Monday, July 18, 2011

China: Backstage in Beijing

Or: Here Are Some Photos from Day ... 3? ...4? ... Some Kind of Blast Furnace of a Day That Had the Word "Day" in It.

Johnny during his Bad Romance performance
at Saturday night's Artistry On Ice show (source).
There are literally hundreds of stunning photos from AOI
available at Weibo, a Chinese microblogging site,
if you have the patience and wherewithal
to attempt to create an account there.
Many thanks to Wendy Stevenz and Tatiana Edrenkina,
who are among those who successfully did just that
in order to share these riches with other fans!
Some photos have been posted or linked
to Johnny's Facebook fan page--definitely worth a look!



It's been a little intense here at the Haus of Bink lately, beginning with the slow and lingering demise of my computer which started last Wednesday with a Blue Screen of Death. And then another one. And another one. And another one ...

By Friday night, having run every malware scan known to humankind and coming up empty, it began to dawn on me that this was likely a hardware failure of epic proportions. And as I was pondering the implications of that, an ASAP project came in that required immediate attention at the exact same moment that my Internet service provider suddenly stopped providing anything at all except nonsensical blinking modem lights, AND I got another BSOD.

So that was exciting.

More than three hours later, with the help of Davey and his supercomputer and his mad technogeek skillz and my backup ISP, a project that should have taken oh maybe 45 minutes was completed just in time for my PC to blue screen. Again.

So Saturday I was busy buying, hauling home, and installing a new monster computer that has more storage space than my house and more RAM than God, and then I spent forever possibly longer transferring stuff (which of course takes extra time when the old PC continues to blue screen at ever-shorter intervals, sort of like labor contractions only without the rewarding baby part at the end), and THEN I discovered that with this amazing new PC I am only able to blog from Google Chrome rather than IE8 at the moment for a lot of complicated reasons that no one cares about because HELLO DID ERIC SEND ANY NEW PICS?

Why yes. Yes, he did.

And they caught me a little off-guard.

In between reinstalling programs, resetting various settings, reacquainting myself with the contents of all my backup storage devices (photos. Of my kids. Oh, and a few of Johnny) and swearing A LOT even for me, I enjoyed way too much Starbucks and a plethora of truly outstanding pics from Weibo of Johnny's performances in Beijing. He was absolutely on fire, feeling the love and the energy from the crowd, as he always does, and in turn delivering phenomenally fierce skating plus attitude.

And then Eric's equally fabulous pics came, and I leafed through them immediately, and the effect in total was--a tiny bit haunting. And maybe it's just me plus not enough sleep plus a lot of other stuff. IDK.

I know Johnny loves what he does. I know he chooses to do it, and he chooses to do all that he has to do in order to perform the way that he does and to stay connected with all his fans around the globe. I know he loves his fans and always gives them the very best that he can give.

And he makes everything look so effortless that it's easy to forget what it takes to dazzle his audience as only he can.

But sometimes I think the ice chose him.

And it's a harsh and pitiless taskmaster that demands his all--and then some.

Seeing through Eric's eyes what Johnny does to bring his art and his soul to the ice--and to his fans worldwide--is a tiny reminder of what it costs to be truly great at something. Even something one loves to do.

Thank you, Eric, for this brief and intriguing (and still funny) glimpse of Johnny behind the scenes in Beijing.



Saturday morning I wake up to Eric's email containing photos of Saturday night's performance. Which is a little mind bendy.

Eric writes: "Sending pics now ... We just got back from the first show [it was nearly midnight for them]. Gmail is sooooooooooooo slow here, it takes like 30-45 min just to sign in ..." (And I thought my ISP sucked balls.)

Captions in quotes provided by Eric. Click any picture for a full-size view.



Saturday, 07/16/2011, 4 p.m.

"At rehearsal that was like 10,000 hours long ... "


"... I give Johnny soooooooo much credit.
This is extremely hard work and not for amateurs."


"Johnny in his NEW Gaga costume holding a fan to his head ...
Isn't an ICE rink supposed to be COLD??????"



Saturday, 07/16/2011,  pre-show.
Johnny being Johnny. Plus bonus fan.


"Always pushing boundaries ..."


"A fan made by a fan."
Thank Weirsus. Because apparently there just aren't
enough fans in Beijing to even begin to conquer the heat.



Saturday, 07/16/2011: SHOWTIME.

"Johnny's hair for his Gaga performance ... 
We were inspired by the mighty panda."


"A long, lonely walk down an empty arena hallway."




Posing for endless pictures.
"Johnny with his Chinese skating friends."



"Coming off the ice after Gaga--with panda eyes."


"The finale ... 
I'm so tired my head just fell into my computer. 
... good night ... "



Sunday, 07/17/2011, 12:16 p.m.

