Dancing on Ice 2021

Hi Folks

I thought I would make a new thread for this year's series. I hope everyone is keeping well in this most difficult of times but at least we've got some light relief with DOI for the next 12 weeks. Tip- start recording it and give it at least 30 minutes then you can fast forward over the terrible ad breaks and 2 hours becomes 1 hour 30 minutes tops. Anyway - Do hope that you all find your way here.

What did you think of the first show?

I wasn't too impressed with the canned applause and the 'oohs' and 'aahs' on the lifts (which sometimes were in the wrong places ) but hey ho it's a big empty ice rink................. Holly looked lovely as always - do think T ess and C laude could learn from her stylist.

In the main I enjoyed the show and marvelled at the high standards....... where were the usual scores of '3's and '4's that we normally see on the first week? Of course it did not help that this led to most of the couples ending up with the same score (!) but perhaps we'll have a close contest this year? I didn't really think Rufus needed 'saving' by the judges - he was much better than I thought he would be. I really don't like the 'Golden Ticket' thing - is it just for the first few weeks or will it be a regular occurrence do you think? Potential for people to cry 'fix' (even more than they do now) and it will skew things. But it was good to see that a n umber of them last night had good potential, so hopefully we won't get the Peri phenomenon this year.

I think I can see myself supporting 'our' Strictly people - really enjoyed Jason last night, despite a stumble I thought he had an air of confidence and great music. Colin looked good in the group dance so looking forward to seeing him next week. I felt really sorry for Denise - what a horrible injury and you could see that the routine would have been great if she could have given it the full welly - but fair play to her for coming out and dancing at all. Glad she got through and hope we can see more of her.

I genuinely enjoyed all of the routines and just would not have known who to put in the Skate Off. I was very surprised it was Lady Leshurr as I thought she was good - but then again it;s that first week lottery and no-one deserved to be in it.
I suppose that Rebekah was rather holding on to her partner for dear life and he had put all the big lifts in order to mask things (As Chris pointed out...........this isn't figure skating) but you have to be fit to do those lifts particularly with no performance background - and even Joe (who I don't know) 'fell in a good way'

Glad that Dan Whiston is still around so hopefully we can look forward to some good professional routines.

Looking forward to seeing what the second group bring next week.............................

Hi All
I too pre record as the ad breaks are awful!
I liked the young lad smiling despite falling. I don’t know him either.
Denise as she said tough old bird and she was to get out there - the show must go on.
Disliked Rufus but not a fan of his.
Jason gave it a go as did Lady L and Rebekah.
I did wonder if they gave Rufus the golden ticket after his basically didn’t have anything else to do speech. Going to make him work for his fee!
The next group I know Colin Graham and Myleene. Not sure about Myleene but Colin and Graham might give it a go. Others no clue who they are!

It is something to look forward to during these bleak days.

Keep safe and well

Hi Mauve and Moova
Yes, I too recorded it, there's soooo many ad breaks.
I enjoyed the show, though suspect the stronger skaters may be on next week. I was really surprised that Lady Leshur will be in the skate off, she was actually my favourite of the night. I'm not fussed on Rufus, didn't think his political comment was needed, and didn't enjoy his routine. So a bit miffed that he got the golden ticket (which I think is a bit of a gimmick, and I don't see why the immunity isn't just given automatically to the highest scorer). I thought Rebeka's routine had way too many lifts, would like to see if she can skate solo instead.
Like you say Mauve, it was great seeing the Strictly alumni, I'd especially like Jason to do well. Ouch, poor Denise, she looked like she was really gritting her teeth through the pain.
I didn't really notice the lack of an audience, but agree that the canned reactions weren't timed very well. It must feel really strange for the contestants to perform in virtually an empty building.

Looking forward to next week, especially Graham and Colin (I'm really interested to see how Graham gets on, I always like him on the skiing shows)

jingle wrote:Hi Mauve and Moova
(which I think is a bit of a gimmick, and I don't see why the immunity isn't just given automatically to the highest scorer).  

Absolutely Jingle!!!! Then it would make sense - otherwise it creates too much subjectivity and I'm sure will become quite contentious as the weeks go on - if they keep it going for the whole series.

I can't wait to see Colin - he is one of my all time Strictly favourites!

As you say Moova - the show is definitely something to take our minds off these bleak times!!

