Bucharest April 11th 2010.

Flashbacks. Two years ago I was here in Bucharest and I came to wacth for my first time live, the man I admire the most in the world (after my dad I have to admit it). Evgeni Plushenko, and his buddy Edvin Marton.

Flashbacks, yes I said it but only for the place I guess because well, things are so different now from the last Bucharest KOI. The first one was magic because it was the very beginning of my adventure in following the Zar and top skaters working with him, so I was blinded by the whole new world I was entering into. Now I found something new. Because I am a bit more involved so I can understand what is the real hard work made in the backstage. I know whad does it mean to be ready and in a good shape for the audience, to make them happy, I saw how hard do they work to make things perfect and I can assure you, it's like a competition. Because even if the skaters don't need to perform too many difficulties like quadruple jumps, they have to be ok to make a great show, a good impression to people who come there for them and ok, it might be a delighted thing, but they have to be in shape to please them all. So the practice on ice lasted 2 hours with the rehalsal of the beginning and the finale wonderfully directed by Ari Zakarian (Plushenko's manager), who took care of the coreography.

Then Evgeni, Edvin and most of male skaters, went outside to have a little football match and wow, it was amazing to see how hard did they played. Like a friend of mine said watching at them: “OMG, Plushenko could have become a great football player too!!” And I totally agreed because it's incredible to see how good he is in every sort of sport. But of course I am glad he choose figure skating!At the end of the 1 hour and half outside, they came back into the arena and Evgeni told me few things about his healt and his upcoming surgeries. He said he is in a good shape now, the knee is not really hurting him but, like he said several times, the big problem he has to face now, is the cyst on the foot which hurts a lot every time he lands a jump. He of course said he cannot jump quadruples now because it could be dangerous, so he is waiting to talk to the doctors at the end of this month in Hamburg (Germany). After that, he will make this 2 different surgeries and he decide about competitions in the next 4 years before Sochi Olympic Games. When he told me this, he was clearly motivated and his true wish is to keep on going with the amateur sport to reach the next Games in his country. Of course he will absolutely need time to recover in the proper way, not only because he is not a kid anymore, but also because his healt has to be protected in order to reach this major olympic goal. I asked him about next summer and his plans but he couldn't answer me back because like I said, it's all depending on surgeries and doctors suggestions. Anyway he already prepared two more programs for shows and they both are something completely different from the past but who knows?? He didn't want to say more than that..

But one thing was up in his mind now so please read carefully: Evgeni asked his fans for suggesions in every kind of way they can. He meant he would like to know what ideas do you have about his music programs, about his costumes, his style... He said to post ideas on his official (russian) website (www.evgeni-plushenko.com) and he will read it for sure to catch people's will about how to see him on ice. At the end, he thank all his fans because he said he would have been none without them, without you in fact, and he is truly pleased of support he felt from you all.

Then there was the show. Many top skaters were there and it was amazing! Aliona Savchenko, Robin Solkowy, Stephan Lambiel (who got a standing ovation for his first time in Romania), Denis Ten, Julia Sebestien and many others but, what can I say??? The first exihibition was one of my favourites. Evgeni Plushenko and Edvin Marton performing Tango live. I loved it and I need to say that even if the Olympics are gone, the Golden Boy is always the King!! Triple toe loop double loop combo and well, I cannot even count how many triple axels he made during the comp.. ops, ok, the show and in the second performance (Je suis malade)! Romanian audience was unbelievable like Evgeni own said, they were so warm and cheerful that it seemed to me to be in Italy and I felt like I was at home.

Flowers, gifts, they thank the skaters and especially Evgeni and Stephan, in this wonderful way which made my almost cry because I realized how deep and emotional this sport could be if performed by this kind of athlets. What can I say more? It was great and this is absolutely something to see live sooner or later. Turning back to our reality (Evgeni of course) we have to face the fact that the King got his throne back and possibly, he is going to hold it for a very, very long time...

Sara Simonato Langella