Dancing On Ice Week 6 |Dreams That Glitter

Tonight we went back to 1984! It started off with an opening from the professionals in leotards, legwarmers and there was a hell of a lot of pleather involved with the show tonight. The crew are getting more and more fancy with their clever technology every week, and all the projections and images that are used to make the routine all fit together are looking fabulous. That really set the mood for the night.

The first couple of the evening to skate tonight was Suzanne and Matt, who skated to Let’s Hear It For The Boy. Straight off you could tell the hair and make up department along with wardrobe were really outdoing themselves with all the amazing looks tonight. Matt’s hair makes a fine example… very 80s. I thought the choreography was a little basic when you think about what Suzanne is capable of but I do think that Jayne and Chris know what they’re doing so hopefully they’ve got some more complex routines lined up for them.

Next up was Sam and Vicky who are definitely growing on me as a skating partnership and I love how their real life relationship comes across when they skate together. I thought he made a great Freddy Mercury with the moustache and all, and yet more pleather. The routine caused a little disagreement with the judges, Jason was the odd one out with his score which was .5 lower than the rest of the panel. It then resulted in yet another Karen/Jason episode where he came across rather rude with his comments. What he says a lot of the time is mostly true, he just words it in more horrible ways than necessary.

Following them were Gareth and Brianne, and in all honesty I can’t even remember much about the routine right now which is probably quite bad… I can’t say I’m overly disappointed in their departure either (oops?). Don’t get me wrong I think that he is a strong skater and he’s come on a long way since he started, but the standard is just so high he’s not at the same level as the likes of Ray and Sam.

Hayley and Dan were next and I thought their performance was brilliant. For some reason certain people *cough* Jason *cough* think that Hayley can only do the overly exuberant, enthusiastic, cheesy, jazz hands routines. This is not true at all. This week Jayne and Chris gave them a bit of a challenge and they skated to Here Comes The Rain Again, a much slower routine filled with emotion and storytelling. I loved the passion it was performed with and it came across very dramatic, particularly in the facial expressions which were fantastic as always. Hayley got quite emotional at the well-deserved high scores too which I thought was sweet. And you know a routine is good when Nicky says ‘it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end’ – it’s like his catch phrase much like Len Goodman ‘pickling his walnuts’ on Strictly.

Marking the mid-point of the show came Jayne and Chris’s spectacular skate to The Power Of Love. The pure emotion and passion they express as they perform gets me every time. I shall never tire of watching them, and I really hope this is one of the routines they do on tour because it was beautiful.

Following the legends were Ray and Maria. They skated to Jump and did exactly that, their routine had the most jumps in any routine previously on Dancing On Ice. I have to say I was not too impressed with his look this week, especially the hair… but whatever, it was just one week right? Can we have his actual beautiful hair back next week please? I also think it’s time Ray got to incorporate some more intricate partner work and big lifts in his routines because he’s mastered the jumps and is a brilliant solo skater now. He got a near perfect score tonight which was also deserved, then along came Nicky comparing him to Olympic skaters and deducting him points on that basis, which I thought was ridiculous.

The penultimate couple this week were Kyran and Nina. He had a bit of a boost this week from winning the duel last week and I think that really helped his performance. Or maybe it was just the wig. There was a few challenging lifts in the routine which looked pretty fantastic, but I think it’d be interesting to see how he’d get on with learning some solo tricks similar to what Ray is doing, while Ray conquers Kyran’s speciality lifts.

Beth and Lukasz closed the show with Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. There was a couple of slip ups but I think that’s because she finally managed to let go a bit and actually have fun, maybe under the influence of the song? There was also a bit of choreography off the ice including a cartwheel and a handstand which I didn’t really see the point of, other than giving us the delight of seeing Luke’s improvisation behind Beth which was quite amusing and possibly my favourite part of the routine. I’m pretty sure she spent at least half of the routine in some form of the splits which I’m not sure how I feel about. I really liked the splits roll at the beginning though that was rather impressive.

I think I’ve already voiced how I felt about the end result of Gareth leaving the show, but I’d just like to add that Sam and Vicky’s ‘Save me’ skate was absolutely beautiful and they completely nailed the step sequence and performed it in perfect unison. Claps to them. Next week it’s the Team Challenge which I can’t wait for! 