Hope some more of the gang show up on here
x

Watching, but far too soon to have much opinion yet. Agree the girl in the dance off shouldn't be there, she was pretty decent for a first week. I don't see Rufus Hound as a Bill Bailey, Time will tell, and nice to see you all here.

Hi Mr T

Great to see you - I loved the picture you did of Torvill and Dean on the Alaska thread - (I still haven't seen the programme yet )

Hi Mauve (and anyone else watching). All very smooth and predictable so far, with no shocks or surprises except the daft golden ticket idea for two couples after Round One. . This whole thing could turn out a shambles if anymore injuries occur. Spectacular lifts and more time in air than Eddie the Eagle are already beginning to be a benchmark on a basic ice dance show which jells more than a little with me. Torville and Dean spent more time blades on ice in the Olympics than the amateurs are doing in D.O.I so far. Surely skill and smooth, seamless perfection of technique are more important than flash gymnastics? Give me a classic elegant waltz on ice to "Loveliest night of the Year" or some such, or is that too much to ask? I guess so...but we'll see..

Hi Mr T

I totally agree!! It is supposed to be 'Dancing on Ice - not aspiring Olympic figure-skating and I think in the past they have always been clear about that.........let's see how it pans out! hopefully there should be more 'dancing' in the Musicals Week next time and it could prove a challenge for some of them - I think Graham will be one of those people. Having said that,I did enjoy his routine last night as it was perfect for the music and theme and he demonstrated speed and confidence - I'm glad he got through - but will need to work on the performance aspects.

For me it was another enjoyable show but with a couple of bugbears I'm afraid and one of those was the judges scores! I hardly ever find myself at odds with the judges on this show- and particularly T+D, but how come they are giving most people the same scores all the time?? Most ended up on 25 in the two shows! They even have the .5 differentiation which we don't get on SCD. Whatever has happened to 5.5 which has always been considered a good score for week one! I would have given a few more of those last night. I think the standard is higher this year which makes it enjoyable to watch, but even so......It seems like the judges have been given the same memo this year as they got on SCD!!!

I was out of kilter with a lot of the scoring last night - the only one I totally agreed with was Myleene. She was the weakest skater, but in another year/another series her performance would have been acceptable first night stuff, so it was a shame for her but it was a no-brainer that Lady Leshurr got through. Mind you, I didn't think Lady Leshurr skated quite as well as before in the skate off but when she did that spinning thing on her partners head! I thought she deserved to stay in just for that!!!

I loved Colin's routine - I thought it was good dancing on the ice! I felt the judges were somehow a bit tough on him and I felt he was under marked? Don't know what others think? It was actually my favourite routine of the night. I had forgotten that he had done an Ice Show years ago - I suppose with his dance experience maybe he is viewed as a bit of a ringer - but even so, ringers should get the marks that their routine deserves as Peri did last year. In contrast, I thought Billie was overmarked - too much faffing at the beginning, although I suppose she did well for a complete beginner which is fair enough.

Didn't know what all the fuss was about with the Capital Radio DJ - again, fast and confident but nothing memorable to me and again couldn't fathom why he was given the stupid Golden Ticket?? Feel free to disagree with me.

Lastly, it is great to see Hamish back after the Caprice debacle and he also seemed very happy. He and Faye clearly are a good partnership and it was nice to see a slower more lyrical routine - was it worth an '8'? I'm not sure.

I am really looking forward to seeing them all dance together next week and I think we'll get a fairer idea of who has the greater potential and how they cope with Musicals..........................

Enjoyed the show, and thought the top four were head and shoulders above Myleene and Billie. I really couldn't understand why Billie - who was basically lifted and led around the rink with virtually no solo skating - scored identical points to Colin. Also, agree with you Mauve, I wasn't sure why the fuss was made of the DJ, his routine didn't strike me as anything special. Glad that the golden ticket idea was only for weeks 1 and 2. I really enjoyed Faye's routine, if she'd been on Strictly then I'm sure CRH would have praised her arm extensions. Just thinking about the judges, I'm not sure there's enough difference between Ashley and John's critiques, in some ways I do miss having a 'baddie' on the panel.

I've got high hopes for Graham, as I really like him on ski Sunday. Yes, it'll be interesting to see if he can manage the dance and performance side of it, as his skating is already strong.
As you say Mauve, it'll be good to see them all perform in the same week, and hopefully the scores will be a lot more varied this time.

