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Ice Dancing: Tanith Belbin, Canadian Redemption & Schindler’s List

Feb 23, 2010, 3:00 PM UTC

This is where the Olympics lose me every time: Ice Dancing. I’m not trying to suggest that there’s no place in the Olympics for an event where couples are judged for, well, dancing on the ice. It’s a fine competition, and clearly it gets good enough ratings for NBC to anchor back-to-back days of primetime coverage with the event. It’s hard, though, for the layperson to differentiate ice dancing from, say, Dancing with the Stars – except the obvious differences of one being on ice and the other having people we’ve actually heard of.â†µ

â†µAlas, with the popularity of Ice Dancing, stars have in fact been born. Tanith Belbin became an internet sensation a few Olympics ago and remains that same sensation today. There was some doubt as to whether or not this would be the last competition for Belbin and partner Ben Agosto, but if her Twitter feed is any indication, she's definitely calling it quits:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Decided Tom Petty’s “Last Dance w/Mary Jane” is too depressing 2b today’s theme song, so D.Summers here we go! “Last Dance...toniiiight!”â†µâ†µIf there was one decorated Olympian who you’d pick to turn into the next full-fledged Summer Sanders after her competitive career ends, Belbin is the clear choice from the Winter Games. I expect her to be co-hosting a kids-themed NBA show with Ahmad Rashad any day now.â†µâ†µAs for the actual competition, the Canadian pair of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the gold medal, while Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States took home silver. In their post-event recap, Tom Hammond and analyst (and Canadian) Tracy Wilson had this exchange.â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Hammond: Well it was quite the competition. The celebration was also unrivaled with…Scott and Tessa...soaking in all the adulation of their fans and every moment of it.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥Wilson: And easing some of the hurt at Canada losing the hockey game yesterday, I must add that too. Quite an emotional moment for the country.â†µâ‡¥

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Look, I don’t know much about the popularity of Ice Dancing in Canada, but if I’m a hockey fan who just saw my team lose to the Americans on home ice, I don’t know how much the Ice Dancing competition will be used as payback. You can hear Hammond say, “yeah, right” to Wilson’s point of easing the Canadian hurt. Hammond was just being agreeable, but I get the sense he wanted it to come out, “yeeeeeeeeeah, riiiiiiiiiight.”â†µ

â†µOksana Domnina and Maksim Shabalin of Russia took home the bronze over Belbin and Agosto. Perhaps the biggest story of the night, at least if you trust the internet with these things, was the team that finished in 10th place. From Gawker's post titled "The Night Olympic Ice Dancing Went Absolutely Crazy" comes a report that the Israeli pair of Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky – siblings not husband and wife – danced to music from Schindler's List. To add even more to the drama, they came out wearing all black, with rips of red through their costumes, clearly signifying blood. Oh, and then there's this, from Gawker's post:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥From @LadyHash: Okay, ice dancing + Schindler’s List + brother & sister pairing + A THONG = uncomfortable Olympic moment.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥And from our very own Mike Byhoff: Thank goodness for Ice Dancing, otherwise we wouldn’t get a brother and sister grinding on each other to the Schindler’s List soundtrack.â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µYou can watch the performance here. It’s actually rather tastefully done, if you excuse the fact that a brother and sister are putting their hands all over each other while wearing revealing clothing and dancing to the music from one of the saddest movies of all time. As I said at the start, this is where the Olympics lose me. Eh, I guess it’s better than the couple from Germany dancing to Schindler’s List, right? â†µâ†µToo soon?â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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