The Best of Binky's Johnny Weir Blog

Thursday, May 5, 2011

More Ice Dreams Picspam! "Bad Romance" and "Born This Way"

Johnny skates to "Bad Romance" during the second half

of Ice Dreams, in what I believe is one

of his best performances of this program.

"Johnny's on fire tonight!" exclaimed my friend

Judith Dale (ITA, Judith!) She and I were seated

on either side of our mutual friend Robin Fosdick,

who was mostly only able to hyperventilate

while smiling hugely.
BTW both the sound and lighting
for the entire show were excellent!

Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah-ah!

Roma-roma-mamaa!

Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!

Want your bad romance ...

And here's Ice Dreams' closing number
to Lady Gaga's anthem, "Born This Way."
LOVE Johnny's attitude throughout this performance!
Seeing him skate to this particular song
was my own little Ice Dream come true. ♥

Baby, I was born this way!

All photos © David Ingogly.

Coming up: A change of mood with
photos from Johnny's
"Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien"
performance.

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!

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:

"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!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Brief Picspam: "Show Me How You Burlesque"

The opening number from Ice Dreams 2011--
the energy from the skaters was amazing
and they were all so much fun to watch!

Johnny enters at about 3:28 and skates
to his beloved Christina Aguilera's

"Show Me How You Burlesque." ♥

Babydoll just come alive

Under the spotlight

All the girls wanna fall in line ...

Hit it up, get it up, won't let you rest

Hit it up, get it up, this is not a test

Hit it up, get it up, gotta give me your best ...

A little bit of naughty is a little bit nice
He's a whole lot of glam, sweat, sugar, sex, spice ...

All photos © David Ingogly

Yet more Ice Dreams photos / stories
coming up!

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!

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:

"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!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Photopalooza! Part 1 of 8,372! And Stuff I Forgot to Say Yesterday

Johnny responds to questions from the media

during the unveiling of his capsule collection for eDressMe.com.

Photo © David Ingogly.

So we're going to begin at the beginning of Ice Dreams, which includes a few pics of the "Future Stars" rehearsals (the part where those of us in the lobby heard the sudden commotion of cheers and applause and knew that Johnny had arrived on the ice, and also the part where the little girls hung all over him, but sadly we do not have pics of that), and then the glamorous red carpet, for which there was no actual carpet, red or otherwise, but nobody cared because all eyes were on Johnny and his fabulous dress collection as modeled by three impossibly tall and slim young ladies in really really high heels.

But before we start (because once you scroll down, you'll be transfixed and you won't be able to hear anything I have to say or really do anything at all but feel your breathing slow to a Zen-like state while you gaze forever at these pics....), let me say the most important thing that I cannot believe I forgot to say yesterday, which is:

Dear Super Agentress Tara, Executive Producer of Ice Dreams, who conceptualized this year's show as a "DJ Dance Party" and did a fantastic job of inspiring all the skaters, from the littlest on up, to really get into it and let loose on the ice: THANK YOU SO MUCH for an absolutely wonderful evening!!! And thank you again to Kori Ade for her superb choreography--all the group numbers were excellent and expressed the music so well. It was so great to see all the skaters owning that ice--loved it!

OK! Here we go! First a few rehearsal pics:

OMG how cute are they? :)

Photo © David Ingogly.

Johnny's here! Cue Beatlemania-style screaming....

Photo © David Ingogly.

Johnny watches the Future Stars to see if they might benefit

from some pointers from him...

Photo © David Ingogly.

...and he seems pretty pleased with what he sees.

Photo © David Ingogly.

Now it's on to the red carpet event and the premiere of Johnny's eDressMe collection! And may I just say, speaking entirely as a non-fashionista who is still unclear on how to pronounce "tulle" (rhymes with "tool"? or "dull"? Wow. Suddenly a starfish-handed skater is in my head. But he doesn't look good in any of the dresses.) that the photos really do not do the dresses justice. In person you can appreciate so much more of the details, all of which have clearly been carefully conceived and executed for deliberate effect. For example, I didn't realize until I saw them up close that this dress is entirely sequined, but the side panels are a touch silvery for a slimming effect at the waist.

All the dresses are beautiful. And so was the event:

The designer with his models. Photo © Lynn Ingogly.

Photo © David Ingogly.

Johnny steps forward to answer questions from the media.

Love the Loubs. ♥ Photo © Lynn Ingogly.

And now begins the interview portion of our OMGIDIE pageant, the text of which is covered well in this article from the lovely people at Figure Skaters Online. So since they did all the hard work of writing stuff down, we can just sit here and look at the pictures (all photos © David Ingogly):

Oh, wait! Just one more:

LOL.

More--and by "more" of course I mean "an endless stream of"--

Ice Dreams photos coming up!
Actual skating photos! From the skating part!

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!

