One Last Time |Dreams That Glitter

“It’s not goodbye, it’s goodnight”

The iconic ending…

The amazing Christopher Dean

The one and only Bonnie Langford

Nina Ulanova ❤

The ice panel

Jason Gardiner!

Bolero ❤

The beautiful Jayne Torvill

The gorgeous Karen Barber

Ray Quinn ❤

Headbanger!

Joe with his penguin…

Joe and Andy…

Ok, so you know I said that was the last Dancing on Ice post you’d ever get? Well I lied. Well technically it wasn’t a lie I suppose, since I didn’t know there was going to be another one at the time… I was lucky enough to get hold of extra tickets on Tuesday evening for the last performance at Wembley Arena on Thursday evening. It’s a long story but basically it was very much luck that I got to go again, but I’m so happy I did. It was great to see the show again in Wembley, because it was where I saw the show for the first time and would have been weird not going back for one last time, but I really was not expecting to. 

It also meant I got to meet up with Leah again, which was perfect because we wouldn’t be friends if it wasn’t for Dancing On Ice, and now we’re like best friends and I don’t know what I’d do without her. It was the best thing ever to get to see it for the last time with her and I’m very grateful that I got to. Isn’t it amazing how a simple tv show and something like twitter can bring people together that wouldn’t have interaction with each other otherwise? 

The show was fantastic, again. I really don’t think there’s much more I can say about it other than I thoroughly enjoyed it. Start to finish. The seats were really good, not too high and near the middle of the rink so we had a brilliant view throughout. Jayne and Chris’ “It’s not goodbye, it’s just goodnight!” almost had me bawling though… 

I wasn’t expecting to go to the stage door again either even when I found out I was definitely going to see the tour again, because I went with my Gran and I didn’t see it fair to make her stand out for an hour or so after, and I had to get back from London at a decent hour for school the next day. But I ended up going again anyway with not a care in sight about school (if I can survive a day of school after getting home at 2:30am after an Imagine Dragons concert, I could do it again, right?) So when the show had finished, me and Leah made our way right around the other side of the building to the stage door and had a pretty good spot, but there was so little people there that I don’t think there could have been many with a disadvantage. Beth came out first, followed by Nina (Ulanova), and Ray Quinn (who is lovely) and Jason Gardiner came out too because he’d been sat in the audience, so we nabbed a picture with him too!

Before we knew it Jayne, Chris and Karen came out and we got photos and had brief conversations, I think Chris recognised me from the Sunday which was pretty cool. To sum up, it was the perfect way to end what seems like the end of an era to us fans. I don’t know what I’ll do with my Sunday evenings now from January – March every year, or what I’ll do for my birthday now I don’t have the tour to go and see… All I can say is thank you to everyone who was involved with the show and everything it’s done for me, much more than any of them will ever know. I’ve met so many amazing people and they’ve helped me through all sorts, many of which they’ll never know about. I’m looking forward to what Torvill and Dean are going to get up to next because it’s obvious they’ve got something hidden up their sleeves. Hopefully there’ll be lots more ice shows involving all the pros which I can go see, but nothing will quite be the same as the last nine years. 

Dancing On Ice All Stars: The Grand Final |Dreams That Glitter

I really can’t believe how quickly this night has come around, it’s quite ridiculous how fast it’s gone. It seems like only yesterday the series started and I began writing about it every week wondering if I’d keep it up. Well I have, and after an incredibly emotional night you can expect this post to be even more of a rambling and gushing than the previous ones.

Source: @torvillanddean’s twittter

First things first, congratulations to Ray and Maria, our final ever Dancing On Ice champions. They fully deserve it without a doubt. Ray has so much talent and enthusiasm for what he does on the show it’s really amazing and his skating ability has just soared through the roof of this competition, I could watch him all day and never get bored. Maria deserves just as much credit (I really don’t think the pros get enough recognition and credit for all the amazing work they do on the show behind the scenes as well as everything we see in front of the camera, she has done an amazing job partnering Ray and she’s been part of the show for so many years that’s really special. When she skates with Ray it’s different from with her other partners because she can really let go and relax and skate like she knows how because that’s the extreme levels of trust involved with their partnership.

@dancingonice: Let the #DOI celebrations begin!

