Johnny listens intently
during conversation with his wonderful Russian fans
who greeted him at the airport in Moscow on Thursday.
Photo © Irina Volkova.
See all of Irina's beautiful gallery here!
OK! So Johnny and Tara are safely in Russia, under the care and guidance of the fabulous Arthur Lookyanov who BTW has a new Facebook fan page that needs some "likes," so please run over there and show him some love and then come back to enjoy these gorgeous pics.....
We begin with Johnny's arrival in Russia yesterday around 11 a.m. Moscow time, as captured by two lovely and talented fans, Irina Agaeva and Irina Volkova.
IMPORTANT! Irina Volkova also brings us BIG NEWS: They are hoping to broadcast this Sunday's fan meeting in Moscow LIVE on Twitter via "TwitCam"!!
Irina will tweet the link to the livestream on Sunday, December 11, between 10 and 11 am Moscow time, which will be 1 to 2 am EST / midnight to 1 am CDT for US fans. As soon as she tweets it, we'll pass the word around Twitter and Facebook. You can find Irina on Twitter at @diva_de_lys. So excited--can't wait for this!! Fingers crossed that we can make it work!
(As always, please click photos twice for full-size view. Some of these are pleasingly huuuuuuge!)
Flowers!
Photo © Irina Volkova.
Photo © Irina Agaeva.
Photo © Irina Agaeva.
Photo © Irina Agaeva.
Photo © Irina Agaeva.
Photo © Irina Agaeva.
Photo © Irina Agaeva.
Photo © Irina Volkova.
Photo © Irina Agaeva.
Photo © Irina Volkova.
Photo © Irina Volkova.
And then they were off to enjoy a jam-packed day, as seen here via exclusive photos from Super Managtress Tara and additional photos from Arthur. Captions in quotes provided by Tara.
"Random old scary Russian car.
Arthur has a better one."
Good to know.
Good to know.
Travelogue videos!! Posted by Tara on Facebook.
"We just arrived ... here come the stories..."
Film synopsis: Arthur explains what's new in Russia;
"MAC" vs. "Mac" discussion; hilarity ensues.
The Red Square Series.
Johnny tweeted this pic around 4 pm Moscow time.
Cheburashka!
Photo posted by Tara on Facebook....
...and the camera pulls back to reveal--
they've been shopping! Of course.
More Johnny and Cheb!
Photo © Arthur Lookyanov.
And Tara and Cheb!
Photo © Arthur Lookyanov.
Johnny and Tara. ♥
Photo © Arthur Lookyanov.
Video posted by Johnny on his fan page:
"Tara and I having fun in Red Square!"
And Tara was kind enough
to send a screencap also!
Their beautiful hotel.
Please click twice for full-size view--it's so pretty!
Tara explains the history: "Our hotel is one
of the 'Seven Sisters' [a group of Moscow skyscrapers
known as 'Stalin's high-rises']. Johnny says it used to be
old and yuck. It was renovated last year, and now
it looks and feels like a palace!
Arthur says it's considered one of the
nicest hotels in Moscow."
Johnny getting ready for rehearsal.
Tara notes, "There are like 5,550 skaters in this show.
Johnny is the only American.
We are very, very honored to be here!"
The show, called "City Lights," is a production
of Ilya Averbukh's Ice Symphony company;
read more about the show here.
Rehearsal meeting.
"Johnny is in the front of the group,
so you can't really see him. His buddy through practice
was Alexei Yagudin, and they are both smaller
than the Russian pair and dance guys,
so they stand in the front.
Other skaters in the show are
Maxim Marinin and Tatiana Totmianina;
Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov;
Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov;
and ice acrobats, Vladimir Besedin and Alexei Polishchuk."
Bonus pic!! From Irina Volkova, who says:
"This photo has a story. Johnny was leaving,
and I said, 'Oh, Johnny, please, look at the camera,'
so he turned around and made this face!"
LOL. Photo © Irina Volkova.
Bonus video!! Exclusive from generous Tara:
A peek backstage at Johnny's costume fitting for the show.
Fans say he'll be performing to Charlie Chaplin's "Smile,"
a song he tweeted about earlier this year....
More bonus video! Johnny tweeted this happy news yesterday:
"Be Good Johnny Weir is coming to Sweden!
Starting 5 January 2012 on TNT7 Sweden! Yay!"
Love this promo.
Don't miss this new interview with Johnny:
Yes, OK, the title sounds a tad... dry,
but the CNN Dialogues event promises to be
fascinating, and better yet: There's a personal interview
with Johnny at the end of this article
that is a happy MUST-READ!!
HEY!!! We did it!!
Johnny is a finalist for
"Must-Follow Athlete on Social Media"
in the 5th Annual Mashable Awards!!