What a dull show. Complete lack of zip and atmosphere. No outstanding performances except maybe young Joe who did well, and maybe Colin Jackson who went for a safe routine.. Far too much flashy aeriel stuff and too few skaters of note, even less dance.. Jane Torville has warned them often enough about that. Seems the show is becoming a direct copy of Strictly with Musicals week replacing the good old props which was never going to work . Empty vessels making the most noise, seemed apt to describe the atmosphere. Very poor night all round......or is it just me?

Must confess I wasn’t blown away. Liked Colin and Joe-Warren. Amy did well with little time to prepare. Rest well ! It is a bit lacking this season. Ringer or not I loved Perri last year and year James won there was competition from Wes.
Perhaps I am just not into yet.

Hi all

I thought it was a bit of mixed bag last night and again would have liked to have seen more ice dancing Mr T - I agree.

I thought it would be more of a challenge for the celebs and I think we saw that but I was still irritated with the scores which were too high in most cases for me despite judges comments that suggested improvement was needed in various areas - I just can't fathom why they are giving '7's on week 3. However I thought the overall leaderboard was about right - but didn't think that Jason should have been so far behind either Lady Leshurr - whose routine was littered with errors - or Graham.

I was a bit surprised with the Skate-off result - am I the only one? I preferred Rebecca's main routine to the one that Graham did. I think that Rebecca did actually dance and she coped well with some intricate step patterns. I cannot think why they did not choose one of the more dynamic n umbers from Grease for Graham, but then when it came to the Skate off I thought it was a no-brainer because he was by far the stronger skater and was faster and more confident, but there you go.........He actually looked quite shocked by the result I thought. I somehow don't think Rebecca will have a big voting share going forward but she is clearly working hard as one of the 'non performers' so good luck to her. Will be interesting to see her up against Billie - the other 'non performer' who wasn't there last night.

My two disappointments were Faye and Jason. I totally agreed with the judges who said that Faye's routine didn't seem to match the tempo of the song - I know it is a fast and furious song but despite some good moves the routine just didn't gel for me - I hope she is not going to be someone who can only skate at one speed! It wasn't Jason's finest hour despite having a great track (didn't he do something from Priscilla in SCD?) I'm sure that huge headdress was weighing him down somewhat!

Very sorry to see Denise go - I think the routine they gave Amy was predictable and catered to her gymnastic talents - there was not much skating or dancing but I think the partnership is good and has potential. It was refreshing to see her on 'Breakfast' this morning saying that she agreed with Jayne's lower score and would try to remedy it.

I enjoyed Sonny's routine greatly and also Joe - who had really improved, but for me Colin did the routine of the night. Maybe it was a bit 'safe' but what could you do with a slow (and sorry) boring track. I felt it was so smooth and what I really liked about it was that he really took control and was leading his partner and doing lifts - which for a male celeb at this point in the contest for me is really good.

Well next week is billed as a 'Dance' night............so let's see what they come up with?

I'm so glad you said that about Graham in the skate off Mauve. I thought his skate off was head and shoulders above Rebekahs, and was really surprised and disappointed when he got voted out. Cynical me did wonder is it because she's a 'bigger name' so to speak. I agree with you about the music for his routine as well, there could've been much better choices from Grease.

It did feel like something was missing on Sunday, and I think it's the sense of an atmosphere without a live audience. Nothing they can do about that, but I feel it impedes DOI more than it did on Strictly. At times it doesn't feel like a live show at all

Anyhow, at least there's a handful of contestants with good potential, although no obvious winner at this stage. Colin, Joe, Sonny, Faye and Amy all look promising. I really liked Amy as the latecomer and think she could do very well.

I felt it was a little unfair that one of the judges accused Hamish of poor choreography, when another contestant blurted out at a later stage that the choreography is done by Karen and Dan. Just hoping that dance week has a bit more 'va va voom' about it

Joe, Faye or Colin (who seemed to be the only one listening to the music/rhythm last night ) are the leaders for me, with Lady Leshurr? way overmarked and the rest of the Biggles aeriel acrobats no serious competition. It's no disgrace to be less than a Torville and Dean level ice skater, but they won everything in sight including Olympic and World medals with very few lifts and just pure ice dance, so maybe they should get tougher as judges. A female contestant being swung around off the ice by a male pro looks flash and showy, but proves what as ice dance? Female pros can't reciprocate with male contestants so that's a no-no right away as far as a level playing field goes, surely? . Full credit to all the contestants for giving it a go, but the running order for exits seems pretty predictable as of now and skating in empty stadiums must be hard on motivation right now. Good luck to the all. None of it's easy.

