This interview comes originally from the russian newspaper "New Siberia", made at the show of Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh in September 2003. Q: Evgeni, you work so hard, you have no spare time, how did that happen that you came to Siberia? Evgeni: Yes, I have a lot of work to do. Moreover, I have to reject a lot of interesting offers. New season will start soon. In two weeks I have to go to the competitions to the USA. There will be present 6 best skaters of the world, who will compete to find out the best of the best. Q: So you mean your visit to Novosibirsk is just another variant of training? Evgeni: Yes, of course. I have to train a lot. I can tell you a secret: now I’m skating with an injured knee, I’ve got a meniscus injury. It happened after show skating in Japan. On the Exhibitions in Japan, I got in a bad track, and my knee moved to far, like fell on ice. It was hard to walk down and up the stairs, to crouch, to stretch the leg. You know, such an ache... Q: Don’t you think these two days can make the situation worse? What does you coach think about it? Evgeni: We agreed to take part in this tour long ago. Then we were going to refuse, but Ilya Averbuch told we were to come, besides I felt a little bit better... so we decided to go. I will show here short free program “Adagio” by Albinoni and “Town wich doesn't excist” by Igor Korneliuk. And then I will receive treatment in Moscow for a week or even more. Q: So you won’t show you famous Sex Bomb skating wearing that nice body-builder costume? Evgeni: Yes, that is the past. Now we think of a new program. I suppose it’s be funny, humorous. If we had more time it could be even better. It’s a pity but we have very little time. I won’t say anything more about it though I have some interesting information. The only thing I can tell is that will be a parody of a famous American singer. Q: Whom do you consider to be your main competitor for this season? Evgeni: It’s myself first of all, and... all the rest. Every skater contends with me, it means, they all are my rivals. But it’s only on ice, because we are all friends in real life. It’s sport, you should take everything seriously. Q: Do you consider figure skating to be sport or art? Evgeni: It’s all together -sport, and art, and life, and torment, and injuries. And everything is on the first place -this is my life". Q: Some people think Russian figure skaters are condemned very often. Is it true? Evgeni: It happened to me before, but now I do not feel anything like that. A new system is being introduced I know nothing about it, something new, like in gymnastics. Q: When skater comes up on ice people are thrilled. And what do you feel? Evgeni: Pleasure in skating, in communicating with the spectators. I try to make them feel good, to inspire people “to skate with me”. It’s not like Americans do, they come with cola, eat their pop-corn. In Russian everything is different. People are amazed, astonished, they look at you charmed and fascinated. It’s so cool. Q:What do you derive inspiration from? Evgeni: When you appear on ice and hear the people shouting, you feel they are with you. Even today, when I came up, people were ready to jump over the barriers to be with me. It inspires me. Besides when I skate I don’t look down on the feet, I try to catch people’s eyes, to understand what do they think about me. Q: A good program is not only a good skating. Music is also vey important. Who’s responsible for that part of preparation in your team? Evgeni: There are different occasions. Sometimes I chose with my coach, sometimes my friends advise me. My fans send a lot of music. Q: What music do you prefer to listen to? Evgeni: If my heart likes something that means that is mine. It’s not that I loved only one kind of music like Chaikovsky. I may listen to rap or in the morning and to something lyrical in the evening etc. Q: Which of your programs do you like the best? Evgeni: “Adagio” by Albinoni and of course “Town wich doesn't excist” by Igor Korneliuk. I like them and skate with all my heart. Q: ...have you ever skated without that? Evgeni: Without that you can do nothing. You may skate, jump, spin, but if you are not able to inspire the spectators – they will understand nothing. You know, you may wave your hand just to wave it .. and you may wave your hand with all your heart... Q: How did you like our city? Evgeni: It’s nice. You saw the spectators’ reaction! Wonderful hotels, servise, everything is up-to-date. Q: Do you have any plans for tonight? Evgeni: Not yet. I’d rather take a Russian bath and go to bed. I adore russian bath with bath broom, honey and so on. Q: Is this tour profitable for you or is it training? Is figure skating in general profitable? Evgeni: Yes, the tour is profitable, there is nothing I can complain of, but I won’t tell you the exact figures.   Translation by Daniel