IT'S KIND OF A BIG DEAL. Mashable gets more than 50 million page views per month, and has been named by Time Magazine as one of the top 25 blogs on the Internet.
He's up against some stiff competition from Yuna Kim and John Cena, among others, but hey--we're really good at voting, and since he tweeted about it and is promo'ing it on his website, let's make it happen!
He's also in some amazing company: As Megan Gusinski pointed out, finalists in other categories include The Trevor Project, NOH8, GLAAD, and Ellen Degeneres, so you might want to do some additional voting while you're on Mashable's site.
Voting ends on Friday, December 16, and the winners will be announced on Monday, December 19. Just click the graphic above or at the top righthand side of the blog to be taken directly to the voting page for Johnny.
You can vote once per day per Twitter and Facebook account. Please VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!
HURRY!! Today is the LAST DAY
to book your Holiday Dreams On Ice rooms
at the Sheraton Philadelphia University City,
the official Holiday Dreams On Ice hotel,
and get the special discount rate!!
The Sheraton also will be hosting the VIP after-show party.
More info on the Holiday Dreams On Ice website!
to book your Holiday Dreams On Ice rooms
at the Sheraton Philadelphia University City,
the official Holiday Dreams On Ice hotel,
and get the special discount rate!!
The Sheraton also will be hosting the VIP after-show party.
More info on the Holiday Dreams On Ice website!
"Like" HDOI on Facebook,
and use promo code "philadelphia"
for 50% off your general admission ticket!!
New Q and A! Go read it now!
At last: Pop Star On Ice is now available on DVD!
Order yours today from the Pop Star On Ice website!
"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.
IN THE SAME WAY THAT IT NEEDS AIR.
You know what to do.
or just click the "Buy" button on the player
at the top of the blog!
at the top of the blog!
Hey, Welcome to My World also is available
as an eBook! More info on Johnny's website!
Bonus video via The Advocate, from their post titled:
"Possibly the Most Beautiful Ad for Marriage Equality We've Seen."
The video was produced by an equality group in Australia,
where nearly two-thirds of voters favor legalizing
gay marriage, according to The Advocate,
but prime minister Julia Gillard remains firmly opposed.
I agree with The Advocate:
This is one of the most eloquent illustrations I've seen
of this simple concept: Love is love.
6 comments:
"“The only thing that I want to get across is to be a cheerleader for people who didn’t come from bad families and haven’t had a super difficult time. While that might not be super interesting that’s who I am,” Weir says. “My family has always supported me.”"
I think Johnny has definitely a point here. While there still needs a lot to be done regarding acceptance of gay life and gay rights either in family or in publicity, there also are happy stories which need to be told. Johnny has one of them to tell.
Of course, these stories don´t attract as much attention in the media as a tragic one. But these stories are important as well. So...power to him.
Also, thank you for posting all these pics from Moscow, including the vids so kindly provided by Tara.
So much here!!! I WANT MORE VIDEO! More skipping! More stories! More costume fitting! Will the lovely kitten techies be loading the live fan tweet onto YouTube for those of us who won't be home to watch live?
Moscow is so beautiful now that capitalism is there (I was there in '84). Amazing!! I'm glad their subways are still pristine and beautiful.
Thanks so much to the Russian fans, Tara and Binky who keep us posted on what is happening in Russia.
Sounds like a wonderful performance of City Lights in the making. My husband and I went through a period when we were watching Charlie Chaplin films one after another. City Lights on ice sounds like a terrific combination. Bread, youtube (vs. circuses), and ice!
oh! was i supposed to comment?
too busy watching Johnny trying on his costume. hee hee!
Johnny is looking very sexy with that scruff of his! hope he sent Vitya some pics to appreciate!
shopping, new Chebs, skipping, and lots of pics for the Kittens back home = LOVE LOVE!! ♥ ♥
just came back and read the interview about the CNN/Emory talk . . .
very, very cool. visibility and talking about things is much needed. my personal opinion: having a GSA at a school or a Queer Teen Book Club at your local library along with everything else helps make queer teens part of the landscape. normal, if you will.
anyway, Johnny used the "F" word! fiance has such a lovely ring to it, doesn't it?
when are we gonna see a ring? hmm?
I didn't know about Arthur's other page, but I have now liked it. Got to love Tara and Johnny in Red Square!
Every time I hear about one of these fan meetings and I see these videos and photos I am amazed by the wonderful, giving, caring fans Johnny has attracted. Those few rude fans (we know who they are) are an aberration...
Funny, but it just now popped into my head how in one episode of 'Criminal Minds' Gideon used Charlie Chaplin to help the team laugh and relax after a particularly brutal case. Would love to see Johnny's Chaplin performance in person!
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