Karen Barber

One Last Time |Dreams That Glitter

Lauren Leave a comment

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 2014 |Dreams That Glitter

Lauren Leave a comment

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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.
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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.

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My favourite tour memory from 2012 – meeting Sean Rice

Olympic Closing Ceremony|Dreams That Glitter

Lauren Leave a comment

Well wasn’t it amazing?! It’s the most adventurous, fabulous, extravagant thing I’ve ever seen, I’m pretty sure. From a Spice Girls reunion to bowl hats with light bulbs on top, the whole thing was just wow! And I really want one of those hats 😉 There was so much talent there, Queen, Muse, Oasis – or Beady Eye I should say…George Michael, Tinie Tempah, Taio Cruz, and Jessie J was absolutely amazing. I actually think the covers she did last night were more impressive than her own, she should release a whole album of covers! I’d buy it. Really want to go to her concert now too! 

The volunteers. So many of them! The fact that so many people volunteered to be involved, and what an experience they would’ve got. Given the chance, I’d have definitely volunteered, no doubt about it! (No Doubt – another group making a comeback which I’m happy about, it was just the other day me and my mum were talking about whatever happened to Gwen Stefani and her music…). So much respect for everyone who got involved with it. 

Who spotted the off ice skating nuns? I did! Lovely to see Frankie (@FrankieSk8) pop up there 😉 Great stuff! 

All the dancers involved throughout were amazing too – giant flash mob! Would have loved to be a part of that! And the lighting of the whole stadium, wonder how long that took to sort out?! Stunning! 

Any DOI fans on twitter, how funny was Karen (@Woo2Kaz) last night?! Loved it, she should have her own chat show! Cracks me up 🙂 

I’m sure there’s lots more to right about on this but that’s it from me for now… I think my favourite part was Queen and Jessie J 🙂 Would have loved to have been there! What was the highlight of the night for you? 

*pictures to follow at some point if I remember*