5/29

Someone is sending me a tape of the Today show, where Michelle announced that she will be trying for her third Olympics, so I should have a clip/transcript of it sometime this week.

Thanks to kathy sullivan, for posting a heads up on the MK Forum, I was able to catch a clip about Michelle's announcement on CNN Headline News. The clip shows Michelle practicing at Nationals, with a voice over from the announcer. Check it out! I made the clip (my first MK live capture, woohoo!)

5/27

Big news! Michelle has confirmed that she will go for the 2006 Olympics! As I wrote earlier, Michelle was to be in New York on May 26 with other Olympians for the Visa Gold Medal Athlete Summit. Unannounced, several of the athletes were on the Today show that Thursday morning, including Michelle. While on the Today show, Michelle confirmed that she is going for the Olympics!

I didn't see the show, but I'm working on getting a tape of the program, so I can post the clip and work on a transcript.

Some more info on the Visa summit:

Some of the largest names in recent U.S. Olympic and Paralympic history gathered in Manhattan today to kick off Visa USA’s marketing campaign leading up to the 2006 Torino Winter Games. The meeting was more than a rare photo op that featured Bode Miller, figure skater Michelle Kwan, speed skater Derek Parra and hockey player Cammi Granato sitting within several feet of one another; it was a chance for Visa to announce its individual sponsorship of the 15 athletes in the room Although Visa has had contracts with some of the 2006 Olympic hopefuls for several years, “It was the first time we were able to get everyone together in one place,” said Michael Rolnick, Director of Corporate Relations for Visa. Together, the 15 athletes were responsible for winning 11 Olympic and Paralympic medals in Salt Lake and Nagano. During their stay in Manhattan, the athletes were treated to free financial advice, optional media training and a performance of the Broadway show “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.”

Nine of them also appeared on NBC’s Today show this morning. Kwan announced her intentions to compete in Turin on the show, "I said after the 2002 Olympics I was going to play it by ear, go with the flow, and it worked for me," said Kwan, 24, in New York with other Olympians for the Visa Gold Medal Athlete Summit. "After spending some time with these athletes and coming here to New York, I said, 'This will be a great experience, try it one more time.' "

Some articles about the summit and Michelle's decision:

5/24

I've been sick for the past few weeks, so I haven't been able to update. I appologize. Hopefully I'll have a full update soon, but I just wanted to post a few things that I haven't been able to add.

Michelle's new home rink, East West Ice Palace in Artesia, CA, opened on May 16. Michelle was at the grand opening. Check out some pictures from the opening. I will also be adding some pictures to my site from someone who was lucky enough to attend the opening. I'll post those when I can finish updating (hopefully tomorrow.) Check out some articles on the opening and new rink:

Michelle was added to the Grand Prix roster for Skate America and Cup of China this upcoming season. This does not mean that she will compete at those events, only that she has been invited. We should find out in the next few months whether she will be confirmed for those events. For more information, check out the article Lineups Announced for 2005-06 ISU Grand Prix Series

More info on another endorsement deal, this time with Visa. From Brandweek.com:

Extra Innings: Visa will hold an event in New York on May 26 to unveil the roster of its Visa Gold Medal Athletes, who will represent the company in integrated marketing, via BBDO, New York, and at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Nine Olympic athletes and two athletes from the Paralympic Games will be named, joining Michelle Kwan, Bode Miller, Cammi Granato and Derek Parra.

Michelle was a question on Jeopardy for the seventh time on May 17, 2005! The category was "Champions" and the clue was: "In 1996, at the age of 15, this Asian American athlete won her first national championship." The first guy rang in and says "Kristi Yamaguchi" and, that was wrong, of course. Then the next guy buzzes in and says "Michelle Kwan". (Thanks masteroftheuniverse04!)