Dancing On Ice Week 5 |Dreams That Glitter

The week we’ve all been waiting for, the duels! All the scores since the first week of the competition were added together and then the top two couples were paired up and every two after that. This meant that Ray and Suzanne were paired up, Sam and Kyran, Gareth and Bonnie, and Hayley and Beth. It was incredibly tense tonight as the competition was definitely heating up and there is so much talent. The judges voted for who they thought skated best and therefore deserved to win their duel and that couple was then automatically through to next week, while the loser had to perform again, a routine that they choreographed themselves. This All Stars thing is taking its toll on me, I’m getting too attached to them all!

I’d like to make a quick comment on the opening routine which I thought was beautiful, bravo to Alex and Luke, Andy and Robin and Matt and Brianne. I loved the Evanescence song choice too! Those angel wings looked like a pain to work with but the effect they had under the lights and everything was stunning – one of my favourite openers I think.

The first two couples to compete were Sam and Vicky vs Kyran and Nina. In my opinion Sam owned that routine, I think it played to his strengths a lot more than Kyran’s particularly with the dance elements within it. I thought Sam’s skating appeared cleaner but the panel was split with two votes for each, but the skaters of the panel went and saved Kyran meaning he was through.

Gareth and Brianne vs Bonnie and Andrei were the next up and they did brilliantly. Gareth tried his best to put his performance face on but in my eyes and I’m sure many others will agree, no one can beat Bonnie Langford when it comes to performance. Though thinking about it now, I think Hayley could probably give her a run for her money in that department. I love watched Bonnie skate, she’s fabulous. Gareth is strong on the ice but he’s definitely on a lower level than some of the others still in the competition (maybe even some who are already out…) but he is trying really hard and that is coming across in his performances. He can have the award for most improved.

Following them was Hayley and Dan vs Beth and Lukasz. This was a no brainer right away, Hayley was bound to win. Hats off to Beth for trying really hard and trying to up her performance side but next to Hayley she didn’t stand a chance because Hayley is just as good technique wise across the ice. They both wanted to win but Hayley wanted it more and you could see it in her face as she was skating. They were both trying so hard that they both made mistakes and it was definitely the most tense. The judges made it a clean sweep for Hayley and she sailed through to next week leaving Beth in danger.

Last but not least was Suzanne vs Ray. This is the duel everyone was waiting for let’s be honest, and what I treat it was. Full of energy and tricks it was an amazing performance, but Ray beat Suzanne with his impressive jumps, and the whole panel agreed on putting him straight through.

The second half of the competition seemed like a lot of fun, the remaining four celebrities who didn’t win their duels battled it out with their own choreography. First went Sam and Vicky who skated to Dream Catch Me which I really love, and it was a beautiful routine, it was such a shame about the slight musicality mishap on the step sequence because other than that it would’ve been absolutely perfect.

We got to see a completely new side of Bonnie tonight which was a rock chick, and to start with she looked stunning, then pulled that amazing performance out of nowhere. She managed to let loose and have fun at the same time and still not put a foot wrong. In my eyes she can do no wrong. I especially loved the judges’ reactions to that performance and I would have loved to see the scores (10s across the board no doubt).

I felt like Beth’s performance was just meh… fairly average. Maybe that was because she followed Bonnie who is the performance queen or what, but it just wasn’t as exciting or entertaining (sorry). She just doesn’t come across as interesting personality wise as some of the others who can be exceptionally eccentric.

Saving the best till last again, came Suzanne and Matt. A lift went wrong fairly early on into the routine which sent Suzanne tumbling to the ice almost pulling Matt down with her and my heart was in my mouth. But she didn’t let it stop her performance she got right back up again and carried on like a true professional, she was amazing. I really loved the twisting headbanger towards the end, it was a bit of a mind blow! And she managed to come out of it and land it on one foot pretty much perfectly as well, just to top it all off. A definite finalist.

In the skate off it was Sam against Bonnie and Bonnie seemed to know right away that her time had come and I think everyone did. But I’m really glad they performed Big Spender as their last routine because it was one of my favourites in the first series and she did it wonderfully again tonight.

The competition is getting serious now as we reach the half way point and it’s getting really exciting. It also means I’m getting too attached to the celebrities and the couples too, and I’ll probably start crying through the results show pretty soon. Anyone with me?

