Dancing On Ice blog 2011 – Week five

Opening the show with a show themed number set to “Copa Cabana” Torvill and Dean skated onto the ice for the first time in a couple of weeks. Accompanied by the professional skaters and some glitzy-feathered showgirls around the ice pad, a routine full of tricks delighted the audience. This coupled with some magic tricks from the head judge Robin Cousins! Was hoping to see him with his skates on though and joining in!

So it’s the introduction of the skills! In two weeks they will face the “ultimate skills test” where the skills count to get the scores!

This week we welcomed back “the step sequence” along with some familiar faces of shows gone by!

The skaters have to do the step sequence by themselves, in unison with their professional partners and also including a one-foot turn. We welcomed the skaters who were turned out in an array of colours onto the ice. I have to say there were some stunning costumes on display this week. I was looking forward to this week purely for the music as I think it will have pushed the skaters to perform their routine more as Las Vegas is very OTT!

First to skate:

Jennifer Metcalf and Sylvain

Skating to “If I Could Turn Back Time” and wearing a very Cheresque see-through cat suit Jennifer looked stunning as she entered the ice. Her step sequence was brilliant – incorporating outside and inside three turns all done on one foot.

What I liked about the skate was she skated more on her own tonight showing people that she can do it and with confidence. The platter lift, which happened towards the end of the routine, also looked great even though there was a little instability in her position at one point.

She has no problem when alongside Sylvain so seeing her on the ice alone was nice to see although I do think she was concentrating on that rather than projecting her performance.

I thought it was a great opening to the show.

Jeff Brazier and Isabelle

Jeff was successful last week in the Ice Pick against Dominic Cork. Having had help from a performance coach I hoped for improvement during his routine and he sounded confident in the VT before his skate.

I was so pleased that he delivered as well! Skating to Tom Jones “Its Not Unusual” he opened with some energetic hip circles, which pleased the crowd!

His confidence and skating also seems to have improved and the step sequence was done very well, with no stumbles or stutters. If his progress continues he will be up at the top of the pack as I really enjoyed watching that routine and Robin Cousins commented on his “quality basic skills” and gave him a score of 7.5.

Laura Hamilton and Colin

For the past couple of weeks, I have commented on Laura’s costumes and their lack of complimenting her body shape.

This week I think they got it right! In a white Lycra dress with ruching and crystals Laura certainly looked the part of a skater!

Her step sequence was the most difficult so far with twizzle turns one clockwise and counter clockwise although it did finish on a little stumble, although I don’t think this detracted at all from her skate. Her skating is getting more controlled which is nice to as you now see the amount of skills that she has.

Her performance is very expressive from her facial expressions to how she moves her hands. I would like to see her point her toes slightly more but that is me being picky!

Denise Welch and Matt

I have to say that this week was Denise’s best week! I thought she performed the routine well and there was some lovely past footwork throughout the routine which opened with rotating toe steps. Her step sequence was done well with Bunny-Hops, toe steps and turns. She is still behind the others with her basic skating as she is a little high in the knees, which affects the smoothness of her skating and her leg lines need work but looking at her progress throughout the competition she has definitely made big improvements.

What I also liked this week was that she looked to be enjoying her skate, which makes the audience want to watch her.

Comedy Dave and Frankie

Even skating out of the tunnel on his own, Dave looked much more competent that in weeks gone by. His basic skating does look better and smoother but still needs work on.

What I love about watching him is the comedic element, which is always in his routine. It’s interesting to watch and makes you wonder what he will do next week!

Frankie fell over in this routine and he coped really well and picked her up and carried one without letting it affect him. The step sequence looked a little stilted and untidy but I also thought he gave it his best shot and they were okay.

He does need to work on his bodylines and projection but he is getting better week-by-week.

Vanilla Ice and Katie

Elvis has entered the building! Wearing blue boot covers I am sure you can guess what Elvis great he was skating to! I liked this routine and it finished on a high with him flipping Katie in a somersault over his head, which was a spectacular finish.