The mentions of Michelle in the May 2005 issue of Skating Magazine (This magazine is only available by subscription, but you can order back issues of the magazine.):

  • In the "From the president" section, the USFSA president says that they sent a "truly outstanding team to Worlds", and Michelle is listed first...page 4
  • Article about voting for the Readers Choice Award, mentions Michelle is no longer eligible because the trophy was named after her...page 7
  • Small article about a poster of the new Trophy given out at Nationals that was signed by the 2005 Nationals winners, including Michelle, was auctioned for $1925, with proceeds going to the Red Cross for the Tsunami Relief...page 11
  • Article about Worlds. Includes this picture of Michelle from practice...pages 12-15
  • Ad for Ice Castle's Summer Program, which says "Michelle Kwan trains here...why don't you?" The picture is Michelle's spiral during 2002 Nationals Rachmaninoff...page 50
  • Ad for ABC Sports. Picture is of Michelle's layback during Bolero at Nationals. The top of the ad says "Where Champions Make History"...Back cover

5/2

Sunday was the last day of the Champions on Ice tour for this year. Michelle ended up wearing 4 different dresses for her program on tour! For Bolero (which she skated for the first 2 shows) she wore one (her QR costume from Worlds), and for This Used to Be My Playground, she wore her You Raise Me Up costume from Nationals (you can see the pictures I posted from the Philadelphia show), then her gold Bolero costume, and for the last few shows, a new black costume with a red rose. Check out one of iloveskating's pictures of the costume from the Portland show!

Before you officially settle into the offseason, be sure to read reviews and articles from the tour, and look at the many pictures of Michelle on tour, in the opening & closing numbers, skating to Bolero, and skating to This Used to Be My Playground.

Some more on Michelle's Maxxis tire endorsement that I wrote about earlier. While in Georgia on tour, Michelle visited the Maxxis U.S. Headquarters, which is in Suwanee, Georgia, on April 18. Check out some great pictures of the visit!

I wrote earlier about a few pictures of Michelle at the Figure Skating in Harlem event from February appearing in soap opera magazines. There weren't many pictures from this event that were posted online. However, I recently found some wire pictures from FilmMagic.com. They are only thumbnails (unless anyone has an account there and wants to share? haha), but still, you can see the cute pictures. Check out the FilmMagic.com thumbnails (37 pictures).

4/19

The mentions of Michelle in the April 2005 issue of Skating Magazine that I received recently. (This magazine is only available by subscription, but you can order back issues of the magazine.):

  • In the Table of Contents, a pic from Spartacus...page 3
  • In the "From the editor" section, the editor of the magazine, who is leaving after this issue, writes about some of the things she has seen while being editor that stood out in her mind. Talking about 2003 Worlds, one memorable moment was, "watching Michelle Kwan win her fifth World title...both of those performances had the crowd on its feet, applause thundering through the arena, several seconds before the music ended. It was an experience I'll never forget."...page 4
  • Ad for Ice Castle's Summer Program, which says "Michelle Kwan trains here...why don't you?" The picture is Michelle's spiral during 2002 Nationals Rachmaninoff...page 8
  • Article about Michelle's Got Milk Ad. Includes a picture of the ad...page 9
  • Article about costumes. Talks about Vera Wang designing some of Michelle's costumes. Also says that while costumes are designed for the program and judges, skaters are aware that they have an affect on their fans. The article writes about at the 2004 Nationals, MK fans wore purple (because she wore that earlier in the year), but then her Tosca dress was coral. So before 2005 Nationals, "this time Kwan was sure to provide a head's up for her fans." Michelle said in a pre Nationals article that fans should wear burnt red for the short, and gold for the long. Includes a picture of Spartacus (larger version of the pic in the TOC)...pages 13-18
  • Ad for ABC Sports. Picture is of Michelle's layback during Bolero at Nationals. The top of the ad says "Where Champions Make History"...Back cover

Hopefully you caught the Marshalls competition on TV this past Saturday. If you did, you saw that the hug that she gave me after Bolero, which I wrote about earlier, was shown on the broadcast! I was so excited! You could also clearly see the book of messages that I gave her. Also, before she came over to us, on TV, you could see that she pointed at us. I didn't even remember that happening!

