Title: "Thank God this season is over..."
Hello everyone. Thank you, as always, for visiting my website. I have been a little lax lately with updates, but I've been pretty busy. The last time I wrote was before the World Championships in Tokyo, and a lot has happened since then.
The Worlds could have been a much bigger disaster then they were. I don't think I embarrassed myself at all. I tried my hardest, I trained well going into the event, I just didn't show up for the competition in peak mental condition. I was so overwhelmed by the Japanese fans and audience. They were incredible. In my opinion, Tokyo was one of the best host cities I've ever visited for an event. It was nice not having to perform in a qualifying round this year. It took away a lot of the stress of the week. My short program went okay. I made a mistake on the triple flip and was in fourth place. In the free program I bombed. I didn't perform a quad because it was terrible in Japan for some reason. I couldn't get over the mental block during my practices so I decided to leave it out. In any event, I made the same mistakes I've made all season, doubled the triple loop and singled my second triple axel. When I finished the program, I could remember what I did for once. I was disappointed with the way I jumped, but the performance and my conditioning were great in my opinion. I was so happy to finish my season. It has been rough, I haven't skated well, and I've been a little disenchanted with skating in general. I was glad to be finished. My results were pretty justified. Top ten in the world isn't bad, but I definitely am not content with that. I want to be top one in the world. There was only one person I don't think I should have lost to, but when I thought about it, politically they needed to put him ahead of me so his country would have enough points to have three skaters next season. My favorite performance of the week was Tomas Verner's free skate. It was amazing. Two quads, only one mistake in total, I totally clapped even though I went on the ice for my warm-up two minutes later. I thought he was brilliant. I spent my time well in Tokyo. I went into the city a lot and really tried to see things I hadn't seen before. I am still shocked when I'm in a foreign city or country that I'm there. It feels so funny to be a kid from a small town in Pennsylvania taking Tokyo, Moscow or Paris by storm. HAHA I enjoyed my time at Worlds, next year I don't care if I enjoy Sweden or not, because I'm going there to win and that's it.
Shortly after Worlds I performed in an event in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was the Marshall's something or other blah blah gala. I performed two new numbers, one of them happened to be with Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov. My solo was good considering it was only two days old. I made the program to Stevie Wonder's "All In Love Is Fair" because I like the song and it has a strong message. iTunes actually selected the song for me, thinking I would like it due my recent purchase history with them, and they were right! My second performance with Melissa and Denis has become a huge hit. Denis had the crazy idea of all of us skating together at some point in our careers on the way back from Tokyo. He didn't know when, but that we should do it because our skating styles suit each other. I said why not do it for Marshalls? So with five skating days before the event, we came up with a beautiful number to their free dance music, "Sarabande Suite" by Globus. The theme is that we are fallen angels trying to figure out how to live on Earth. The program went over very well and people really enjoyed it. There was only one drama and that was with my costume. The zipper ripped about ten minutes before we were supposed to take the ice, so Priscilla had to sew me in at the last minute. I don't think it showed at all which was great. I enjoyed skating in Reading because it's so close to where I grew up and a lot of people I know came to see me skate. A whole bus of children came from my elementary school to see the performance too, and I was happy to have them as my personal guests. ABC even surprised me with my favorite teacher, Mrs. Batiste. All in all, it was a fun event.
Just after Marshalls I started rehearsals for Champions On Ice. They were tiring and very fast paced but we got the job done. I don't like my costumes for the group numbers at all! In the finale I am some kind of turkish raja and I have a harem of three girls and I wear a coat dress and turban. As if that isn't embarrassing enough, I have to "fist fight" with Evan Lysacek and I have to mock lose every night since he's James Bond. I know everyone wants to know if I've "accidentally" bitch slapped him yet, and I think we all know the answer to that. Champions has been going well. I am performing my Stevie Wonder number for the whole tour and in general I'm skating well. Melissa and Denis were also added to the tour so I actually am on the ice four times in every show with the inclusion of our Fallen Angels number. Audiences have been a little hesitant at the beginning of our number wondering, "What is this going to be?" and by the end they're standing. I love performing with Melissa and Denis. We call ourselves the Black Sheep! Being with all my friends has been great too. I miss Tatyana and Irina a lot though! Rudy and I have been nailing our throws. We have started throw triple axel but it is a little shaky. It is so difficult! Tour brings together a bunch of different cliques this year, so there is a lot of tension between different groups. There's a lot of gossiping this year and I don't like it. Anyway, I'm doing my job and skating well, all the other stuff doesn't matter.
I'm already mentally preparing for next season. I have a lot of work to do. I will be making some big changes in my regime and I'm excited about that. I've been talking to several choreographers and experts just to get some opinions and set up possible work. I've begun listening to music and I really want something dramatic and something a little bit more "me" than last season. I have big ambitions for the new season, and I don't want pride, personal stuff or the fact that I lost so much this season to affect it. I'm going to work.
Off the ice life has been fine. I'm currently in Cozumel, Mexico on my first vacation in seven years. I came down here with Melissa, Denis and Marina. Of course, I got sick the day before we flew here. I can't taste or smell anything or hear out my left ear, which should explain to you all why I spent time writing while I'm in paradise. I am beyond upset to be sick, but it is beautiful here and I'm enjoying everyone's company. I am trying to work on my tan a bit too. I also overcame a huge fear of mine, which is swimming in the sea. I am so afraid of sharks and fish and whales and barracuda and seaweed to some extent, that I have never gone in the ocean past knee level. I thought the salt water would help me feel better, so I swam. It was great, but I'm still scared! We only have four days down here before we meet up with everyone for the west coast dates of Champions On Ice, but a mini break is fine with me. In other off ice news, I've been hard at work on extra projects. I have been studying my Russian books a lot trying to get better at speaking, reading and writing. I was recently approached to design costumes for "Cold As Ice," a "Broadway bound" production. I turned it down at first because I am so busy and I couldn't go to New York to have a meeting and I didn't want to do a bad job, but I went to New York for a Harlem event and saw the star of the show, Oksana Baiul, and she told me she wanted me to design just her costumes. I agreed and her costumes are now in production! I have been going to the dentist a lot in my time off because I was neglecting my teeth for a couple years because I am scared of the dentist and because I am busy, but now I'm glad I went in. Please believe me when I say everyone needs to FLOSS!
Coming up, I am still busy. I go to California in a few days to finish the last leg of Champions On Ice, I have a mini tour in Japan in June, I turn twenty three in July which is when I also start new choreography and training, and in September I will perform in two shows in Milano, Italy. I'm really looking forward to being busy, I like it. If I've learned nothing else on this vacation, I've learned that I am not good at relaxing and switching off my mind. I'm always thinking and going and looking forward to the next thing in life. I want to take this time to thank everyone who has supported me this season, everyone who came to my events in Cincinatti, Victoria, Moscow, Boston, Saint Petersburg, Long Island, Spokane, Tokyo and anywhere on the tour, and everyone who has sat in front of the TV and wished me well. I wouldn't be who I am today without your support and love. I really mean that. I also want to thank all of you who have not supported me, or wished I would fall, it only makes me stronger. I'll check in with you all again once I know my Grand Prix assignments for the season and let you know of any new developments. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Love, Johnny
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