Sports
Art On Ice 20th Jubilee
If one would have told the two CEOs of Art on Ice, at its beginning, that their ice skating gala would become the most successful show in Switzerland, they would have never believed it.
The preparations for the first show in 1996 were not easy for the former figure skater, Oliver Höner, and his friend and ex-policeman, Reto Caviezel. But after all it was a full success. Over the years Art on Ice has become so popular that in 2012 it was awarded with the title of the most beloved indoor show in the world.
It is in front of a sold out crowd that the best international figure ice skaters and entertainers perform yearly. The ice gala goes from Zurich to Davos and finally to Lausanne. It is about 80.000 viewers!
Marc Sway – Art on Ice 2015 – credit photo Caitlin Krause
2015 is a popular year as it is not only the 20th Art on Ice but the year when Sarah Meier ends her ice-skating career. After 14 participations, the queen of the ice decided to put an end to her passion and profession. She feels it is the right time, she told Vivamost at the Crédit Suisse Swiss Sports Awards in December 2014. The almost 30 years old Swiss athlete from Bulach will now concentrate her time to her new career as a sport journalist.
On Saturday night it is under a standing ovation in the Zurich Hallenstadion that Sarah Meier said her goodbyes. Touched and in tears, Sarah stood there on the ice with a bouquet of flowers in the hand, before waving at her faithful public.
Sarah Meier at Art on Ice 2015 – in Zurich – credit photo Veronique Gray
Another favorite at Art on Ice is the Swiss Stéphane Lambiel who has the gift to give you the shivers each time he jumps or spins!
The French 2011 World Champion, Florent Amodio, is always a crowd pleaser, a great artist and entertainer. The viewers this year could not stop marveling at the amazing duo made of Fiona Zaldua and her husband Dmitri Sukhanov. The figure pair was absolutely brilliant and deserves all the applauses they received.
The new European Champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron were also a part of the 20th jubilee so just like the beautiful couple Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov. Without the 2014 Olympic champions, the ice gala would not be the same.
Other champions participated like Carolina Kostner, Joannie Roquette, Le Patin Libre, Daisuke Takahashi, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
For the last twenty years many well-known stars came to Art on Ice like Gloria Gaynor, the Scorpions, Seal, Anastasia, Robin Gibb, Gotthard and more recently Mick Hucknall, Emily Bear, 2Cellos, Leona Lewis and Hurts.
Florent Amodio and Nelly Furtado at Art on Ice 2015 – Credit photo Veronique Gray
This year it is the beautiful 35 years old Canadian Nelly Furtado, the Swiss singer, Marc Sway, and the British singer Tom Odell, who marveled the crowd with live entertainment. Nelly Furtado, who sold more than 16 million albums, sung a couple popular hits like “I’m like a bird”, “Broken Strings” (from James Morrison) and “Try”.
“I will never be able to sing that song (“Try”) again without Stéphane,” said Furtado touched by the artistic and breathtaking work of the king of the spins.
Who could remain emotionless in front of such top performers! Again well done Art on Ice!