4/13

Another new endorsement deal for Michelle! Michelle recently signed with Maxxis tires. You can download a gorgeous poster of Michelle on Maxxis.com. At the bottom of the page, you can select a download size. The largest is 1600x2400. Check it out!

More information on the deal, from the press release:

A champion deserves only the best – and that’s why Maxxis was a natural choice for figure skating champion Michelle Kwan. Maxxis has announced a multi-year endorsement deal with Kwan.

The new relationship with the internationally renowned Kwan is the latest step in Maxxis’ global branding efforts. Maxxis is pleased to welcome Michelle Kwan to the Maxxis family and wishes her the best in all of her upcoming skating competitions.
4/8

Check out my pictures from the Marshalls US Figure Skating Challenge and the COI Tour!

4/3

I had a great time at COI Saturday in Philadelphia. Including the skating, it's also always great to see friends I don't get to see often. *waves*

Along with seeing Michelle's new program to This Used To Be My Playground, which I loved, I also was able to go backstage. Check out my report from the show. If you want, you can just jump to the backstage report, or to just the Michelle backstage report. Be sure to read the rest at some point, though!

My pictures should be up in a few days, along with my Marshalls pictures. In the meantime, check out Rachel's Opening Number Pictures (from Philadelphia) and KeithB's Washington DC photos.
4/2

Sorry I didn't update for a while. I went to Tampa for the 2005 Marshalls US Figure Skating Challenge. Tomorrow I'm attending COI. Then, no more live skating for me this season! Since the competition doesn't air until April 16 on TV, I won't post the results here. She skated to Bolero, and wore the purple qualifying dress from Worlds (it looked so much prettier in person!)

Check out the following articles and pictures about the competition

For those who sent in messages to the book I mentioned earlier, Michelle got the book! We were sitting in the front row, by the kiss and cry. I'm not really a sign person, but we had great seats, and we wanted to show Michelle our support. My friend and I had a sign that said "Beware the Wrath of Kwan." Our other friends we were with had a sign as well. After she finished her program, we were holding our signs. And I decided to also hold the book out (the cover is beautiful), just in case.

She skated right over to us, and took the book. And then she hugged me. I said to her "you're wonderful" (I'm very witty in these situations, obviously.) I didn't hear it, but the rest of the gang said she responded "thank you." I had probably zoned out by then. While waiting for her marks, she had the book next to her. I later saw her give it to Rafael, before the skaters all took the ice after the competition.

If you sent me or nice angel a message by Saturday, it's in the book. It came out to 24 pages. I still haven't counted how many messages that was. I had a few more pages from Sun-Tues that I was going to print at the hotel Wednesday before the competition, but we were running late due to horrible traffic, so I didn't get a chance to print them out. Sorry. All of the messages (those in the book, and those I received after printing) will be forwarded to nice angel, to include in her book to be sent later this month. If you want to include a message in nice angel's book, you can still PM nice angel on the MK Forum.

I ended up putting the beautiful graphic Grace made for the book on the front of a purple binder. Check it out.

Michelle has a new program for the Champions on Ice Tour! For the first 2 shows, she skated to Bolero, probably in preparation for the Marshalls event. Starting with the DC show, she is skating to Madonna's This Used To Be My Playground. At the DC show, she wore the blue costume she wore for You Raise Me Up at Nationals, we'll see if she keeps that costume. For the opening, she skates to Lenny Kravitz's Lady.

3/23

nice angel on the MK Forum is putting together a book to send to Michelle, with words of encouragement. The deadline is April 16. However, since I will be attending the Marshalls US Figure Skating Challenge on Tuesday, nice angel is letting me get the messages that she receives before the event to Michelle. If you have something you'd like to contribute to the book, please PM nice angel at the MK Forum or e-mail me.

