Dancing on Ice 2022..

Anybody watch the opener? Brendan Cole may do a James Jordan here, his dance history a big advantage.

Yes Tango, I thought Brendan was fabulous, it was great to see him - also Oti as judge, and Kimberly as another past face from Strictly. I thought Kimberly's routine was really good too - both her and Brendan have the dance abilities so will only be limited by their skating technique.  I was really pleased to see Kai White doing well too, I remember watching him in the olympics and really liking his thoughtfulness and outlook.

I very much enjoyed both of the pro routines - I really like the way they're choreographed to balance group action with a focus on individual pairs. It's very visually effective, without needing a complicated storyline (take note Jason Gilkinson)

Looking forward to next weeks half of the contestants - the quick trailer seemed to show that Brendan and Kimberly are going to have some competition.

Hi Jingle, Mr T and all

Belated Happy New Year

I caught up on the show tonight - Sunday night is a bit packed on the TV front until 80 days finishes.......

I thought the show was fabulous - a real pick me up and I think we are in for a good one. I so enjoyed
B rendan and can't wait to see more - I hope he can do a James Jordan but I think he'll have some tough competition from Kimberley and who knows about next week's crop of contestants..............

I absolutely love Bez and thought he was hilarious - I thought he might have got a little higher than '3's as he did skate quite a lot on his own - even it was chaotic. I thought all of the contestants were likeable and had worked hard - shame Sally was so nervous. It was also a shame that Ria has ended up in the Skate Off - after basically doing a good solid week one routine - and she looked confident too. I did think though that the costumes (good as they were) didn't really match the music and the routine - they looked like they were going to do a Hollywood/musicals n umber.

I like what you said about the group n umbers Jingle - I do think that with a few exceptions these have slightly lost their way on Strictly.

Anyway - really looking forward to next week's DOI.............

Wow, this looks like being a very good year, there's so many strong entrants, and Brendan and Kimberly aren't going to have it easy.

In particular, Conor looks like a natural skater - he may not have mastered the dance moves yet, but his speed and comfort on the ice reminded me of Ray Quinn

Most of all though...Regan Gascoine. I'll admit I've fallen a little bit for him already, he came across as just such a gentle and humble character. And his dance moves were nigh on perfect, I was spellbound during their routine.

All in all, really looking forward to my Sunday evenings now. Let's just hope it's an injury-free year.

Young Gascoine is already a favourite for me. My wife seems to think Brendan Cole looked a little miffed at Regan's high marks.

Nothing spectacular tonight, quite a poor Movies Night. Wrong one went out but what do we expect? Brendan Cole and Regan still in front for me. Not the best ever D.O.I.

Hi both
I realized that I did not put my post up last week!
I've had a lot going on and now that Mr Phileas Fogg has been around the world in 80 days - I can restore DOI to its natural slot on Sunday evening from now on!

Just backtracking by one week - I was sorry that Ben went out. I think in a 'normal' year he would have been fine but the first Skate Off was for me one of those funny random situations like we get on SCD when you really don't know who will get picked. I think it was the right decision to keep Ria therefore I felt it was a real shame that she ended up going out this week. I felt she was a little undermarked with her ' Frozen' routine but somehow in the Skate Off this week I felt she wasn't so polished and also had a bit of a wobble at one point.

It must have been rough for Rachel Stevens finding herself in the Skate Off on her first night! In the main routine I felt Rachel was elegant and balletic as always and for what was her week one - she put in a solid performance but this great track was the wrong music for her - I agreed with Ashley that the whole thing needed more oomph and zing - perhaps she was nervous. I kind of see why the judges saved her but it was rough on Ria nevertheless. For me the Skate Off should have been between Bez and Sally.

My favourite routines tonight were from Connor, Brendan and Regan. Regan for me skated better than his marks suggested tonight but I suppose he had a bit of a stumble. For me Brendan was sublime - the dance was smooth and lyrical and just flowed across the ice in a beautiful understated way - I didn't see that quality and style from anyone else tonight. He was literally 'dancing' on ice - I disagreed with the judges saying that they wanted more from him - I felt he was giving his best within the parameters of reproducing a specific scene from a film. They made this comment to some of the other couples too.

