Dancing On Ice blog 2011 – The final

Three couples but only two spots available to skate the Bolero – the routine that propelled Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean to Olympic Gold in Sarajevo in 1984.

An iconic routine which will be given a makeover by the celebrity skaters and their partners as they add their own touches.

Opening the show Chris and Jayne skated a modified Bolero along with a big group of professional skaters, all wearing the obligatory purple costumes and performing some familiar skating moves.

All this set the show up perfectly and made way for the couples to be introduced onto the ice for the final time.

A showcase skated by the celebrities and created by the celebrities is a new concept for this year.

They had complete control over the lighting, skating moves, costumes and props and I think this is a clever idea as it shows the imagination of the person! Three couples remaining and only a few skating moves standing between them and the trophy!

But who will win the coveted title of Dancing on Ice Champion 2011? Lets see!

Sam Attwater and Brianne

The first showcase of the final and it is set to Footloose.

Some old faces reappeared to help this but a lift involving two professional girls caused a rib injury.

Some great moves in this programme although I was a little disappointed in the spin lift with the two girls, as it looked slightly awkward and slow.

Head-banger’s galore though and lots of energy throughout. 29.5 was the score with Robin awarding a 10.

This was a good showcase performance and had great interaction between Sam and the professional skaters, which made for a great opening.

Laura Hamilton and Colin

Laura has been getting better and better every week as she has such drive to do well.

Her showcase was set to Express Yourself and she really got into designing and staging everything. The three boys were topless and the girls wore black tight fitting cat suits.

She did a backflip with Sylvain (who you may remember from earlier in the series), some nice roll up lifts linking with the other professional girls and nice basic skating.

It looked like a fun routine to be a part of and a score of 26 was deserved as I thought she could have performed it a lot better.

Chloe Madeley and Michael

Skating to “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life’ for her showcase Chloe wanted it to be quite girly and had on a lovely pink dress.

She managed a drape lift in sync with the other two couples and a great neck spin, which had lots of speed.

Her platter lift at the beginning, which mirrors the iconic lift done in the movie “Dirty Dancing”, was a little poor in quality but I really enjoyed watching her skate. 25.5 was the score which was right as it mirrored the small errors in the routine.

Sam Attwater and Brianne

Sam commented that he “came into this competition to challenge myself and it’s certainly been a challenge”.

Revisiting his favourite programme of “Riverdance” and it was just as good the second time as it was the first with great control and energy throughout and both looking resplendent in green costumes.

There was no inkling of the sore rib in this routine and I loved watching it. 28.5 was awarded and this beat his previous score for this programme by 1.5.

Laura Hamilton and Colin

Reliving their “I’m So Excited” routine Laura and Colin looked fab in shocking pink costumes.

I enjoyed this routine the first time as it was so full of energy but I personally enjoyed watching it more the first time.

The roll up overhead lift didn’t work properly with Laura not going all the way up as Colin failed to lock his arms (although if you didn’t skate you wouldn’t know this!) and there were some tiny stumbles.

But the head spin at the end was fabulous with Colin letting go so she was just balancing on his head on her tummy!

Ten’s across the board from the judges and this score awards the speed, energy and performance throughout this routine.

Chloe Madeley and Michael

“Kiss Kiss” is the routine that Chloe decided to skate again.

I don’t know if this decision was made due to Michael being semi nude for this, but I can imagine the female audience appreciating her decision!

I think she performed this really well with attention to detail on her hand movements.

There was a great spin lift at the end and intricate footwork throughout. She achieved a score of 28.5 so the same as Sam’s and this was well deserved and much higher than the first time she performed this routine.

And so in the interim of the viewing public deciding who they wanted to skate the bolero we welcomed back Dancing on Ice “Class of 2011”.

It was interesting as well to see who have made improvements and also who haven’t!

After seeing those familiar faces it was revealed who would skate the Bolero in the final. Unfortunately Chloe left the competition in 3rd place already dressed in purple and that seemed particularly harsh!

So Sam and Laura earned their place, which wasn’t a great surprise as they have been the two front-runners this season.

The Bolero

Sam and Brianne went first with their interpretation of the Bolero. A platter lift and with some lovely skating and of course the obligatory starting position on the knees and ending lying down.

It made me giggle when they finished in the ending position and Sam looked to be holding onto Brianne’s chest!

Phillip Schofield also spotted this and pointed it out to everyone! No scores from the judges but some positive feedback from all three.

Laura and Colin were next and she had great facial expressions throughout the programme in keeping with the music.

Some lovely lifts with the highlight being an assisted Star lift on the crescendo of the music.

She skated really well and again some lovely comments from the judges although Jason and Robin did say that choreographically it wasn’t as good as Sam’s.

I do tend to agree with them on that point although it was a nice performance.

And so, the Dancing On Ice Champion for 2011 is … Sam and Brianne!

I have to say no surprise, but a little part of me was hoping Laura would do it!

There closes another chapter in the life of Dancing On Ice with another champion crowned.

If you can’t bear to lose the skating from your life there is the tour happening or maybe you should lace up some skates of your own and get down to your local ice rink!

Will be seeing you the same time next year when Dancing on Ice returns to our screens!