Check out the following pictures from Michelle's exhibition at Worlds, You Raise Me Up:

I wrote earlier about Michelle appearing on the cover of this week's Parade magazine, along with a photo gallery on Parade's site. I mentioned that I would take screencaptures of the pictures, since it's in flash. I've done just that! Here are the pictures from Parade's site:

I wrote earlier about a picture of Michelle at the Figure Skating in Harlem event appearing in an issue of Soap Opera Weekly. Well, now more pictures from that event are in another soap opera magazine, CBS Soaps in Depth. There are two pictures of Michelle in the April 5 issue. LoopsChick scanned in the picture spread. Check it out! (Thanks LoopsChick!)

3/20

Congrats to Michelle for coming back after a tough qualifying round to skate great in the short program and long program. When asked after the long program if she can come back next year and win under the new scoring system, she answered, "I think I can!" I think you can too, Michelle, and so do many of your fans.

Also, the following is from the Knight Ridder Newspaper article:

There's another year to go before the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and Kwan was asked if she's considering retirement. She responded with a very definite "No!"

Don't forget to watch the exhibitions Sunday on TV! Check out the following articles and pictures

I wrote last week that Michelle would be on the cover of this week's Parade magazine, a weekly magazine included in your local Sunday newspaper. You can find out which newspaper in your area carries Parade by checking the magazine's site.

There is a picture of Michelle on the magazine's main page. Also on their site, is a page that contains part of the article, as well as a photo gallery of Michelle. Since I can't link directly to the picture since it's flash (I'll take some screencaptures tomorrow), the picture of Michelle with the necklace and her arm up (the second to last picture in the gallery) is the one with the article.

Other than the cover, there's one other picture of her with the article (as I mentioned.) It's a cute article (the writer said she calls Worlds "the Worlds." That cracked me up because what else is she could to call it?)

She talks about what she does for her training program. She said in the off season she does "strength with weights, isometrics. Running not so much. But the best thing for a skater is to skate." The writer asks if other sports are prohibited, and she said no, she plays tennis in the summer, "in LA, it's always summer." And she got excited about talking about going rollerblading, though she said "when I do figure skating moves, I go on my rear."

The writer asks if she's a klutz, and she says "absolutely." (Yea right Michelle!) She says, "I love to go to dance clubs, and I love hip-hop. But when I wear high heels, watch out! I fall over. There is one Michelle on ice and another Michelle off." The article is one page. On the side, they have small bits of info. One thing they mention is that her Disney contract has ended. It's funny, because I was talking about this with a few friends recently (I saw it ended in March, based on the articles when she signed. I was hoping it would get renewed or something.) The writer says, "Speaking of the Disney contract ending, she laughed when I said: 'Well, we all get old.'"

3/19

The short program for Worlds has taken place. Since it airs on TV, along with the long program tonight, I won't give the results here. You can check out results of the short program. You can also see the long program start order, which takes place on Saturday. Also, check out the following articles and pictures from the short program. Note, the articles may contain spoliers for the rest of the competition, such as the results of the dance.

3/17

The qualifying for Worlds has taken place. Since it appears the qualifying will at least partially be shown on TV, I won't give the results here. You can check out results of group A. You can also see the short program start order, which takes place on Friday. Also, check out the following articles and pictures (Michelle has a new costume for Bolero!) from the qualifying round. Note, the articles may contain spoliers for the rest of the competition, such as the results of the pairs.

3/16

The qualifying round for the ladies are taking place today, March 16. Group B skates first, with Group A going second. Michelle is in Group A. Michelle skates 4th in her group. You can see the starting order on the ISU's site. At 6am EST, the group takes the ice. So after 6am, that link will show you the results of the qualifying group.

Also, check out the following pictures from draw for the qualifying round:

3/15

Michelle has a new endorsement deal! East West Bank has signed Michelle to represent the company in marketing efforts. Michelle will appear in future media campaigns and will also be a visible presence in community efforts where East West Bank has locations.

