Michelle had a pre-Nationals teleconference on Thursday, December 30. She revealed that she will have new costumes (burnt red for her short program, and gold for the long program) made by Vera Wang. She also confirmed that her short program is to Spartacus. For more information, check out elleshang's teleconference summary on MKF and the article, Michelle Kwan is Set to Defend Her Title. I'm sure more articles will pop up over the next few days.

I wrote earlier that Michelle was one of the nominees for the United States Sports Academy Athlete of the Year award for 2004. The winner was announced on Dec 25, and Michelle came in second! For more information, check out the article Kwan First Runner-Up in U.S. Sports Academy Female Athlete of the Year Voting

I wrote earlier that Michelle is in the January 2005 issue of Glamour magazine. uncchristine99 scanned it in. Check it out! (Thanks uncchristine99!)

Michelle will be part of the Heart Truth's red dress campaign during New York's fashion week! The campaign builds awareness about heart disease among women ages 40 to 60. The following is from the article Serious message behind red dress:

Alina e-mailed me the following event Michelle will be attending:(Thanks Alina!)

Tickets are available by calling the Figure Skating in Harlem Benefit Office at 212 786-6186. For more information, e-mail info@figureskatinginharlem.org.

Here are the mentions of Michelle in the December 2004 issue of Skating Magazine.(This magazine is only available by subscription, but you can order back issues of the magazine.)

• Cover
• Ad for 2005 Nationals. Main picture is a beautiful picture of The Feeling Begins from Nationals...page 2
• Cover picture in the table of contents...page 3
• Article where skaters are asked to share holiday memories. Under "Favorite Part of the Season," Michelle is quoted as saying, "I always look forward to Christmas because I can spend it with my family. Now that I have a niece it's hard because my sister's taking care of the baby, so Christmas will probably be the only time we're all together."...pages 10-11
• Ad for ABC sports, is a picture of a falling leaf during Aranjuez. The back page also says that in the January issue, there will be an article "Michelle Kwan: Then and Now"...Back cover

Michelle is on the cover of the Jan/Feb 2005 issue of International Figure Skating magazine, with a nice article inside. The article contains several other pictures, including of her Simpsons drawing (the episode airs after the Super Bowl.) There's also a nice review of this site (thanks IFS!) I'll post more about this issue when I receive it.

I wrote earlier about Michelle having a cameo in the movie Ice Princess, which comes out on March 15, 2005. Cognosco posted on the MK Forum that the trailer for the movie is now available! You can watch it on Dark Horizon's site. The clip is a quicktime video and is 7.5 MB. The clip with Michelle is 2:07 into the trailer. Check out some screencaps of Michelle from the trailer: (Thanks Cognosco and Hayley!)

• Michelle and Brian #1
• Michelle and Brian #2
• Michelle and Brian #3
• Michelle and Brian #4
• Michelle and Brian #5

Michelle is one of the nominees for the United States Sports Academy Athlete of the Year award for 2004!! Michelle has been nominated twice before, finishing 2nd in 2003, and 3rd in 2001. You can vote for Michelle to win, with voting ending on Dec 24. The winner will be announced on Dec 25. Go and vote for Michelle! For more information, check out the article Michelle Kwan Nominated for Sports Academy Athlete of the Year.

Michelle is in the January 2005 issue of Glamour magazine! There is also a picture of her doing a spiral in her Tosca purple dress. PucePrincess posted the following on MK Forum about the magazine:(Thanks PucePrincess!)

Michelle is in the December 2004/January 2005 issue of Cosmogirl magazine. luvablepinay posted the following on MK Forum about the magazine:(Thanks luvablepinay!)

Michelle competed at Marshalls on Friday, skating to her long program, Bolero. Since it hasn't aired yet, as always, I won't post the results (it airs on TV on December 18 on ABC.) You can check out the results from the USFSA's site. At this event, Michelle wore a new costume, which was blue.

Check out the following reports, articles, and pictures from the competition. Remember, the reports and articles contain spoilers:

• Articles:
  • Ladies Final Results
  • AP article
  • KRT article
  • Detroit Free Press article
  • USFSA article
  • Lucy25's Report--from FSU
• Pictures:
  • Before the warmups
  • Pose
  • Sit spin
  • In Kiss and Cry
  • On the ice after the event
  • Signing autographs backstage after competing
  • Practice on Thursday:
  • Waiting to take practice ice
  • With coach Rafael Arutunian

Also, check out a good pre-event article about Michelle, Ice queen for life: at 24 Kwan keeps on skating

Don't forget that Michelle will be competing at the Marshalls World Cup of Figure Skating on Friday! It will be her first competition since Campbells, and her last one before Nationals. The competition will air on Dec 18 on ABC. Check my TV schedule for more information.