Really enjoyed Connor - he is becoming one of my favourites alongside B rendan. I wasn't entirely sure that I agreed with Kimberley being top. She certainly did dance a flawless routine but so did others and I thought I detected a few minor wobbles. I think it might be t hat I just don't like the 'Greatest Showman' particularly and I really did not enjoy her leg wear - I thought it accentuated all the wrong things!!

It sounds as though I enjoyed the show more than you Mr T. I did think that many of the couples relied on lifts and tricks which is why B rendan's routine stood out so much for me. The show had the familiar ring of all the couples having to learn their dances in a much shorter time than for week one, Although it is only the second week and I can't believe the standard - I do hope however that the season doesn't peak too early - like SCD this year. Bring on Dance Week!........................

Hi Mauve.

My wife normally loves the show, but even she was a bit disappointed this week. I agree with all you say, but I feel the judges should have a chat before giving marks because, much as I like Ashley Banjo, he isn't a leading judge, neither is Oti.. Except in the skate off, Jane and Chris should go first and set the standard for the other two. All said, yes, the standard is high and Brendan and Regan were really good. Brendan's dance experience, just like James Jordan, will surely tell in the end.....always providing he masters the skating bit..

I thought it was a wee bit early in the series to have a theme night, but enjoyed it anyhow. It's a pity Kai wasn't able to skate, he's on my 'ones to watch' list. Loved Brendan's routine, and also Regans - agree with you Mauve, I would've placed them ahead of Kimberley. Connor is also showing a lot of promise. so with the exception of Kimberly it's looking like overall the male contingent are stronger than the female.
I do like Bez, but he may start to become the John Sergeant of the show if he survives too many weeks.

Before the show started my default favourite was Brendan, but I think I've already swayed towards Regan. In any case, I just hope they both make it to the final without injuries or shock exits. Looks like being a good year.

Another enjoyable show - the routines I enjoyed the most were those where I could see recognisable dance steps/content. Once again, I really liked Connor's routine - great Charleston interpretation. Regan was very good - with those promenade runs and samba rolls. B rendan again wowed me- I suppose they were never going to give him a ballroom/latin n umber! Kimberley was just stunning - I loved that Argentine Tango.

I also found myself liking Stef and Andy's strange medieval routine. She seems to have improved so much and I'm full of admiration.

The others were all sort of in the middle for me. Kye seemed a bit rough around the edges having missed last week, but he is certainly confident and did the judges challenge very well. I felt sorry for Rachel and found her routine disappointing. Couple that with going on first and having a bit of a mediocre track then she wasn't in with much of a chance. It also shows that just because someone is a good dancer, it may not necessarily translate to being a good skater. I don't t hink Rachel has looked very relaxed since the beginning, her moves just didn't seem big enough somehow - shame really, she was so graceful and elegant.

I definitely think there's a John Sergaent/Ann e Widdecombe thing developing with Bez - he's such a good sport but really shouldn't be there. Hope the situation doesn't go on too long!.....

Bez has already dismissed a much better skater. His time is up because it isn't fair to the contestants he displaces from popularity rather than skill. Hasta la vista hombre...

Agree, and I'm sure they're running out of ways to conceal the safety helmet which he has to wear. I do like Bez but hope it's his turn to exit this weekend. I was a bit disappointed to see Kye in the skate off, I think he's got a lot more potential than some of the women - especially Sally.

Enjoyed dance week, though wasn't convinced that Kimberley deserved the highest score. Although her tango routine was stunning to watch, she was in hold for the vast majority of time, whereas Brendan and Regan did way more solo skating. And I thought both of their spins were more impressive than Kimberleys.

Anyhow, good to have something to watch on a cold Sunday evening (and am also loving the winter Olympics at the moment....so many late nights/early mornings!)

Hi both
Hope you are well and surviving this stormy unpredictable weather that we currently have.

Well..............I don't normally get hot under the collar about DOI as like you, I just watch it as a distraction and a nice thing to watch on a winter Sunday evening and to slake my withdrawal symptoms from SCD........but..........in the past I haven't found there has actually been much to get hot under the collar about, as it seems easier to score skating - obvious errors etc and I have found the marking to be a lot fairer than SCD most of the time, but this all changed for me on Sunday's show!