According to the press release, East West Bank is "one of the nation's premier community banks and a leading institution focused on Chinese American and other niche markets." There are 49 banks throughout California, including Los Angeles, Orange, San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Mateo counties.

Dominic Ng, Chairman President and CEO of East West Bank, said, "Michelle Kwan represents the best of East and West and we are honored to be her organization of choice for this important partnership and we welcome her to our family. We believe the communities we serve will value our relationship with Michelle. She and East West Bank strive for excellence and reflect the same high values and standards as we pursue our goals - this is a perfect match."

About the new partnership, Michelle said, "I see in East West Bank the same values that I cherish and have been taught by my own family. I come from a Chinese-American family. My parents arrived here with nothing, and through hard work and determination they made a life for themselves. They taught me the importance of setting goals, staying focused and working to be the very best. East West Bank has followed the same path to success and is an institution I respect and am proud to represent."

Financial terms of the deal were not released. For more information, check out the press release.

I hope you caught Michelle on the Today show on Monday, March 14. It was a cute interview with Katie Couric, which took place at a sushi restaurant. Hopefully I can post a transcript soon, though with Worlds this week, it might not be until after then.

Check out the following pictures of Michelle and some of the other US skaters visiting the U.S. Embassy in Moscow:

3/14

Michelle will be on the cover of next week's Parade magazine, a weekly magazine included in your local Sunday newspaper. Check out a preview of the issue. You can find out which newspaper in your area carries Parade by checking the magazine's site. This week's issue of the magazine contains a small thumbnail of the cover, and says there will be an article "In Step with Olympic Figure Skater Michelle Kwan" in the issue. (Thanks kwanriffic!)

The article Kwan, Plushenko Face Challenge at Worlds says that Michelle "appeared strong in practice on Sunday, landing her jumps with vigor and confidence." Also, check out this great article from the St Petersburg Times, Kwan outlasts kids, disappointments. Don't forget that the qualifying round is on Wednesday. Good luck Michelle!

3/12

TV Alert! Michelle will appear on the Today show on Monday, March 14. The Today's show official site shows the broadcast as Tuesday, March 15, but other searches show that broadcast is actually on Monday. Either way, it's better to check the day before, rather than miss the interview, right?

Check out a picture of Michelle during her first practice in Moscow for Worlds, on March 11, from the USFSA's site. The picture is of a pose during Spartacus.

3/10

In a Harris Interactive poll, Michelle was named the 4th most popular female athlete, after Mia Hamm and Serena and Venus Williams. This is the second year the Harris poll asked the public to name their favorite female sports stars (Michelle was 4th last year as well.) In past years, Michelle has been on the poll's listing of top 10 favorite athletes. This year, the top 10 were all male athletes. For more information, check out the press release.

Michelle attended another Lakers game this season. She was photographed by Getty Images at the March 4 game against the Indiana Pacers. Check out Picture #1 and Picture #2.

Check out the official site for the movie Ice Princess, in which Michelle has a cameo. I wrote earlier about Michelle appearing in the trailer for the movie, which comes out on March 18. On the official site, you can see this trailer, as well as a picture of Michelle, and an audio file. To see the picture of Michelle & Brian Boitano, click on "Figure Skating Guide" or "Movie Info" then "Photos" then click on the thumbnail of Michelle & Brian. Also, be sure to have your sound up when you click on "Figure Skating Guide," as you'll hear two of Michelle's lines in the movie. (Thanks Grace!)

Two other updates related to the Ice Princess movie. nice angel posted on the MK Forum that on Tuesday, February 22, the Disney Channel show "Movie Surfers" talked about the movie, and they interviewed Michelle. (Thanks nice angel!)

On Friday, March 4, Entertainment Tonight did a story about the movie. They showed Michelle in the movie, as well as a quick shot of Michelle skating in between takes with the movie's star, Michelle Trachtenberg.

Several people e-mailed me that the March 8, 2005 issue of Soap Opera Weekly contains a picture of Michelle at the Figure Skating in Harlem event. LoopsChick scanned in the picture. Check it out! (Thanks LoopsChick!)

