Sorry, Sasha

It was thrilling tonight to see Olympic Figure Skating silver medalist Sasha Cohen give it a shot for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Team. It would have really been something for her to be a three-peat Olympian after skating at Salt Lake in 2002 and Torino in 2006.

Watching Cohen skate this evening -- during the AT&T 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash. -- brought back memories of last March, when Cohen was skating on tour in Atlanta and she took time for a blogger interview rink side at Philips Arena (was it really only 10 months ago when it was uncertain whether she'd be competitively skating now?).

Sorry to see Cohen won't be in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympic figure skating as a returning Olympian, but I have a feeling she'll be spotted around town doing paid appearances to adoring fans.

Best of luck to the U.S. Figure Skaters who apparently will be coming to Vancouver, including Rachel Flatt and Mirai Nagasu (is it just me, or is it too weird to see another U.S. ladies figure skater, Nagasu, head to a Canada Olympiad with music from "Carmen" in her main routine? Not another Debi Thomas, please -- if Nagasu is to skate to Bizet, she better keep her Witts about her).

With a name like Smucker's ...

... it had to be good.

And it was, er, they were -- the interviews with 2006 Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen and 1998 Olympic gold medalist Ilia Kulik, that is.

Both skaters are now touring with Smucker's Stars On Ice, which stopped by Atlanta's Philips Arena on Wednesday (the tour continues with several dates through April 11).

I'll let the videos and Cohen/Kulik speak for themselves -- both Olympians were helpful and direct with their answers on camera, and cordial off-camera. The biggest surprise: Cohen apparently is an AC/DC fan, given her T-shirt and lip-synching to a couple of the band's tunes during a pre-event warm-up session.

The main question for Sasha -- what's up regarding Vancouver 2010? For Kulik: His involvement with Sochi and the 2014 Winter Games preparation to date, as well as future plans for getting in the mix for Russia's first Winter Olympics.

Many thanks to the tour and venue publicists for their help and time to accomodate the interview requests.

And if you were one to "Elf Yourself" a few holiday seasons back, you might enjoy transforming your headshot photos and friends into Stars On Ice skaters.

Snow, Skating and Stars in the ATL!

March is off to a great start.

In Atlanta it snowed a few inches today -- big, fat snow -- which is timely considering the upcoming arrival of the Smucker's Stars On Ice tour at Philips Arena.

For those who are fans of top-level figure skating, the tour is an opportunity to see some of the best known winter athletes, and it should be a fun event (tickets are available).

According to the Philips Arena calendar, Britney Spears will be in the venue the following night, no doubt to break the ice (again) with Southern fans.

If things work out as planned, by week's end I'll be able to post here a few interviews with the Stars On Ice skaters. With thanks to the media relations team for the tour, it will be fun to learn from Sasha Cohen and Ilia Kulik about their past Olympic experiences and future plans. Here's hoping the questions I submitted make the cut.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, there is a big-time Hollywood film production in town this week as well. Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Bill Murray and others are shooting "Get Low" around Dallas, Ga., with a call for extras for a sunrise scene (not sure I'll make it there, but if I do, it would ROCK to speak with any of the three stars!).

Since Bill Murray is a Chicago native, would love to get his take on the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid. Landing this interview would indeed be a "Cinderella Story."

Soiree Olympique

My first few Olympic viewing experiences -- for Montreal 1976, Lake Placed 1980, Sarajevo and Los Angeles 1984 -- felt like a party.

As a toddler, seven year old, and fifth grader, respectively, watching the Games on ABC Sports meant extra TV time and the rare "up past eight" opportunity.

During and after the LA84 opening ceremony, when every kid in the neighborhood went home to watch with family, I naively assumed that everyone in the world dropped everything to view the Olympics.

It wasn't until 1996, when my sister and I viewed the start of the Centennial Games ceremony on a small screen in a suburban Atlanta Chinese restaurant (we were both staying at apartments sans TV access), that it sunk in not everyone cared to watch.

Now I get it -- I may be in the minority on tuning in (LOL).

But some friends DO religiously watch the Opening Ceremonies and competitions. And today via Facebook I spotted an Olympic viewing party invitation from some five-ring fan acquaintances in Janesville, Wisconsin. Bravo! An Olympic Party, Sochi-style!

Perhaps everyone should drink a shot when NBC Olympic commentators utter dramarama terms such as "Olympic security" or "protest zone" and "figure skating controversy."

I'd like to know -- who out there in Blog Reader Land is going to attend or host a Sochi Olympic party? What are you including in your Soiree Olympique to make it authentic? Special Russian recipes and décor, or planning a fondue service with a mini-Olympic cauldron?

After the 1996 work experience, at an auction I purchased an Olympic cooler and official Coca-Cola picnic table and umbrella in anticipation of hosting a Games gathering. Later these items turned into great Ebay sales to fund travel to Sydney 2000, so I never did host an Olympic party. Please share your memories of torch-inclusive gatherings.

Meanwhile, one time I did attend a Golden Globes viewing party (and also attended several client GRAMMY viewing parties in Atlanta). Turns out in tandem with this weekend's Golden Globe Awards broadcast on NBC there will be a "Gold Meets Golden" party featuring many notable summer and winter Olympians and stars of the silver and small screen. According to a press release sent to this blogger, numerous luminaries may attend.

The second-annual NBC/Universal Golden Globes party includes Hollywood hosts Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, Ryan Kavanaugh, Bradley Cooper, Mark Wahlberg, Sofia Vergara, Adrien Brody, Chelsea Handler, Kerry Washington, Owen Wilson and Hayden Panettiere, who is engaged to Atlanta Olympic gold medalist Wladimir Klitschko.

Atlanta Olympic Village visitor Arnold Schwarzenegger will host a table for winter and summer athletes to attend the Globe Awards ceremony.

The celebrities will join scheduled-to -ttend Olympians including gymnasts Mary Lou Retton, Nadia Comaneci, Bart Conner, Gabby Douglas, Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin and Jake Dalton; figure skater Sasha Cohen; speed skaters Apolo Anton Ohno, Bonnie Blair and Dan Jansen;  athletics greats Bruce Jenner, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Alyson Felix, Carmelita Jeter, Will Claye and DeeDee Trotter; diver Greg Louganis; swimmers  Nathan Adrian, Rebecca Soni, Eric Shanteau, John Naber, Jessica Hardy and Summer Sanders; water polo player Tony Azevedo; freeskier Nick Goepper; fencer Tim Morehouse; beach volleyball players Kerri Walsh Jennings, Misty May Treanor, April Ross and Jen Kessy; original Dream Team basketball player Magic Johnson, and ice hockey player Caitlin Cahow (recently announced as members of President Barack Obama’s Presidential Delegation for the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games) will also participate.

An Olympic auction is set to launch at the event, with items available for online bidding including VIP tickets to exclusive parties to celebrate the Sochi Games with Olympic legends at Team USA Clubs in Los Angeles (Feb. 7) and Vail, Colo. (Feb. 15), official Team USA apparel, and a Cola-Cola snowboard to be signed by Gold Meets Golden party attendees. The auction launches Jan. 12 and continues this month via CharityBuzz.com/USOC.

I will probably do a party dance when my visa application for Russia Federation is finally processed -- getting anxious for "official" access to Sochi to arrive by mail. Why must this take so many days?

Images via Rich Fletcher and CW3PR