Yey! Props week is finally here! I love this week as I think it provides much more of a challenge for the skaters as they coordinate arms, legs and a prop around the ice. Torvill and Dean opened the show to ‘A Little Less Conversation’ with a couple of cowboy hats as props, which showed the skaters how it is done! There were some dicey moments with the hats though and this proves that even the professionals aren’t fallible! It was a really fun number though to open the show and the audience seemed to love it. With the semi finals next week the celebrities had everything to skate for!

Gary Lucy and Maria
Music: Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick – Ian Dury
Gary had the great task of having the cane as his prop. I think that this is good prop but is difficult as well but he did a brilliant job! No drop, the moves were great throughout and the routine closed with a difficult lift where Maria was sat on his shoulder then dismounted backwards down Gary’s back. His skating has really improved and it showed with the ease that he incorporated the cane into the routine without changing his skating quality. He tried the spin and it was much better than last week with more balance throughout.

Daniella Westbrook and Matthew
Music: She’s Got The Look – Roxette
A chair is not the easiest of things to skate with and I think that this was a challenge for Daniella – and she loves a challenge!! Channelling the ‘sexy secretary’ look she did really well using the prop. There wasn’t too much skating happening in the routine but it was fun to watch, it progressed smoothly and all the tricks involving the prop were great. Whilst sitting down in the chair her leg and arm positions were perfect and in correct positions which finished everything off. Her high score of 27.5 was very well deserved as she performed really well with great interaction with Matthew throughout.

Kieron Richardson and Brianne
Music: The Great Pretender – Freddie Mercury
A great choice of music to go with the microphone prop and he had to mime the words as well!! Difficult task but he did with great energy and I thought it was a fun and enjoyable performance! The judges gave him another high score of 23 and he really deserved it! His skating was a little smoother this week but he seemed to really enjoy the routine and I thought that it just lifted the mood of the programme. He really sold it and used the microphone to its full potential lifting Brianne with it and holding it so that she could execute a deathspiral, which is very difficult to do. I thought he came out fighting – I think he can see the semi final next week and wants to be there!

Hayley Tammadon and Daniel
Music: Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
A complete contrast in music and pace compared to last week but it worked so well. The umbrella prop was well used and the routine really reflected the music and its mood. The great thing about Hayley is she finishes everything off including the exits of the lifts, which is a difficult skill to have. Not their highest score but I don’t think that it captured the viewers as much as the fast paced routine of last week but it was a lovely routine with some nice skating.

Danny Young and Frankie
Music: It’s All About You – McFly
Danny had the most difficult prop in my opinion with the hat. I thought that he controlled the hat very well with no obvious mistakes and his skating was much improved as well. I thought he was a little unstable on the lifts but he recovered well and with the focus being mainly on the prop I think it would have gone unnoticed. He got his highest score for this routine and he deserved it, as it was a difficult one to do. He got into character with this routine as well, slightly Charlie Chaplin and maintained the character throughout.

The skate-off
So Kieron and Danny were in the skate off. To be honest I was a little shocked at the results tonight with Daniella being in the lead as she didn’t skate very much but her performance was great. But that is just my opinion! Kieron skated great and I thought his second skate was stronger than the first but also his performance was better.

Danny and Frankie skated second but had a major slip up in dropping the hat from off Frankie’s foot and then they were also out of time at the end.

I think the result was the correct one with 4 judges to 1 voting to keep Kieron in. So Kieron and Brianne skate in the semi-finals. With the competition hotting up it is only 2 weeks until Dancing On Ice Champion 2010 is crowned!