The boys get to enjoy a little time off.
Eric says, "Johnny dragged me to Prada, Louis Vuitton,
Chanel, and his favorite, Hermes ..."
The idea of Johnny dragging Eric anywhere
he really doesn't want to go cracks me up.
The Irresistible Force Meets the Immovable Object.
And this round goes to irresistibility ...



Sunday, 07/17/2011: SHOWTIME!

"Tonight's hair and make-up."
Time to do it all over again--with just as much
ferociousness and showmanship
as the night before.



Sunday, 07/17/2011, 11 p.m.
Afterward.

Fans waiting for Johnny.


Countless shutters clicking at once ...


... and--exhausted, still overheated, yet gracious
as always--Johnny is willingly engulfed by fans.



Bonus pics! More from Weibo!
Johnny performs to Edith Piaf's
"Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" (source).


The ending pose from Sunday night's Bad Romance (source).


And an amazing Bad Romance collage! (source).
Definitely click this one or the source link
for full-size view!



Yes! There's video! Here's Johnny's Bad Romance
from Saturday--it's a MUST-SEE, especially because
at the very beginning, the big monitors in the arena
show the video shoot that he did
from which Eric shared those glorious pics!
Also I love that the hood to this costume
flies off during the first jump to reveal
his amazing "panda hair" created by Eric.



Programming note: These aren't the droids you're looking for. There was a bit of a disturbance in the Force recently, of which some of you may be aware. Fortunately, our heroine survives handily to fight another day alongside other champions of truth, whilst the Evil Empire is rocked by scandal in the name of my friend Karma, who is a fierce bitch ... 



Johnny and Eric are in China!
Best wishes to them
for safe travels and wonderful shows!
Need to know when Johnny is?
Check the handy clock in the upper right part
of the blog for the current day and time in China!



Very, very special thanks
to Beauty Bear Eric Alt
for all the amazing picspam!!
And guess what: It's official!
From Eric's Facebook fan page:
"Eric Alt working in China with Johnny Weir
has a surprise guest to style ..."
It's Sarah Jessica Parker!



Yes! Johnny's dresses are now available
for purchase only on eDressMe.com!



At last: Pop Star On Ice is now available on DVD!
Order yours today from the Pop Star On Ice website!



Johnny tweeted recently:
"Buy my single,'Dirty Love' via iTunes.
Tell all your friends to as well. The more copies sold
takes me one step closer to making a video! №1!"
THE WORLD NEEDS THIS VIDEO
IN THE SAME WAY THAT IT NEEDS AIR.
You know what to do.
Please buy the song from Johnny's website,
or just click the "Buy" button on the player
at the top of the blog!



Hey, Welcome to My World also is available
as an eBook! More info on Johnny's website!


copyright 2011 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved

6 comments:

Maggie St. said...

Thanks once again Binky...Eric...Johnny. Just when I think Johnny can't get any more fierce, any more amazing...he does. Happy to feel I have a "front row seat" to this amazing man's Life.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the pics again Eric!!! and thanks for the great blog MM!

Yes, Johnny makes skating look effortless. anyone who has gotten on the ice for even a minute knows it is NOT...His skating never ceases to amaze me! and I absolutely LOVE his new Gaga Costume!

Beth

aaaack said...

Thank goodness, Binky, you are back online and those keys are listening to you again instead of doing the key equivalent of twiddling/headbanging. Your blog is a lifeline for us fans.

The world is never quite right when a computer is on the blink. Meanwhile your adrenal glands have doubled in size, out-poured a Niagara Falls worth of adrenalin, and shrunk back to half their original size afterwards from the exertion. Hope your BSOD days are over.

Thank you, Eric, for bringing a great treasure trove of photos. Not surprisingly, you bear a resemblance to Budai/Hotei, the Laughing Buddha (it's traditionally good luck to rub Budai's round belly) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotei

The photos of Johnny reminded me of Nijinsky. Beautiful and ethereal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaslav_Nijinsky

WheresMyKoppy said...

Those first two pics from Eric in that costume make it look pretty darn sheer, lol!

I'm sorry, but when I was reading your description of your computer issues I was trying not to laugh. It's not the situation, it's the way you describe it, lol!

thanks for the pics and the video, and so glad for Tara's response to what happened. And you have to love Eric, he's the best!

Princess Johnny-Love ♥ said...

Johnny's a rockstar? no, he's a sexy panda that's bewitching us all. ♥

love the hair, makeup, and new costume . . . and the performance was awesome! it's amazing how it still enthralls me, even though i've seen it so many times.

watching this made me think of the first time i saw Johnny live, and nearly ripping Binky's arm off in total SQUEEness as soon as Johnny took the ice!

a shout out to Eric: your pics are amazing! you need to go away with Johnny more often. please?

and props to Tara for being strong and taking the high road.

xo

Robin

aaaack said...

P.S. Can Johnny make a dress version of that velvet skating outfit? Beautiful lines.