I cannot believe that we are already at the semi-finals! It has passed so quickly and the competition has been hotting up for places in the final. Torvill and Dean, the skating stars and their professional partners opened the show.

The music was George Michael and was slightly more relaxed than the normal opening pieces but there were plenty of tricks and lifts included. It really shows how much the celebrities confidence has grown over the weeks as a couple of weeks ago I don’t think that it would have been possible for them to skate with Torvill and Dean.

As Gary was quoted as saying we are down to the "business end of the competition" and the pressure was certainly on!! Let the fight for the final places begin!

This week’s required skill was the ‘solo spot’. The stars had to skate out of the tunnel and complete at least 20 seconds of the programme on their own – no mean feat at all! I was glad that this was included as it highlights who has the confidence and ability to skate alone without being lifted or held up by their partners.

Hayley Tammaddon and Daniel
Music: In My Life
Once again Hayley delivered the goods! I was interested to see her skate alone as sometimes I feel that when she skates with Dan she leans quite heavily back on him, but she did great. She opened the programme with a lovely spiral position and a great turned-out foot. She interacts with Dan so well and it really draws the viewer in. They have great transitions between the elements, which gave the routine flow. She achieved one 6.0 from Robin and 5.5 from the other judges bar Nicky who gave a 5.0 due to her speed being slightly slow. With her being the first one out she really set the standard for the evening.

Gary Lucy and Maria
Music: You and Me Song
Wow! Gary really delivered this week and his solo spot was extremely confident and had great flow. I was a bit disappointed in the scores and even more disappointed in Jason’s comments – he said that he was boring! I think Jason has found his winner in Hayley and sometimes thinks the others should disappear! But I was very pleased with Gary’s performance and thought he skated very well, lifted Maria with ease and he should be proud of himself!

Daniella Westbrook and Matthew
Music: When Love Takes Over
Daniella surprised me with her solo skate, as it wasn’t too bad at all. She was a little high in the knees, which took away from the smoothness, but it was so much better than I expected. Some of the judges gave her a higher score than Gary and I don’t agree with that as Gary’s skating was much smoother, but everyone has their opinion and favourites. Her upper body presentation is great but some of the exits on the lifts are laboured and the toes are sometimes turned down. I don’t think Daniella is as confident in skating alone as the others but she should be proud of what she has achieved tonight.

Kieron Richardson and Brianne
Music: Time of Your Life
Not a bad job from Kieron as he gave a solid performance. Some good lifts in the programme and a death spiral was also completed. His solo spot was strong and I think his presentation skills have also improved, as that was his weaker area at the beginning of the series. The judges all seemed to be divided once again with Jason giving a low point of 4.0 by saying that his solo spot was ‘ugly’ which is a very harsh comment. Once again I would like to take this opportunity and invite Jason to put on a pair of skates and see how his performance is!

The Skate-off
Gary and Daniella were in the skate off with Gary taking to the ice first. He produced a solid performance with a new ending – Maria landed on top of him! But his skating was nice and was smoother than his first skate with less toe picks.

Daniella skated nicely with good upper body movement but I felt her skating was a little stiff in the knees. Daniella’s strong point though was her presentation and she looked to be having a really good time.

With 3 votes to 2 Gary stays in for the final! I think this was definitely the right decision although I feel really sorry for Daniella having got so close to the final.

So the final is next week and it looks to be an exciting one – don’t miss it!