Beautiful Kai Is Back and as Magical as Ever

Johnny as Enchanted Kai in Evgeni Plushenko’s Snow King 2. Exclusive photo © Elena Vasileva.

---

Snow King 2, Evgeni Plushenko’s sequel to his 2014 smash hit Snow King, premiered in Moscow over the weekend to sellout crowds for a 15-show run throughout the holiday season.

Johnny at Practice Is Perfect

Johnny at Snow King 2 rehearsal on December 25. Exclusive photo © Elena Vasileva.

---

Before the perfection of performance, first there are hours and hours and HOURS of grueling practices.

Johnny Returns to His Beloved Russia

Johnny chats with fans after arriving at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, Russia, on Monday. Exclusive photo © Elena Vasileva. Gorgeous peonies—his favorite and a rare find in Moscow in December!—also from Elena. More exclusives below!

---

Johnny is back in beautiful Mother Russia this week to reprise his role as Kai in Evgeni Plushenko’s Snow King - 2, the follow-up to last year’s wildly successful Snow King.

’Tis the Season . . .

...to take a closer look at Johnny clad in sheer red lace. Fortunately we have lots of new pics to enable us to do just that. Exclusive photo © David Keyser.

---

Yes, ’tis the season indeed. For those of us who couldn’t get enough of this costume from Johnny’s Bryant Park tree-lighting performance — or weren’t aware until that moment just how sheer it actually is, which apparently includes Johnny himself — behold, we have a whole new series of picspam to help clarify things. So to speak.

Count Weircula Plays in Peoria

Johnny as Dracula in Nancy Kerrigan’s Halloween on Ice during the tour’s stop in my hometown: Peoria, IL. It was his twelfth performance in three weeks, with a not-fully-healed right ankle, and he was, as always, absolutely amazing. Exclusive photo © David Keyser.

---

Yes, there's more Halloween on Ice tour picspam! And video! Because who doesn’t want a gazillion new pics of Johnny skating in (a) a sheer red lace bodysuit or (b) a dramatic silken cloak, portraying the Vampire King as only he can? (Haha wait is that even a question...?)

Halloween on Ice: Spellbound

Johnny during his grand entrance as Dracula at the end of Act I in Nancy Kerrigan’s Halloween on Ice, flying around the arena with the help of John Coughlin and Brent Bommentre. Exclusive photo © David Keyser. 40+ amazing photos plus exclusive video below!

---

Today’s picspam offers an unparalleled compilation of fabulousness in vampirism.

Johnny Weir: The Vampire King

Johnny in his starring role as ‘Dracula, King of the Vampires,’ in Nancy Kerrigan’s Halloween on Ice, from the performance in Syracuse, NY. Detail of an exclusive photo © David Keyser. Full image below!

---

Yes, I realize that we just want to GET TO THE PHOTOS, so let me be brief: Halloween on Ice is AMAZING.

Hauntingly Beautiful Creep

Johnny near the end of his stunning performance to Kim Nicky’s ‘Creep’ at an Evening With Champions. Exclusive photo © David Keyser. Please click to see the huge full-size image in all its breathtaking detail.

---

Like 2014’s ‘Human,’ Johnny’s ‘Creep’ seems deeply personal, a theme for a lifetime of skating and living to his own beat, leading with his heart, without apology, and answering to no one.

Sultry Carmen Stuns Evening With Champions

Johnny during his Carmen performance Friday night at An Evening With Champions. Exclusive photo © David Keyser. Please click this supersize pic to enjoy it in all its splendor.

---

At last our coverage of An Evening With Champions begins! And we’re going to get right to it with Johnny’s ‘Carmen,’ which surprised attendees as the first solo program of the show both nights. Not sure some of them will ever recover...

The (Un)Glamorous World of Figure Skating Show Rehearsals

Johnny at rehearsal in Sun Valley before that evening’s performance. Exclusive photo © David Keyser.

---

Our Sun Valley coverage continues with another glimpse of the skating world beyond the dazzling three or four minutes that we see Johnny on the ice in a show.

Before that moment ever happens, there is endless rehearsal time, alone and with other cast members of whatever show he’s starring in. It’s humbling to see how hard all these skaters work to entertain the rest of us, and how much they love what they do.

And thanks to Johnny’s unbridled spirit and sense of humor, a lot of that rehearsal time is also pretty dazzling.

The Most Fun Anyone Could Possibly Have Skating a Finale to 'Cotton-Eyed Joe'

Under a golden spotlight, Johnny waves to fans during the finale skate-around at the end of the Sun Valley on Ice show. Exclusive photo © David Keyser.

---

So we have now come to the last three minutes of the Sun Valley show, and IDEK how to explain the lolworthy insanity happening here.

