Tonight each celebrity skated twice, once with their partner and a solo skate entirely by themselves. Some coped better than others and the competition was really heating up as the final five champions battle it out.
Opening the show was Kyran and Nina performing together and they really had to up their game after making a few mistakes in their choreography last week and ending up in the skate off getting through only due to Suzanne’s minor mistakes I’m sure (completely non biased I swear). Tonight there was very few mistakes that I noticed and there was some interesting lifts in the routine that I’d not seen before. They ended up with a score of 34.
Kyran’s solo skate included some pretty impressive jumps – a toe loop, flip and loop jump all in there. His scores from the technical end of the panel were higher than the performance side proving that performance is definitely something that he needs to work on. I thought that there needed to be a bit more speed across the ice too.
Hayley was next with the first up to skate solo. There was one unfortunate trip on one of the jumps and a little more speed across the ice was needed but she performed well (maybe not as well as she can but it was still there). She did fall in rehearsals when practising her spin which was impressive, and I think that could’ve knocked her confidence a bit. Not her best performance. She ended up with the lowest score on the solo skates of the night.
Hayley and Dan’s routine to ‘Conga’ was a million times better than her solo skate, it really showed how much Hayley’s confidence grew when she had Dan back on the ice with her. I wonder if she had done the couple skate first then that would have put her confidence right up there for the solo and she would’ve delivered even more? Anyway, the song reminded me of Heather Mills’ and Matt’s routine a few years back… anyone else? Back to Hayley and Dan though. I really loved Hayley’s costume for starters, it reflected the music and atmosphere perfectly. There was so much energy put into it and it looked like they were having a really great time, the timing was absolutely perfect. All that landed them two 9.5s and two 10s with the performance being overruling to the technical side of things as always with Hayley.
Beth and Lukasz did their routine before Beth went it alone, and you could tell from the VT she’d had a particularly tough week battling this virus. I think she was quite lucky not to be bed ridden but the Olympic athlete inside her definitely came out this week and she did her best. Unfortunately the performance was lacking some and you really can’t blame her as she was not on her game at all.
Her solo skate was technically very clean but again lacking in performance and energy, probably due to the sickness. I think Jason used that as an excuse to be even more harsh than usual which wasn’t fair because it’s not like she looked really awful like he was making out. Not her best week, understandably.
Sam skated by himself first off and did an amazing job. The routine he was given was lyrical and he performed so well, perhaps the best he ever has even without his partner. Skating alone did not phase him whatsoever.
Sam and Vicky’s routine was absolutely stunning and beautiful. They skated to ‘All of Me’ by John Legend and it was a real goosebump routine. I have to admit I wasn’t too keen on Sam in his series but this time around him and Vicky have really grown on me, their relationship translates onto the ice so well and they’re the perfect pairing, they get on so well and are ready to tackle whatever is thrown at them (I don’t know whether I’m talking about their relationship on or off the ice at this point). The routine had some brilliant tricks in it including the bounce spin and platter lift which were done wonderfully. As the judges said, it was really ‘exquisite’.
Last up: Ray and Maria. Now that Suzanne and Matt have departed the competition (but I don’t want to dwell on that subject too much, it’s not good for my emotional stability), I’ve decided I’m backing Ray. They skated to Counting Stars tonight which I absolutely love, and the routine was just as beautiful. They got 39.5 and I’m sure that Jason just knocked .5 off his score just to be annoying, I’m sure of it. they fully deserved 10s, so well done.
Ray’s solo skate was something else. He’s been given a lot of lyrical routines lately so it was very nice to see him do something a little different. He skated to Kiss and really I don’t have much to say other than it was possibly my favourite of the night and can he please do it on tour. He finally got his perfect score of 40 and it was very well earned and deserved. Bravo.
The skate off was a really close call between Sam and Vicky and Kyran and Nina with Riverdance and Chasing Cars. I don’t think there’s much that can beat Riverdance, and although Kyran skated very strongly Sam just beat him with his amazing energy and skating standard. So now we have our four semi- finalists in the battle to be champion of all champions: Sam Attwater, Beth Tweddle, Ray Quinn and Hayley Tammaddon. I can’t believe there’s only two shows left!
Dreams That Glitter xo 