Fox : "Skating with Celebrities"!

[s0nginmyheart]

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2...00,00.html (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,159500,00.html)

Trying to take a page from ABC's white-hot "Dancing with the Stars (search)," FOX is going for the gold with a new celebrity ice-skating show.

The new program, aptly titled, "Skating with Celebrities (search)" will pair famous faces with well-known pros in a weekly elimination competition, reports Variety.

"If it's interesting to see celebrities ballroom dancing, it's going to be incredibly interesting to see if they can master a double axel and a spin," said FOX reality programming boss Mike Darnell (search).

"Watching a celebrity try to master something this intricate is going to be compelling to watch. We expect a lot of falls and a lot of nerves."

He declined to discuss casting.

"You can expect to see the participation of some major names," he said.

Darnell believes the huge popularity of Olympic figure skating proves that viewers have an appetite for the show.

"Dancing with the Stars," an American version of a show imported from England, has turned out to be the surprise hit of the summer and another potent weapon for ABC in its growing arsenal of quality programming.

On that show, celebrities are paired with professional ballroom dancers and compete each week. Viewers and judges both participate in the somewhat complicated elimination voting process.

[iloveskating]

another potent weapon for ABC in its growing arsenal of quality programming:eek :rollin

[GMAN]

"If it's interesting to see celebrities ballroom dancing, it's going to be incredibly interesting to see if they can master a double axel and a spin," said FOX reality programming boss Mike Darnell (search).

If a celebrity can land a double axel in 6 weeks without any prior skating experience, then doing a quintiple salchow should be a piece of cake!

[iceskaterdawn]

I know someone invovled with the show and it is actually going to be ice dancing and not singles skating so no need for them to master the jumps.....

[DramaQueen]

Rumor has it Shannon Miller has been asked to be apart of this and has said yes.

[honey827]

So far the Skaters involved are Oksana B,Kat Witt,John Zimmerman and Jenni Meno. The cast of skaters is very good and I am hoping the celebs are fun too.

[cestlavie000000]

Shannon did do some recreational skating and I believe took lessons after the '96 Olys in Atlanta so it makes sense. How does she fit all this in a go to law school! The girl must be brilliant and from all accounts is.

[s0nginmyheart]

If anybody is interested in attending a taping, please click:
www.ocatv.com/schedule.php?show_id=72 (http://www.ocatv.com/schedule.php?show_id=72)

'Skating with Celebrities' will pair celebrities and professional ice skaters and follow them as they train and prepare a routine to perform in a live television competition! Hosted by Scott Hamilton, judges by Dorothy Hamill, and featuring Dave Coulier, Nancy Kerrigan, Kristy Swanson, Lloyd Eisler, Deborah Gibson, Kurt Browning, Jillian Barberie, Todd Bridges, Tai Babilonia, Jenni Meno, John Zimmerman and more!

[IzzyS]

OMG! I filled out the request form and it automatically gave me tickets! Three of them (as per my request)!

Anyone wanna go?

[iceskaterdawn]

I'm going to the first taping of the show tomorrow. I'll probably attend several others, but I don't know which ones I want to go to yet.

Just a heads up for anyone else planning to go to a taping, On Camera Audiences, gives out way more tickets than they actually have seats for. For example they give out about 500 tickets each week for American Idol when the studio only seats 300 and that doesn't include VIPs (and that is after tehy send you an email for tickets after being on a waiting list for over a year!!!). Don't even get me started on how they work the Late Late Show. That audience agency is by far the worst of them! So you might want to get there at least an hour or two early to make sure you get in. I'm not sure how big this studio is or how big of a crowd it is drawing. Since the shows will all tape before the show even airs, it might not be too crowded and therefore easy to get in.

[iceskaterdawn]

I just got back from the taping of the show. We had to sign a huge confidentiality agreement so I can't really post about it, other than it was a lot of fun. I got to stay after and talk with the skaters and cast. I only talked to Kurt, Nancy, JohnZ, and Silvia though. We were back in this room and I had a long day today and had stuff to do tonight, so I didn't want to wait around for others to arrive.

[Iskatgal]

Hey,

Skater23 (Dawn), sounds like it's going to be a fun show!
I know you signed an agreement...But, can you tell me if the ice arena was regular size, and was the seating the same as for competitions? Just curious. :D

Thanks,
Sylvia

[iceskaterdawn]

It tapes at a regular TV studio sound stage. It was a small ice surface, probably about half of a regular size rink, and there was just seating one one side of it. I'd say it might have seated about 250 to 300 people. At least for this taping, the majority of the audience was friends and family of the skaters. Most of the skaters and celebs had a couple of rows of friends and family. (they have all that kind of seating set aside ahead of time and the seats are all labeled and then they lead you to your seat.) Once we got in, then they let in the audience members that had tickets in, and if there were still any empty spaces then they had seatfillers come in. There was a seatfiller next to me and she complained the whole time. She was getting paid to be there, so I don't know why she was complaining! I had a lot of fun and can't wait to go again!!!!

[ScoobertDieu]

Anyone know, when will this show begin airing?

[iceskaterdawn]

FOX hasn't set a date yet. I was told most likely not for a few more months.

[honey827]

Thanks for the info Dawn even though you can't reveal much glad to hear it was fun. I can't wait for this to air. Do you know how many more tapings are scheduled?

[iceskaterdawn]

I think there are five more tapings. Next Tuesday and next Sunday, and then 3 more Tuesdays after that. The taping schedule has changed three or four times already, so I don't think anything is really set in stone.

[iceskaterdawn]

Did anyone else make it to any of the tapings??? I went back to the final taping of the show last night. I had a blast even though the taping lasted well over 4 hours :eek (most of which was sit and wait while nothing is happening time)

I saw Russ Witherby in the audience again. Also Laura Sanchez the host of So You Think You Can Dance, and Kristian Alfanso who plays Hope on Days of Our Lives were in the audience.

The latest info I heard was that the show will air in February prior to the Olympics.

[gatzbee]

o wow! John Z? should make for good TV then ;) :hat

[iceskaterdawn]

o wow! John Z? should make for good TV then

He alone makes the show worth watching!!!!!