Dancing On Ice Week 4 |Dreams That Glitter

I’m a little late getting this up this week but I’m determined to get this done every week without fail so here we go!

This week was the first of our themed weeks of the competition, and it was ‘Dance Styles’. From ballet to street dance, we saw it all on Sunday and some of the contestants got on better than others. Everyone was out of their comfort zone as they were all given totally different styles. Dance week brought a clear divide to the ice panel as well, as you may have noticed, there’s Karen and Robin the skaters of the panel, looking for technique and quality of the skating itself, and then there’s Ashley and Jason who are much more involved with the performance side of things. I definitely think that Jason only focuses on this, whereas the other three judges are slightly more balanced and do look at the performance as a whole.

First up was Kyran, a big, strong rugby player up to do rock and roll, which is a fast, upbeat, bouncy kind of dance with lots of tricks. I think he did a brilliant job with Nina, especially with the tricks but I think the dancing part was pretty good too.

Next up was Suzanne and Matt doing ballet, which I was really excited for. First of all I’d like to comment on how sweet it was of Suzanne to get Matt’s parents over here, and I can’t believe they’ve never seen the show in the ten years that Matt’s been on it! I think they did a fantastic job together, there was a few ballet elements in there that I recognised but I do think there could have been a bit more. That’s not Suzanne’s fault though (it drives me crazy when the judges – it’s Jason 99% of the time – comment and insult the choreography when it has nothing to do with the celebrity, they’re given a new routine each week by Jayne and Chris themselves, and I’m sure they take everything into consideration when they are choreographing. I also think they’re amazing for choreographing everything themselves each week, just think about how many routines they’ve put together in the duration of the show since it started in 2006. Anyway – back to Suzanne and Matt – it was a shame they messed up the lift but they covered it up extremely well because I didn’t notice at all until they said afterwards.

Next were Gareth and Brianne with street dance, and I think Gareth is probably the least suited to that style in the whole competition. However, he gave it a good go and you could see that he’d put a lot of work into it. The difference between the footage from the beginning of the week and the final performance was excellent. Saying all that, I do think that Gareth is not at the standard of some of the other skaters he’s up against, and I think he could be in danger next week. But like Holly Willoughby said on This Morning last week, it’s not that he’s a bad skater, it’s just because everyone else is amazing and therefore makes him look worse.

After Gareth came Bonnie and Andrei, who were given the waltz. Now, everyone just assumed that Bonnie was going to be fantastic and have an advantage because of her profession but actually ballroom dancing is very different to say, the kind of dancing you do in west end shows, for example. Just because someone is good at one style of dance does not give them an automatic advantage at being good at every other style. I do think that she did a fantastic job though and she’s just as good as she was in the first series and I don’t think enough people appreciate her talent on that show.

This marks the half way point of the show, where we took a break from the competition and saw Jayne and Chris skate a beautiful routine to In My Life by Rebecca Fergusson who sung live. The routine was so touching, and I loved the projections at the beginning. If they do that on tour, then half the arena will be in pieces, guaranteed. I found out this week that Jayne and Chris are skating Bolero in Serajevo again to mark the 30^th anniversary at the winter Olympics, on the 13^th February, just a couple of weeks. I can’t explain how excited I am to see that. You can read more about it here.

Back to the competition – Sam and Vicky with their Bhangra routine. Sam was back on form this week and performed brilliantly with Vicky, the movements were sharp and precise and the routine looked like a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Next up was the couple who were sadly later eliminated from the competition after losing the skate off to Kyran. It was Zaraah and Andy skating a jazz routine. I thought this was one of their best yet, it was different from her other best routines which tend to be the lyrical kind. I really enjoyed watching them skate together (but I do miss Fred) and I’m disappointed to see them go. It’s got to the point where all the couples I didn’t really care too much about is gone and every skate off from this point onwards I’m going to be watching from behind a cushion. That’s when we know it gets serious.

Beth and Lukasz got quite an unusual dance style – Scottish. I thought this choreography was great because you could clearly see the elements from the dance style within the routine. And you’ve got to love Lukasz in that kilt, flashing Phil at the end, who knows what he saw 😉

Hayley and Dan were the penultimate couple to perform and they did a Charleston which I  personally (and I’m sure others will agree with me) deserved full marks. It had tonnes of energy and lots of fancy tricks and clear Charleston choreography which was executed wonderfully. 

