Star of the Dutch Dancing on Ice and former British Figure Skating Champion, Blackburn's Dannielle Guppy gives her view on the latest Dancing on Ice series.

The Final

So here we are, after ten weeks of blood, sweat and many tears from our celebrity skaters we have reached the final week. Torvill and Dean opened the show with a reprised version of the Bolero, skating to a live studio band in their signature purple costumes – although more modern versions than the ones they worse twenty five years ago!

Back to our couples, the required element was the art of ‘flying’. This had to be incorporated into the routines in a smooth manner and looks really spectacular when done correctly. Transitions from the ice to the air need to be seamless for this to work. So with all three couples having prepared three routines – but only two being able to perform Bolero -the first couple entered the ice.

Donal McIntyre and Florentine
Music: Rocket Man – Elton John
I loved Donal’s flying routine! He is not the most graceful skater but he works so hard and that is apparent by the progress he has made throughout the week. His programme worked really well with the routine and I particularly liked the section where he was upside down, supporting Florentine and she was running through the air. He was more graceful than he has been in previous weeks and the control which he had on the wires was excellent. I think that Ruthie’s 6.0 was a little extreme but less so than Jason’s 3.0 - even in the final he can’t manage a nice comment!

Second Routine
Music: Everybody Hurts – REM
This was one of my favourites of Donal’s past routines and I am so glad that he decided to skate this one again. I felt that he and Florentine really connected and the lifts throughout were solid without a murmur of doubt. His highest score of 25.5 was most deserved for this as his performance was great.

Jessica Taylor and Pavel
Music: One Moment in Time – Whitney Houston
Jessica was so graceful throughout this routine and looked absolutely gorgeous out there. She moved really well through the air and her somersaults seemed effortless compared to the ones in the video before her performance. Every week she has shown an improvement and this week was no exception – she smiled throughout the skate and really connected the music which lifted the whole routine. I agreed with Jason (shock!) when he said her leg lines could have been higher – this is true as it would have given a more arched, elegant appearance through the air.

Second Routine
Music: Mercy – Duffy
Jessica shined throughout this routine and she has most definitely improved her performance over the weeks. I disagree with Jason saying that there was no wow factor and that she didn’t go for it – she really stepped up her performance in this programme.

Ray Quinn and Maria
Music: Greatest Day – Take That
There was no doubt in my mind that Ray would hit the best positions whilst flying through the air, and he didn’t disappoint. The dance training has really helped him in this programme as his lines were fabulous and the unanimous sixes did not surprise me and were well deserved. The transitions from ice to the air and then back to the ice were seamless.

Second Routine
Music: Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now – Starship
Perfect scores for this routine and the skating in this was great. He really leads the partnership and his positions across the ice are lovely. He is such a competent skater and exudes confidence when he performs that you can’t help but watch him.

The Oxford Freestylers
Winners of the ‘Dancing on Ice Make Me a Star’ search, the Oxford Freestylers performed on the ice to ‘Pump It’ by the Black Eyed Peas. A new routine choreographed by Torvill and Dean showed off their skills to the maximum whilst giving a great performance. I love these guys as their style of skating is so different to what you see during the competition and I think that variety will be great during the Dancing on Ice tour.

Next came the results of the public vote to discover who had to leave the competition and therefore missed out on skating Bolero. Donal and Ray won the public vote to stay and perform and Jessica unfortunately missed out and was put in third place. I felt so sad for Jessica falling at the last hurdle and I really wanted to see her skate.

The Bolero
Donal McIntyre and Florentine
I really enjoyed Donal’s version of the Bolero and he performed it very well. The spiral lift was a great highlight of the routine and I thought his arms were much softer in this as he connected with the music.

Ray Quinn and Maria
Ray's version of this was also very well interpreted with movements which highlighted the nuances of the music. He connected very well with Maria throughout this skate which added intensity to the performance.

All the eliminated couples returned for the final show and it was great to see some old favourites like Todd Carty, Melinda Messenger and Roxanne Pallett.

And so to the results. The winner of Dancing on Ice 2009 is... Ray! I have to say that this is no surprise as he was tipped to win from the very beginning by the judges. Ray and Maria lift the trophy with Donal and Florentine in second place. I feel sad for Donal as he would have also been a very worthy winner as he has made the most improvement over the course of the series.

So, the end is here! With the winner crowned and most of the couples going on tour to battle it out for first place every night it’s time for me to say goodbye!