Coming off a great year for ice skating at the Vancouver, B.C., Winter Olympics, the 2010 "Stars on Ice" touring show delivered fan pleasures aplenty in a one-night show Saturday at KeyArena.

Meryl Davis and Charlie White, silver medalists in ice dancing at the Vancouver games, displayed their attractive charm and simpatico perfection in a delightful Bollywoodish Indian folk-dance routine they performed earlier in competition, and a beautiful, swirling, lifting, two-couple rhapsody alongside the impressive 2006 ice-dancing silver winners, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto.

Jeremy Abbott, the reigning U.S. national men's champion, impressed mightily in two featured numbers. To Michael Bublé's "At This Moment" and symphonic music by Camille Saint-Saëns, Abbott displayed a purity of form, a rare musicality and a solid technical command that added up to one terrific package.

Also headlining was top dog Evan Lysacek, who won the men's figure-skating gold in Vancouver and is fresh off a runner-up victory on TV's "Dancing with the Stars."

In a slick, well-executed homage to Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror," Lysacek uncorked perfect jumps and staccato dance moves and soaked in the adulation of the packed KeyArena crowd. With this skater, athleticism still trumps artistry, but he's one fine athlete.

Though pop music is plentiful in this year's "Stars on Ice" — a big improvement from the rather lackluster 2009 edition — it was the increased quotient of old-school balletic skating that was most transporting.

Chinese Olympic champs Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao were poetry incarnate in their lovely pas de deux to Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever." The exquisite suppleness of 2006 Olympic silver-medalist Sasha Cohen was highlighted in her glides, leg-lifts and backbends to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."

Visions of ethereal ice maidens were matched to two well-known pieces of classical music, in world champ Yuka Sato's limpid solo to Debussy's "Claire de Lune," and a breathtaking "flower duet" by Cohen and graceful U.S. champion Alissa Czisny to a swatch of the Delibes opera, "Lakme."

Less enthralling were the big ensemble numbers to current pop hits. A rock-out to tunes by Black-Eyed Peas had a faux-bondage theme that might have been offensive in a G-rated show if it hadn't been so tedious. And having skaters of this caliber — the cast for Seattle also included Miki Ando, Michael Weiss and popular veteran Todd Eldredge — stand around and do basic hip-hop dance steps is a waste of all that power and virtuosity.

But Ben, dude, those amateurish rock-guitar solos you trotted out? That lame, fuzzed-out version of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing"? Especially here in Hendrix's hometown, we'd much rather see you skate.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com