business is business. So far, it seems she’s doing it with class, grace and style. Good for her!
Elisabeth Hasselbeck is co-hosting? WTF! Could they have chosen a more unlikeable and annoying person! Oh this sucks!
Totally agree. The show sounds interesting, but I don’t know if I can listen to that prissy Elisabeth for that long.
She is compassionate and fights for what she believes in…i’m sure if i met you i’d consider you extremely annoying since you obviously don’t understand compassion, which is all she talks about.
Sorry to disappoint you Jon but even Elisabeth Hasselbeck thinks her own voice is shrill and annoying. LoL!
Completely agree Rose! Not to mention the fact that she is notoriously homophobic which makes her connection to anything figure-skating more than a little offensive.
And to Jon – there is nothing “compassionate” about her. Righteous, ignorant and pompous, yes. Compassionate? No.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck isn’t ignorant,righteous or pompous.She isn’t homophobic either!!She is allowed to express her religious beliefs any way that she wants to.I think that maybe you’re the ignorant,pompous and righteous one by making those kinds of statements about a person that you know absolutely nothing about!!
Elizabeth is the only fly in the ointment – I have tried, but I truly dislike her. However, love figure skating, particularly the wonderful young Canadian woman who skated her way into our hearts. I’ll definitely be watching.
That’s going to be the only thing that s*cks about this show. That idiot hosting it.
Love her. so glad she’s doing this. it would be better if Tessa Virtue were in this…
this is an odd tv event. i am a big fan of patrice lauzon & marie france. i think they have been robbed of getting the attention/medals/titals due to russian-french teams being on top. they are are great pair who actually danced not groped each other on ice and they were not rewarded for it. glad to see a change is coming with the new medalists from the olympics.
I also hope that this marks a change in ice dancing. IMO, it has always been a joke of a competition where the results were almost predetermined, with judges who were averse to anything that pushed the envelope and seemed to reward whoever could come up with the most tortured performance.
True. But they have changed the scoring and it was reflected during the Olympics. If these Olympics were four years ago, the Russian team would have won gold, the Italians would probably have won silver, and either Virtue and Moir or either of the American teams would have won bronze. Now, at least the judging was more accurate, although in MY opinion, the wrong American team won silver.
No way this will be as great as Canada’s “Battle of the Blades” that paired figure skaters with pro hockey players. It rocked! This seems like a pale imitation.
And Hasselbeck? Ugh diddly ugh!
Yeah, who invited Hasselbrck? Right – ABC.
Re Joannie – I don’t think she is milking it, she just needs to skate – but the network here is.Especially given that blurb from the hostess.
Oh…SO agree with you “talkin’”. Abc and it’s sponsors are at fault here. They are the one” trying to cash in on her mother’s untimely death. They are the disgraceful ones! Also…I so agree about Hasselbeck…She is incredibly annoying!!!
Pelletier and Sale!! That’s got me watching. Such a great couple. On the topic of Joannie – her mother was her greatest fan and supporter. There would be no better way than to honour her than by doing they one thing they had both strived for. Her skates were a public grieving that we were privileged to share.
I’ll be glad to see John Zimmerman again. He’s handsome!
Is it just me or does the cast seem a bit odd? The only two US skaters are John Zimmerman and Michael Weiss-not exactly the most prominent US skaters. What about Paul Wylie, or Baldwin & Inoue, or Michielle Kwan to name only a few? Plus much as I feel for Joannie Rochette, quite frankly I’d rather see Michelle Kwan on national tv if there is to be a female solo skater. Really wonder who is producing this….
I agree there are bunch of canadians on the cast that should just stay in canada. They say they are so proud to be canadians so then why do they come to this country. They can be famous in canada not here. All they do is come here and talk about how proud they are canadians then stay over in that country. Why get our american money????
wow, do you ever sound like a bitter old hag.
sara – wow, you are a bitter cow aren’t you?? What made you so hateful? uggggh. Crawl back into your hole. and stay there.
Unfortunately, American women skaters aren’t good enough at the moment, so foreign talent has to come in.
Where is Johnny Weir? Why wasn”t he thought of? He is recent a most prominent Olympic and World contender as well as having been a 3x U.S. National champion. Most importantly , he is an outstanding, elegant and technically beautiful skater to watch!
Why even bother watching this event ? Its full of canadians who are proud to be from canada. If they are so proud to be canadians why do they even come to this country for fame and fortune. If they love canada so much then they should just stay over in canada and be famous over in that country. Why do they come here just to gloat that canada won. We don’t want canadians here. We should send all the singers and actors back to canada. Also, that girl joannie rochette she didn’t seem to sad at the olympics. She seemed like she was having a great time. On nbc she said she was going to st. Lucia. Excuse me your mom just died .
@Sara — are you referring to the ‘Royal’ we, meaning just you – or do you actually believe you speak for all Americans? Either way, you are clearly delusional and should get back on your meds stat.
You have no idea what Joannie was thinking or feeling before, during or after her skates and are in no position to judge her. It seems to me you’re just trying to pick fights.
Besides, there’s nothing wrong with Canada or Canadians coming to the States to make money. It’s called free enterprise — it doesn’t mean the love their country any less, it just means that they’re savvy business people looking to make as much money as they can off their talent.
Saying that Canadians should be allowed to entertain outside of their own country is like saying that American entertainers shouldn’t be allowed to make money outside the US. So all those actors that star in movies or TV shows that are shown all over the world? Too bad for them.
American musicians who sell their music outside of the US — no longer allowed.
Grow up and grab a rational clue.
sara – how can any one person be so full of hate?? You hate Canadians for no reason whatsoever. You just like to hate. What a pathetic life you must live.
Wow, what archaic opinions you seem to have. Do us all a favour and please don’t reproduce (I thought I would throw a ‘please’ in there since I AM Canadian and all).
Joannie didn’t seem too sad? Didn’t you see her practically break down after her short program? How much more upset did you think she should be in front of millions of people like that? Good grief. I admire her for holding it together as well as she did. Just b/c her mom died doesn’t mean she should just hide behind a rock and stop living her life.
Unfortunately, aside from Meryl Davis I can’t think of a truly talented lady skater from the US at the moment who doesn’t under-rotate her jumps (Nagasu) or skate as though she’s moving through molasses (Flatt) – so alas, you’ll just have to put up with Canadian talent until your ladies mature into better skaters.
Don’t like it, don’t watch!
Have we been watching the same competitions? Yes, Nagasu under-rotated her jumps at the US National Championships and it cost her the gold, but I thought she and Flatt performed beautifully at the Olympics, and apparently the judges agreed.
ok I wasnt trying to diminish the things the young lady has done I think it is great in which she has done at that time. By the way I have lost a parent and i took some time for me. and she did interviews hello with mr inflatable beaver himself bob costas. in my head and thoughts it seems wrong and yes abc is going to milk it