The Best of Binky's Johnny Weir Blog: 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

upcoming season of Rachael Vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off!!

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

Johnny Weir To Host SNL! (Yes Please) campaign

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!