I’m going to talk about the showcases first… all three of them were amazing. Beth started off the competition to Run The World with a cheer routine, and I simply must comment on just how happy Lukasz looked throughout the entire thing let alone Beth. I feel like she finally reached the top of her game and her performance was way up there with the skating skills. 40 from the judges well deserved.

Hayley’s showcase was equally amazing, they went for a tango style routine and the choreography involved her using all the pros really well and she really was the star. Again, it was spot on perfect and I don’t think they could’ve done any more.

Ray’s showcase was also fantastic. Did the wardrobe department run out of material…? Not that this is a complaint in any way, shape or form 😉 I literally have nothing else to say it was just amazing again and I think the judges needed the sprinklers on again 😉

After the showcases each of the couples performed their favourite ever routine, so Beth did her Scottish dance routine, Ray his flamenco and Hayley inevitably did Jai Ho, the public’s favourite and their favourite as a couple. She’d been dressed for it every week and since I found out that’s what they were doing should they have been put in the skate off part of me wanted her to get to do it, but now I’m very glad that it was saved for the last show. It was weird seeing it again because I remember the first time so clearly and that was four years ago, it’s crazy. Ray’s routine had so much energy and passion it was just perfect and there’s literally no other way to describe it, it was just so good. Beth’s was really good as well.

I’ve just realised I missed out the opening, how could I… I was completely blown away by it, the fact that that was the last time they’re ever going to perform Bolero on tv… that made me want to sob there and then. I like to put myself in their shoes and wonder how they’re feeling as they step onto the ice to do that for the very last time, I can’t even imagine the emotions that would be running through you. The choreography was just flawless as usual and you’d expect nothing less but at the same time you wonder how they keep going year after year and somehow pull everything together and deliver something so beautifully magical every time, and yet it’s always so different. If there’s one thing I cannot wait for it’s to see that again on tour right before my eyes, it was magical in 2009 on the 25^th anniversary tour and I expect it will have the same effect on me again. I think it’s really a privilege to see them skate in front of you, they’re such legends.

Then there was of course Phil and Christine finally on the ice shortly followed by the judges… Karen and Jason skating together – there’s something you never thought you’d see right? Amazing.

Where did I get to… Right. After a short appearance from the class of 2014 which brought back mixed emotions from wondering how far Jorgie would’ve got with a different partner, to being devastated that David and Gary went so soon, to the heart break of Suzanne and Matt not making the final… it’s crazy to think that it’s been nearly three months and all that has happened and it feels like it’s only been a few days. It was then time to announce who was in third place and who was going through to perform Bolero… Beth came first of course and I can’t say I was surprised, although she may arguably be the strongest skater she’s not as popular as Hayley or Ray.

Bolero. I’m not going to go off on one again right now because I think I’ve done that plenty of times already in the past and this blog post is taking me a long time to get through, it’s really hard to put everything into words how I want to… I’m not even going to comment on the two Bolero routines separately because I really think there was not a lot between it and I couldn’t choose between Ray and Hayley. They were both breath taking routines and by this point emotions were running high triggered by the amount of times Phil had to say ‘this is the last ever skate on Dancing on Ice’. It was really neck and neck and I imagine the votes were quite close, but Ray did have that special edge from the very beginning. He just has the whole package. Hayley is an amazing performer and a fantastic actress and has a lovely personality and her partnership with Dan is strong it’s beautiful to see, but Ray has that extra something on the skating side of things which is ultimately what the show is down to and the best skater and performer and dancer has won.

Ray’s reaction to his name being called out as the champion… to anyone who thinks he is cocky and expected to win because he thinks he’s the best, what are you even on?

It has been a complete emotional rollercoaster of an evening and so much over the last couple of months has built up to tonight’s show and the standard has been so high, and tonight has not disappointed. I thoroughly enjoyed every single second of it and can’t thank the entire cast and crew and producers enough for the last nine years. It does feel like the end of an era and I can’t believe it’s all over. I can’t believe how young I was when it first started in 2006 and the fact that I’m still following it so strongly now is pretty impressive, its grown to mean so much to me and I’m thankful for all the opportunities it’s given me as well as all the fabulous people I’ve had the chance to meet.

Now I’m counting down the days until I get to go and see the tour which is the 20^th April, aka 42 days away. I know it’s going to be one of the best experiences ever and it really couldn’t come quick enough.

