[less than perfect]

Weir lends a hand at "88 for AIDS" benefit

Skater still undecided about competitive future

By Lynn Rutherford, special to icenetwork.com
(05/07/2010) - Johnny Weir may be taking time away from the ice, but he's still workin' it.

Johnny Weir is everywhere these days -- opening The Ice Theatre of New York's season, posing in a black picture hat at the Kentucky Derby and parrying with talk show hosts.

Last night, he took time out to lend a hand at "88 for AIDS," a musical reception to support GMHC's (Gay Men's Health Crisis) AIDS Walk NY, held in a downtown Manhattan loft.

"He does make the rounds, doesn't he?" said Andy Cohen, the BRAVO TV production chief and Real Housewives guru who co-hosted the event with Weir. "I think I've run into him three times in the last few weeks."

Krishna Stone, assistant director of community relations GMHC and a figure skating fan, was grateful Weir and Cohen heeded the call.

"They both came to us through connections to members of our board," Stone said. "That's how we're able to do so much, through networking.

"A lot of people don't realize the AIDS Walk (to be held May 16th) is the biggest AIDS fundraiser in the world. Last year we raised $5.6 million, which is a huge part of our budget. Events that help defray expenses [for the Walk] and get the word out really help."

The peripatetic Weir -- whose next stop on his personality tour is as a co-emcee at Bon Appetit's "Vegas Uncork'd" food and wine extravaganza, followed by recording his single, "Dirty Love," followed by a gig as a judge at the Miss USA pageant -- introduced some talented young pianists and posed for photos with fans.

"When GMHC calls, how can you say no?" he asked the gathering.

While the skater, 25, has mostly been making waves off the ice, he says he's still undecided about competing on the Grand Prix circuit this fall.

In an interview held prior to "88 for AIDS," the three-time U.S. champion, who withdrew from the world championships after placing sixth at the Vancouver Olympics in February, said he plans to announce a decision prior to the deadline for U.S. Figure Skating to submit skater names to the ISU for Grand Prix assignments.

"It would have killed my power and my sense of goodness, to skate two perfect programs [at worlds] and come in sixth or seventh, which [judging], by watching the worlds coverage [as a commentator for Universal TV], could have happened again," he said.

"I honestly don't know what my decision [on competing] will be, but I would rather skate and train and learn what the judges want so that I don't put myself in that position again. It's a horrible position to have two of the performances of your life and come in sixth and not have a reward at the end. My reward has been the public acceptance of me and love of what I do on the ice."

Weir is smarting from his program component scores in Vancouver, which he felt were low relative to other top competitors.

"At the beginning, when the [International Judging System] came into play, everyone was saying, 'It's made for you, Johnny,' and then all of a sudden, it wasn't," he said. "I don't understand how one year my skating can be 9 [program component mark] and the next year 7. That's really where I lost any chance at an Olympic medal. That's the political side. And I mean, I understand I'm a lot to wrap your head around for judges, but...sixth place isn't a place I want to be."

Whatever his decision, Weir got some encouragement from an unlikely source: former world champion Brian Joubert, who placed a humbling 16th in Vancouver but fought back to win bronze at worlds.

"We did a few shows together in Russia, and Brian inspired me. He sat me down and said, 'You don't do anything wrong; you skate great. We both need to keep skating.'"

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