I thought that the majority of couples did not execute the judges challenge at all well! In addition there were a fair few stumbles in various routines and yet none of this reflected in the judges scores! I like Regan and he is an awesome performer but how could he get 9 and even 9.5 for a routine that had errors? Really what is the point of the Judges Challenge if it isn't going to determine the score? Particularly in respect of Chris and Jayne's marks. They are two of my favourite people and I hate to criticise (also loved the routine that they did on Sunday) but I got fed up of Chris banging on about what he had seen in the rehearsals!!! That isn't the show and should not be relevant. I also thought that they were there to score the technical skating which they don't seem to be doing this year.

I felt that B rendan was underscored - I suppose it was true that the routine didn't quite fit the music but he would have performed the choreography that he was given and for me he did a good confident and clean routine which somehow got forgotten as the show went on. I was so relieved when he got through. They just seem to have a little bit of a downer on him when there are other professional dancers in the show with just as much experience as him!

I love Sally Dynevor but she is clearly out of her depth now, still being propelled around by Matt. As for Bez - he didn't entertain me this week, frankly I could hardly bear to watch it....... but again both of these two got through. I thought it was too close to call on the Skate Off and felt sorry for Liberty. I know she had the big lift disaster in the main routine but I think she is quite a good skater and did a good Skate Off routine, but then so did Kye.

So what did I like? I think Steff and Andy showed a lot of improvement and she is really growing on me. I know that they are going for the big lift stuff but I really like their chemistry. I also love Connor and felt that he was another one who was underscored a bit. Kimberley again came out well with the choice of track and choreography.

I felt that there were some nice concepts amongst the routines but none of them really blew me away this week and there were a lot of mistakes which seemed to go unchallenged in terms of the marks. I hope B rendan can fight back and have a great week this week!!

What do you think?

Oops, just realised I didn't comment on last weeks show. But you've done it for me Mauve, I agree 100% with everything you've written!  I also started to wonder whether the scores are decided during rehearsals (and I've sometimes wondered the same about Strictly).  

I agree that Sally and particularly Bez are trailing the others, and I hope they are the next two exits.  There's a lot of talent among the others, and I've been most surprised by Steff in the past few weeks.

I thought Brendan would be my default favourite from the outset, but I've fallen for Regan's charms now, so I just hope they both make it to the final. I'm less keen on Kimberley - she seems to get heaped with praise whilst doing relatively little solo skating. I wish there was a maximum number of lifts which can be done, I'd much rather see skating and dancing.

Anyhow, have been loving the skating in the Olympics, apart from the whole Kamila Valieva saga which has been very sad to watch. Going to be a late night tonight watching the women's curling final...such a bizarre sport and yet very thrilling.

Enjoyed musicals week, and the right person left. However I am now even more agin Kimberly, I just couldn't see why her routine scored more than Brendan or Regan. Very little of her routine was skated solo when compared to those two, and I felt her judges' challenge was much less ambitious then theirs. Anyway, apart from that I'm still enjoying the show. Having Olympics-withdrawal symptoms, though well done to the Scottish ladies! It was definitely worth staying up till 3.30 am to watch their victory.

Hi Jingle
I couldn't agree with you more about Kimberley. Whilst she and Mark did a very good and polished routine I also couldn't for the life of me see how it was any better than the routines done by Regan and B rendan and I felt she did a lot in hold (as you rightly say) and not such an impressive judges challenge. However, she really is the judges darling!!

That said, I really enjoyed the show much more than last week (after I had my rant) and I felt that the costumes, the sets, and the show choices (with the exception of Les Mis - I don't get its inclusion in SCD anymore than I get it on DOI!) were spot on and it all felt very glitz and glamour as it should - I also had a good sing-a-long too!

I thought that the judges reception to Regan was unjustifiably muted - although that seems to be the lot of the couple who are first on! I absolutely loved B rendan's routine with Brendyn! It must have been so hard to not only skate with someone else but to end up dancing with another male and the adjustment in style that this requires. All kudos to B rendan- I love the way that he uses every inch of the rink and I felt he should have been top of the leaderboard. I had to chuckle when A rlene gave him a '10' but I do think it was deserved and that he has been very underrated by the judges in the last few shows - good for you B rendan!! I think it put Oti and Ashley in their places! I enjoyed A rlene and I felt that her scores were realistic most of the time compared to some of the scores that we are seeing from the regular judges.

I also felt pleased for Kye that he did well. The routine really suited him and I think enabled him to regain some of his confidence - let's remember that this guy is a BMX bike rider, not a professional dancer or stage performer, so I feel he is holding his own and glad he got voted through.