A few more magazines with Michelle's "Got Milk" Ad. luvablepinay posted on the MK Forum that the ad appears in the April 2005 issue of Elle Girl, and masteroftheuniverse04 chimed in that it also in the April 2005 issue of Seventeen. AngieB35 posted that it appears in the March 2005 issue of J-14 magazine. (Thanks luvablepinay, masteroftheuniverse04, and AngieB35 !)

The mentions of Michelle in the March 2005 issue of Skating Magazine. The Cover is beautiful, I don't know if the scan does it justice (Thanks to Splits for the scans!) (This magazine is only available by subscription, but you can order back issues of the magazine.):

  • Cover
  • In the Table of Contents, a close up a spiral during Bolero, and the picture of the Nationals champions from the cover...page 3
  • Article about the Ice Princess movie. Includes picture of Michelle and the star of the movie, Michelle Trachtenberg, skating in between takes. Michelle T said a highlight for her during the movie was getting to meet Michelle and Brian Boitano. She said, "I've always loved figure skating and Michelle Kwan. I thought it was so cool because I was like 'Mom, her name's Michelle and my name's Michelle and she's so neat.'" Of skating with Michelle, she said, "It was wonderful. I thought I'd be intimidated by Michelle because she's Michelle Kwan -- she's phenomenal and amazing--but she was so awesome. We got on the ice and she was doing her regular warm up and she was so sweet. She turned to me and said, 'You know, you've got this great comfort on the ice. You're really quite great.' It was like 'You're giving me a compliment on something that you excel at so much.' It's amazing."...page 7
  • Article about Nationals. Contains the same picture as in the TOC twice, a spiral from Bolero (one cropped, the other is the full picture)...pages 12-15
  • Backstage pictures from Nationals. Contains 4 pictures of Michelle: World team picture, Laughing with Ben Agosto, Posing with the US Championship Figure Skating Trophy, and signing autographs after the medal ceremony...pages 38-41
  • Ad for Ice Castle's Summer Program, which says "Michelle Kwan trains here...why don't you?" The picture is Michelle's spiral during 2002 Nationals Rachmaninoff...page 53
  • Ad for ESPN's coverage of Worlds. Center picture is of Michelle bowing after Tosca...Back cover
2/20

Yet another athlete of the month award for Michelle! Michelle is the US Sports Academy female Athlete of the Month for January 2005! Michelle has been nominated for the US Sports Academy athlete of the year 3 times, finishing 2nd in both 2003 and 2004, and 3rd in 2001. Read more about it in the article Kwan Wins U.S. Sports Academy January Athlete of the Month.

The mentions of Michelle in the February 2005 issue of Skating Magazine. (This magazine is only available by subscription, but you can order back issues of the magazine.):

  • Article about finishing second for the US Sports Academy female athlete of the year. Includes a bow picture after A Feeling Begins at last year's Nationals...page 9
  • Article about the Marshalls World Cup of Figure Skating. Includes a picture from Bolero...pages 34-35
  • Ad for USFSA's site...page 55
  • Ad for ESPN's coverage of Worlds. Center picture is of Michelle bowing after Tosca...Back cover

Two more magazine mentions. XPEG posted on the MK Forum that in the February 14, 2005 issue of Sports Illustrated, this letter appears in response to the magazine's Nationals article that I wrote about earlier:

"E. M. Swift’s saying Michelle Kwan has held back figure skating in the US by not performing a triple triple in competition is insane ("Flash of the Future",Jan 24). It’s like saying Shaq is holding basketball back because he can’t shoot free throws."

Also, youngatheart1 posted on the MK Forum that the March 2005 issue of Sports Illustrated for Kids writes about Michelle winning Nationals, and includes a picture of her split falling leaf during Bolero. (Thanks XPEG and youngatheart1!)

