Dancing On Ice 2022.

[Cleoriff]

Yes I know it's early but ITV have started to announce the contestants @Mi-Amigo and @sheepdog (and anyone else interested.

I've read that John Barrowman won't be judging this series. No news on who will replace him.

Today we have the first two contestants.

1) Sally Dynevor.

Sally has played Sally Webster on Coronation Street for 35 years. Aged 58. As I watch Corrie she is well known to me (lol)

2) Mark 'Bez' Berry from Happy Mondays

Already my favourite. Just love him. Mad as a box of frogs but apparently taking this seriously.

At least I know these two... I expect the rest will be announced over the next two weeks.

[Cleoriff]

Have to say this was the best week I've ever watched. Having followed Torville and Dean since they started it was very emotional to see all those marvellous routines again (albeit in much shorter form).

Brendan and Vanessa: A stunning routine which absolutely played to his strengths as a ballroom dancer.

Looked like a professional. Loved it. Fully deserved his top score.

Kye and Tippy. Much better skate. He really got into the swing of the routine which was fast and furious.

Sadly his stepovers were a bit tentative.

Connor and Alex. Skated to Cecilia which he sings with the Vamps in concert. Skated well but his routine was a bit restricted due to still having stitches in his leg from last weeks fall. At least he remained upright this week.

Stef and Andy. As Mack and Mabel is one of my favourite routines I was a bit disappointed with this. They were out of time with the faster aspects of the music. I know Chris and Jayne seemed pleased with the train, I wasn't. Much too short (due to the routine time being reduced) but sadly that ruined it for me.

Kimberley and Mark. A jam packed routine to Putting on the Ritz. Superb choreography included tap dancing, jazz and swing. The inverted split lift was genius. Favourite routine (along with Brendan's)

Regan and Karina. Excellent skate, technically superb.  However Regan, stop with the creepy crawling to Chris and Jayne. I love Barnum but whilst I have no problem with Jayne having a weep, I don't want or need to see it from you thanks.

Re: Skate off between Kye and Stef, I agreed with the judges, Stunning skate from Kye.

Next week all couples are skating twice. The celebrities have to complete one skate on their own.

Double eviction next week is a bit harsh but I think this will be the end of Connor and Kye.

Oh @sheepdog what will you be watching when the lovely Westlife make an appearance? 😂

[sheepdog]

Due to a power cut, only got to see Brendan's 40 being triggered in slow motion and that was on ITV +1!  Honestly, the linking this series has been atrocious. I'll catch up Brendan's routine later but looked good.

Schofield: shirt in the wash again, Holly: minnie mouse dress.

Kye: thought a bit flat but given this is a difficult week, it was a high probability of being in the skate-off regardless. 

Connor: but for the fall....which never happened! Good stuff but thought it was predictable rather than reserved. Maybe not a routine for him.

Stef: liked it and she's got an edge in performance now. Didn't think much of the train bit given the hype. Annoyed by the B&W segment which is even more annoying as the audience saw something completely different.
Kimberly: thought this was her best skate of the series. However, we should introduce VAR as that was a clear and obvious error at the end with the splits that shouldn't have got 10's.
Regan: this was the performance and fault free skate he needed.  Not as good as Kimberly's but as she got 10's with a mistake it would have been an injustice to get less. His place in the final is his to lose. 

As for the skate-off, a difficult one although I preferred Stef's routine even though it was to a Michael Bolton song. This week or next week, she'd still be missing out on the final.

Now for the worst part: next week we have a  double elimination??? Seriously ITV? You wanted us to endure weeks of Bez and now you want to dump two decent skaters in one week. And to add insult to injury, you bring us Westlife as added torture. Anyway, can't see Connor or Kye being in the final as the Brendan/Kimberly/Regan are a class apart. 

Oh and on the theme: excellent, want to see this again next year (if it happens) but keep it to this part of the series where the best skaters are able to do it justice. Which they all did really. 

[Cleoriff]

@Mi-Amigo @sheepdog 

SEMI-FINAL WEEK (Songs/Music)

Regan and Karina:    I WHO HAVE NOTHING/WHITNEY HOUSTON.