Sun Valley Serendipity

Johnny chats with fans after arriving in Sun Valley just hours before he was scheduled to perform, thanks to a truly outstanding series of travel snafus. Exclusive photo © David Keyser.

---

Our Sun Valley coverage continues merrily meandering along its completely non-chronological path with today’s picspam covering Johnny’s arrival in Sun Valley some 24 hours later than expected.

Carmen Visits Sun Valley

Johnny during his ‘Carmen’ performance in Sun Valley. Detail of full-length image below. Exclusive photo © David Keyser.

---

So each year that I’ve gone to Sun Valley, there’s been that moment when Johnny is stepping onto the ice to perform and I’m glancing around at the audience thinking, Will this play well here . . . ?

Three Minutes in Black and White

When Johnny is on the ice, I think I can look into Johnny’s soul. . . . I could watch Johnny skate and never jump. — Patti Weir

Exclusive photo © David Keyser.

---

Beautiful Creep in Sun Valley

Johnny at the beginning of his performance to ‘Creep’ in Sun Valley. Detail of full-length image below. Exclusive photo © David Keyser.

---

Once again Sun Valley proved to be worth every mile traveled by car, airplane, kayak, snowshoe, pack mule, sherpa, and on foot, which BTW I believe are all the modes of transportation Johnny used to actually arrive there last Saturday—nearly 24 hours later than planned, and with bonus random stop in Grand Junction, CO, for apparently no reason at all other than to make sure that he arrived back in SLC just in time to miss his second booked flight to Sun Valley Friday night. OK then.

Artistry on Ice 2015: Four Cities, Five Days, a Thousand Amazing Moments

Johnny in the spotlight as he is introduced to the crowd at Artistry on Ice in Shanghai. Exclusive photo © Joveta Leo.

---

I am awash in so much Weibo-y goodness that it has taken me forever to figure out where to even start with the glorious madness that is/was (how is it already over??) the Artistry on Ice tour this year.

Johnny Returns to Japan!

Johnny at Narita airport today. Exclusive photo © Nanako Ugajin. Full set of exclusives below!

---

Summer touring season kicks off this week with Fantasy on Ice, which begins Friday in Makuhari. Here’s a look at Johnny’s arrival in Tokyo today at about 2 pm local time (around midnight here in the US), and the happy welcome he received from his beloved Japanese Angels. ❤️

---

'Rolling Ball of Sparkle': The Legendary AOI Shanghai Press Conference

With the announcement of the Artistry on Ice 2015 show dates, we are all pleasantly reminded of the glorious on- and off-ice shenanigans that inevitably accompany this tour. But nothing has ever topped this classic moment: the June 2013 AOI press conference in Shanghai, brought to you predictably by Johnny and Stéphane, with surprising cameos by Kurt Browning and ... Patrick Chan.

Please join me in reliving the happy insanity of the best press conference ever.

The Weibocalypse Has Been Scheduled

Johnny as the King’s Consort in “Farewell My Concubine / When Love Is Gone,” from the Artistry on Ice 2014 tour. He played the role as part of a groundbreaking and extremely well-received male/male pairs routine with partner Zhang Hao. Please click to see the gorgeous full-size image.

---

So Johnny's summer touring season kicks off just two weeks from today with Fantasy on Ice in Japan. The other big news this week: Artistry on Ice 2015 tour dates have been announced! And that means the Weibocalypse — the avalanche of AOI photos and videos that engulfs fandom every summer via the Chinese microblog site Weibo, thanks to the amazing generosity of Johnny's Chinese fans — is nigh.

Sun-Drenched Johnny in Sun Valley

Johnny at rehearsal, Sun Valley, Idaho, August 2014.
Exclusive photo © David Keyser.

---

#FBF Picspam ... and Flowers

Beautiful Johnny with beautiful flowers
at the Evening With Champions VIP meet-n-greet
after the Friday show.
Exclusive photo © David Keyser

---

Beautiful Human

Art is one thing that can go on mattering
once it has stopped hurting. — Elizabeth Bowen

---

Here Are a Bunch of Pics of Johnny Sitting at a Table. You're Welcome.

Even just preparing to take his seat at a press conference, he’s lovely.

---

So among the enormous backlog of photos languishing in my computer gathering virtual dust was this beautiful series from Elena Vasileva of Johnny at the Snow King press conference, held after the show’s debut in Moscow back in early December. I ran a few of these then, but here at last are the rest of them.

Because It's Monday...

Johnny at Evening with Champions rehearsal.
Exclusive photo © David Keyser.

---

. . . so obviously we need some picspam.

Happy 5th Blogoversary!

Johnny and Binky, from 2010 to now.

---