"If I had ever learnt (deliberate),I should have been a great proficient!" Lady Catherine De Bourgh, Pride and Prejudice.

I enjoyed Dance week, and can see a lot of potential in half a dozen of the contestants (Joe, Faye, Colin, Sonny, Amy, Lady L). Three things I didn't like - firstly, the music for Sonny's baroque-themed skate...surely baroque music would have been more fitting than a pop song? Secondly, I thought Rebekah was ridiculously overmarked. I felt she should have been eliminated the week before in the skate-off with Graham, so it's starting to feel like bias now. The third thing which was getting to me was the illogicality (is that a word?) of some of Ashley's comments and scores.

Anyhow, overall it was an enjoyable show, and I just hope there aren't any more injuries or quarantines. It's a shame that the lack of audience does detract, must be hard for the competitors to perform to a non-existent crowd. I can't predict the winner at all, think it may come down to a popularity vote between Faye, Joe and Sonny.

Hi Jingle. Good to see you still around. Re Ashley, who I like generally, I reckon he's no more educated in the mechanics of ice dance than most of us and just goes off what looks good and is entertainment value. Same with John Borrowman. I agree with Rebekah Vardi who should have gone by now, but I feel Lady Whatsit is also wearing false feathers. Still an open field at the top end but I reckon Colin will come forth a he did in Strictly. As ever, time will tell.

Hi all

Last night I thought I had put my post up but I actually fell asleep in the chair and then it disappeared so this is the abridged version!

I agreed with a lot of what you said in your post Mr T about ice dance not being about the big lifts and that is one of the things I disliked about Sunday is that the show was advertised as a 'dance' night but the judges did not really seem to be marking on the dance aspect although Ashley claimed he was! I know that T+D are there to mark on skating ability but they are ice dancers and I felt they should have perhaps marked more on the dance aspects on Sunday. I just felt that the judges didn't seem to know what they really wanted from the contestants this week and I found it irritating - In the past I have enjoyed the judges on this show but this year I have found myself more at odds with them.

The other thing I disliked was the fact that Matt Richardson was brought in, only to be predictably booted off after only one performance? What is the point of bringing in someone at this stage in the contest? How can you judge someone equally with the others when they are actually only on their week one? As it goes I thought he made a good stab at the Paso and there were some good moves in there for me but I'm glad they won't be bringing in any more new celebs and I'm glad that SCD don't do this so far into the contest.

My favourites were Joe (could have done with a bit more dance and less lifts though) Faye (easily the dance of the night for me - she obviously excels with the slow lyrical n umbers but would like to see her do a different style) and Colin - couldn't for the life of me think why he ended up in the Skate Off? Any ideas??

I also really liked Jason and Alexandra - I thought he was much better than last week and I liked the way that they cleverly included a lot of the lifts and moves from the Argentine Tango - although Ashley wanted 'speed' - totally not right for a Tango!

I actually quite liked Rebekah's routine - I thought it was different and captured the essence of the Can Can - I did think she skated more on her own this week. Something about the choreography of the routine appealed to me.

Sonny's routine was my least favourite - choosing a dance style that none of us know about and I'm so glad you mentioned the music Jingle! It would have been so so better with an orchestral track - it all seemed 'something and nothing' to me. I thought Amy did quite well with the Line Dancing - I couldn't see how she was being 'held up' as the judges felt - I thought she did some good and tricky dance steps on the ice. I'm with Mr T on Lady L - overmarked.

Overall I enjoyed the show - as you both say it is very difficult to pick a potential winner at this stage - which is good! I really really enjoyed the T+D ' Me and My Shadow' routine - I love this song. It reminds me of my Dad and of a routine that was done by B rucie and A nton many moons ago on SCD........................