The right person went home - who I think was more than ready to go himself. Now looking forward to props week.................

Hoping that we might hear from Mr T this week

Hi Jingle and Mr T

Hope you have watched Props week?

I really enjoyed the show and the right person went out, but Sally seems such a lovely person and clearly enjoyed every minute of her DOI experience - I think she did gain a lot of confidence as things progressed and I rather liked their Skate Off routine.

Predictably (I suppose) the top four really used their props well and incorporated them into the routines I felt. The others didn't do that particularly. I felt really gutted for Connor having his fall, as up until that point I thought it was a complex and really good and fast routine using the props to the full.

I wasn't so struck on Steff and Andy this week and not with Kye either. However, there are certain props where really all they can do is push them around and jump on an off them in various guises!! Although I loved the music and the actual routine that Kye and Tippy did - I felt the prop wasn't there much and it was as though the routine that had been choreographed for him was very similar to the Oliver routine on the previous week - they seem to have got a format with him that isn't changing.

I have to say that although it must have been fiendishly difficult I sometimes found myself not quite enjoying Kimberley and Mark's use of the ribbon, although I do accept it could have gone horribly wrong and it didn't!! I didn't begrudge her the 10. I also thought that Regan's routine was a bit weak in terms of prop use (not the skating) I did feel that the base ball bat was a little tame but they did incorporate it seamlessly.

So for me - B rendan was the best by a country mile - I absolutely loved the routine and felt jubilant that he got the first set of full marks!! Well deserved.

I am intrigued by what the show is going to be like this week...................recreating some of T+Ds routines??

Looking forward to it.
We seem to have lost Mr T - hope you are still watching the topic and show?

Hi there Mauve - and hopefully Mr T is still watching?
Yes, I felt some of the props were rather limiting, and I especially didn't like Kye's schoolboy themed routine. I really wanted Conor's routine to go well, but he does seem a little slapdash about his skating, which is a pity.
Agree with you on Kimberley's routine - begrudgingly it deserved the high scores, but yet again it was noticeable to me how little solo skating she actually did.
I didn't enjoy Stef's routine much...and I loathe the headbanger!!
On the other hand, loved Brendan's routine, and so pleased he got the first full house.
Now that all the wobbly skaters have left, I imagine it may be a skate off between Kye and Stef. It's great that there isn't a frontrunner, I think the winner could be any of Brendan, Regan or Kimberley. It's shaping up to be a very competitive final few weeks.

Totally off topic, but just wanted to thank you Mauve - somewhere else you'd mentioned enjoying Around the world in 80 days, so I thought I'd give it a go on the iplayer this week - it was brilliant!

Glad you liked Around the World in 80  days Jingle!    I have to admit that when we watched the first episode we really didn't know what to make of it but decided to stick with it for a bit.  Then once I got used to the style of it, I really started to enjoy it.  I felt that every episode was like a story within a story and as it progressed the characters really developed particularly David Tennant.

Hi folks. Been watching and was a bit disillusioned for a couple of weeks. I was glad to see the back of Sally whatsit and the Bez fella who were miles behind the rest in talent. Have to say the series is now looking one of the best ever. Torville and Deane week was a smash hit and Brendan and Vanessa and Kimberley and Mark did it full justice to great music. Three forty marks in one week..wow. Sad to see Steph go, but the competition is fierce and it was a about right. Next week, with a double elimination, should cause some fireworks. I reckon the final will be, Brendan, Kimberley and possibly Regan, but who knows. Bring it on..

Hi Mr T -Great to hear from you - glad you are still watching. Totally agree with your assessment of the show on Sunday and the potential finalists. The dark horse for me is Conor, even though he had restricted movement this week I thought he did pretty well and was a bit undermarked. I hope he can return to form next week.

I felt this was possibly one of the best ever shows on 'Dancing on Ice' - it was brilliant to see all the Torvill and Dean routines - I didn't see a lot of their exhibition stuff back in the day, so some of the tracks were really interesting - great music. I would have liked to have seen someone recreate the paso doble that T+D did as a short set routine - I think it was done with Bolero at the Olympics but I'm not sure, it might have been on the year they did Barnum, anyway I remember Jayne's costume I remember that I loved it........gosh all a long time ago..........

I did feel that perhaps Mack and Mabel should have been given to Kimberley. It is a tricky routine and I feel she could have done it justice (after all, it was truly the track that changed competitive Ice Dance competitions) and I feel it would have also given her a bit of a challenge which I don't think she is getting with the routines that she is being given - although I did enjoy the 'Putting on the Ritz' routine and the last move was spectacular.......better than a head banger!! I loved Regan's Barnum routine and I felt that Brendan and Vanessa's routine was sublime and almost a total re-creation of the actual routine. Quite emotional when he got the '40'..................

So I really loved the show Sunday night!!! Hope you loved it Jingle - Bring on next week.................

Enjoyed the semi final, although there was something totally predictable about the outcome, and yet again I didn't really see the 40 in Kimberleys routine. Anyhow, as she had to skate off despite being in first place I'm guessing the winner will be either Brendan or Regan. I'm torn between the two of them, loyalty to an old Strictly pro, or support for the lovely modest Regan. I'd be just as happy if either of them wins tbh.

Nice to see Dan Whiston taking centre stage in the group skate, I get the sense that he's the mastermind behind a lot of the choreography this year.

Tbh I hardly noticed that Holly was missing, Phil managed to carry the show perfectly without her.

Looking forward to the final - I think it's not on till end of March because of football or something, so at least that'll give them all good time to rehearse. I really really hope that we get to see all routines by the final three, it always seems such a shame when one couple gets eliminated before their bolero.

Hi
I enjoyed the Semi-Final too. I echo your comments Jingle about Dan Whiston - he is so talented, on and off the ice.

Although it was predictable, I wasn't 100% sure about how the votes would pan out because of Connor - I wasn't sure how popular he would prove to be in the end. I was totally gutted for B rendan in the solo skate when he took the tumble so it was fair that he was down the leaderboard at that point but I couldn't for the life of me (again) see why Kimberley was given first place, because to me Regan was far and away the best solo skater.

Fast forward to the routines - I absolutely loved B rendans routine to 'She' and again just could not fathom why T+D gave it 9.5 without any criticism at all, in fact they said how much they loved it?? TBH I thought it was quite a 'Torvill and Deanesque' type of dance and particularly since they were handing out the '10s' to others so I madly started to vote (for the first time this season, I usually don't vote for DOI) and was ecstatic when B rendan got called out first! Obviously people felt the same as me.

Kimberley deserved her place in the final but again echo your comments Jingle! Shame about Connor, as I have liked him but he has never been quite the same since his accident.

Looking forward to the Final, even though we've got to wait a couple of weeks (bit annoyed about that) was there no other time slot that ITV could tweak next weekend? I am loyal to B rendan as he was always one of my favourite Strictly pros, although I really like Regan as a person and a skater and wouldn't be sorry if he won. I agree with you that I wish they would take a leaf out of Strictly's book and let all the finalists dance all their routines.

ps - Did anyone notice A nton in the audience? He was briefly in some shots and was cheering his head off when B rendan got through!!

Brendan should have won, but then again, it's a popularity contest, not a skill competition.

So, that's it for another year! I did enjoy the final, though maybe a teensy bit disappointed with some of the choices of routines. I felt Regan's first two skates were much too similar in tempo and didn't showcase his strength in the slower, more emotional dances. Loved the tango choice for Kimberly - her strongest dance throughout the series I felt. However thought it a bit daft that they all got 40s - especially when Brendan did make an obvious slip up in his first routine. I'd prefer just to have judges' comments but not scoring for the final.

Glad the final two were Brendan and Regan - I felt Brendan's bolero was much more ambitious and interesting, but was just as happy to see Regan win. I'd never heard of him before DOI, but admit his personality won me over from day one. I watched his and Karina's interview on This Morning, and it clearly meant the world to them both. They also showed Kimberleys' recorded bolero...as expected it mainly consisted of her being lifted and carried.

A very strong year overall, and I think the inclusion of those with dancing backgrounds did raise the standard much higher. I really enjoyed Kye, Stef and Conor as well - in other years I think any of those could've made the final.

Well, thanks to you both for the company and critiques over the past weeks - hope you both have a great summer and look forward to Strictly 2022!

On a final note, I was entranced by the Ukrainian pair at the World figure skating championships - wow, what a powerful performance and without all the usual sequins and glitz, loved it.