Linda Eder and Katarina Witt

On November 8, 2003, Olympic and World Figure Skating Champion, Katarina Witt, gathered an all-star cast of singers and figure skating champions at the Bridgeport Arena Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Connecticut for the live taping of her Alberto VO5 television special, Katarina Witt & Friends, Real Beauty on Ice. It was truly a magical evening.

Linda played an important role in this special evening, Katarina's first VO5 special for television in which men skaters were featured along with the women. What better way to begin the evening than with Linda singing a beloved fan favorite, "Bring on the Men," as the entire skating company performed its opening production number. The arena came to life as skaters and audience members alike enjoyed the energy of the moment. The opening number concluded with Katarina twirling across the ice as Linda held onto that last "meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!" and the audience erupted into applause.

Linda on stage; Katarina on ice!

Following the rousing opening number, the enthusiastic crowd was treated to a wonderful evening of skating by all the stars of the show: Oksana Baiul, Nicole Bobek, Maria Butryskaya, Lu Chen, Steven Cousins, Jason Dungjen, Dennis Pertov, Josef Sabovcik, Yuka Sato and, of course, Katarina Witt. Some of the skaters were accompanied by the musical guests of the evening: Linda, Denyce Graves and Renee Olstead.

The audience had their first opportunity to hear Linda sing live when she joined Katarina for another crowd favorite, "Man of La Mancha." Later on in the evening Linda sang "On the Street Where You Live" accompanied by Yuka Sato on the ice. What a wonderful choice that particular number proved to be! The smooth and sexy sound of David Mann's sax provided a perfect background for Linda's voice and Yuka's skating.

The evening ended with the entire cast of skaters performing a group production number to Linda's "I Am What I Am." Linda looked gorgeous in a red glittery gown and sounded extraordinary as her voice rose to the rafters. It was a perfect ending to a spellbinding evening of entertainment.

Following the show, Katarina graciously shared how she became acquainted with Linda and her music in a "VOICE exclusive."

"The first time I heard Linda sing was many years ago when I listened to her version of 'Bring on the Men' from the musical, Jekyll & Hyde. I liked it so much that I decided to develop a skating program to go with the song. We came up with a really funny group number on the ice to introduce guys into the show. I finally got to meet Linda in Bridgeport when we taped the special," said Katarina. "My favorite song of Linda's is 'Man of La Mancha.' I like Linda's interpretation of that song, and I especially like the strength and power of Linda's voice as she performs it."

Photos on this page by Sharon Modieska.