2/13

Michelle is the USOC female Athlete of the Month for January 2005! She has won this award 14 times, the most ever by any athlete, male or female! She has also won the award in January, March, and November 1996, October 1997, January, April, and August 1998, April 2000, March 2001, January 2002, January and March 2003, and January 2004. Read more about it in the article Michelle Kwan Named USOC January Athlete of the Month.

2/10

Michelle is going to be on the Today show on Thursday, Feb 10, along with Kimmie Meissner. (Turns out there must have been a mistake on the USFSA's site, and Michelle was not on the show.)

If you missed Michelle on the Simpsons, you can check out Balletgirl2's synopsis of the episode on the MK Forum. You can also download the small "wrath of Kwan" clip here. She did appear a few other times during the show, so hopefully the full episode and/or just the MK clips will be hosted on MaryJo's site soon. Finally, you can check out some screencaps I made of Michelle on the episode.

I wrote earlier that Michelle would be appearing in NY at a charity event called "Skating With the Stars, Under the Stars." Check out several reports from those who attended on the MK Forum!

2/5

luvablepinay posted on the MK Forum that the Michelle "Got Milk" Ad also appears in the March 2005 issue of Cosmogirl. (Thanks luvablepinay!)

I wrote earlier that Michelle would be part of the Heart Truth's red dress campaign during New York's fashion week. Michelle was mentioned in all the articles about the event. However, the fashion show was Friday, and Michelle was not one of the celebrities involved.

1/31

My 2005 Nationals pictures are done! Well, the Michelle ones at least (hopefully I'll eventually post my Nationals pictures of some of the other skaters.) There are a lot of pictures (around 300), and some pictures that I absolutely love. Check them out! Enjoy!.

Don't forget that next Sunday is Michelle's appearance on the Simpsons, which airs on FOX. The episode airs after the Super Bowl--at which point, hopefully I'll be in a very good mood. As to not annoy any viewers in the New England area, I won't say GO EAGLES in the middle of my Michelle page. Oops, sorry, too late. *g* Anyway, FOX has started to air promos for the episode with Michelle's character talking during the promo. Hopefully they'll air that throughout the week. GO EAGLES!!

1/19

If you missed the broadcast of the exhibitions, you can download the You Raise Me Up from MaryJo's site.

I posted earlier that Michelle was being featured in promotions for the 2005 SAMMY awards, which are awarded by the National Milk Mustache "got milk?" Campaign. The promotions included a picture of Michelle, which some hoped would be part of a larger, Got Milk ad. Well, that turned out to be the case! pompon13 posted on the MK Forum that the March 2005 issue of Seventeen contains the Michelle "Got Milk" Ad on page 55. pompon13 scanned it in. Check it out! Hopefully lots of other magazines will have the ad in future issues as well! (Thanks pompon13!)

Two Michelle magazine mentions related to Nationals. PattyL123 posted on the MK Forum that there is an article about Nationals in the January 24, 2005 issue of Sports Illustrated. The article isn't that positive about Michelle, unfortunately. There are 2 pictures of Michelle in the magazine, though. There is a small picture of Michelle and Kimmie after the medal ceremony at Nationals. There is also a 2 page picture of Michelle's butterfly during Spartacus. LoopsChick scanned in the picture, and MKIce9 spliced it together. Check it out! (Thanks PattyL123, LoopsChick, and MKIce9!)

Also, Jennis posted on the MK Forum that there is an article about Michelle in the January 21, 2005 issue of Time for Kids. The article is on the back of the magazine, and includes a picture of Michelle doing a spiral in her recent purple costume. You can read the short article on the magazine's site. Check it out! (Thanks Jennis!)

1/23

I'm still working on my Nationals pictures, hopefully I'll have them done sometime this week (I have a LOT to work on. I've finished about 150 pics, and I have at least that many to still work on.)

Don't forget to watch the exhibitions on Sunday, Jan 23 on ABC. If you missed the broadcast of the competition, you can download the programs from MaryJo's site: Spartacus and Bolero. Also, if you missed Michelle on the Today show and Good Morning America on the Monday after Nationals, you can download the interviews on MaryJo's site as well.