Kimberley and Mark: WE FOUND LOVE: RIHANNA FT CALVIN HARRIS

Kye and Tippy :  STAND BY ME: BEN.E.KING.

Brendan and Vanessa: SHE : ELVIS COSTELLO

Connor and Alex : BOYS WILL CRY : CONNOR BALL

I realise the above only shows one skate. Nothing available (even on the official ITV site) for the skate the contestants will do alone.

Start time 7.30pm.

Double Eviction Week!!

** The Final will be delayed by one week due to football! Now due to take place on March 27th**

[Mi-Amigo]

Thank you @Cleoriff 

Like the choice of songs they`ll be skating to in pairs.

I think it`s gonna be very close to call as to who is eliminated and a lot will depend on the solo skate.

Looking forward to this semi-final.

[Cleoriff]

Semi Final week.

No Holly as she has Covid. The judging panel dressed for the event but Phil decided to dress down.

Good opening by professionals. A South American type skate. Nice to see Dan Whiston back on the ice.

Solo Skate.

All 5 celebs on the ice together for final skate and danced 1 segment each.

Brendan was doing brilliantly until he made a mistake at the end.

Kye was average, Connor upped his game and did better than expected. Regan achieved a split jump and Kimberley skated well.

Judges scored

Kye 1 point

Brendan 2 points (due to the fall/trip/mistake)

Connor 3 points

Regan 4 points

Kimberley 5 points

(I would have placed Regan top if honest)

COUPLES SKATE (to be based on important, emotional aspects of contestants life)

Brendan and Vanessa. (She) A superb emotional skate. Loved it. No idea why Chris and Jayne scored 9.5.  Scored 39 +2 +41

Kye and Tippy (Stand By Me)

Did well. Dancing for his Mum. Enjoyed it and saw a completely different side to Kye. Scored 36 +1 =37

Kimberley and Mark (We Found Love.)

Really superb skate, with quite a few complicated lifts. Very fast over the ice. Scored 40 +5 =45

Connor and Alex (Boys Will Cry: written by Connor)

Really lovely skate with a lot of new content from Connor. Very emotional. Scored 38 +3 +41

Regan and Karina (I Have Nothing)

Wow Regan, a beautiful skate. Absolutely seamless. Scored 40 +4 =44

Then we had Westlife! (Enjoyed professionals skating round them) 😂

Results.

Brendan and Vanessa + Regan and Karina through to Final.

Remaining 3 couples in skate off.

All 3 skated brilliantly. No surprise that they saved Kimberley and Mark.

Finalists, Brendan, Regan and Kimberley

Final in two weeks. March 27th.

[Mi-Amigo]

What a brilliant semi-final.

Solo skate - I guess Brendan was placed 3rd because of his trip. Although I loved Kimberley`s performance thought Regan just edged it and should have been top.

Couples - No idea and no explanation from Chris or Jane why they gave Brendan 9.5. Good and different style from Kye. Connor upped his game and gave a good routine. Kimberely`s skate was brilliant with the complicated lifts. But for me, the performance of the night was by Regan - with a beautiful routine.

Finalists - As I have said before, I am rooting for Kimberley to win and have absolutely no idea why or how she was in the skate-off but thank God she was saved by all four judges. That said, Brendon deserved his place in the final; and with the best solo performance and couples routine, so does Regan.

I am still backing Kimberley to win but we could see a shock result with Regan taking the crown in the final.

One of the best semi-finals. Thoroughly loved it. Can`t wait for the final.

@Cleoriff @sheepdog        

[sheepdog]

There I was tuning in at 732pm to avoid the lengthy adverts and intro to find that we'd missed the opening routine. Got me thinking of the olden days of CRT TVs and how long that took to start up and yet this modern LCD TV is just as tedious slow to boot without needing a size 10.

So remind me again, why do we need two hosts? For once Schofield wasn't annoying so bonus points for carrying the show well as the last minute as Holly's dressmaker obviously messed up.  Oti looked like she was channelling Bill Bailey...I was rather curious about the white lapel mic on Ashley Banjo's jacket. Never seen one like that before. To eBay!!!!! Though they probably painted it which is more likely the case. 

