''Skating's Next Star'' is a
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
show that began airing on the
WE tv on April 26, 2006.
Premise
Twelve Professional Skaters competed for the first place prize $25,000, a feature article in International Figure Skating Magazine and a one-year contract management contract with Major League Figure Skating. The show gained notoriety on the
Today (NBC program)
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...
show which featured Natalia Kanounnikova setting the
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
for being the fastest spinner on ice. She set the record in episode 2. The Series was created by CEO of Major League Figure Skating and Former United States Figure Skating Judge, Jon Rubin.
Cast
The show is hosted by Olympic Gold Medalist,
Kristi Yamaguchi
Kristine Tsuya Yamaguchi (born July 12, 1971) is an American former competitive figure skater, author and philanthropist. A former competitor in women's singles, Yamaguchi is the Figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics, 1992 Olympic champion, ...
.
The Judges are Olympic Silver Medalist
Elvis Stojko
Elvis Stojko, (born March 22, 1972) is a Canadian figure skater. He was a three-time World champion (1994, 1995, 1997), two-time Olympic silver medallist (1994, 1998), and seven-time Canadian champion (1994, 1996–2000, and 2002).
Persona ...
, Double Olympic Gold Medalist
Oksana Grishuk and World Bronze Medalist,
Rudy Galindo.
Men skaters
* Sergey Meller, West Townsend, MA
* Scott Corbin, Clinton Township, MI
* Emanuele Ancorini, New York, NY
* Chris Thombs, Portsmouth, RI
* Eric Bohnstedt, Orlando, FL
* Dusty Brinsmade, Detroit, MI
Ladies skaters
* Natalia Kanounnikova, Florida
* Kristin Dority, Providence, RI
* Kristen Treni, Punta Gorda, FL
* Ashley Clark, Colorado
* Natalie Mecher, Vernon Hills, IL
* Jessica Meller, West Township, MA
Episodes
Reception
In a negative review, Jessica Shaw of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' wrote, "How does one butcher a reality show about figure skating? Start by assembling a lifeless host (Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi), a petty panel of judges (including Rudy Galindo, who pathetically tries to be the Simon of the bunch but instead offers obnoxious personal criticism for no reason), a lame prize ($25,000?), and a group of contestants with lackluster moves and bland backstories."
References
External links
*
Skating's Next Star' on
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
Major League Figure Skating
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skating's Next Star
2006 American television series debuts
2006 American television series endings
2000s American reality television series
Figure skating on television
Figure skating in the United States