Dancing On Ice Update
The guest judge for Week Seven of Dancing on Ice 2010 was national treasure, Angela Rippon. Sadly, we didn’t get a glimpse of those shapely legs but her patronising loveliness clearly struck a chord with the studio audience and she was an excellent addition to the Ice Panal. Meanwhile, having skated on thin ice (not literally) for several weeks, Sharron Davies finally perished in a skate-off against coquette Emily Atack.It’s only a matter of time before Hayley Tamaddon gains perfect 6s but she was made to wait as a stumble knocked her score down to 5.5pts with most of the judges although, predictably, Jason Gardiner seized the opportunity to award stand-out low score (4.5pts). His illogical and totally unfair reasoning was; “I rate you highly, therefore I mark you more harshly”. The smiley soap-star very graciously accepted that nonsense and remains a worthy odds-on favourite.
While there’s no doubting Hayley is the only genuine class act in this year’s competition, Danniella Westbrook continues to improve and could end up giving her most to do in the final. Her Week Seven score of 24pts was another personal best. It’s highly unlikely she can match Hayley’s skating ability but she retains tremendous enthusiasm and seems very popular.
The morons who pay through the nose to vote on this type of show have been known to switch allegiance from the long-time front-runner to the plucky underdog at the last minute (Will Young v Gareth Gates being a prime example) and it could easily happen again. Judge, Karen Barber is still describing Danniella as a “dark horse” but needs to move with the times. I upgraded her to “genuine contender” about three weeks ago! She’s worth backing at the odds available (about 6-1).
Gary Lucy has always impressed with his technical ability and is gradually learning to express himself more gracefully. His score of 22.5pts was well deserved but I was totally baffled by judge, Emma Bunton’s comment; “You told a story tonight and I get it.” Eh? This is not the first time the former Spice Girl has been allowed to spout total guff and get away with it. Next week, Holly Willoughby should have the balls to press her with something like; “I’m sorry Emma.; none of that made any sense; for the sake of the viewing public please can you justify your fee by saying something with meaning?” She won’t, though.
Kieron Richardson was awarded a respectable 19.5pts for the second week running but, considering he is hideously camp (even by ice dancing standards), his attempt at “punking on ice” (complete with Mohican hairdo) was laughably lame. His backing track was Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) by The Buzzcocks and we were treated to a VT of him being played the song for the first time. The inane grin that took over his stupid face filled me with rage. “I’ve never heard it before in my life. Who are The Buzzcocks?” he effeminately pleaded. It’s an all-time classic, you ignorant peasant!
Having broken through the 20-point barrier early in the competition, Mikey Graham continues to underachieve and finished only fifth on the leaderboard again. I am staggered he is still second favourite. He’s very likeable but that isn’t enough. In the past, this competition has always been won by either the best or the second best skater. The Boyzone star has plenty of work to do, in my opinion.
This week’s elimination looks a straight fight between Emily Atack and Danny Young. Considering she was given a measly 10.5pts for a routine a month ago, Emily has made remarkable progress to earn 17.5pts last week and there was little doubt she would be too good for Sharron Davies in the skate-off. She nosed ahead of Danny who, incredibly, scored 17pts for the fifth week running.
However, the man from Weatherfield was vindictively punished by judge Nicky Slater for failing to “skate out” (whatever that means). Nicky’s point was probably valid but his score of 2.5pts was a massive over-reaction. I’m in no doubt Danny is the better skater and I quite confidently expect him to send Emily to her doom on Sunday.
Author: Chris Wilson