Check out a Getty image picture of Michelle at the Lakers game against the New Orleans Hornets on November 28.

I wrote earlier about Michelle's skating clinic in Detroit to help promote the Marshalls. Check out Vicky458's pictures from the event! (Thanks Vicky458!)

Michelle was in Detroit on Friday, November 12, to help promote the 2004 Marshalls World Cup of FS, which takes place on Friday, December 3. As part of the promotion, Michelle appeared on The Mitch Albom Show, which is a nationally syndicated radio show, based in Detroit. Check out a transcript of the interview, thanks to KwanPassion from the MK Forum. (Thanks KwanPassion and Lucy25!)

While in Detroit, Michelle had a skating clinic with 20 young skaters from the Detroit Skating Club, including three special needs skaters. Check out the following pictures of Michelle's Detroit clinic:

• Having some fun with the kids in attendance as she is introduced
• With clinic participants
• Speaking to the kids in the clinic
• Teaching some skills to the kids
• Kids skating with Michelle
• More skating with the kids
• Intense stare

Also, Vicky458 from MKF was able to attend the clinic. Check out Vicky's report on MKF.

Finally, you can read the following articles about Michelle's visit:

• Kwan skates into the hearts of kids
• Miracle On Ice
• Michelle Kwan Delights Detroit Skaters with Visit to Promote 2004 Marshalls World Cup of Figure Skating
• Michelle Kwan to Promote the 2004 Marshalls World Cup of FS With Visit to Detroit this Friday

Michelle presented the 2004 SAMMY awards to to 25 high school seniors in June. Now, Michelle is being used in promotions for the upcoming 2005 SAMMY awards! TwinnerA posted the following on MK Forum:

You can see a small, partial picture on USA Today's site of the ad. The picture of Michelle is beautiful. I'll try to scan it in soon. I know they usually print this ad quite a few times, so if you missed it, hopefully you'll catch it soon!

The same day, there was a press release, which stated that Michelle would be part of a "celebrity panel of milk mustache athletes" that would select the SAMMY winners. As TwinnerA mentioned, I hope this means Michelle will have her own Milk Ad in the future!

I wrote earlier about the Disney DVD that Michelle is on, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. The DVD is now available in stores, and on Amazon.com!

There are also several reviews of the DVD, including the DVD extra that is about Michelle, which I've posted in the Walt Disney Company Articles section of my site. The following quote is from the Boston Herald Review:

Also, a reminder that Michelle voiced a character (with 3 lines) in the upcoming direct to DVD movie, Mulan II. You can preorder the movie, which comes out in February, from Amazon.com

Speaking of Disney, remember Michelle's "Peace & Love" Mickey statue that I wrote about earlier? MKizAnAnGel posted on the MK Forum that the Disney catalog now offers pin sets of those Mickey statues! Michelle02Olympics also posted a picture of the pin. You can buy it direct from Disney's online catalog. (Thanks MKizAnAnGel and Michelle02Olympics!)

Some Michelle mentions in skating magazines...

Here are the mentions of Michelle in the November 2004 issue of Skating Magazine.(This magazine is only available by subscription, but you can order back issues of the magazine.)

• Ad for 2005 Nationals. Main picture is a beautiful picture of The Feeling Begins from Nationals...page 2
• Article about junior skaters competing at the senior level for the first time. In the section about Kimmie Meissner, Michelle is mentioned several times. It says that it's hard for her to believe she'll compete against Michelle at Nationals, since she was only 3 when Michelle first competed at Nationals. Another mention, "Ever since she was a youngster, Meissner remembers watching Kwan skate on TV. When Meissner was invited to skate in the exhibition after the 2003 US Championships, she was admittedly 'pretty giggly' being surrounded by famous skaters like Kwan."
  In the section on Katy Taylor, the article says "Like Meissner, Taylor is looking forward to being on the same ice as Kwan. Taylor met Kwan after competing at the novice level in 2003 and got her autograph. Taylor also talked with Kwan briefly at the US Championships in Atlanta. 'I watch her on TV and say, I want to be like her someday. I can't believe that I will compete against her. I never thought I'd do that.'"...pages 11-12
• Article about Campbells. Includes this picture of end pose from Bolero...pages 18-19
• Ad for ABC sports. Includes a picture of the opening pose for The Feeling Begins...Back cover

Michelle mentions in the November/December 2004 issue of International Figure Skating magazine:

