By Gina Capellazzi, Team FSO website administrator
Photos by Danielle Earl from the Rochester show
ROCHESTER, NY — Each year, I often ask the skaters to sum up their season with one word, and to give me a little explanation as to why they chose that word. I rarely hear the same word and I enjoy hearing what the skaters come up with not much time to think it through. I thought about how I would respond to this question if someone was to ask me about this 2025-2026 Olympic season. And sadly, there were so many words that came to mind, I was having a hard time of selecting a single word. (I know I’m failing my own question!)
But the word that I kept coming back to was special. This 2025-2026 Olympic season, along with the 2026 U.S. Stars on Ice tour was simply special for so many different reasons.
I have mentioned before that I have been attending Stars on Ice shows since I was a kid, usually just traveling to my local AHL (American Hockey League) arena. So this show always holds a special place in my heart as it was one of my first exposures to live skating. But as popularity for the show dwindled and the tour was reduced to a handful of cities, my short drive became four to five hour road trips. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw that my city was back on the tour schedule, especially in an Olympic year. It’s been more than a decade since Stars on Ice has been to my city and given the fact that the arena was sold out on a Tuesday night, I don’t think it will be another decade before this tour is back in my home city again. It was special to celebrate the conclusion of this Olympic season at HOME among family and friends.
The show kicked off with the cast skating to “Brink of Annihilation/Fearless” by Tommee Profitt. The cast came out with black hooded costumes. It was a strong and powerful number to kick-off the show. Three-time World champion and Olympic gold medalist Ilia Malinin did not come out with the rest of the cast at first. He came out halfway through and while he had a little solo performance, the cast removed their black costumes to unveil orange and green costumes. The skaters were each introduced one after another at center ice as well. There was a lot of cheering and screaming with Malinin getting probably the loudest roars from the crowd. It was a great start to the show.
Starting off the individual program numbers was 2026 U.S. silver medalist and Olympian Andrew Torgashev, who skated to “Out of Time” by Bradley Cooper. This was Torgashev’s first Stars on Ice tour. I spoke with him before the show and he said it was his job since he started the show to amp up the crowd. I thought he was successful in that as the crowd enjoyed his creativity in his footwork and spins. In the second half, Torgashev skated his competitive free skate to “The Place Was a Shelter” and “Good News” performed by Ólafur Arnalds and Apashe respectively.
Following Torgashev was 2024 World silver medalist and 2026 Olympian Isabeau Levito, who skated to “Material Girl” by Madonna. This wasn’t a new program for me as I saw it in a previous Stars on Ice show, but for the majority of the people in that arena, it was new to them and they loved how Levito was just enjoying herself. There was a lot of applause and “oohs and awws” from the audience when Levito skated across the ice holding her spiral. Levito returned to the ice for her second half number skating her “Zou Bisou Bisou” performed by Sophia Loren short program from the season. It was another delightful performance for Levito.
Next up was 2026 U.S. bronze medalists and 2026 Olympians Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, who skated to “Say it Right/Maneater” by Nelly Furtado. At first I thought they were doing their rhythm dance from the season as they came out with their rhythm dance costumes, but this was a new program for the two. It was upbeat and intense, and I loved the end where Carreira pushed Ponomarenko down on the ice, standing beside him. She then proceeded to drag him a bit before they took their bows. This was the only solo performance for the two at my show.
T
he 2026 Olympic Champion and 2025 World Champion Alysa Liu, who just the night before was attending the Met Gala, took the ice after Carreira and Ponomarenko, skating to her “Promise” by Laufey short program. Though I have seen this program numerous times in-person, it is still such a lovely program and I don’t ever get sick of seeing it. Liu’s “Promise” performance segued into a very special moment of the show. As she did her bows, she was joined by her 2026 Olympic gold medalist teammates Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Amber Glenn, Ilia Malinin and Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea. They then took turns skating a few seconds of their memorable programs from the team event in Milan, while their teammates watched from white boxes at the end of the rink. First up was Kam and O’Shea, who skated a few seconds of their “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” free skate. Glenn followed them by skating the final moments of her “I Will Find You” & “The Return” free skate. Chock and Bates did the character step sequence of their Olympic free dance with no music, but just to the beat of the clapping of the audience. Malinin closed out this trip down memory lane with the last minute of his “A Voice” free skate. When everyone was done, the team took their bows center ice and then flipped over the white boxes, which revealed “American Gold” on them. They put gold medal replicas around their necks and stood on the boxes, reenacting their medal ceremony. This was so special to me because I was in Milan for all their performances in the team event and was balling my eyes out as they hopped onto the podium to receive their gold medals. It was one of the highlights of my Olympic trip and for them to relive that moment for the Stars on Ice audiences was my favorite part of the show. The medal ceremony this time around had me smiling, more than crying tears of joy.
After the medal ceremony, Madison Chock and Evan Bates skated their “Paint it Black” flamenco free dance with music this time. It was a joy to see the 2026 Olympic silver medalists and three-time World champions’ free dance one more time this season, this time in a show setting. Their second half program, “Slide” by James Bay was a new exhibition program for me. It was a beautiful program. I have watched and covered Chock and Bates since they teamed up in 2011. They haven’t definitively closed the door on their competitive career, but every time I see them, I often wondered if this is the last time I’ll see them skate and I did have that feeling watching them during the show.
