Champions on Ice a stellar showcase Olympic stars Hamill, Witt, Boitano shine

PORTLAND – It was not just the big names of Champions on Ice, but also those farther down the bill that entertained the crowd Saturday afternoon at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

As water ran down the sidewalk outside, the stars took to the ice inside. Despite a few tired performances, it was a stellar two hours of skating.

A quarter-century after winning her Olympic gold medal, Dorothy Hamill showed that she had lost little of her skills. Pretty in pink, she was grace and elegance personified as she skated to Janis Ian’s “She Must Be Beautiful.”

Katarina Witt may not have all the tricks of today’s stars, but she remains probably the top female entertainer among pro skaters. Provocatively dressed in red, she captured the audience as she skated to a rendition of the classic “Fever” by Dave’s True Story.

Brian Boitano only skated one of his two planned numbers. It was a stretch for him to perform to the technopop of Eiffel 65, but give him credit for continuing to distance himself from his classical past.

Fan favorites Victor Petrenko and Rudy Galindo also quickly won over the crowd. Petrenko, the most Americanized of the former Soviet skaters, skated to the Elvis Presley medley of “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock” while dressed in a striped convict’s outfit. Galindo sparkled (literally) while skating to a medley of songs from Bob Fosse musicals.

But some of the lesser-known skaters grabbed the fans as well. Tiny dynamo Dan Hollander, in a two-piece costume, portrayed both Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd while skating to old Looney Tunes music and dialogue. Men’s pairs skaters Vladimir Besedin and Oleksiy Polishchuk were the world’s slowest acrobats in a jazzy number which showed off the duo’s strength. Swiss champ Lucinda Rue was a spectacular spinner in her performance to Alanis Morissette’s “Prayer Cycle.”

Champions on Ice still seems more like a traveling all-star team than the family that is its chief rival, Stars on Ice. Fortunately, they did work in a pair of group numbers Saturday. But for the skaters involved, Champions on Ice remains a strong showcase.