Last but certainly not least, there was Ray and Maria performing a flamenco routine. It was quite different from what I was expecting but it was quite frankly outstanding and fully deserved the incredibly high marks that it got. He just never stops, who knows where he’ll be by the final (assuming the public don’t lose their minds and get rid of him)! 

If you missed any or simply want a recap all of the performances are available to view on the Dancing on Ice website.

Bring on next week!

Dancing on Ice Week 3 |Dreams That Glitter

Now look at that for speed getting this written and posted! Only just over an hour since the show finished… claps for me. Anyway, before I go into that I’d just like to mention that I made a separate twitter account to go with my blog which you can find under @laurenhollie_, so if you follow me here you should follow me there too. 😉 

Opening the show this week we had last week’s stars, Suzanne and Matt. It was strange not having an opening routine from the pros or Jayne and Chris to start it all off but next week we having a Torvill and Dean performance to look forward to and I can’t wait to see what they bring us, as none of their routines are ever the same. However I think that Suzanne did a brilliant job opening the show to Applause, which I love so that’s always a bonus. I loved the choreography at the beginning and how they ended in the same position lying on the ice. I still think they should of stuck by the rule that they had in earlier series that no one wore purple until the final though, it kind of kept the colour special for bolero.

Next up was Sam and Vicky, who performed brilliantly and there was no trip ups this week which is always good, but the performance didn’t necessary stick out for me tonight as they have done before.

Zaraah and Andy’s routine I think was quite underrated by the judges tonight, she did amazingly with that new lift never done before on the show. If you couldn’t see the strapping around her ribs through the costume then no one would have known she was injured because she acted like a true professional after having popped a rib open only this morning! Amazing courage and perseverance, a worthy competitor.

Bonnie obviously had a bit of a tough week after being in the skate off in week one, and that showed in training but I think after she let it all out of her system she must have felt better and she carried on practising until she had nailed the routine which I think she did tonight. I’m rather jealous of her amazing leg extensions.

Next up was Gareth and Brianne. Gareth’s skating ability and performance skills have improved massively since he was on the show the first time around and that really came across in his performance tonight. I think he’s doing really well with Brianne, but having said all that I do think he is quite a way behind some of the other celebrities such as Ray and Suzanne.

Ray and Maria were absolutely amazing tonight, a real stand out performance I felt. Skating to the slightly controversial Blurred Lines (some interesting music choices tonight) he certainly came out with a bang and showcased some fantastic dance moves and tricks with Maria. He proved all week in training that despite was Jason may think, he is definitely not complacent about any of this and he will work hard at everything he does. If he continues with that attitude and the public keep him in (he got my vote tonight) then he could have a lot more to bring to the competition.

Todd and Alex. What even is there to say? I literally did not stop laughing throughout the entire performance from the moment I saw Andy pushing out that boat. I did for a few seconds think that he wasn’t actually going to get onto the ice for the whole thing, but then eventually he got out and left Alex lying leisurely in the boat (what a week it must have been for her) and skated a solo, which you have to give him some credit for even if it was a tad… limited, shall we say. 10/10 for entertainment. They shall be missed.  

Beth is a good solid skater, capable of a lot on the ice especially with her flexibility that allows her to try some very interesting lifts in which she bends her body in all sorts of different ways. Having said that she’s never really particularly interested me in her performances and they’re all quite same-y in my opinion. One thing I did notice tonight was her trying to do sensitive looking hands and fingers and as a dancer looking at a gymnast I have to say they did look slightly banana like which no one else probably picked up on.

I’m so glad Kyran brought back his body popping tonight! I was watching the series two dvd earlier and was just thinking about how he needs to bring that back and then he did. I thought it was a brilliant performance, excellent skating, strong lifts. Jason needs to lay off him a bit please, and if he could stop insulting the choreography when addressing the celebrities that would be brilliant, because it has nothing to do with them, it’s given to them by Jayne and Chris who are fantastic for choreographing that many different routines every single week.

Hayley and Dan! This week’s performance was so much better than their performance in week one, they had some amazing lifts and tricks in there and Hayley has so much energy in her performances from start to finish. Her facial expressions were brilliant and very fitting for the song and the whole feel of it.