You can always count on 2015 U.S. Champion and 2018 Olympic team bronze medalist Jason Brown to have a program that’s full of energy and one that also allows him to interact and have fun with the crowd. And that’s exactly what Brown’s first half program to “Friend Like Me” performed by Ne-Yo was. The program included a coat rack, top hat and chair. Midway through the program, he somehow pulled a baton out of his costume. He switched it up in the second half of the program doing a modified version of his “Spiegel im Spiegel” free program from the 2024-2025 season. Despite the heartbreak that Brown encountered this season with not making the Olympic team, I was extremely glad to still see him a part of the tour this year as he’s so beloved by skating fans.
After Brown, 2026 Olympic gold medalist Amber Glenn returned to the ice for her first full solo performance, skating to “That’s Life” performed by Lady Gaga. She skated this program at exhibitions this season, but I loved the change in costume for the Stars on Ice performances. During the performance, Glenn turned a fall into choreography, which was quite clever and a reminder for everyone that this is all just for fun. For her second half performance, we had our second Madonna program of the show as Glenn skated to her “Like a Prayer” by Madonna short program. If you have listened to the “This Week in Skating” podcast this season, which I co-host with Daphne Backman and Matteo Morelli of Ice-Dance.com, you learned how I thoroughly enjoyed this program this season, so I was quite happy to see it one more time, and based on the audience’s reaction, they enjoyed it as well.
The last solo performance of the first half was from Ilia Malinin, the three-time World champion and Olympic gold medalist. Malinin skated to “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” performed by YUNGBLUD. He skated with a flower that he gave to an audience member sitting rink side. It was a lyrical style piece that grew in intensity toward the end. But Malinin’s second half performance was quite different than his first half one as he came out skating to rapper Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” and then to “Jump Around” by House of Pain. In both performances, Malinin was skating for the audience, whether it was giving out the rose and taking off his long sleeve shirt in his first half performance, or when he got off the ice and hit people’s hands in the second half skate. Every time that Malinin was on the ice or his name was announced, the crowd erupted. The loudest roars of the night came when he executed four back flips in a row.
Before intermission, the cast skated to “Too Darn Hot”, which was this high-energy jazz-pop number. I loved the pink, purple and burgundy colored costumes. As someone who used to dance as a kid, I enjoyed watching them dance out on the ice.
The second group number consisted of Brown, Ponomarenko, Malinin, O’Shea and Torgashev skating to “I Just Might” by Bruno Mars. This group number had me remembering a favorite Stars On Ice program of mine from the 2014 tour, which featured Josh Farris, Charlie White, Ryan Bradley, Brent Bommentre and Jeremy Abbott skating to “The Walker” by Fitz and the Tantrums. I can’t recall another all-male group number since 2014. I love seeing the guys out there just having fun.
Following the men’s number, the guest stars, 2026 World bronze medalists and Olympians Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik skated for the first time during the show. Zingas and Kolesnik were participating in 10 shows, but recently were added to the final three shows of the tour. I’m glad they took part in this tour, even if it was only for some of the shows.
Next up after Zingas and Kolesnik were Olympic gold medalists Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, who skated to “Shallow” performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Due to suffering some injuries while attempting a trick during the earlier shows, the two chose not to skate to their first half number “The 365 Experience” by Pitbull. Despite only doing one solo number, Kam and O’Shea still were enjoying themselves out there and the audience definitely loved their lifts in-person.
The men weren’t the only ones to get a special group number. Glenn, Levito and Liu, together known as the “Blade Angels,” did their own number to “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters. Having seen these three interact at the press conferences at the U.S. Championships in St. Louis, and then cheer on one another at the Olympics, I appreciated getting to see them perform together. The three compliment each other so well and I hope this isn’t the end of the “Blade Angels.”
Prior to the final group number, Liu did skate to the viral song “Stateside” by Pantherese (with Zara Larsson). I loved how she opened the program standing at the skaters’ entrance that had been dolled up with a red curtain. This was her fun exhibition program from the Olympics, which I missed seeing in-person, so I was grateful she chose to do it for Stars so I could see this fun program in-person.
The final group number was “Life in Color” by OneRepublic. The cast came out in black costumes that had pixelated colors throughout. It was so enjoyable, but I wasn’t ready for the show to end. Following the iconic Stars on Ice kick line, Amber Glenn took the microphone and called out the choreographers Kurt Browning and Alissa Czisny, who were both in attendance at my show. Earlier during the show, Glenn told the crowd that the choreographers were in attendance, but unfortunately, she accidentally said Scott Brown instead of saying Kurt Browning’s name. So she corrected herself at the end of the show, and Browning and Czisny came onto the ice and Browning thanked the cast and audience before the skaters exited the ice.
So if you have the opportunity to see this year’s Stars on Ice tour, make sure you go. You won’t regret it. And if you are ever asked to sum up the show in one word, maybe special will be your word too.
Until next season’s tour!