• Article about Michelle titled "Kwan Searching." The article starts by saying if you google her name, in 20 seconds, you'll find over 98 thousand sites. (The first one they list is..this site! Thanks IFS. :) Even though they don't include the URL of the site, lol.) The article says Michelle admits to googling her name, and checking out some sites. The article also talks about Bolero and Campbells, where her jumps "appeared more powerful, soaring higher and covering more distance than ever before. It goes on to say that she and her coach have been working on upping her technical with the addition of triple/triples. About the COP, she says, "The possibilities are really great, but it's hard. I don't want to change myself, to mold myself into the system because I've been skating like this for so many years and the older system is what made me." Includes her USFSA profile picture...page 10
• Article about Brian Boitano. Talks about filming "Ice Princess" with Michelle in June, where they both played themselves, "My role required a lot of method acting," Boitano joked. "Michelle and I played the commentators for the final scene. It was really fun doing this with Michelle. We had a blast."...page 14
• Article about Campbells...page 15
• Article about choreographer Nikolai Morozov, where the various programs he's choreographed for Michelle are mentioned, including her short program this summer. Among his favorite programs he's choreographed is Aranjuez. About working with Michelle, "Morozov's goal is to enhance her well-established style. 'She's such a beautiful skater. She skates with so much passion. It's not right to make her do something [different] like Nicole Bobek should be doing. People say you should try to do something different for [Kwan], but then they would say, 'That's not good.' Michelle skates with the hear. I would not pick for her music that does not have [passion] inside."
  Michelle says that he brings out the best in her, "Nikolai is fun to work with. He can analyze what will look good on you and what will not. He's young and has lots of energy. It's rare to find people [choreographers] that are so eager and with so much devotion to their work. They see each new program as a project and totally immerse themselves in it."Pages 18-19
• 2004 IFS Academy Winner for "Best Performance in Women's Skating," for her Nationals performance. Includes a picture of East of Eden from the Goodwill Games...page 44
• Small article about 2005 COI...page 57

Finally, I don't have the current Blades on Ice yet, but there is an article about Michelle in the magazine. shirleyprice1 posted about it on the MK Forum. When I receive the issue, I will post about it

Thanks to aetherae and Golden Michelle at MKF, I've now posted a transcript of Michelle's Biography special. Check it out! (Thanks aetherae and Golden Michelle!)

Michelle has decided to not compete in the Grand Prix events this season. From the USFSA press release:

• Kwan to skip Grand Prix season again
• Kwan will skip Grand Prix skating series again

If you missed Michelle's performance of Bolero at Campbells, which aired on Sunday, you can download a real video clip of the program on emilienne's site (Thanks emilienne, bayareaboy17, and millenniummagicz!)

USFSA's site states that Michelle will be at the Marshalls World Cup of Figure Skating, which takes place on December 3 in in Auburn Hills, Michigan. For more information, check out the USFSA press release. Warning the article contains spoilers for Campbells.

Some more pictures from yesterday's Campbells event:

• Another Spiral
• Pose
• Another pose
• Being interviewed by Peter Carruthers backstage
• Being interviewed by Peter Carruthers in the K&C
• Throwing Tshirts into the crowd after the event
• Signing autographs
• Jay Adeff's picture at goldenskate.com:
  • Landing

It will take a while to get a transcript up of Michelle's Biography special. For now, check out my running commentary on the special, which I posted at MKF. If you missed it, the special will also air on Monday, Oct 4 from 9pm to 10pm and Tuesday, Oct 5 from 1am to 2am on the Biography Network (this is different than A&E.)

Also, at the end of the show, they say you can order a tape of the program. But maybe they only do that if there's enough interest? I got the following e-mail from an Michelle fan, and she asked me to post this:

Michelle debuted her long program, Bolero, at the Campbells International FS Classic. Since it hasn't aired yet, as always, I won't post the results. You can check out the results from the USFSA's site. At this event, Michelle wore her Tosca purple costume from last year's Campbells event. Knowing Michelle, her costume will probably change before the next competition though!

Check out the following reports, articles, and pictures from the competition. Remember, the reports and articles contain spoilers:

• Articles:
  • Ladies Final Results
  • Official reports from Campbells thread--from MKF
  • Ashley's Campbells report--from MKF
  • GMan's Campbells report--from MKF
  • AP Article
  • USFSA article
• Pictures:
  • Opening Pose
  • Spiral

Don't forget that Michelle will make her season debut Friday, October 1 at Campbells International FS Classic. A friend attending the event will be calling me with live reports, and I'll post them later here on my site.

Check out the following pictures from Campbells practice:

• With Amber Corwin and Sasha Cohen on the practice ice
• Laughing while talking with the media
• Skaters about to pose for Skating magazine holiday cover

The competition airs on Sunday, Oct 10. For more information, check out my TV Schedule. I just saw that the competition won't air until 11:35pm in my area, Philadelphia, because of a Columbus Day parade. So, as always, be sure to check your local listings so you don't miss Michelle's debut!

