The Best of Binky's Johnny Weir Blog: just wow

Friday, January 6, 2012

Rumour Has It That This Costume Photographs Really Really Well...

Johnny Weir. Photo © David Ingogly @ Official Johnny Weir Blog.

...as does its wearer.
Here's Johnny during the opening number

of the second act of Holiday Dreams on Ice,

a mashup of Adele's "Rumour Has It"

and "Someone Like You."
New!! Super hi-res version available here.

Kayso I realize I said the other day that we'd just go through these gajillions of photos in chronological order, because that was the only framework by which I felt I could even take a stab at organizing what we have, and technically that means we should be looking at yet more rehearsal pics today. But in scrolling through all 4,450 (!) photos in our library, I became transfixed by this set....

So we're using the tesseract (bonus points if you know the reference) to jump ahead and roll around in this performance today.

Well, half of it, anyway. These take us just about two minutes into the four-minute Adele mashup number, so I'll run the other half on the next entry. Because viewing nearly 50 of these all at once is kind of almost too much to take in....

Also, the other hitch with chronological order is that during the show we encountered some... technical difficulties.

By the time we got to showtime on Friday, the battery in Davey's main camera was at 50% power--which should still be enough to get through a show. Except that it wasn't.

He was nursing it along, turning it off at every opportunity to conserve charge, and it was still holding steady at 50% every time he turned it back on.

And then, just as the first notes of Bad Romance filled the arena, and Johnny came gliding out, Davey got off five quick shots and then... FAIL.

The battery went from 50% to ZERO in ten seconds.

And this was the backup battery--the other one was already dead.

So we spent Johnny's entire Bad Romance performance frantically hauling out Davey's backup camera and shoving the other one back in the bag with muted snarls, and switching lenses and checking and rechecking THIS battery, and finally surfacing just in time to miss. the. whole. thing.

So. We have no Bad Romance shots other than the best one of the five that I ran here last week. Which leaves us with a bit of a gap in our time-space continuum.

But we have lots of these. Lots and lots. And they are really amazing.

So here you go. With more to come.

(As always, please click photos twice for full-size view. Extra-huge versions are available for some photos as noted. This is the first time I've really gotten to see the detailing on this costume--which is the one he wore to premiere "Dirty Love" at Holiday Dreams on Ice in December 2010--and, like all his costumes, it is just wow.)

Super hi-res here.

Bonus video!! Here's the "Rumour Has It/Someone Like You"

performance from the show. Special thanks to Wendy Stevenz

for her stalwart videotaping despite her frozen fingers!!

A Special Message
from a Future Star!

I received an email last week whose subject line was "Misfit Mimes Blogging Revolution," which totally cracked me up.

And I opened it to find this lovely note from Maria Prymak, one of the Future Stars from Holiday Dreams on Ice. I met her beautiful mother, Vlada, at the show, and really enjoyed talking with her.

Maria would like to tell everyone what it was like to be in a Fireworks show:

THE BEST EXPERIENCE!!!

My name is Maria Slava Prymak, and I was fortunate enough to be a "Future Star " in the Holiday Dreams On Ice Show! It was a pleasure to be in the show as well as meeting all the stars, especially Johnny Weir!♥ When I was watching him, and the other stars, it looked so easy and graceful! Thank you so much for the wonderful time and memories.

--Maria Slava Prymak

Maria's mom adds, "By the way, Maria just turned 10 in September. She is a writer, basketball player, and professional model; she speaks three languages; she is a cello and chess player; and the Keystone State figure-skating champion for three years in a row. Please forgive me for my pride."

Vlada, of course you are proud! Maria is amazing, and she was a joy to watch in the show as one of the skaters chosen for a special "step-out" during the Future Stars' performance. Thank you both for sharing your hearts with us!

Johnny Weir @ Official Johnny Weir Blog.

Maria and Johnny.

Photo coutesy of Vlada Prymak.

Maria and her friend, Lily Delle-Levine,

with their HDOI programs

(their names are in the program!!).

Photo courtesy of Vlada Prymak.

Lily and Johnny.

Photo courtesy of Mary Ann Levine.

HEY THIS IS KIND OF SHORT NOTICE BUT IF YOU'RE IN NYC THIS WEEKEND, DON'T MISS THIS GREAT EVENT!! Holiday Dreams on Ice choreographer Shannon Leigh Lenihan is one of the organizers of this beautiful charity show, whose purpose is to help raise money for the fight against breast cancer.

The show is free to the public, but donations are welcome, and VIP tickets are available for just $30.

For more info, please see the press release on IceNetwork, or visit Iced Pink's Facebook page. A wonderful show for a wonderful cause, at a price to suit nearly every budget! BTW fabulous celeb photographer Andrew Werner--who has given us such Johnny gems as this--will be taking pics at the show. Please go if you can--it will be well worth it!

All HDOI photos © David Ingogly.

