Six-time Olympian Elana Meyers Taylor just earned the gold in a lifelong quest for that elusive and precious medal. The grit, determination, and focus required to make it to that many Olympic Games is astounding – really unimaginable for mere mortals like myself. All I can do is marvel and cheer Taylor on as she puts her bobsledding legacy into the record books. This Dazzler of the Day honor is the very least of her laurels.
Joining Japan’s next figure skating hopes for a gold medal is Kaori Sakamoto, who skates her short program today, in a season when three Americans also stand a chance of making the podium for the gold. Sakamoto earns her Dazzler of the Day crowning for the years of dedication and champion-level bravura – and she has the fiery drive to add to her 2022 Olympic bronze medal.
The metal of the medal makes all the difference.
Deserving of this double Dazzler of the Day crowning, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara found themselves in 5th place after a lift in their short program shorted out, and after being the favorites coming in – and Japan’s first possible gold medal in figure skating pairs – they are in jeopardy of not making the podium. However, if the Olympics stay true to their unpredictable nature, they maintain the possibility of a medal – even a gold one – and this pair is one that has defied devastating falls in the past to come through in the clinch. They earn this Dazzler honor regardless of how things turn out based on their history of championship performances.
Figure skaters dominate the Dazzlers of the Day this week as Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin earn their first crowning thanks to a powerful and practically perfect performance for their short program. Representing Germany, this figure skating pair has been on an arc of momentum, and cresting during the Olympic Games is the very best timing.
US figure skating pair Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea turned in a lovely short program yesterday and will skate for a place on the podium in their long program today. Figure skating has been mired in muck of late, so when a pair of skaters performs without drama, bringing beauty and grace to the proceedings, they more than earn this Olympic Spotlight.
He once penned a song about gay cowboys, and for that alone Willie Nelson more than earns this Dazzler of the Day crowning. Add in all the albums, all the activism, all the songs, all the performances, and all the years (he’s 92 and will turn 93 in April) and you have a dazzler who has achieved icon status.
A true legend.
This sort of upset is the stuff of Olympic legend, and because most of us were counting on Ilia Malinin to bring home the gold, it felt more stunning to see him falter. Perhaps no one was more shocked with this outcome than Mikhail Shaidorov, who turned in a technically marvelous skate that earned him the gold medal and this Dazzler of the Day. It’s often said that no one can predict what happens at the Olympics, and that proved true with the men’s free skate. Congratulations to Mikhail Shaidorov for rising to the moment.
I’ve seen a lot of online posts about Ilia Malinin being the first athlete to land a backflip on Olympic ice, but with all due respect to Malinin, this is woefully wrong and entirely untrue. That honor belongs solely to Surya Bonaly, whom I very much remember defiantly landing one on Olympic ice – against the rules, against the judges, and against a sport unprepared and unwilling to recognize and reward her power and brilliance. This Dazzler of the Day goes to her for an astounding career in the face of adversity and odds all stacked against her, and for leaving an impact so great that I still remember her whenever Mr. Malinin does a backflip.
Earning the first Olympic medal for the United States at this Winter Olympics, Breezy Johnson also earns her first Dazzler of the Day thanks to all that gold. I will never not marvel at what it takes to earn any Olympic medal, or even to make it to the Olympics at all. The hours of hard work, dedication, and obsession to excel to such a level is impressively astonishing, and Breezy Johnson is living proof of this.
PS – How awesome is the name ‘Breezy Johnson’? Hint: very.
Sometimes all it takes to be a Dazzler of the Day is the right song selection. This one goes out to Kevin Aymoz, who is skating to Lady Gaga at this year’s Winter Olympics – and while that alone is enough to dazzle, making it to the Olympics in any capacity of more than worthy of a Dazzler crowning. Congrats to Aymoz on excellent musical taste, and excellence in skating.
The Winter Olympics, given their wintry nature, do not typically lend themselves to shirtless moments (unlike their bulge-tastic summer counterpart), but Benjamin Karl turned that frigid, rigid tradition on its head by doffing shirt for his celebratory victory moment following his gold medal win. Karl has been a perennial champion in snowboarding, and this marks his incredible fifth time at the Olympic Games, where he just won his second gold medal for his home country of Austria. This Dazzler of the Day goes to Benjamin Karl for reminding us how it’s done after the age of 40.
It’s strange to think of how influential the NBC Daytime lineup was to me back in the 80’s, and it was on those soap operas where I found expression for my love of drama and intrigue and over-the-top lifestyles and behavior. While my grandmother introduced me to ‘Days of Our Lives’, it was ‘Santa Barbara’ that caught my interest (rather helpfully, as at that time we didn’t even have a VCR to catch a show, so a 1 PM airtime for Days didn’t work well with school – ‘Santa Barbara’ was just getting started when I usually got home, so I didn’t have to rely solely on Soap Opera Digest to keep me up to date.
One of my favorite characters, Julia Capwell, was a no-nonsense lawyer who held her own with Mason Capwell and just about anyone who crossed her path. It was a performance grounded by the natural presence and power of Nancy Lee Grahn, who has made a lifelong career in an industry where only the strongest and most talented survive. She just won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Daytime Drama Series. More impressive of late, and the main reason for this Dazzler of the Day crowning, is her online voice against the current fascist administration. She tells it like it is, and isn’t afraid to take a stand for what is right and just – she has more spine and integrity than the majority of those in Congress right now.
My fanatical devotion to Kathy Griffin began with her bit part on ‘Medusa: Dare to be Truthful’ and the riotous way she so defeatedly muttered, “I’m so broke.” That was a brilliant spot-on spoof of Madonna’s ‘Truth or Dare’, and ever since then Griffin has been slowly ascending the pop culture mountain, and experiencing all the peaks and valleys such a journey entails. She was one of the first, and at the time only, celebrities who fully embraced a funny yet cutting critique of the awfulness that is our current President, and she got burned for doing what everyone now views as precisely what that monster deserves. After a widespread blacklisting and being almost entirely written off in Hollywood for several years, Griffin is finally getting the recognition and appreciation she has always deserved, and she’s taking that rightly-earned cachet to further point out the evils of this administration, and inspiring others to do the same. For all that, and her resilient hilarity in the face of those challenges, Griffin is crowned Dazzler of the Day. Check out her website here and see one of her live shows as they are always a good time.
It should go without saying that my favorite Dazzlers are those whom I’ve actually met in real life. My very favorites among those are family members (see Mom, Paul, and Dad) and my super favorites among those are the chosen family who aren’t forced to be here (see Andy and Suzie and now today’s recipient). That means choosing Landrie Leone as Dazzler of the Day is a very happy moment, and long-overdue. As mother to Jaxon Layne, she will always hold a special place in my heart, and in addition to that she’s become a surrogate Mom to the twins, keeping a home together no matter how challenging things get. It’s not always easy coming into the Ilagan family, and sometimes you just need the right people to make things click and fall into better place.
Today is Landrie’s birthday, and until we can make it through the snow to deliver her gift, this Dazzler of the Day crowning will be a placeholder present. Happy Birthday Landrie!
The road to Milan, Italy and this year’s Winter Olympics is studded with luminaries such as our Dazzler of the Day Erin Jackson, who heads there having already broken all sorts of speed skating records, including being the first black woman to win an individual gold medal in a Winter Olympic sport from the last games in Beijing, China. She looks to add to that, and numerous other championships, in Milan next month.