Don't forget about Michelle's A&E Biography special that I wrote about earlier. The first airing is on Saturday, October 2 from 4am to 5am on A&E. This means late Friday night/early Saturday morning. Don't miss it!

Here are the mentions of Michelle in the October 2004 issue of Skating Magazine. (This magazine is only available by subscription, but you can order back issues of the magazine.)

• List of USFSA Team Envelopes...page 9
• Article about 2005 Nationals...pages 36-38
• Kid in the Spotlight's favorite skaters inlcude "Michelle Kwan because of her determination and gracefulness."...page 54
• Article on Fantasy Skating. Includes a screencap of USFSA's site...pages 56-57
• Ad for ABC sports in October. The main picture is of Michelle during Tosca...Back cover

There's another great article about Michelle's new program, and why she decided to use that piece of music, titled Kwan to skate to legendary music

Michelle mentions in the September/October 2004 issue of International Figure Skating magazine:

• Two letters to the editor under "Kwan Supporters"...page 10
• Article about prize money being given at the USFSA events, which mentions Michelle competiting at Campbells...page 14
• Article about Michelle winning the CTSA award. Includes a picture of Michelle doing a spiral during On My Own...page 17
• Article about Skate America and Skate Canada. Includes a picture of East of Eden from the Goodwill Games...pages 32-33

In the September 24 edition of the LA Times, there is an article about Michelle titled Kwan Grows Musically. The article reveals Michelle's long program music for this season. If you want to be spoiled and learn what her music will be, either read the article, or highlight between the spoiler codes below. Otherwise, just read on!

[spoiler for music] Bolero, choreographed by Christopher Dean [/end spoiler for music]

She will debut the program at Campbells International FS Classic, which takes place next Friday, Oct 1. The competition airs on Sunday, Oct 10. For more information, check out my TV Schedule.

Back to the article. In it, Michelle says that she's taking the idea of competing at the next Olympics day by day. Here's a quote from the article:

More on the A&E Biography special that I wrote about earlier. According to A&E's site, Michelle's Biography will air on Saturday, October 2 from 4am to 5am on A&E. The special will also air on Monday, Oct 4 from 9pm to 10pm and Tuesday, Oct 5 from 1am to 2am on the Biography Network (this is different than A&E.) The following is the summary of the program, as listed on A&E's site:

According to a new poll, conducted by Gallup Tuesday Briefing Youth Survey, Michelle is among teenagers favorite female athletes. Serena Williams was #1 on the list, closely followed at #2 by Venus Williams. Others on the list were Anna Kournikova, Maria Sharapova, Mia Hamm, Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, and Marion Jones. The poll was conducted in early August, where 13 to 17-year-olds were asked to name their top three favorite male and female athletes. The survey was conducted through the Internet, using an online research panel designed to represent the U.S. population. The survey was completed by 439 individuals between the ages of 13 and 17. For more information, check out the article.

A&E will have a special on Michelle on Wednesday October 13! There's no other details on the special yet, but A&E's show, Biography, is scheduled to air on Tuesdays and Wednesdays this year. So, that's a possibility! iloveskating posted the following about it on the MK Forum (Thanks iloveskating!)

Entertainment Tonight did a story on the movie Ice Princess on Monday, Sept 6. It went by so fast, I couldn't even tape it, so I can post exactly what was said. During the piece on the movie, one of the actresses mentioned Michelle, and said that when she sees Michelle now, she thinks "hmm, I can do that!" While the actress was talking, they showed a picture of Michelle. After the story on the movie, they mentioned that Michelle was making her big screen debut, by playing herself in a cameo appearance. She, along with Brian Boitano, play commentators in the movie. They filmed their part in the move in late June in Toronto. The movie comes out early next year.

The Chicago Tribune article, '06 Olympics in Kwan's thinking, confirms that Michelle be at Skate America, Skate Canada, and is looking towards the Olympics.

Michelle's "Peace & Love" Mickey statue that I wrote about earlier has made it's way to Kansas City. It can be seen there through October 21. For more information, check out the article, Come along and join, KC, the Mickey jamboree. Also, check out the map of the statues in KC to see where the statue is located. Michelle's statue is #4 on the map. s.

Some more info on Michelle appearing on the post Super Bowl episode of the Simpsons that I wrote about earlier. From Variety:

Another magazine mention. Joan e-mailed me the following:

XPEG posted part of the article on the MK Forum. (Thanks Joan and XPEG!)

