NORTH LITTLE ROCK -- The ice sizzled with respectable sleaze: bare midriffs, hundreds of sequins plus bumps and grinds accented by frilly, flowing little skirts.
And that was just the guys.
Skating shows, like Wednesday's "Champions on Ice," are filling arenas with both those who wear rings in their ears and those who wear them on various other body parts. The women may drag the men, but the guys make sure they have binoculars.
The formula? Mix several Olympic medal winners with elements of old-fashioned burlesque and not allow judges anywhere near the place.
For males, there are enchanting women in costumes not normally associated with ice. For females, there are well-built men who like to take their shirts off. Phillipe Candeloro is a gliding, one-man Chippendale's act with lutz. For those who like something different, some skate in farcical but tasteful drag.
For everyone, there are headline skaters such as Michelle Kwan, overwhelmingly popular even without Olympic gold. Wednesday, she performed the same act that brought tears to many during an exhibition in Salt Lake City. In a golden outfit, she skated to "Fields of Gold" -- as she did two nights after winning bronze.
In February, that was a bittersweet encore. Wednesday night -- 46 stops into an 85-city tour that begin in April -- Kwan's number was classy and graceful minus the golden irony. Much of the hurt has subsided. The ovations haven't stopped.
Modern skating shows originated from the exhibition performances -- designed to let the stars forget rules and have fun and entertain -- that have traditionally followed the competition nights at the Olympics. Officials discovered that tickets for the "exhibition skates" were as much in demand as those for the competition.
Ding. Ding. Ding, Cha-ching. The lights go on. The tour bus, full of veteran professionals plus fresh stars with medals, usually leaves a month after the Olympics.
Five of the performances Wednesday were straight from the more recent Olympians' exhibition performances. Men's silver medalist Evgeni Plsuhenko basically skated his short program. But the only spectator at Alltel Arena who realized all that was probably this reporter, who saw all that unfold at Salt Lake City. For 15,000, this was a real treat: a chance to see, be entertained by and (for a lucky handful) have a diva or hunk playfully land in their laps.
Even during the heat of competition at Salt Lake City, Naomi Lang, a rising U.S. ice dancing star (with partner Peter Tchernyshev) said, "Judging really doesn't matter. We're doing what we do for the crowd."
Producers struck another popular chord with the finale: The entire cast skated to a patriotic medley of Ray Charles' "America the Beautiful" followed by "Battle Hymn of the Republic," giant flags and pyro. Moving about to stirring music in various shades of red, white and blue were Canadians, Frenchmen and those with eastern European backgrounds. There was Kwan, an Asian-American, Lang, the first Native American to ever perform in the Winter Olympics, and Tchneryshev, a native Russian who is one of America's newest citizens.
The bearded fellow in an adjacent aisle -- wearing a Harley-Davidson ball cap and matching T-shirt, stonewashed jeans and boots -- left smiling.
