By Maura Sullivan Hill, Team FSO staff writer<\/p>\n
NASHVILLE, TN — At the 2021 Scott Hamilton and Friends show on Nov. 21, Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic Champion, welcomed the crowd at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and told them, \u201cWe\u2019re here to do better\u2026and to honor those who are deeply in our hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proceeds raised from the show, and an accompanying dinner and auction, support the efforts of Hamilton\u2019s CARES Foundation to fund cancer research. This year\u2019s show will fund Glioblastoma research, in memory of music producer Michael Busbee. His wife, Jessie Busbee, was instrumental in the show\u2019s planning and helped gather the lineup of Grammy Award-winning country stars for the musical performances. She sat front row center at Bridgestone, and Hamilton and the crowd acknowledged her during the show.<\/p>\n
Featuring Olympic and Grammy-Winning Stars<\/strong> Behind the microphone, the show featured musical acts Lady A, Maren Morris, Hunter Hayes, for KING & COUNTRY, Grace Potter, CeCe Winans, and Sixwire, plus surprise performer Carly Pearce.<\/p>\n From Olympians to Local Skaters<\/strong><\/p>\n Backed by the pulsating drums of Christian pop duo for KING & COUNTRY, singing their song \u201cAmen,\u201d the skating cast kicked off the show with a powerful opening number featuring backflips by Abbott, Bradley, and Bald\u00e9.<\/p>\n 2014 Olympian Gold, still on the comeback trail and fresh off a gold medal win at the 2021 U.S. Figure Skating Championship Series competition in Alpharetta, Georgia, performed to \u201cNever Lost\u201d by Grammy-winning Gospel singer CeCe Winans. Her opening triple lutz had incredible height and distance. Gold\u2019s win in Georgia earned her a spot at the 2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which will be held on the same ice at Bridgestone Arena in January.<\/p>\n Grace Potter sang Pink\u2019s hit song with Busbee, \u201cTry,\u201d to accompany a group number featuring skaters from the Scott Hamilton Skating Academy Learn to Skate program, all of whom raised money for the opportunity to participate in the show.<\/p>\n Tributes to Busbee<\/strong><\/p>\n During their performances, the musicians shared memories of and tributes to Busbee, and each of the country artists performed songs they had worked on with Busbee throughout his award-winning career. Artists who couldn\u2019t make it to the show but still wanted to honor Busbee, including Carrie Underwood, Little Big Town, Lauren Alaina, Cassadee Pope, and Andy Grammar, all shared video tributes that played on the jumbotron and display screens throughout the show.<\/p>\n Country artist and 2021 Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year Carly Pearce was the show\u2019s surprise guest, performing a song she wrote in memory of Busbee called \u201cShow Me Around.\u201d The tribute performance was the only one of the evening without an accompanying skating program.<\/p>\n Part of the Team Scott CARES Family<\/strong><\/p>\n Olympic Pairs Bronze Medalist and Team Gold Medalist Meagan Duhamel took the ice with Olympic Team Silver Medalist Dylan Moscovitch for their first performance together. Both skaters competed at the Olympics for Canada with different partners, and when Duhamel\u2019s longtime partner Eric Radford returned to competition this season with a new partner, she teamed up with Moscovitch for show skating. Duhamel exuded joy throughout the program, with a smile on her face the entire time they were skating to \u201cOur Kind of Love\u201d by Lady A. They included a throw double salchow, death spirals, side-by-side double toe loops, and some classic pairs show skating stationary lifts. They did not include any overheard lifts, which is to be expected since their training time has been limited with rink closures and travel restrictions in Canada during the pandemic.<\/p>\n Duhamel shared on Instagram: \u201cTonight was a really emotional night. Not to[sic] long ago, I thought these moments had been taken away from me. I thought I wouldn\u2019t have the chance to do what I loved to do anymore. But I\u2019m so grateful to my agent David Baden for fighting for me and to Scott and his team for welcoming Dylan and I[sic] into the family.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton created the touring Stars on Ice show back in the 1980s, and the show was famous for its creative group numbers. Hamilton told the crowd that show choreographer Jeremy Abbott only had a day and a half to prepare, but they still managed a cowboy-themed guy\u2019s number, with ice dancer Kaitlyn Weaver making a cameo, and a girls\u2019 number, both performed to songs by Hunter Hayes.<\/p>\n Bald\u00e9, who has been bringing skating to new audiences with creative TikTok videos, showcased his trademark energy in his solo performance with for KING & COUNTRY. He repeated the back flip from the opening number, and then, at the end of the show, backflipped over Hamilton, who was lying on the ice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A post shared by E L L A D J B A L D E\u0301 (@elladjbalde)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\nOn the ice, the show cast included Katia Gordeeva, two-time Olympic Pairs Champion; Ilia Kulik, 1998 Olympic Champion; Kaetlyn Osmond, 2018 Olympic Bronze Medalist and World Champion; Jeremy Abbott and Gracie Gold, who individually are U.S. Champions and 2014 Olympic Team Bronze Medalists; Olympic Team Gold Medalist and Pairs Bronze Medalist Meagan Duhamel with Dylan Moscovitch, an Olympic Team Silver Medalist; three-time World Medalists in ice dance Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje; Women\u2019s and Men\u2019s U.S. Champions Alissa Czisny and Ryan Bradley; Canadian men\u2019s national champion Nam Nguyen; and international competitor and social media star Elladj Bald\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n