Michelle mentions in the July/August 2004 issue of Blades on Ice:

• Cover is picture of COI skaters
• COI cast photo...page 4
• Article about COI. Includes picture of Michelle from the opening of the show...pages 8-13
• Article about Michelle winning the CTSA award. Includes a picture of Michelle backstage at COI...page 59

Michelle mentions in the July/August 2004 issue of International Figure Skating magazine:

• Several letters to the editor mentioning Michelle at Worlds (concern about her safety before her skate, low marking in the short, and a letter about both things saying "I was very distressed by the way Michelle Kwan was treated at the World Championships...Michelle, the good sport, did not complain")...page 10
• Picture of Michelle with Sasha and Gwendal Peizerat at Worlds banquet...page 39
• Ballot for the IFS Academy, Michelle is up for "Best Performance in Women's Skating." Includes a picture of The Feeling Begins at Worlds. Worlds exhibition is up for "Best Televised FS Event", and they use a picture of Michelle doing a spiral during Fallin'...pages 40-50
• Worlds article. Includes picture of the podium...pages 58-61

Be sure to watch Access Hollywood on Friday, August 6. They are scheduled to air a piece on the movie the Ice Princess, which Michelle has a cameo in. On TV Guide's site, they list Michelle as part of the story. Access Hollywood is a syndicated show. You can see when and where Access Hollywood airs in your area on their site. (Thanks Gman!)

Here are the mentions of Michelle in the August/September 2004 issue of Skating Magazine. (This magazine is only available by subscription, but you can order back issues of the magazine.)

• Ad for 2005 Nationals. Main picture is a beautiful picture of The Feeling Begins from Nationals...page 2
• This picture of Michelle is used in the table of contents, for the article about the ISU Congress...page 3
• Article about Michelle gracing the cover of the July issue of Women's Health & Fitness magazine. Includes a picture of the cover...page 7
• Article about Johnny Weir. Several mentions of Michelle. Early in the article it says that he is now "skating with the likes of five-time World Champion Michelle Kwan." Later in the article, it says that he didn't feel that he belonged with the worlds elite skaters until he joined COI, and that it didn't take him long to fit in, "Soon he found himself shopping with Michelle Kwan in airports."...pages 12-18
• Article about Michelle getting the last 6.0 at Worlds, which marked the end of the 6.0 era in international events. The article also states that Michelle has been awarded 50 perfect marks in her international career. Includes same picture from table of contents...pages 20-21
• ABC Sports ad, which contains a picture of the 2004 Worlds podium...page 47
• Article about Skate America in Pittsburgh says top skaters from around the world, including Michelle, will be there...page 50
• The Kids Questions section is with Irina Slutskaya. She is asked "How long have you known Michelle Kwan? Is she your friend? Who is your best friend on the Champions on Ice tour?" Irina answers "I have known Michelle for 7 years, and I like her very much. We competed so many years together and toured with Champions on Ice together. Yes, she is my friend. My best friend on the Champions on Ice tour is Irina Grigorian."...pages 62-63

Michelle's first competition of the year will be Campbell’s International Figure Skating Classic in St. Paul, Minn., on October 1. Sasha Cohen will also be at the event, with the other competitors to be announced later.

The event will be the first Olympic-eligible competition to come to the Twin Cities since 1998 Worlds in Minneapolis. Michelle said, "I have such wonderful memories of competing in the Twin Cities. So I'm really looking forward to returning there in the fall. The first competition of the season is always an exciting one for me. I can't think of a better place to start my year." For more information, check out the following articles:

• $600,000 in Prize Money Announced for 2004-2005 Season
• U.S. Figure Skating Announces $600,000 in Prize Money for 2004-05 Season
• St. Paul event will start figure skating season

In 2002, I wrote about Michelle filming scenes that were references for animation drawings of a figure skating competition between Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck in the movie "Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas." She did this during a day off from the 2002 COI tour in Pasadena.

Well, we now have a date when this will be released! The collection of 5 animated stories will be released on Disney DVD and video on November 9, 2004. Also included on this DVD is an extra with Michelle! It's called "Inspiration on Ice." This feature will show "how Olympic star Michelle Kwan inspired the animators."

"Belles on Ice" is the animated feature that Michelle was the inspiration for. According to the press release, "in Belles on Ice, figure skaters Minnie and Daisy are best pals, but each thinks they're the star of the big ice show. A battle for skating supremacy ensues, each trying to top the other with more daring and spectacular moves. It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, though, and they find that it's better to share the spotlight than to steal the show."

Happy birthday Michelle! Michelle is 24 years old today, July 7, 2004. Check out my birthday page for Michelle.

I wrote earlier about Michelle receiving the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance Award on June 13. Check out a picture of Michelle and the other recipients of the award. Also, check out the following reports and articles about the reception.

