Ok, finally.. I've never seen KOI before, so I didn't know exactly, what to expect. I had 4 main reasons to travel to Poland to see the show: Stephane, Plushenko, Irina Slutskaya and Edvin Marton.
I was late (as always.. I don't have a sense of time at all, as some of you know, and I can't help it), so when I arrived to Arena, the opening number had already started. Actually I almost missed my flight to Poland for a start, because I was late and then I almost missed my train from Krakow (where I went so I could visit Auschwitz Memorial from there) to Warsaw at the day of the show, because I was late..
So let's start with those 4 who brought me to this show:
Stephane, Oh Stephane...! I'll never stop being amazed about the way he moves on the ice, how smoothly his skates cut the ice and how beautifully he uses his body as a tool for expression. He first skated "Sense". While watching it, I got a feeling, in a positive way, that he skated "only for himself" and it was quite beautiful to watch. His second number was "Nessun Dorma", which for me felt extremely intensive and his presence felt very strong. Audience stood up for Stephane, I think he was the most loved skater there among Plushenko. Still I think that more intimate, small arenas suits better for Stephane, where the contact with the audience is different.
Irina Slutskaya, one of my three all-time favorite women skaters (with Mao Asada and Liza Tuktamysheva).. I've been wishing so long to have a chance to see her skating live - this was the first time ever. And while she was on the ice, I understood how much I still miss her in competitions after all these years. Everybody do admire these days young Russian girls doing their biellmann's, but oh yes, Irina's biellmann is still extremely beautiful and she's what...36 years old?
Then Plushenko.. I know this is not a right forum to praise Plushenko, but...
Let's get 5 years back in time. Vancouver Olympics 2010...
I had 3 real favorites: Stephane, Plushenko and Johnny Weir. I felt each of them was under scored, and each of them should have ended at least one place higher in the final results, in my opinion. So, when Plushenko skated at the OG Gala his bitter "Je Suis Malade", it summed up the whole bitterness of those Olympic Games, as well my disappointment with the judges. So for me it was not just "Plushenko's program", it was also like a symbol for my disappointment about the way Stephane, Zhenya and Johnny were judged.
After the Olympics, I never watched it ("Je Suis Malade") again, not even once, though I have it recorded on my DVR. And now, unexpectedly I saw it live in front of my eyes. It got me totally emotional. I'm not a type who cries easily, but I cried and there was almost no end for those tears.
For the rest of the show.. First things first: the Polish audience was wonderful! I'm sure every skater felt himself/herself respected. I didn't like the arena, as you had to sit far away from the ice, but the acoustics was perfect, and hearing Edvin Marton's music live in such environment was really one of the high lights of the show. Speaking of lights.. those ugly big blinding spot lights were horrible!
Young, 12 years old Lisa Nugumanova was fresh like a spring, I really liked her, another promising talent from Russia. The young Russian boy, Pyotr Gumennik didn't impress me that much. Misha Ge was energetic and positive as he tends to be, and I do like him, so seeing him live was nice. I also liked Fiona Zaldua & Dmitri Sukhanov, especially their "November Rain" was rocking. That song reminds me of my teen years..
Call me humorless person, but I don't like "funny" programs.. I prefer beautiful choreographies and the harmony of music and movement. So Tomas Verner, Besedin & Polishuk and Sergey Yakimenko's acrobatics didn't give me much. I've seen both Besedin's & Polishuk's programs live before and one time would have been enough for me..
The rest of the skaters (Lech & Maestu, Dytrt & Bonheur, and a couple named Natalia & Maxim, whose last names I forgot and whose program reminded me of some "Dancing on ice" -episode), were not good or bad either.
After all, I'm sooooooo happy I traveled to see this show. It was a good experience and I will do it again some day.
P.S. As Marion said, only few persons from this forum at the show, 20 000 tickets sold and we end up sitting right next to each other. What a nice coincidence! I recognized Marion right away because of her banner
Edit: fixing some grammar mistakes and typing errors.