It was a shame that the routine was peppered with slight stumbles all the way through which is why I think his score was the same as last week – 16. He does tend to round his shoulders as he skates and the finesse isn’t there but he has something which makes you want to watch him. Plus, he is still singing as he is going around!

Jason has asked him to stop his “silly miming” – I think this is just Rob and why should he stop being himself?!

Johnson Beharry and Jodeyne

I just love watching Johnson every week! Yes he hasn’t got the skills that some of the others have and the finish of the moves isn’t there but he smiles all the way through and he seems to always have a great time on the ice. Looking at where he has come on this journey is amazing. He couldn’t stand up at the beginning of the series and now he is skating alone and lifting Jodeyne well.

His steps, although not the most difficult, were done well and included the one-footed turn. With him concentrating on the footwork I think the performance is lost but he can most certainly be forgiven for this.

This performance prompted an argument between Karen Barber and Jason Gardiner when Jason commented that he had been on a “slight journey” which I was very condescending.

He made matters worse when he said to Karen “if your opinion mattered, you would still be on the judging panel”. Lesser people would have withered under her stare but I hope that she verbally ripped him to pieces backstage as that comment was below the belt and totally not relevant to Johnson.

I don’t know if Jason is not used to being in the background but trying to take centre stage with his acerbic put-downs which I presume he thinks are witty, is getting slightly old now.

Time to change the record please!

Sam Attwater and Brianne

Frank Sinatra on ice! Skating to “I Get A Kick Out Of You”, he looked very dapper in a black suit and pink satin shirt.

As usual Sam did great and I think he is the one to beat in this competition and the others will be looking at Sam in the coming weeks to see what he is doing.

He had a small mistake on a hold but they both skated through this without a major hiccup.

He compliments Brianne well when they skate and as partnership they look great together.

I would like to see him get off his toes when he performs crossovers as the weight is quite forward on the blade but I cannot fault his performance of the routine, which is a great to watch.

Kerry Katona and Daniel

Kerry seemed a little bit low on confidence this week during her VT before she skated which is sad to hear as she has come a long way during the past few weeks.

Skating to “I Am A Woman In Love” she looked lovely in a pink dress with her hair in a beehive.

I do think Kerry is capable of more than she does and if she believed in herself the skating would come easier.

The positions she hits in her lifts are lovely but it is her solo skating that lets her down. She did do the step sequence but it was a scratchy and she looked tentative during it and her facial expression only added to this!

With Dan she is fine, it seems that if she has a hand to hold her confidence is there and this needs to translate to her solo skating.

Chloe Madeley and Michael

I like Chloe as she isn’t loud about what she can do but she has confidence in herself, which is great. This week skating to “In The Mood” she did a great job. It was a routine packed with content and it didn’t stop from start to finish.

She coped really well with it and completed the step sequence well although I did think it could have been smoother.

She does have a high level of skill but for me, what lets her down, is her leg lines during lifts and turns.

She does tend to keep the knee slightly bent and this detracts from the finish so I would like to see more work on these and also on pointing her toes.

She got her highest score this week and I thought it was well deserved on the skating front as it was the most difficult programme that she had accomplished.

So that’s the skating over with for main show. We have had glitzy, glamour and an almost fight! That must have been a first for the show!

Maybe Jason will learn to curb his tongue…but then again pigs may fly!

Skate Off So the shock of the series so far is Jennifer and Sylvain and Vanilla Ice and Katie were the two chosen by the public to skate for their position in the show.

It’s quite nice though having two competent skaters in the skate off as it makes it more interesting to see who can keep it together and whom the judges will go with!

Jennifer skated first and I thought she attacked the performance more although there were a couple of stumbles throughout the routine.

Vanilla Ice was up next and he performed really well as usual, although I do think that his skating skills aren’t as good as Jennifer.

It was a tough card to call! With all three judges voting for Rob it was goodbye Jennifer.

I think was really sad, as lesser skaters have stayed in.

Having said that, Jason having arguments over skaters who are less competent mean that the audiences are voting for them, as they are feeling sorry for them.

The public vote is a powerful one!