Hi Mauve. Here's my take on ice dance. We all have our opinions which are generally not far apart and just as individual as mine, so it's offered purely as my opinion only:

The whole art of any dance, be it ice, ballroom, Latin, ballet, Spanish (not flamenco which lives in a complicated world of its own) or any other dance form, (even Morris or clog-dancing)is moving the body to music. Ignore the rhythm or beat of the music and you are not dancing just jerking the body about. Strict tempo is the only way to begin learning ballroom  until you are very proficient; even then the brain hears the music and moves the body in time or rhythm it recognises. All this applies to ice dancing in just  the same way. This is why I think Colin's previous dance experience will be an advantage as the show goes on. Last night he moved his body in time to the Samba rhythm and it was (or should have been) obvious and a real plus with the judges.

Just how much last night's Dance Week, obviously based on various styles will be adhered to from now on will be interesting. Just how much Lady Leshurr's ( a spoof on lady of leisure ?) rap will fit ice dance is as much square peg-round hole is as some of the He is. And we obey him. from Strictly were.

Well now Joe-Warren is out due to COVID. He was a finalist in my opinion. Something has to give either no elimination as they aren’t going to have enough finalists. Lack lustre series.
Shows how well strictly did.

And Jason has to rest this week!

Oh no - Jason is going to be missing tonight too? I didn't realize that- haven't seen anything anywhere, is it due to an injury? What else would he be 'resting' for? I did see the news about Joe Warren - very disappointed that he is no longer in the contest - as you say Moova - definitely a potential finalist.

This series seems to be cursed with both COVID and injuries which is a real shame because on paper it looked as though it was going to be a good one at the beginning. Whilst eliminations through injury have always been a risk on this show, they do seem to have had more than their fare share of COVID and other problems and whilst it is a sign of the times you do wonder how good their COVID controls/bubbles are in comparison with SCD. However, the whole thing must be such a headache now for the production team - fair play for keeping it all going! Nevertheless, surely they must now have a week with no eliminations - Jason is getting a 'bye' this week and I think the others deserve it too - otherwise they will run out of contestants for the later weeks as you rightly say Moova.

Doctors have told him to rest due to back pain.
Come on Colin you can win this is my vote.

He gets my vote too......

Colin as Mr Darcy! Thought of you Mr T.
Enjoyed his routine. Sonny Jay is quite competitive and I enjoyed his routine too. Kudos for Mrs Vardy who could be a dark horse.
Totally agree with judges about Faye she is not making progress. Lady Leshur- I don’t know what it is but I just find this pairing odd. Was totally distracted by the parcel tape around her skeleton in the skate off.

So they did have an elimination................... I must check the dates for when the series ends because even with Jason back next week there will still only be 6 couples left.

Yes - although there wasn't really a stand out routine for me last night I enjoyed Colin's routine - I didn't actually realize he was so tall but maybe it was the costume and the boots that made him look that way. I was glad that he got unreserved positive comments at last and that he wasn't in that skate off again! I feel that he is doing lifts and taking control in a way that the celeb males don't usually manage to quite do.

I know what you mean about Lady L Moova - I just can't get as enthused about her as the judges are, although I thought she did well with getting the mood right in the Cleopatra n umber. I thought Chris gave her an honest critique but still gave her an 8! Whilst I applaud Mrs Vardy for doing the head banger - I am always in awe of this - I actually couldn't get very excited about the rest of her routine but the judges seem to be totally in love with her and although I quite enjoyed the can can routine last week, to me she is definitely getting overmarked every week.

I really enjoyed Sonny and Angela, much more than I did the previous week and it was a very enjoyable routine. He was confident on the judges challenge which I thought not many of them actually were last night.

I quite liked Faye and Hamish despite the whole concept being totally naff to me - although she does bear a great resemblance to Kate. I thought she did manage to skate a bit faster than previously but there was a stumble in there and yet Chris still gave her 8.5? Good special effects with the 'fly past'.

Finally I thought the judges were a bit hard on Amy and Joe - just my opinion. I thought she did the judges challenge ok and there were some really good dance steps incorporated in the routine. John had a go at them about not getting the theme right but they would have been given the routine by Dan and Karen! I do agree that there are always too many lifts and she was not yet the full package but I felt that both last week and this week she was better than the comments and the scores that she was given - I preferred watching her to Rebekah for instance. Anyway - she's gone now but I did feel sorry for her as she was really trying and again couldn't help the fact that she was several weeks behind the others in the performance department.