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:

"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!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Random Stuff I Remember About the Dazzling Awesomeness That Was Ice Dreams 2011

Johnny enjoying a laugh with fans at the Ice Dreams 2011
meet-n-greet, April 30, 2011, Bensenville, IL.
Photo © David Ingogly.

Kayso we just got home a little while ago and are now plowing through more than 1,000 photos of this past weekend (I am not making this up) and so we need to do a little photo editing and also possibly some sleeping although not simultaneously, so today is kind of just Random Stuff I Remember About ... yeah. What it says up there. I'm too tired to type it twice.

Priceless highlight moments:

• Being involved in the ninja operation that is Somehow Getting the "Show Johnny the Love" Gift of Flowers and Special Card Delivered to Johnny Without Annoying Anyone or Over-Obsessing About the Details (note to self: Need more concise mission titles. Like SJTL: Odyssey in Texting). My compatriot in these delicate maneuvers is the founder of the SJTL group, Robin Fosdick, who is even lovelier in person than she is online, as if that were possible. Through a long and complicated set of circumstances, the mission is accomplished, he's very happy with the gorgeous flowers, and is particularly touched by the $350 raised and donated by the group to the Japanese Red Cross.

Johnny with the flowers (note vintage golden swan nestled in the branches!) from the "Show Johnny the Love" Facebook group.

• Conversing in The Edge lobby while preparing to hang the ginormously beautiful banners from the Chinese Angels and suddenly hearing a huge burst of cheers, whistles, and applause coming from the rink where the young skaters are rehearsing. Yep, Johnny has just arrived on the ice.

The banners! We only had room to hang two of them,
but they looked so fab! :) Thank you, Chinese Angels!

• Looking up from the task at hand to suddenly see Tara, in her fabulous pink skates, gliding over to offer a happy hug in the midst of the utter chaos that is 60+ young skaters all doing their own thing.

• Learning later that while seated in the stands watching some of the skaters rehearse, Johnny is surrounded by adoring little girl skaters who, with his kind permission, literally sit and pet him, stroking his hair lovingly. ♥

• Standing alertly and awaiting further instructions re: another volunteer effort, I suddenly hear behind me a brisk but warm voice I immediately recognize from thousands of BGJW viewing hours: "Hello, lady!" It's Patti, accompanied by US Angel Su Anderson. Big smiles and bigger hugs ensue, plus astonished compliments on my non-overalls attire. We discuss being appropriately blinged out for Johnny. Conclusion: "Too much is never enough" continues to be the motto.

• Accompanying another volunteer as a runner for the costuming department, we enter a room to see one more BGJW rock star: OMG it's Stephanie Handler!! I am thrilled to meet her; she is quietly amused at my Binkthusiasm. She's also knee-deep in "Future Stars" costumes, having flown in just that day from New York to help solve an unexpected snafu that has created an enormous challenge for the costuming people. But save the day she does, with assistance from more selfless volunteers. Yes, she is exactly as unassumingly awesome as she appears on the show.

• Sitting next to Robin in the on-ice VIP seating, I am thrilled to be there as she undergoes, wide-eyed and breathless, the unique, heart-pounding, indescribable experience it is to see Johnny skate live for the very first time. She is overwhelmed with the happy.

Johnny during the opening number, skating to

"Show Me How You Burlesque" by Christina Aguilera.

Johnny during the closing number, Lady Gaga's "Born This Way."

• Seeing Fireworks and Friends, which especially includes the indefatigable Josh King and the unflappable Jane Fiore, without whom I think we might have had neither Ice nor Dreams; Kori Ade of the North Shore Ice Arena, who coaches medalists Jason Brown and Jordan Moeller and who created the outstanding choreography for the show; Susan Oh, a fellow freelance writer from Chicago who was covering Ice Dreams for Skating Circle and live-tweeted entertainingly throughout; and Allison Manley, a fascinating skater who competes nearly every year in the US Adult Figure Skating Championships and who is the voice behind The Manleywoman SkateCast.

• Leaving the meet-n-greet for a few minutes to chat with some people, I notice Josh--who could have been taking a break and enjoying the buffet and the music--cheerfully helping The Edge maintenance crew clean up after the show. Which BTW I think was a sellout.

• And my favorite moment: Hearing, as word comes near the end of the meet-n-greet that the bus to take the skaters and their guests back to the hotel is ready to leave, Johnny--who, as always at these events, has stood patiently and graciously for more than two hours in a crush of people, signing autograph after autograph, posing for picture after picture, in a room that is a comfortably warm 450 degrees Fahrenheit--calling urgently across the crowd, above the music and the roar of conversation, to alert the most important person in the whole entire world:

"Mom. Mom! MOM!"

♥

Johnny during the red carpet media event

showcasing the premiere of his eDressMe collection.

More--and by "more" of course I mean "an endless stream of"--

Ice Dreams photos coming up!

I am too wiped to deal with the promos.

Please buy his book and his song and his beautiful dresses,

and go see him at Skate for Hope. Kthxbai.