• TLynn's reception report -- from MKF
• GinnySmith's reception report -- from MKF
• Citizenship Through Sports Awards Reception
• National awards main page

At a special ceremony at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, Michelle and quarterback Brad Johnson presented the SAMMY (Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year) awards to 25 high school seniors. The award recpients were honored for Athletics, Academics and Community Involvement. Check out a picture of Michelle and Brad Johnson, with one of the SAMMY award winners. Also, check out the press release and an article about one of the winners.

The July 4-10 issue of TV Guide says that Michelle will be appearing on the Simpsons:

graciesfriend posted the following magazine mention on the MK Forum (Thanks graciesfriend!)

graciesfriend and feelingbegins03 posted another magazine mention on the MK Forum. In the July 5, 2004 issue of Sports Illustrated, in the article about sports in California, they have a collage of California athlete. Included in the collage is a picture of Michelle's falling leaf during Aranjuez. In the article it talks about California's success in figure skating, and mentions Michelle, Kristi, and Peggy. (Thanks graciesfriend and feelingbegins03!)

There is a letter to the editor in the August 2004 issue of Women's Health & Fitness magazine, thanking them for having Michelle on the cover of the July 2004 issue. Splits posted the following about it on the MK Forum (Thanks Splits!)

Here are the mentions of Michelle in the June/July 2004 issue of Skating Magazine. (This magazine is only available by subscription, but you can order back issues of the magazine.)

• Article about Sasha Cohen and the Haydenettes winning the 2004 Readers Choice award. The article mentions that Michelle is the only skater to win this award more than once (she has won 7 times), and that the award was named for Michelle after she won last season. Because of this, Michelle is no longer eligible to win the award...page 7
• Article about Marshalls World Skating Challenge. Includes a picture of Tosca at Worlds...pages 24-25
• ABC Sports ad, which contains a picture of the 2004 Worlds podium...back cover

Yes, I haven't updated the site in two months, which you know for me, is like not updating for a year! I apologize, it's a combination of being busy, sick, and not having my desktop for a month (it's STILL in the shop getting fixed.) Hopefully this update gets me all caught up. I know I've been behind for a lot of this past season, though. I'm going to try to get everything up to date (like the magazine and endorsement section) in the next few weeks, hopefully!

The biggest news is that it looks like Michelle will be at Skate America and Skate Canada this year! Michelle was assigned to both of these competitions (if you remember last season, when she did not compete in the Grand Prix series, she didn't even appear in the assignments.) This isn't confirmed yet, but her name appears on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Entries 2004 list, and the USFSA's site says that she will be there.

Skate America takes place on October 21-24 in Pittsburgh, PA. Other competitors listed for Skate America are Sasha Cohen, Angela Nikodinov and Miki Ando. Skate Canada takes place from October 28-31 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Other competitors for Skate Canada are Fumie Suguri, Yoshie Onda, and Carolina Kostner.

Michelle will be receiving another award! Michelle will be honored by the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance (CTSA) on June 13, at a reception at the Wyndham Anatole in Dallas, Texas. The event, which occurs during the final evening of the 2004 National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Convention, will pay tribute to special individuals with the highest ethical standards in sport, whose lives and careers have reflected an enduring commitment to citizenship, sportsmanship and community service. Michelle will be recognized in the USOC category. Other winners include baseball's Jamie Moyer of the Seattle Mariners, basketball's Ray Allen of the Seattle Supersonics and hockey's Marty Turco of the Dallas Stars. For information on how to attend the reception, check out the NACDA site. For more information on the award, check out the USOC press release, and the USFSA article.

Michelle is on the cover of the July 2004 issue of Women's Health & Fitness magazine. It is a must buy! The pictures are gorgeous. You can see some of the pictures on the photographer's site. The article is great, too! Thanks to wunderbere and CaraMora for alerting everyone to the magazine on the MK Forum. Here are all the mentions of Michelle in the magazine:

• Cover
• Table of contents (includes small pic of cover, info on the photo shoot, which took place in Atlanta, and info on the article " Ice queen Michelle Kwan shares her get-fit tips")...page 6
• Editor's letter, where the editor writes "Speaking of fun, who knew a professional figure skater would be so great to work with? Michelle Kwan was an energetic, saucy gal on our cover photo shoot and she was kind enough to share with us how she keeps her perfectly chiseled bod in shape when she's not skating."Page 12
• Contributors page, where the writer of Michelle's article says the following "'The most amazing thing about Michelle Kwan is that she's a totally normal person,' says Amy Brayfield, who interviewed the Olympic champion for this issue (p.88) 'She was the kind of person you could completely imagine having as a friend -- she was so excited to be a new aunt and worried about the other skaters not getting enough dinner and just an all-around nice person. She also inspired me to rent a Tae Bo video!'"Page 14
• Article "Free Skate." Includes 5 pictures: With her dog (two page spread), spiral in COI finale, a yoga-type pose, a smaller yoga type pose, and on the podium at 2003 Worlds...pages 88-93

I've added a ton of pictures from the COI (Tour I and Tour II) to the Links to Other Photo Pages section, so be sure to check it out! On Tour II, when Michelle skated two programs, she skated to Fallin' as her second number (with You Raise Me Up as her first number.) She had a new costume for Fallin', it was a black unitard. The tour ended this year on June 6, so hopefully Michelle is enjoying her off season!

