Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Holiday Dreams on Ice: Picspam Preview

Beautiful Johnny 
at the beginning of Ave Maria 
in Holiday Dreams on Ice, with
the lights of a menorah behind him. 
After the group number, he gave the first
individual performance to open the show. 
Exclusive photo © David Ingogly.



Kayso there I was on Friday night, idly refreshing weather.com and Accuweather.com simultaneously, over and over, waiting for their forecasts for Long Island on Sunday to change from "80% chance of rain" to "it's going to be perfect and gorgeous because Johnny Weir is skating outdoors and HELLO nobody wants to see that get f*cked up."

Which reminded me to also go check thefuckingweather.com ....

But I had pretty much given up on going to Holiday Dreams on Ice, which was scheduled for Sunday (and at which Johnny was planning to premiere his Army of Me program!), because it had a "rain date," and I was really really so not into the idea of driving 800+ miles only to discover immediately upon arrival that I needed to turn around and go home and make the drive again the NEXT weekend because the dreaded "rain date" had, in fact, been invoked, like some ancient two-word curse that calls forth a hideous, dead-eyed demon, clad in unraveling layers of moldy knitwear and oozing a sleety, frothy mixture of...

Oh wait. No, that's Rick Santorum.

Anyway, as I was sitting there with fingers crossed that the rain date, like Santorum's political career, could slink away to mutter impotently on some wackadoodle Internet site and eventually just return to its rotting underground lair from whence it came—suddenly I got word that the show had been moved to an indoor venue and all systems were GO!!

Which meant I needed to be packed and in the car careening down the highway in a scant six hours from that moment if I had any hope at all of getting Davey to the rehearsal which he had just been invited to photograph!

OK then!


So I drove for 14 hours like a maniac! 

And we arrived at our hotel in Long Island just in time to power-nap for about 30 minutes and then try to find our way through dark streets and incredibly hostile drivers (really, Long Island? You people make Chicagoans look like they're all driving under the peaceful spell of Ambien) to the rehearsal arena.

But we did it, thanks to Davey's awesome GPS app and his ability to increasingly exude calmness in direct proportion to the amount of freaking out and foul language happening over on the driver's side of the car... 

And so we got about 1,800+ photographs (which is less than half what we got last year but the rehearsals and the show were shorter) and came barreling home which is another whole story involving a flat tire, a cracked windshield, and fun homeschooling math facts such as: When driving across it, the state of Pennsylvania is four times as wide as Texas, and since then I've been wading through photographs nonstop whilst idly wondering how long I can just leave the suitcase in the car because dragging it up three flights of stairs sounds more herculean than I can manage and couldn't I just keep washing and wearing this same pair of jeans forever...?, so I finally decided to just throw a sort of Whitman's Sampler out here today to at least get us started, with lots more to come.

And in answer to many many many fans' questions: All the elite skaters were wonderful; Johnny skated beautifully; his jumps were flawless; his costumes amazing; yes, he was as patient and kind as ever with everyone in the chaos that was the VIP party...

...and of course it was worth every effing mile.

As always, please click any photo twice for larger view.



Johnny at rehearsal late Saturday night.


With Jason Brown, Max Aaron, and Ross Miner.


Ice dancer Zach Donohue and Johnny 
create their own special brand of magic 
at Saturday's rehearsal...


...and also during dress rehearsal...


...on Sunday.


Johnny during his run-through of 
Army of Me at dress rehearsal.


Reassuring the elves 
during their part with him 
at dress rehearsal.


Show time!! Zach and Emily Hughes with Johnny 
during the opening number: Gangnam Style.


Performing Ave Maria 
to lead off the individual programs.


During the group number about halfway through the show. 
He's wearing a costume made for him as a gift 
from Russian fans and presented to him 
during the Russian fan meeting in November. 
He later tweeted: "I was so honored to perform last night 
in a costume by my Russian fans at weir.ru. 
I felt beautiful and very razzel-dazzle! Спасибо!!!"


Stunning hair and makeup for Army of Me.
Shout-out to Pulse Beauty Academy
whose members traveled from 
Pennsylvania to make this happen.



Bonus pics!! Johnny signs a fan's skates 
at the VIP party.



Bonus video!! Johnny and the other elite skaters 
at their Saturday night rehearsal. 
Taken with my cell phone, so please forgive the 
less-than-stellar quality (although do try to watch it
in HD if you can, which helps). Here they're practicing 
the closing number for the show. Lulzy throughout.


Johnny and ice dancer Zach Donohue 
at Saturday's rehearsal. 
So sorry it's blurry at the beginning!



And finally—yes, here it is: 
Johnny at the beginning of Army of Me, 
in his costume designed by @SenaNYC
Fierce, show-stopping, eye-popping, 
and something only Johnny could wear 
and be perfect in. Which he was.



All exclusive photos 
© David Ingogly.



Set those DVRs!!! 
He tweeted that he'll be 
performing Army of Me!



New pics released from Food Network for the 
Here's Team Guy: Dean McDermott, Chilli, 
Cornelia Guest, and Johnny.


Johnny on the red carpet for the show premiere. 


He'll be playing for the Human Rights Campaign.


Yes!! More Johnny on our TVs!
Check out the Rachael vs. Guy website for more info!



Johnny's blogging regularly 
about his comeback journey for ESPN!! 
His first entry, "A Fresh Start"—personal, honest, 
very Johnny—was posted last Friday and is the source 
of the quote on the Spirit Day photo above. 
Looking forward to reading more from him 
as the season progresses!



Please alert absolutely everyone you've ever met 
to "like" and follow the new 
on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr
Because he should be on all the things. 
With or without ice. 
But definitely with Viacheslav.



Yep, I'm still promoting this silly poll
in which you can vote at least once a day. 
Please vote for Johnny!!



Need to see Season 2 all over again? 
Watch episodes online anytime on Logo!
Please be sure to check in with GetGlue
anytime you're watching the show... 
or thinking about watching the show.... 
or wishing you were watching the show....



HE REALLY, REALLY IS!! 
Landing quads and kicking ass!
Read his comeback statement 
on his website!



Yes, YOU can be a part of Johnny's comeback!  
Please visit Johnny's Comeback Gift Fund today 
and chip in as little as $1 via PayPal. 
Our small gifts can help make his dream of competing 
in his third Olympic Games come true!
And now you can leave a message 
of support for Johnny, too!



Please click to vote for Johnny 
once a day as "Best Sportsman"
Because he retweeted Luisa Lotka to tell us 
he wants us to! (Note: With his "58.132" rating, 
he is currently in 1st place in both 
Figure Skating AND across all sports!)



Q and A! Go read it now!



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:
"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!"

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 2012 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved

1 comment:

aaaack said...

тёма has Johnny's back. Paw-licking good, lol.

Priceless photos and footage.

Always please drive very carefully, Binky.