Michelle Kwan NEWS
Grand Prix Final Short Program Results 1/15/00
The French Grand Prix Final Site has updated with the Results of the Short program: Michelle is still in first place after the event, and she will face Irina Slutskaya, the second place finisher, for the title. Maria Butyrskaya and Julia Soldatova will duel for the 3rd place prize. A silly way to run a competition in my opinion! Best of luck to Michelle as she competes in the final round tonight!
Grand Prix Final Free Program #1 Results 1/14/00
The French Grand Prix Final Site has the results of the first program up! Michelle won the first round, followed in the standings by Irina Slutskaya and Maria Butyrskaya. Michelle skated to her Red Violin long program, and will be using last year's Ariane program for the Super Final Round. She commented on these plans, and of the difficulty of preparing two long programs and competing so much in such a small period of time in this article. Good luck in the short program Michelle!
Grand Prix Final Skate Order 1/13/00
The Grand Prix Final is almost here, and Michelle is currently participating in practice sessions for the event, which takes place Friday and Saturday. The Skate Order has now been released on the French Site, and MIchelle is scheduled to skate 4th, right after Maria Butyrskaya and right before Irina Slutskaya. Best of Luck to Michelle! The first free program is scheduled for Friday, and both the short program and the final round are scheduled for Saturday. Watch ABC on Saturday night to see how it unfolds!
Japan Open Results 1/8/00
First of all Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great time ringing in the year 2000! Michelle started off the new year with another win at the Japan Open-- skating her competetive short program, and her new Jewel Interpretive Free program! You can read about the competition itself here and see a picture of her new costume here
The Japan Open 12/31/99
Michelle has added yet another competition to her busy schedule! It was rumored, but now confirmed, that Michelle will be attending the Japan Open, a competition which takes place on January 4th. This is virtually the first head-to-head competition between Michelle and Maria Butyrskaya, and should be exciting to watch! Michelle mentioned in this article that she will be spending the New Year with her family, and will head off to the competition on New Year's Day. Have a happy and healthy Y2K, everyone! :-)
Winter Michelle News 12/24/99
Once again, I am opening a news section with an apology! I am once again sorry for my lack of updates these past weeks: you'd think from my page that Michelle's done nothing since Skate Canada! Well, Michelle has been quite busy, and so have I for that matter! My first semester of college has kept me quite busy so far, and the stress of the last month was making things quite crazy for me! But I survived my finals, and I also survived getting my wisdom teeth taken out, so now I have a little more time on my hand for this page. Phew! Well, enough about me: onto Michelle:
Michelle qualified quite easily for the Grand Prix Final, as you probably would have imagined with 2 wins! The event will take place in mid-January, so keep your eyes out for either a new program, or perhaps a vintage Michelle program, since skaters in the final are required to skate to 2 DIFFERENT long programs!
Michelle competed in the USFSA Winter Pro-Am competition (another USA verses the World format), and debuted a new exibition program to Jewel's song "Hands".
Michelle's episode of "The Jersey" is set to air in the Disney Channel on Friday, January 7th. Check it out if you are lucky enough to have that station! Knowing pay-cable, it will probably be aired quite a few times on Disney even if you miss it the first time!
Michelle has popped up in quite a few magazines and articles! She was mentioned briefly in a Christine Brennan Article, the January issue of Biography, listed as one of the Most Attractive Female Atheletes, appeared on a local California News Program, and even showed up in Wired Magazine! And all of this on top of finishing her first semester of college! Well, Michelle survived and everybody is now looking foward to the new millenium (well... sorta... ;-)). Have a wonderful holiday to all of you who celebrate, and have a happy and safe New Year!
Skate America and Skate Canada FINALS 11/8/99
Sorry for the lack of updates the past few days! I had a lot of personal things to deal with in addition to the pressures of every-day college-life! Anways, I'm sure you are all aware of how Michelle skated for the long program of Skate America! Just one fall on a triple flip, but an otherwise BEAUTIFUL new program to The Red Violin. The fall obviously didn't hurt the program in the judges' minds: Michelle scored a perfect 6.0 from one judge! Skate Canada, was a little rougher for Michelle (she doubled both of her triple toes from her combination, fell on her loop and doubled her final lutz), but it was rough for ALL of the skaters (some mentioned poor ice conditions). Michelle, her usual self, made no excuses and both she and her coach saw it as a learning experience: that Michelle isn't the best all of the time. The new schedule is an adjustment for Michelle, and I'm sure she's learning from every success and failure on the way.
Skate America Short Program Results 10/30/99
Michelle performed her new Short program to the Beatles song "A Day in the Life" last night at Skate America, and performed it as well as she probably could! She performed a double axel, triple lutz/double toe, and a triple toe, and earned a perfect 6.0 from the Russian Judge (which surpised Frank Carroll more than anyone!). The USFSA has posted this pic of Michelle, in addition to the full results. Michelle will skate 9th out of 11 in the Free Skate tonight.
Michelle's New Long Program 10/28/99
According to a Press Conference That Michelle had this afternoon, her new long program will indeed be to The Red Violin as originally speculated! I can't wait to see it! You can check out this page as a source of reviews from the competion, including practice sessions that won't be on TV. Now let's just hope that I get skating this time instead of auto-racing... ;-)
Michelle's Computer Game & Site of the Year 10/27/99
Michelle's new game is now avaiable for purchase! Order it today! In addition, I have been informed that my site was nominated for the MKGA Site of the Year! So Vote for me if you feel that I deserve it!
Michelle at the MASTERS and some new Pictures 10/17/99
Yesterday, Michelle competed for the second time in the Masters of Figure Skating competition, where she debuted her new ISU short program; it is to a Jeff Beck version of the Beatles tune ``A Day in the Life." She wears a red dress, one arm sleeveless dress, and overall a new kind of style for Michelle, who is probably experimenting with some new ideas for upcoming season! Well, Michelle skated flawlessly, and earned first place after the short program, which she followed up with ANOTHER flawless skate in the interpretive program to her Romeo and Juliet program. There are no pictures up that I know of yet, but there are some really cute photos of Michelle with Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, showing each other their moves ;-).
Michelle Kwan TRW Poster & Keri Lotion Pics 10/8/99
Recently in USA-Weekend, there was an article about Michelle and her involvement in the Teen Read Week: Heather Winfield typed it up and housed it on her server here. Also is a GREAT picture of Michelle sporting her new longer hairdo. There is also a poster of Michelle encouraging children to read which you can view here. You can order one here for around $10.00. And for those of you who are dying to see Michelle's new 'do' and her new costume, check out these photos from the competition!
Keri Lotion Figure Skating Results 10/2/99
The results of the Keri Lotion are in: and Team USA was defeated by Team Russia! As for Michelle's program, she skated to the song "Kissing You" from the William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet soundtrack (that's the Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes version), and wore a lavender dress with long sleeves. This competiton will be aired in a week on October 10th.
Michelle Kwan Chat Transcript 10/2/99
AOL released an offical transcript of the Michelle Kwan Online Chat! You can read it here if you have AOL. Otherwise, I copied it here. AOL did correct spelling and grammar, which was good because I had a small grammar error with my question! Serves me right for typing so fast!
Michelle Kwan Chat & Masters 9/28/99
Well, Michelle's online chat took place this evening and lasted for about a half hour! For those of you who missed it or didn't have AOL, Michelle didn't say anything we didn't really already know, but it was a lot of fun to see Michelle answer her fans' questions in her own words. One of my questions even got asked! I asked Michelle if we could expect anything new this season, and MIchelle's response was that she might try pairs skating! Of course she was joking, but it definitly got a smile out of me. I would post what of the chat I was able to save, but I don't want to get into copyright trouble with AOL! (I WILL post the link ASAP) All I can say is that Michelle constantly impresses me with her poise and her positive outlook towards skating and life. I truly enjoyed the chat.
On another note, Michelle has entered another competition: The Masters of Figure Skating which takes place on October 16th. She will be facing Maria Butyrskaya for the first time since Worlds last year, and is planning to debut her new short program. I can't wait to read the reviews! Click here to read an article about it.
Press Conference Notes & Romeo and Juliet 9/23/99
In addition to commiting to Skate America *officially*, Michelle recently took part in a press conference in which she spoke about the upcoming start to college at UCLA (where she will be living in the dorms like most of the freshmen). In addition she mentioned that she will unvail two new programs at Skate America in addition to a NEW interpretive free program to Romeo & Juiet which will be unvailed at the Keri Lotion Figure Skating Classic. Now *my* curiosity is WHICH Romeo & Juliet since there are quite a few famous ones! But I definitly have my favorites... ;-) You can read a selection of quotes from this conference here.
Michelle Confirms Skate America 9/22/99
Michelle has officially commited to Skate America, according to this article from the Chicago Tribune. Indeed Michelle's agent was working out a new contract because Michelle is competing in extra events, including another pro-am for the USFSA, so her contract should rightfully reflect that. Just today, the USFSA also confirmed Michelle's confirmation by adding her to the list of participants. Michelle said she missed not being a part of the Grand Prix series last year, and looks foward to the challenge.
A Michelle Kwan Online Chat! 9/22/99
Michelle is going to take part in her first Online Chat on Tuesday, September 28th at 7:30PM! This is a great opportunity for Michelle Kwan fans to ask all the questions they are wondering, and that everyone is speculating on. The chat is via AOL, but don't worry if you're NOT on AOL because there will be a transcript available ASAP. I look foward to being there :-)
Skate America Confusion 9/20/99
This is a little late, but Skate American seems to be again an issue for Michelle this year. Last year as you remember, the USFSA wouldn't give Michelle the vacant spot on the roster that they promised her due to threats from the ISU regarding sactions on the events. This year, Michelle is AGAIN missing from the roster, despite assurances that she has indeed signed up. Philip Hersh, who writes articles for the Chicago Tribune, has mentioned that Michelle's agent is trying to renegotiate her contract to cover the changing demands of the ISU/USFSA. I personally remain hopeful. I don't see what happened last year to happen again.
Michelle to act in a TV Show 9/4/99
Some Michelle Kwan fans in LA saw a story about Michelle on the news! Turns out, she is going to be acting in a new Disney Series called "The Jersey", playing herself. The clip showed Michelle skating in pracice clothes, and it appeared to be during filming! So on top of skating competetivly and getting an education at UCLA, Michelle is going to be acting too! I guess there's nothing wrong with a little fun thrown in: I'm going to be balancing orchestra against MY freshman college schedule so I know I'm going to be busy too :-). You can check out the thread on the MK Forum here.
Keri Lotion Figure Skating Classic 9/2/99
Some news about this year's Keri Lotion competition: This year it is going to be a USA verses Russia competition. Michelle is competing along with Angela Nikodinov, Sarah Hughes, Sasha Cohen, Todd Eldredge, Michael Weiss, Tom Goebel, and Matt Savoie and they are competing against Alexei Yagudin, Maria Butyrskaya and some of the other top Russian Skaters. This competition takes place on October 2nd. Check out the USFSA's Press Release and don't forget to watch it on TV on October 10th from 4-6PM EST.
2000 Skating Calendar 8/25/99
I know it's only August, but those of you who want to get a head start on shopping for your Y2K Calendars, there's one skating calendar already available. Since they had stopped selling the US Figure Skating Team Calendar last year (I don't know about this year), I bought this calendar for 1999. It's got exquisite colorful photos, and each page contains a photo as the "background" as well. For 2000, Michelle graces the month of February. In addition, there are several "inserts" that come with the calendar. If you order from Canada you get Canadian Skaters, and if you order from the United State, you get some United States skaters, including a second print of Michelle. You can preview and order the calendar by clicking here.
'The Winning Attitude' Now Available 8/24/99
Michelle's newest book, "The Winning Attitude" is now avaiable for order at any of the major online booksellers (Check your local stores to see if it's in stock yet). If you want to order it now, just click here. The book is designed to give advice to all people whether it be sports, academics, music, etc. and contains lots of photos of Michelle.
Michelle's New Programs 8/12/99
If you are anything like me, you are very very curious and excited about what Michelle has in store for us this season. She has committed to the Grand Prix, and has voiced that she wants to compete in all the big competitions while also attending school. We have also heard rumors that she may use "The Red Violin" for her long program. Well, jkovner of the MK Forum has seen Michelle's new programs! jkovner doesn't want to tell us EVERYTHING since Michelle may not want that, but has described Michelle's short as being sexy, and her long as being creative, dark, and passionate. Also mentioned was Michelle landing some triple axels in practice! Check out the descriptions yourself!
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"Pavane For A Dead Princes" by RAVEL. While this piece has nothing to do with Michelle, I played the orchestrated arrangement in my area orchestra and I thought it was beautiful