If you have anything you’d like to say about the show or to any of the cast members then I’m putting together one last video project which you can read about here http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1s0pebd and I will except any contributions until Tuesday.

I really hope I haven’t missed anything out of this post, but for now it’s goodnight ❤ 

Winter Olympics: Team Figure Skating |Dreams That Glitter

As you all will know the Winter Olympics 2014 are now well underway in Sochi and have been for a few days now. I happened to catch a bit of the opening ceremony and I actually really enjoyed it, I obviously loved the ballet bits 😉 Russian ballerinas are just out of this world amazing.

On Saturday the figure skating started and this is about the only sport I manage to follow in the Olympics. I watched more skating on Saturday than I think I ever have before, there was the ice dance short dance first, followed by the ladies short programme and then finally pairs free skating. This went on from about 2.30-7 and I was lied I the tv transfixed by them for the most part of that.

I’m not going to comment on every single thing I saw but overall I really enjoyed it all and didn’t get bored of watching it even after 5 hours which I have to admit I thought I would. My favourites were the Canadians and the Americans in the pairs, but I thought the Team GB couple did brilliantly and were for some reason under-marked, and Jenna did really well too. The German couple skated to the Glee version of Le Jazz Hot and it was a fantastic routine which I thoroughly enjoyed, I just couldn’t get over the fact they skated to a Kurt solo.

Yesterday I missed a lot of the skating because I was at ballet rehearsals all day, but I did get home in time to catch the ice dance free dance which was thoroughly enjoyable. The ones that stood out for me was the Russians because they did a black swan routine to Swan Lake, which I adore and it was so beautifully done with some really original routines in there and wonderfully performed, I’m sure it was near on perfection.

I’ll have to catch up with the men’s and ladies’ free skating at some point as I have it recorded, but I did hear that Yulia Lipnitskaia won a gold for Russia which was incredibly well deserved. I saw her skate on Saturday and she blew me away, she’s only 15 and has immense talent including jaw dropping flexibility and fantastic performance skills and at such a young age, I find it really hard to believe she’s the same age as me, and the youngest person ever to win an Olympic gold I believe. Amazing. Bring on the individual skating 🙂

Dancing on Ice 2014 |Dreams That Glitter

If you’ve been here a while then you’ll know I’m a huge fan of Dancing on Ice, therefore I’m rather disappointed it’s all coming to an end… It’s going to be an amazing series and really competitive between the contestants because of the all star line up including 6 previous champions. The full line up is: Hayley Tamaddon, Kyran Bracken, Ray Quinn, Bonnie Langford, Jorgie Porter, Joe Pasquale, Gareth Gates, Todd Carty, Gary Lucy, Zaraah Abrahams, David Seaman, Suzanne Shaw, Beth Tweddle and Sam Attwater.

The first show of the series was last night and we lost Jorgie and Joe in their new surprise double eviction. I’m not all that surprised Jorgie went as everybody else seems to be, yes she’s a fabulous skater but after all the speculation about her being with Sylvain etc and their VT really didn’t help the situation. Although it was only a joke them all making fun of Sylvain for his reputation in the past few years of dating his skating partners I think maybe it was taken a little bit too far and you could tell he wasn’t happy about it. I think everything was blown out of proportion on twitter about the whole thing though and some people don’t seem to realise that at the end of the day it is still just a tv series and things like that will be played on for the sake of viewers, just like the whole Karen/ Jason situation.

My favourites last night were definitely Hayley, Kyran and Ray, I’d love for Hayley or Kyran to win. I love Ray and he’s really talented on the ice I’m sure he’s got a lot more tricks up his sleeve to come as well but I’d love to see some of the other winners give him a run for his money because everyone seems to be convinced that he’s the best and will definitely win. Even Jayne and Chris said themselves that had he started skating when he was younger, he’d be a world champion by now.

Ray Quinn’s all famous split jump making a reappearance in training

I can’t believe the show has been going so long, it’s been a huge part of my life since I was 7 years old and to this day I still clearly remember sitting down with my parents to watch the first episode, being completely transfixed by Torvill and Dean and I’ve watched obsessively ever since. The tours have given me so many amazing memories and I’m telling you now ice dancing is one of the most breathtaking things to experience live in front of you.

My favourite tour memory from 2012 – meeting Sean Rice