You can also check out the following quicktime video clips of Michelle at Nationals: Long program practice (Tuesday), Short program practice (Wednesday), and Post long program press conference.

1/19

I'm back from Nationals! I took a ton of pictures, hopefully I can get them up soon. But it's a lot, so it will probably take a while! I've updated the 2005 Nationals Articles section, as well as the Links to Other Photo Pages, though I may still have articles and pictures to add to those sections in the next few days! Be sure to check those sections out to see lots of pictures and articles from the competition.

And, of course, congratulations to Michelle on her NINTH National title. Wow! I loved her short program to Spartacus. Her long program to Bolero wasn't as wonderful as the long programs I've been lucky enough to attend in the past, but it was definitely good enough to win. And she looked amazing all week in practices. There's nothing like seeing Michelle skate in person, especially at Nationals!

She skated to You Raise Me Up for her exhibition, which will air on TV on Sunday. Her costume for the exhibition was the blue costume she wore for Bolero at Marshalls. It was a beautiful program.

1/10

I will be at Nationals this week, so I most likely won't be able to update during the competition. Check out my 2005 Nationals page, for links to where you'll be able to find news, articles, reports, and pictures. I'll be back Tuesday, with lots of pictures, haha.

Check out this great article in the LA Times, Her Connection With History, that mentions several 3/3s Michelle is working on.

Also, Michelle will have a new short program at Nationals, to the ballet Spartacus.

1/5

Happy 2005!! Don't forget Nationals is next week!! I've started a 2005 Nationals Articles section.

I still haven't found the IFS magazine with Michelle on the cover (hopefully soon!), but she is on the cover of the January 2005 issue of Skating Magazine.(This magazine is only available by subscription, but you can order back issues of the magazine.) It's a beautiful picture, with a nice article inside. Here are all the Michelle mentions in the magazine:

  • Cover
  • Cover picture, and picture from the article, both in the table of contents...page 3
  • Small article about Michelle on the Super Bowl episode of the Simpsons. Includes a picture of Michelle with Warren Sapp (who also does a voice over in the episode) and the Simpsons drawing...page 11
  • Article about Michelle titled "That was Then" about Michelle's career. Great article. Towards the end of the article, it states that she doesn't know if she'll "continue competing after these championships. There is part of her that is pushing to compete through the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy, but another part of her that is leaning toward retiring from competitive skating."

    About this, Michelle said, "I don't know how many more nationals I have left. There's a part of me that says move on. It's time to let it go. Even now, I look around and say, 'Will these skaters be around when they're 24?' For me, I feel lucky because I have a choice. I can do whatever I want. It's a lot of freedom." However, in the last quote of the article, Michelle says, "Skating takes up so much of the day. You eat, sleep skating. But on Sundays, I think, 'I have too many choices today. I have too much time on my hands.' That's when I tell myself, 'I'm not ready for that yet.'"

    Included in the article is pictures of the covers of Skating magazine that Michelle has appeared on solo, including October 1993 (this is the picture that is recreated on the current cover), June 1996, May 2000, November 2001, and May 2003. Also includes two pictures of Michelle at 1994 Nationals, a landing picture during Romanza at 1996 Nationals, opening pose during East of Eden at 1996 Nationals, picture from August 2000 issue of IFS, A Day In the Life picture from 1999 Skate America, a Rush picture from 2000 Skate America, and another picture from the current photo shoot. Also with the article is a list of the music she has used...pages 12-19
  • Ad for ABC sports, is a picture of a falling leaf during Aranjuez...Back cover
Check out past news from Jan 09 to Dec 09 , Dec 07 to Dec 08, Sept 06 to Nov 07, Feb 06 to July 06, June 05 to Jan 06, Jan 05 to May 05, April 04 to Dec 04, Sept 03 to March 04, April 03 to Aug 03, and older
Last updated January 18, 2006

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