Some of the world’s top ice skaters will strut their stuff to some familiar tunes at the St. Pete Times Forum this weekend.
“Ooh Baby Baby,” “Shop Around” and “My Girl” are a just a few of the fun tunes.
Two-time World Champion and 1988 Olympic gold medalists Brian Boitano particularly likes “Ooh Baby Baby.”
He’ll be skating to that and another Smokey Robinson hit during Sunday’s “Smokey Robinson Tribute on Ice.”
The event features the R&B singer live, performing an evening of songs from his repertoire.
On the ice, Boitano will be joined by skating world icons Todd Eldredge, Jeffrey Buttle, Silvia Fontana, Yuka Sato and several other award-winners. They will perform the skilled maneuvers that made them famous.
The Herald caught up with Boitano via phone last week in San Francisco. Skating shows and his Food Network series “What Would Brian Boitano Make?” have kept the 46-year-old busy lately.
The veteran ice skater said he’s excited about coming to Tampa ,where he’ll meet Robinson for the first time.
“It’s going to be wild,” he said.
Here’s our conversation with Boitano. Besides his upcoming show, he talked about his two favorite loves — skating and food:
What songs of Smokey’s will you be skating to?
I chose “Ooh Baby Baby” and “Tracks of My Tears.” I just love them.
You’ve been skating for several decades now. What is it about skating that has had you attracted so long?
I don’t know. It was really a calling for me as a young child. I think the thing that I loved about it was the speed and all the twisting and the turns. It was sort of the usual thing that little boys are attracted to — sort of the daredevil aspect of it. I love that. It’s what I love to do. Up to this day, I find that the same things that I loved as a child are the same things as today. And I still love the speed. I love flying — literally flying and landing on a blade.
Are you going to do any deaf-defying tricks with this show?
I actually have one (move) called a death drop, so it’s funny you should say that. I do all my signature stuff in the show.
What’s the death drop? That sounds scary.
It’s kind of hard to explain. You speed down the ice and then you throw yourself up in the air. Then you lay out in a spread eagle shape, parallel to the ice but in the air. So you’re laying flat as a pancake up in the air and by the time you fall back down to the ice, you sort of switch so that you land on a foot, in a spin.
How long did it take you to get proficient on all your moves? Did it come naturally to you?
I’m a natural athlete. So anything I would have focused on I would have been able to get. I’m lucky I have my father’s body. He’s a real natural athlete, too. I wasn’t the most talented skater, but I was the hardest worker and I had a really good athletic body.
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