Return of the Safety pants!!
Get ready: Improv-Ice is coming up on NBC,
Sunday, January 15, at 4 pm EST / 3 pm CST!

Johnny performs to LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It,"

and Styx' "Grand Illusion"--and viewers at home

get to vote to determine which skater

did the best job improvising a program

to the songs chosen for them!!

Photo courtesy of Disson Skating--

see the gallery here!

New Q and A! Go read it now!
Cuz my friend Jen Bee sent in this question

and he answered it!!

Johnny's Glitter and Ice collection
with MAC is selling out fast!

Don't miss your chance to sparkle--
visit a MAC retailer or order online ASAP!

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!"

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!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Russia: The Gift That Keeps on Giving (Or: WOW!)

Johnny skates to Dima Bilan's "Safety,"

St. Petersburg, Russia, March 8, 2011.

Photo by Tatiana Edrenkina, who rocks. Wow.

Yay! He's home! And I'm glad he's back safe and sound and I hope he can get some really good sleep in his own bed yada yada yada but honestly I hardly had time to even glance up when his tweet came through because OH. MY. GOD. THE. PHOTOS. AND. VIDS. FROM. RUSSIA.

Wow: The Sequel. Johnny performs Heartbroken,

St. Petersburg, Russia, March 8, 2011. Photo by Thallja,

who has a truly amazing photo gallery.

Tatiana notes that, in honor of International Women's Day

and "all his ladies," Johnny wore a pink headband

instead of the black one that is usually part of this costume.

A thoughtful and heartfelt Son of Wow to this.

So I think he's home for a week, and then he's off to Japan to commentate on Worlds for JSports which is not actually a media outlet available to me here through Children of the Corn Cable Company, so some of us have been wistfully looking for a possible livestream which thus far has not been a successful venture SWEET WEIRSUS HERE'S SOME EXCELLENT VIDEO:

Beautiful every time. Oh, and there's a funny story

about the music for this performance,

which is to say that there wasn't any--until Tatiana

raced across St. Petersburg and saved the day.

Read her Facebook Note about her adventures in Weirdom

that ended with a thank-you tweet from Johnny!

So anyway: There also are some new items on his Events page, including the annual Skating With the Stars Gala, a fundraising event for the wonderful Figure Skating in Harlem organization! This is happening at Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park on Monday, April 4, from 6 to 9 pm, and it's one of those deals where if you go, you get to Skate. With. Him. Which once again leaves me feeling like if my life were one of those mall maps, everything I want to do is happening at the part of the mall that's farthest from where I am, which is staring uncomprehendingly at the "You Are Here" icon which is actually somewhere outside the mall near the dumpsters and the entrance the rats normally use OMG HAVE YOU SEEN THIS VIDEO AND NO I DON'T CARE THAT HE HAD A SLIGHT FALL EARLY IN THE PERFORMANCE IT HAPPENS TO THE BEST OF THEM (OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE IT JUST HAPPENED TO HIM) BUT WHATEVER THIS COSTUME:

Wow III: Electric Boogaloo.

I really like his interpretation of the song,

especially the ending.

Also there's big news WAIT LOOK MORE VIDEO FROM BEHIND THE SCENES THE BEST PART IS THE 8 SECONDS FROM 2:48 T0 2:56.

LOL.

What was I saying? Oh, yes, the big news: Pop Star On Ice is finally out on DVD!! You can order it from the Pop Star On Ice website (you also can follow them on Twitter: @PopStarOnIce). Of course it doesn't matter that I already have it on iTunes and on my TiVo. It's a DVD. Hello. ALSO THIS BEHIND-THE-SCENES GALLERY ON FACEBOOK OUGHT TO BE OUT ON DVD AS WELL. I LOVE THE RUSSIAN FANS. LOVE THEM.

So wow, wow, wow, and wow some more. We have just an embarrassment of riches from Russia that really has left me little time to pay any attention to whatever what's-his-name is actually doing now that's he's back (hopefully he's just sleeping anyway) because Tatiana keeps posting stuff and now I'm Stuck. On. This. Photo.

Yeah. If you need me, I'll just be over here whispering, "Wow ..." repeatedly to myself ...

Very special thanks to all the Russian fans

who have so generously posted pics and vids

in so many places that I can't even keep up.

You are all fabulous!!

Yes, Ice Dreams is happening again
in Bensenville, IL, on April 30!

Watch for ticket and VIP info coming soon (I hope!)

on Johnny's website and the Ice Dreams Facebook page!

Young skaters: Sign up here to audition!

Please help Johnny meet his goal
of raising $10,000 for breast cancer research
by visiting his donor page! Any amount
you can give will help Skate for Hope
in the fight against cancer.

You also can get tickets NOW to see Johnny

perform in Skate for Hope on
Saturday, June 18, in Columbus, OH!

(Same weekend as the Annually Awesome

Columbus Gay Pride Parade--win-win!)

Johnny tweeted recently: