1998 Pro Am. "East of Eden"

[rockgor]

Great skating by Michelle Kwan. Great music by Lee Holdridge.

Thanks for the exciting post.

[truthfullyours1]

Wow! Now that is Beautiful Skating!!!! I just love Michelle Kwan. I miss her. It's just not the same anymore, without her. I used to look forward to the competitions every year, when I knew she was going to compete. Although, I am very proud of her and all her accomplishments and her contributions to the Figure Skating World. She will always be a True Legend and the Greatest Figure Skater of All Time, IMO. Thank You Michelle Kwan! I am fortunate to have witnessed your talents.God Bless!

[joydarling314]

@truthfullyours1  I agree

[beegirllw]

I find it hilarious that skating fans are still arguing over Michelle. LOL I guess that says it all about The Kween...this skate was in 98 and it still elicits such a viceral response from viewers. Love it. Love her.

[idolfan9495]

I especially love the sequence at 2:01. 16 seconds all on one foot--very difficult. I especially like the way she finishes it, with a simple, but beautiful, three-turn.

[joydarling314]

@idolfan9495 That's my favorite to she looks like she's flying

[idolfan9495]

Why bother to respond to the troll allengland/getreal? Give her the thumbs-down and the posts will disappear. She/he is like an obscene phone caller that gets off on the responses. Ignore the troll!

[allenglandlawns]

@idolfan9495 Oh you Kwanatics can't seem to get enough of me and the other realists! =) I don't care if you fruit loops never respond to me again (shows that you can't handle differing views) but I will continue to post whatever, whenever, wherever, and however I please.

[allenglandlawns]

"what you see is what you get"...Absolutely! Skating looks simple and easy because it IS simple and easy...at least compared to what the REAL athletes do. Kwan set such a low standard in skating and proved that all you need to do to "win" is to stick that leg in the air, wiggle, jiggle, and smile that crooked grin. No stress for her. OMG what a joke.

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns You're the one that's a joke with your dishonest and vindictive posts. You just keep getting more and more nasty. There is so much anger in your comments. You're acting like a jealous and crazy fan... Grow the hell up!

[allenglandlawns]

@Karosanyo More and more nasty? How so? I am hardly angry... just opinionated and very type-happy. If you want jealous and crazy fans, you won't have to look far. There are crazed and rabid Kwanatics who are vocal and violent against true athletes like Tara and Sarah. Probably jealous and bitter that their Kween couldn't cut it at the Olympics despite all the help.

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns Are you actually serious? Calling someone a "joke" and making fun of their appearence isn't nasty? Your posts ARE getting more and more nasty. You are hardly angry? BS! Crazed and rabid Kwanatics? Do two wrong make a right?

[allenglandlawns]

@Karosanyo The "crooked smile" notes are unwarranted and I apologize. I do think Michelle is a very pretty girl. What I don't think is pretty is that she spent years perfecting that dopey-faced expressions instead of upping the ante and flashing that smile when she received inflated marks or 1sts she in no way deserved.

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns Calling someone a "joke" is unwarranted as well.... Kwan never received inflated marks at world level....

[allenglandlawns]

@Karosanyo Like that of the smiles, I am referring to her a joke of an athlete...though she is also very spoiled and arrogant as well. She made a mockery of the sport and true athletes... her chicken-hearted approach, assumption of 6s/golds. Inflated marks? Take a gander at 99 worlds. A silver and 5.9s for those lovely splats. That IS a joke. As for nats...exhibit A....2000 nats...Kwan goes boom boom and touts another one of Sasha's wins.

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns Why do you feel that Kwan is very spoiled and arrogant? Kwan was great for this sport and was a true athlete and artist. Assumption of 6s? How do you know? Why are you always attacking this woman? This is very sick.1999 Worlds? She landed 6 triples and deserved that silver (that program was so masterful). The 2000 Nationals is debatable. Sasha was propped up...exhibit A...2006 Olympics. Kwan never won a medal at Worlds or the Olympics with less than 5 triples....

[allenglandlawns]

@Karosanyo It's right there in front of you. Her actions, her words, her methods... she just comes across as such a fake and a phony. Scripted... spouts lots of cliches.. .just doesn't seem honest. She's ALL image...no substance...as a person imo and athlete. A media creation that lionizes a 2-D figure but under that thin veil is a self-absorbed, attention hog... not to mention mediocre skater and athlete. An image with a huge fanbase? Yes... and lots of money? Yes... but is the image real? No.

[allenglandlawns]

@Karosanyo 2000 nats debatable? If it was such a CLOSE call for Kwan, then why on earth did Sasha not receive a SINGLE first place ordinal? What part of that competition (as with any she entered...esp nats) doesn't SCREAM pre-determined? And she in NO way deserved 4th after the short at 99 worlds. Was there anyone else even competing?

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns Because the judges liked kwan's program and performance better (her jumps were stronger than Sasha's). All of Kwan's competitions were pre-determined? That's truly ludicrous. Kwan was never propped up at World level (remember what they did to her at the 2004 Worlds?). Yes, Kwan deserved 4th after the SP (her program was superior). You just sem like a very bitter Sasha fan. She was a skater that never had a clean LP at a major (she could fall all over the place and still medal).

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns You and I have been over this topic over and over. Doesn't this get tiresome for you?

[idolfan9495]

@Karosanyo Why answer the troll? Just give her the thumbs down. I'm sure she obsessively checks her inbox for replies to her comments. She is an attention-seeker. The best way to deal with people like this is to ignore them.

[Karosanyo]

@idolfan9495 That's true.

[idolfan9495]

The troll with multiple names thrives on responses--especially when the responder is angry. Just like an obscene phone caller. Best to ignore her and give her the thumbs down. If enough people do it, the troll's posts will disapppear.

[allenglandlawns]

Kwan? Mental toughness? And wasn't it lovely to see her skate like a deer in headlights in both Nagano and SLC.

[getrealandsee]

@allenglandlawns It would be easy to have 'mental toughness' if you were sure that the gold was yours before you bothered to show up...and Kwan had that advantage throughout the years..one of the absolute funniest comments made by a commentator is: 'she's vulnerable and she knows it'...and then the SHOCKER: she fell, she downgraded jumps, she messed up and well....we all know the outcome. Kwan Knew so go figure (pun intended) she was so confident. INTEGRITY? No way does Kwan have that..no way!

[acuison1]

Who is this witch talking? She's no professional you can be sure of that.

[idolfan9495]

Hmm--Yu Na trains at the Kwan family rink and is coached by Michelle's brother-in-law (and probably Karen, too). Do you think she might be hoping some of Michelle's artistry might rub off? I love Yu Na, but she has not done well at Worlds, considering her talent. She should have won 4 WC's by now, but failed in winnable competitions. I'm hoping she wins her second this week.

[allenglandlawns]

@idolfan9495 Michelle rubbing her artistry on Yuna? That is just complete garbage! Yuna is LIGHT YEARS ahead of Kwan and has an OGM to prove it. Kwan should be glad that Yuna decided to skate at her rink (probably bring more prestige and attention which is something Kwan loves to tout).

[getrealandsee]

@allenglandlawns How right you are. OMG Michelle's rink graced by an OGM and the best skater of all time...of course Kwan has to brag and boast about it...it's just as she always says...'other skaters are awed that they are on the same ice as Michelle Kwan'...the ice rink reads: 'home of Michelle Kwan'...Kwan is really desperate to stay in the spotlight and to remain relevant in the ice skating world. She rubs shoulders with the best, bestows advice, and has her nose pressed up against the glass

[getrealandsee]

Some months ago she noticed Kwan practicing (and nailing) that very same combination, and she was shocked to think her rival could appropriate what had become her trademark move. CNN/SI....ingegrity, eh? This is from an article regarding the 1998 Olympic Gold Medalist...Tara Lipinski...Kwan integrity??

Oh and where were those nerves of steel at the ...let's see...how many Olympics??? It's easy to be calm when you know that the outcome is predetermined..as usual..here's another fru fru gold!!

[Karosanyo]

@getrealandsee Michelle Kwan still gave a great performance at the 1998 Olympics (landing seven triples). She did not skate her best like at the Nationals that year, but she was close. She was better than ALL of the previous OGM winners. Only ONE female skater has skated her very best after winning the SP at the Olympics (Yuna). Yuna truly hit her all time peak there (she never had a clean LP at a major). She was lucky.

[Karosanyo]

@getrealandsee You stated how much you liked this EOE performance on here (one of the few times that you were truly honest about Michelle). You also stated this you dislike all of the praise that she gets on these boards. It's like you have a vendetta...

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns No, this is why Michelle is one of the great skaters of all time. NOBODY could match the elegance and emotion that Michelle delivered here. Simple programs? Michelle almost always had difficult programs (in terms of choreography and a lot of triples). Michelle landed seven perfect triples with very difficult choreography in her technical program at this competition. This was Michelle's artistic program. I think that it's one of the great masterpieces in figure skating history.

[JNagarya]

@allenglandlawns That is false, of course, as it requires at least as much physical strength and fine muscle control to be so delicate and sensitive as it does to bull onesle like a Harding or Bonaly. Figure skating isn't intended to be football or wrestling; rather, when balanced as Kwan is, it is intelligent.

[idolfan9495]

@allenglandlawns Anyone who has ever skated knows that the amazing edging that Michelle does in this program, starting at around 2:01, is far from "simple." Likewise the split failing leaf and the spread eagles across nearly the entire length of the ice. Few skaters do moves like this, because they can't. And Michelle was no slouch when it came to jumping, either. She routinely did 6 and 7 triple long programs, which are increasingly rare these days.

[JNagarya]

@idolfan9495 And she does so much innovation. Not only are the moves that appear simple actually difficult, no one else did them, so no one was copied. Virtually all other skaters do the same things as each other. And it is those "simple" moves that are so effective, both visually and emotionally. And it takese much work to work through the process of complexity to simplicity without losing anything. Michelle Kwan does that repeatedly.

[RothdeMan]

@JNagarya ITA. And that "simple" comment just shows an abundance of ignorance when it comes to the art of figure skating. Those "simple" moves are incredibly difficult. And show how amazing Michelle Kwan is to make them look so "simple".

[allenglandlawns]

@RothdeMan If she's SO good at doing difficult moves, she should have upped her ante like her contemporaries did, but instead kept milking her 'heartfelt' spirals and choreography. SHE was the ignorant one for continuing on her SIMPLE programs while cheating the sport from moving forward. Kwan is also simply a JOKE to skating.

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns Cheating the sport from moving forward? Please elaborate. The only thing that Michelle Kwan lacked was a more difficult triple-triple... She usually did seven to six triples with difficult choreography. She also had the best spiral ever (nobody can match her edging and speed in her spirals). A joke to skating? No, that would be Oksana and Sasha (two mediocre skaters that never had a seven triple performance at a major). Oksana was gifted her World and OGM titles...

[allenglandlawns]

@Karosanyo I already sent you the links a while ago about the sports illustrated article by em swift. As a template role model for aspiring young athletes, Kwan never pushed herself to the highest athletic rigors and standards of the sport like TRUE role models and champions do. As a result of Kwan's terrible example, both on AND off the ice, American skating suffers a lack of female champions and media interest today. She never held the torch as a champion so had NOTHING to pass on.

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns I never read that article because the link did not work. I have to disagree with their opinion if they stated that Kwan was a bad role model. I think that is absurd. All is she lacked was a more difficult triple-triple (I know a lot of skaters who never pushed their presentation and skated the same programs). Kwan is a terrible role modle off the ice? I disagree with that statement. Kwan was a great role model (even Yuna has stated so).

[allenglandlawns]

@Karosanyo Great role model for Yuna? Yuna may have said it to comfort Kwan (who needs to rub shoulders with the greats), but Kwan being Yuna's role model seems very incongruous. Surely Yuna doesn't admire Kwan's Olympic meltdown's and scared cat routines. Yuna skates the most difficult programs with courage, fire and grace to WIN the OGM which is something Kwan obviously doesn't do. That's my opinion and it would take a lot more than deluded rants from desperate Kwanatics to change it.

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns Actually, it's the deluded Kwan detractors that are truly desperate and sad. Why would anyone read about someone, watch their programs over and over, and watch their interviews over and over if they genuinely dislike someone and think that they're overrated and a awful person? I also find that most of these detractors are not very honest with their views... You have a wonderful holiday!

[JNagarya]

@allenglandlawns Are you calling Yu-Na Kim a liar? Yes, I believe you are.

And I'm sure you know her as well as you know Kwan: not at all.

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns Sasha is the one who was a terrible role model on ice (she NEVER skated a clean seven triple LP at a major).

[allenglandlawns]

@Karosanyo Sasha had the most phenomenal sets of skills on ice and worked and pushed herself to be the best skater she could be despite her shortcomings in performance. She also had the humility to compete to qualify for Vancouver. Sounds like a great role model to me. Kwan could plant buttprints on ice with safe programs and always think she's good enough for gold.

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns The only sets of skills that Sasha had was her butt on the ice time and time again. When did Sasha ever skate a 7 triple performance at a major? She never skate a 7 triple performance at a major even with an "easy" triple-triple. Kwan did that many times. Her artistry was also very repetitious (I could NEVER see her skating to TRV or TFB). She had humility to qualify for Vancouver? Do you really want to open this can of worms again? Please. Sasha was a loser.

[TinyAva93]

@Karosanyo HAHA I LOVE THIS POST! It pretty much sums up everything I feel about that spoiled little princess, Sasha. What a waste of ice she was!

[JNagarya]

@allenglandlawns No one believes a word you write -- and they are correct not to believe your bald-faced absurdities.

[TinyAva93]

@allenglandlawns Sasha "worked and pushed herself?" really? She was one of the laziest skaters of all time! Stupid broad thought she could take almost four years off and then show up at Nationals ready to "earn" a place on the Olympic team. HA! Guess she should have "worked and pushed herself" just a little more, maybe she could have managed one or two clean triples in her freeskate.

[getrealandsee]

@TinyAva93 She tried. She worked, pushed, and was better than Kwan ...in fact Sasha's worst skate was better than Kwan's best. Sasha wasn't competing on a level playing field and she knew that and so did anyone else who skated during the era of Kwan. Sasha is not stupid nor is she a broad. Sasha loved and respected the sport and her competitors...she DID what Kwan only said: I don't want a bye...if I can walk I can skate...where's the blood?? Kwan could afford to be horribly lazy and complacent!

[TinyAva93]

@getrealandsee Sasha's worst better than Michelle's best? Absolutely not! Sorry, but Michelle's five World titles and nine national titles speak for themselves. How many of those does Sasha have? Yeah. And then there are Michelle's TWO Olympic medals copmpared to Sasha's one. And don't feed me that crap that Sasha wasn't competing on an even playing field. Judges were dying to give Sasha titles, but she never earned them. She was stupid, with the worst work ethic of any elite athlete I've seen.

[allenglandlawns]

@TinyAva93 And Shelly does earn them? Trip, splatter, buttprints on simple jumps. Triple-triples? Gasp! No worries Kwan. Just show up and stick that big old leg in the air...we'll give you the gold no matter what. Sasha is always pushing it...new programs, new spins, new jumps (she was attempting quads and risky triple-triples)...but alas Kwan gets 6s just for showing up by skating same, safe, and easy...yeah work ethic there LOL. And that SLC bronze was earned by Sasha; taken home by Kwan.

[TinyAva93]

@allenglandlawns Just keep telling yourself that, if thats what it takes for you to be able to sleep soundly at night. Yeah, Sasha had nice spins, but did Michelle ever fall out of a camel spin? Not that I know of. And how many times did Michelle fall while simply stroking? I can think of at least two times that Sasha did. Sorry, but being flexible and talking about a quad that never was landed in a competition doesn't count for anything if you don't practice and your head is up your rear.

[getrealandsee]

@TinyAva93 Well, Sasha doesn't HAVE them but it sure doesn't mean that she didn't EARN them...which is the whole point of my comments for the most part. NO NO NO NO ONE was playing on a level playing field when Kwan was hanging on and on and on....NO ONE! Sasha EARNED the bronze in SLC...Kwan just took it home to add to her 'collection' and brag book. Sasha worst is better than Kwan's best. Period! And Sasha isn't stupid either. She's just honest unlike Kwan.

[allenglandlawns]

@Karosanyo Yuna LUCKY? True champions rise to the occasion when it truly matters no matter what. It wasn't luck that Yuna just happened to skate clean. She had the steely nerves and mettle to pull it off under EVEN MORE pressure than anywhere else. Not only from herself, but from her whole country who were willing to disown her if she slipped up. She delivered royally with a risky program when it counted. Both the courage and skill to do that is something Kwan can NEVER EVER tout.

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns Kwan DID rise to the occasion at the 1998 Olympics! She landed seven triples (she just wasn't free like she was at Nationals). Yes, Yuna hit her all time peak at the Olympics (she NEVER a a clean LP). Yuna also stated that Michelle's '98 Olympic performance was her favorite performance by a female skater... Yuna also took some of Michelle's choreography for her LP. You would have a point if Michelle never skated a clean LP, or if the Olympics were ever year, but... 

[allenglandlawns]

@Karosanyo Yuna took some choreography? What did Kwan have a legal right to own it? Kwan does a triple salchow. Does that mean Kwan borrowed that jump from Salchow himself? If Kwan DID rise to the occasion, she would have skated a program as hard as Tara's with courage, fire, and grace. Instead she skated like a scared cat with her safe programs. No courage to go for a 3/3, flip in the short, and skate with fire. Tara and Yuna had it all like true champions that rises to the moment should.

[Karosanyo]

@allenglandlawns LOL! You're actually comparing a triple (a required element) to taking choreography from someone else's program??? Yuna has stated over and over that Michelle was a role model, and that she is her favorite skater of all time. I'll take Kwan over Yuna any day (Kwan's artistry wasn't pretentious). That's very ignorant of you to state that Yuna may have said it to comfort Kwan. I disagree with your theory. Yuna has stated that Kwan's '98 Olympic performance was her favorite.

[JNagarya]

@allenglandlawns T(i)ar's program was a child's cartoon for a child cartoon. What bothered most about T(i)ara's jumps was her landing and stopping, so as not to lose her balance.

Her entitled "My shit don't smell" attitude was not "fire"; it was unfounded arrogance.

[raymonda100]

I'm so sick of having the viewing experience ruined by commentators who don't know when to BE QUIET. 

[raymonda100]

I saw this performance and was stunned by the emotion she projected to the entire stadium. Her artistry goes way beyond technique and musical interpretation.

[cw6391]

i actually prefer the 2001 version of this, but this is still one of her absolute best.

[MsGraceGold]

Someone needs to upload the NBC version without commentary, this version with all the chatter just kills me. This is Kwan's peak performance of her career!

[idolfan9495]

@MsGraceGold I uploaded it a few days ago. It isn't the best quality but there is no commentary during the performance.

[idolfan9495]

She does an amazing 16 seconds all on one foot, starting at 2:01. And then there is the split falling leaf at 2:35 into a spread eagle across the length of the ice. Just perfect.--figure skating at its absolute best.

[Karosanyo]

This was one performance where the commentator should have been SILENT ! It's a masterpiece of skating. Where's the version with Sandra Bezic ?

[CerebralMadness]

You can feel her spirit through her skating

[courtneysk8s]

I swear, she's not even human. There is something so very special about Michelle.

[sk8412c]

i think the commentary is fine - does anybody know who the commentator is?

[acuison1]

Who the heck is this amateur commentator?

[rjn1124]

I will never tire of this beautiful performance. Second to none. Why on earth can't we have the commentary AFTER the performance. When a performance like this comes along why can't the "experts' realize what they are witnessing and just SHUT UP until it's over.

[getrealandsee]

Absolutely gorgeous program and this music is haunting. I love it and while I am not a Kwan fan this performance was truly beautiful and East of Eden is perfect for Michelle's style of skating.

[JNagarya]

@getrealandsee "East of Eden" seems to be a kind of touchstone for her, perhaps a yardstick against which she measured her growth. She began her career with it, at thirteen, and returned to it from time to time, over the years, as both short and long program versions, and as an exhibition skate.

One of her great performances of it as an exhibition skate was at a Skate Canada. Almost all of the first minute is intricate one-foot moves. And see her 1996 Worlds exhibition of it, at fifteen.

[getrealandsee]

@JNagarya It's good that we finally agree on something:) This truly is beautiful. I will look for the programs you mentioned and thanks for the info.

[nodlon20]

She becomes one with the music. When you can control your body to that point, you're almost at a higher level of existence, I think!! Wow!

[IngerNilsen]

chills.

[MrHanMi]

Don't know which network this was, but when NBC carried this performance, commentator Sandra Bezic had the good grace and wonderful sense to SHUT UP during the entire skate.

Also, NBC apparently had a direct line to the recorded music - here, they're using the microphones in the rink to pick up "East of Eden" off the public address speakers, so the music sounds muddy.

[ShamusMacGuffin]

@MrHanMi And Sandra doesn't always have the good sense to shut up sometimes, which is why the NBC broadcast of this performance was special.

[JNagarya]

@MrHanMi It's a Japanese feed. And I don't have the problem you do with the commentary: it is accurate and correct.

And the music is fine.

And this is Kwan at her most beautiful, her most exquisite. Her most mesmerizing.

[kate515]

(Y) michelle is my idol really

her and Mirai Nagasu and the reasons I started skating,

I started late when i was about 12, but i still believe I can be as good as someone who started when they were 6 if I work hardest :)

[cerdanM]

I never get tired of watching this lady either. Everything this anouncer says is true about her. especially the serenity(her movements are so delicate), feelings(and the honesty in those feelings), when she skates. That is what draws us to the performance. I mention a lot that i perfer her spiral over Sasha's. Why? Because of the feeling and control of the spiral. And she can do much more with it because she can control the edge so well. And i think the position is great too. Thank you Michelle.

[TinyAva93]

@cerdanM Totally agree with you! Especially about the spirals, Michelle's are better than Sasha's, for the reasons you mentioned and because Michelle didn't need a million crossovers to get into them, like Sasha did.

[rbred378]

I can keep watching Michelle forever even she is just gliding across the ice... so beautiful.

[jprush]

The music is from the 1981 made for tv movie based on John Steinbeck's novel "East of Eden" This is the Maintitle and it was composed by Lee Holdridge.

[MaxWonder2008]

This is David Copperfield's Flying's music!

[noyski]

i really love the music

michelle made me cry!!!!!

[wheella]

I felt the music as she skated. That was beautiful. I tried looking for the music on the itune store but couldn't fine it. Can someone help me out please? :-)

[dumduckie14]

wheella

this music is from a 1960's miniseries with Jane Seymour called East of Eden. I love it two and bought the album years ago.

[MrHanMi]

It's on iTunes now. Search out "East Eden Holdridge finale."

[rwz7]

Michelle Kwan is one of the best figure skaters in history if there is no best.

[naphilim]

Michelle !