Pro skaters compete in 'Thin Ice'

The ice skating show "Thin Ice," replete with former Olympians competing against each other, is running for four days at MGM Grand at Foxwoods.

But Friday was the only day that it featured one of the most famous figures to come out of the Vancouver Olympics: Joannie Rochette.

The six-time Canadian champ lost her mother to a heart attack just two days before the women's figure skating competition was to begin at the Olympics, but Rochette soldiered on and won the bronze.

She was at "Thin Ice" for an exhibition performance, not to compete, and she did a tribute to her mother, choreographed to "Volé" ("Fly"), sung by Celine Dion.

Her mother loved Dion and loved this particular piece, which Rochette first skated in 2006. She did it again at the Olympics gala after the competition wrapped in Vancouver.

Since the Olympics ended, Rochette has taken a bit of a break.

In a post-performance interview Friday, Rochette said, "It's good to be back and do a show like this."

By that, she said she means that it's laid back and pressure-free.

After the Friday afternoon dress rehearsal - "Thin Ice" was staged again, airing live Friday night on ABC - Rochette said that her mother was very strong and taught her daughter never to give up.

"That's why I couldn't give up when I was at the Olympics," Rochette said.

"When I'm on the ice, that's when I feel the closest to my mother."

At one point, there was some question whether Rochette would be performing with "Thin Ice." The International Skating Union refused to give her the OK to perform the exhibition; the ISU doesn't allow skaters to perform exhibitions if they have dropped out of major competitions, as Rochette did with the upcoming world championships.

The ISU relented, though.

As for "Thin Ice" itself, the idea behind it is this: Pro skaters get mixed-and-matched into pairs that have never performed together before.

They do routines choreographed by some renowned skating figures but also by the likes of a Black Eyed Peas choreographer and by Mark Ballas of "Dancing with the Stars."

And the music is fairly current stuff - "Closer" by Ne-Yo, "Sexy Chick" by David Guetta, "Hot 'n' Cold" by Katy Perry.

There are no rules. The only thing the skaters are judged on is how entertaining they are.

The judges here are a trio of former gold medalists: Katarina Witt, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Dick Button.

It all happens inside MGM Grand's Premier Ballroom, where an 85-by-150-foot skating rink was created just for "Thin Ice."

The show has been dubbed "figure skating meets 'Dancing with the Stars,'" and that's a rather accurate description. The format is very "Dancing with the Stars"/"American Idol" - a video piece with performer interviews, followed by the actual performance, judges' comments, scores and reactions from the skaters.

On this panel on Friday afternoon, at least, there were few Simon Cowell moments. When Yamaguchi told Patrick Lauzon, two-time World silver medalist, that she would like to see him come up to his partner, Olympic champ Jamie Sale's, performance level, the crowd let out a collective, "Oooooo."

But, for the most part, the comments were complimentary, along the lines of Yamaguchi's praise of David Pelletier and Elena Berezhnaya, who shared the pairs gold medals with their partners in 2002 and then joined up for "Thin Ice": "You guys certainly both showed why you deserve those gold medals. It was fun to watch."

Ultimately, though, the judges' input only counts for half the skaters' scores. The TV viewers' votes make the other half. The results will be announced on Sunday's live show from MGM, aired on ABC.

Local audiences, meanwhile, can see dress rehearsals of "Thin Ice" in person on Saturday and Sunday at MGM Grand, along with Sunday's televised show.

k.dorsey@theday.com