Michelle has appeared at several Lakers game during the playoffs. She was at the conference finals game on May 21 in Minnesota, but was only shown to the crowd at the game. She was also at the NBA Finals game on June 8 in LA, and was shown on TV. The announcer called her "the great figure skater Michelle Kwan." Check out a few screencaps of Michelle and her brother, Ron, at the game, courtesy of KeithB. In the article, L.A. is not the only home to star-studded crowds, Michelle is mentioned in a long list of celebrities, including Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Adam Sandler, Sharon Stone, Chris Rock, and Pete Sampras, that attended the finals in LA.

Michelle is in an article, where a Cuban artist was inspired by Michelle. The article doesn't always work for me, so here's the part of the article that mentions Michelle (Thanks Redvispa for first posting this on the MK Forum!)

A few more magazine mentions. nice angel posted on the MK Forum that in the Disney Adventures magazine, on the calendar page, for July 7th there's a pic of Michelle in mid-spin with the caption: "Michelle Kwan skates to her 24th birthday"

Now catching up on the latest skating magazines! Michelle is on the cover of the May 2004 issue of Skating Magazine. Here are the mentions of Michelle in the magazine. (This magazine is only available by subscription, but you can order back issues of the magazine.)

• Cover
• Table of contents with cover picture...page 3
• Article about Michelle winning USOC Sportswoman of the Year award. Includes picture of Michelle receiving the award at COI in Boston...page 9
• Article about Worlds. Includes picture of layback from Tosca...pages 10-13
• Picture of the US World team in the USFSA jersey...page 62
• ABC ad for Marshalls, contains two pictures each of Michelle and Sasha. The headline says "Michelle. Sasha. The season's Final Showdown"...back cover

Michelle mentions in the May/June 2004 issue of Blades on Ice:

• COI Promo picture with Irina, Tim, Elvis, and Sasha...page 3
• Picture of Worlds podium...page 5
• Letters to the editor, where one letter includes "There's still nobody like Michelle Kwan."Page 7
• Michelle is mentioned a few times in the article about Kristi Yamaguchi. The NHL Cup Crazy" ad Kristi filmed in Raleigh with Michelle is mentioned. Michelle said about the filming of the ad, "We had a blast doing it together although we joked that here we are freezing for hours in the rink promoting hockey. We thought it would have been only fair if the hockey players filmed one too to promote figure skating." She also said "Kristi and I ate dinner together at one of the Hedican's [Kristi's husband] favorite dining hang outs near Raleigh's RBC Center." The article also says that Michelle raved about how cute Kristi's new baby girl is, and how holding her was good practice for her niece. Also, Kristi's publicist, Yugi Saegusa, said, "Kristi and Michelle really enjoyed each other's company when they worked together on this commercial. They hadn't really competed much at all so this was a great chance to get to know each other."Page 13
• Article about Worlds, which states that she has won a record 50 perfect 6.0s in Olympic style competition. Since the 6.0 system will no longer be used, this record will stand forever. Includes The Feeling Begins picture...pages 35-41
• Article about Marshalls...pages 74-76
• Article about Michelle winning USOC Sportswoman of the Year award. Includes picture of Michelle posing backstage after signing autographs...page 77

From the May/June 2004 issue of International Figure Skating, the mentions of Michelle in the magazine:

• Picture of Michelle with Sasha Cohen and Shizuka Arakawa at the Worlds post long program press conference...page 8
• Picture of Michelle with her sister Karen at Nationals Banquet...page 38
• Picture of Worlds podium...page 55

I attended the Philadelphia COI show on April 10. Michelle's new program, You Raise Me Up, is wonderful. She was really feeling the program, and you could see the emotion in her face. There is a part in the program where she kind of skips. A very simple move, but Michelle makes it something beautiful. Wish I could see it again! Hopefully she'll perform it next season, so it will be on TV! She did double two jumps (her toe and lutz), but several of the skaters had problems at the same end of the ice where she messed up one of the jumps (I think the toe?) But jumps didn't matter, the program was great! Hopefully everyone can catch it when the tour comes near them.

