What better way to spend a chilly November Sunday in Music City than by watching an entertaining live show with some of today’s biggest artists? If you live in Nashville, that’s actually pretty typical. But take that and add an arena full of ice, dazzling lights, and world champion figure skaters. Figure skaters like Olympic Gold Medalist Scott Hamilton.
If you follow ice skating at all, then you know that Scott Hamilton is one of the greatest figure skaters of all time, with countless championship titles and medals under his blades and a signature move simply known as “the back flip.” What you may not know is that he is also a best selling author, motivational speaker, producer, and pituitary brain cancer survivor and now advocate. Between losing his mother to cancer in 1977 and battling his own bouts with brain cancer (more than once), he was inspired to start his own foundation in order to help families going through the tough journey. The Scott Hamilton Cares Foundation is dedicated to providing funding for advanced, state of the art research all while putting the patient’s well being first which means looking at less harmful options than the traditional chemotherapy and radiation.
And if you follow Nashville at all, then you know how eager the city’s artists are when it comes to lending their talents for a great cause. That’s exactly what happened on November 19 at Bridgestone Arena when Hamilton and his compadres came together for a night of fun and celebration all to bring an end to cancer for the second annual “An Evening With Scott Hamilton and Friends”. Friends like five time US skating champion and guest host Peggy Fleming, who bravely battled breast cancer two decades ago and won! Friends like nine time Grammy winner Sheryl Crow, who served as the Musical Host of the star studded event. An event that featured “Homegrown” singer Darius Rucker, new Opry member Chris Young, legendary songwriter/producer/guitarist Steve Cropper, Mercy Me lead singer Bart Millard, Platinum Recording Artist Cassadee Pope, and Nashville Star Charles Esten. And the skating lineup had just as many powerhouses: Meryl Davis, Katia Gordeeva, Kurt Browning, Jeremy Abbott, Kimmie Meissner, Michael Weiss, Alissa Czisny, Ryan Bradley, Steven Cousins, Kira Korpi, and Jeffrey Buttle graced the ice with their triple salchows and layback spins. Buttle pulled double duty as the choreographer to the talented cast, which also included two impressive pairs: Sinead Kerr-Marshall and John Kerr and Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre.
Crow and the cast had the “Best of Times” kicking off the show which seemed to be “Alright” by Darius Rucker, especially with Jeffrey Buttle leading the way in splits, spins, and jumps. Cassadee Pope would have been “wasting all these tears”, but how can you when Alissa Czinsy melted the ice with her grace and beauty!? Pope then found out that “You’re Where I Belong” when she joined Charles Esten onstage as eight time British Champion Steven Cousins took our breath away. And of course, you can’t have a Cassadee Pope duet without Chris Young. The crowd went crazy as Sinead Kerr Marshall and John Kerr lit up the ice with a fiery performance to “Think of You.” Pope also nailed a cover of Rascal Flatts “Stand” with an endearing performance from a group of young skaters affectionately called The Overcomers. They are champion fundraisers who went into their communities and raised over $41,000 in total for cancer research.
That wasn’t the only chilling performance of the night. US National Bronze Medalists Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre glided, lifted, and twirled during Rucker’s “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” and ended it with Navarro taking her precious baby for a stroll on the ice. Bart Millard, the lead singer for the award winning Christian band Mercy Me, spoke inspirational volumes with “Even If” and of course, “I Can Only Imagine.” The latter brought about a standing ovation for Millard and three time US National Champion, Michael Weiss. The audience and performers proved they can party as much as they can pray. Olympic Gold Medalist Meryl Davis came to “Soak Up the Sun” with Sheryl Crow and the boys. And “Aw Naw”, somebody just bought a shot of Patron apparently for Chris Young and four time world champion Kurt Browning because Browning showed off that fancy footwork he’s famous for—in hockey skates, nonetheless. We’d like to see the Predators try those moves!
And what would Nashville be without recognizing our beloved songwriters and guitarists? Steve Cropper falls into both of those categories and was joined onstage tonight by Rucker who sang a classic that Cropper co-wrote with Otis Redding, “(Sittin On) The Dock of the Bay.” Katia Gordeeva’s elegant swoops and laybacks during that song is proof of why she has two Olympic Gold Medals in her possession. Cropper revisited his Blues roots tonight as he reprised his well known guitar work on The Blues Brothers cover of “Soul Man”, impressively done by Esten—sunglasses and all.
The entire cast bared their soul one last time to take a powerful stance against cancer when Crow sang, “I Shall Believe.” Scott Hamilton, who greeted the audience in the beginning by saying, “watching rehearsal today was the thrill of a lifetime”, once again came back out onto the ice with the excitement and passion of a little kid on Santa’s lap at Christmas.
“I Shall Believe that we are going to change the world just by coming together on nights like tonight! I cannot thank you enough for your support, for being here, for celebrating life, celebrating survivorship. Another day is another day and we’re fighting for every single day we can get for people living with cancer and I am so grateful for your participation, for being here.” Scott Hamilton
We are the thankful ones Scott Hamilton. Not only did you bring an enjoyable and different kind of show to the city of shows, but through the course of your life, you have led by example and turned what could have been defeat and sadness into triumph. Thank you for wowing us with your back flips, for sharing your talents and words, and for deciding that nobody has to face cancer alone. People’s lives have been changed through The Scott Hamilton Cares Foundation and we stand with you in the fight against cancer because we are indeed, all OVERCOMERS.
For more information on The Scott Hamilton Cares Foundation, email info@ScottCARES.org and follow them on Instagram @TeamScottCares. And check out our Twitter and Instagram (@thecountrynote) for video highlights of the event!