Anyway, more digression to come but first:

Opening skate-off: thought the concept was good but poorly executed as a viewer on TV. Probably worked better in the studio but I couldn't focus due to the variety of camera angles. 

If they were going to mark Brendan down for a fall, then why not just put him bottom if nobody else made an error? Also, most of it was boring bar Regan and Connor and we couldn't see why Kimberly did better, other than judges favourite. 

Wasn't expecting a emo-fest for the next skates. That's for the final really in my opinion but .... Balero.  

Brendan: smooth and really smooth. Maybe the odd wobble caused the 9.5's?

Kye: Good routine and he did well. However, just lacked that performance edge which the others have. 

Kimberly: Didn't think this was her best and a couple of mistakes weren't picked up by T&D. Loved her outfit though. 

Connor:  Pulled out one his best skates of the series. Better than Kimberly's.

Regan: Worthy of the 40 by a considerable margin over the others. 

Skate-off: thought they'd just announce the top 3 and kick the rest off giving us time to get a beer in. But no, we had to endure Westlife warbling waywardly. Got me thinking, why did Westlife get so successful and  do the fanbase now approaching their 30's still have their CD's or did they donate it to the local charity shop? Have you ever noticed that there's always a Westlife CD in charity shops? Also: I would have been far more impressed if Robobunny was there 🤓

As for the skate-off, pretty much a formality though Kye did well it wasn't going to be enough. No shame though as this year has turned out to be incredibly tough. Thought Connor did exceptionally well but inevitably, Kimberly was just a touch better even though I preferred Connor's routine.  

Going to be a difficult one to pick a winner from the final. I'd go for Regan myself but won't complain about any of the winner whoever that may be. Thankfully, it's not Bez (oooooh that sounds like a new punchline 🤣)

Next week: Nottingham Forest v Liverpool in the FA Cup. The presenters will be wearing a shirt and tie though 😂

[Cleoriff]

@Mi-Amigo @sheepdog 

I think Kimberley in the skate off was just theatre if honest.

I follow a DOI Faceache group and Kimberley isn't at all popular. Mind you the group is mainly female so that could be the reason. 🙄

I think had we seen the full public vote it would have been Regan 1st, Brendan 2nd and either Connor or Kimberley 3rd.

So knowing the judges would have saved their favourite (Kimberley) they shoved her in the skate off!

The three of us seem to have different favourites. Mine is Brendan as I loved him on SCD. Regan is great but his 'poor me, sob sob' emotional 'claptrap' annoys me intensely.

I like Kimberley a lot but she has had previous skating experience.

Anyway, either of the three will be a worthy winner.

I expect it will be a great final.

[Cleoriff]

THE FINAL

Listed below are the musical choices for the Final on Sunday.

The final three couples are bringing some next level routines to the ice this week! They'll skate a bigger-than-ever-before showcase choreographed by Torvill and Dean, plus their favourite skate from the series, then TWO couples will perform their take on the iconic Boléro

SHOWCASE

Brendan and Vanessa. Carmen Medley by George Bizet.

Regan and Karina. Step In Time By Mary Poppins Original London Cast.

Kimberley and Mark. River By Joni Mitchell.

FAVOURITE SKATE

Brendan and Vanessa. Falling By Harry Styles.

Regan and Karina. Barnum By Cy Coleman Orchestra.

Kimberley and Mark. Santa Maria by The Gotan Project.

Then, as usual, the votes will freeze and the top two will go on to skate the Bolero.

Now, I have to tell @Mi-Amigo and @sheepdog that I will be recording Dancing on Ice and watching after Formula 1 which is in Jeddah this week and the race starts at 6pm.

Please don't bother with spoilers. I can assure you I won't be online.  I'll be too busy watching Formula 1 and then switch over to watch the recorded DOI.

I'm rooting for Brendan to win. 😂

[Mi-Amigo]

Thank you @Cleoriff for the details of Sunday`s DOI Final.

This should be really competitive. 

I`m looking forward to it and I`m rooting for Kimberley to win 😁