For some reason, my camera does not like the Philly COI show. I can get beautiful pictures of COI at the 3 other arenas I've seen the show at. I can get beautiful pictures of other skating shows at the same arena. But my Philly COI pics always come out not great. Oh well. In any case, I posted my pics. Check out my You Raise Me Up and Opening and Closing pictures.

I wrote a few months ago that Michelle was one of USA Weekend's "America's Most Caring Athletes." Reread the article to refresh your mind, haha. Well, before the Washington DC COI show on April 9, Michelle was presented with her award, which included a $5,000 check to CMN in her name. Check out KeithB's picture of Michelle being given her check. (Thanks Joyce and KeithB!)

Also, check out some more COI pictures from the first week on tour:

• KeithB's DC Pictures
• Rachel's Philly Pictures
• HeatherV's Nassau Pictures
• Tracy Marks Boston Pictures

Michelle has a new exhibition on the Champions on Ice Tour, which started Saturday in New Jersey. She is skating to Josh Groban's You Raise Me Up. You can hear the song (actually, watch the music video) on VH1's site. You can also read the lyrics. For the program, Michelle wears the blue costume she wore at Nationals for The Feeling Begins. Check out some pictures from the Boston COI show:

• Y spin
• kylita's pictures:
  • Spiral
  • Pose
  • Bowing
  • Closing Number:
  • Group
  • Smiling

I wrote earlier that Michelle was named the 2003 USOC Sportswoman of the Year. Before the Boston COI show, the USFSA president, Chuck Foster, and the USOC Vice President, Paul George, presented Michelle with her award! For more information, check out the article Kwan Receives USOC SportsWoman of the Year Trophy. Check out the following pictures of the award ceremony before the show:

• With Chuck Foster and Paul George
• Receiving the USOC Sportswoman of the Year award from Paul George

The 2004 Marshalls World Skating Challenge took place on April 6. Michelle skated to Tosca. Since it hasn't aired yet, as always, I won't post the results. You can check out the results from the USFSA's site. Also, check out WindSpirit's great pictures from the competition on FSU.

Michelle was shown on ESPN on April 7, during Sportscenter's 6pm broadcast. Unfortunately, it wasn't repeated on their later editions, so I wasn't able to catch it on tape. Their top 10 list today was eligible athletes, to tie into the QB on the Bachelor. All throughout the show they advertised it, but they never mentioned Michelle. They introed the list by saying they were helping ABC pick out the next athletic bachelor or bachelorette. Then, they start at #10, and it's Michelle!

They said "Checking in at number 10, five-time world champion figure skater Michelle Kwan has yet to win Olympic Gold, but she's captured seven straight US titles. She's able to throw herself into a double axle with grace, perhaps she will be able to throw herself into an off-ice partnership." They showed clips of her from 2000 Red Violin (I think it was Nationals, but I was in shock that she was on the list, so I forget!), 99 Nationals, and at the end a nice clip of her at the ABC California Adventure thing from this year.

I wrote earlier that Michelle appeared on the Today Show, The View, and Inside Edition on Tuesday, March 30. If you missed any of these broadcasts, as well as a clip of Michelle's NHL commercial, you can watch them in real video format on MaryJo's site. If anyone has a transcript of these shows that they'd like to submit to the site, I'd be very grateful (full credit would be given, as always.) If not, I'll work on them at a later date. (Thanks MaryJo!)

I wrote earlier about Michelle designing a Mickey Mouse statue for Mickey's 75th anniversary. After being displayed in Disney World, they were due to travel across the country to 10 cities, in groups of 15 statues, between May and October. Well, the cities were announced earlier this week, and Michelle's statue will be displayed in Philadelphia from May 21-July 20 and in Kansas City from August 19 -October 21.

In 2005, all 75 statues will arrive in Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA, Washington D.C. and New York City, before being auctioned by Sotheby's Auction House to raise money for the charity of the artist's choice. Michelle's charity is CMN .

Yea! I will definitely visit the statue in Philly at some point while it is here.

To refresh your memory, check out a picture of Michelle's Mickey statue! For more information, check out the press release.

Congratulations to Michelle on winning a bronze medal at Worlds this year! Now she has a complete set of medals at Worlds. *g* This is Michelle's 9th straight Worlds medal! She pulled up from 4th after the short, capturing the bronze by finishing 2nd in the long program. Along the way, she received six 6.0s, possibly the last 6.0s ever rewarded in an ISU competition. She also dealt with a streaker running on the ice just prior to her program.

I'm not 100% caught up, but hopefully I can by my next update. I am adding most of the pictures links today to my Links to Other Photo Pages section, and some articles to the Articles About Michelle section.

Also, Michelle appeared on the Today Show, The View, and Inside Edition on Tuesday, March 30. Hopefully I can get a transcript up of at least the Today show and the View soon.