Dancing on Ice 2011 - The final skate-off

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

THE months of hard work and training had now really paid off.  For Sam Attwater, Laura Hamilton or Chloe Madeley, one of them would join the Dancing on Ice hall of fame as a champion.  The decision would be made entirely by the public and they had two performances to impress them.

     In the first performance, each finalist performed a “final showcase” in which they were able to produce, choreograph, and devise their own routine to a certain theme.  Along with the aid of their professional partner, they also each worked with up to four additional pros in the routine.

     First up with competition favourites Sam & Brianne with a footloose themed number, joined by Frankie Poultney, Dan Whiston, Nina Ulanova and Matt Evers.  In a show first, the showcase contained not one, not two but three headbangers, all at the same time!  Very risky, but it was pulled off and with the rest of the performance nailed to perfection, it deserved the first 10 marks of the competition.

SAFE: Laura's first performance was a bit too secure

     Next was Laura’s turn.  She and Colin were assisted by Sylvain Longchambon and Mark Hanretty, being very brave in only going for two extra pros.  Though, the setting and presentation was spectacular, the gamble didn’t seem to pay off and was considered by the judges as a little too safe.  Finally, Chloe and Michael were accompanied by Alexandra Schumann, Lukasz Rozycki, Jodeyne Higgins and Sean Rice for a Dirty Dancing inspired routine.  As with Laura, it didn’t really show much of Chloe’s strengths or expose any weaknesses but the marks were a tad unfair as it seem a little bit better than Laura’s. 

SHOWCASE SCORES

Sam & Brianne 29.5

Laura & Colin 26.0

Chloe & Michael 25.5

REVEALED: Jason removes his hat to praise Laura

For their second routine before the first elimination, each couple would re-enact a routine from a previous week and tweak it a little to ensure it got higher marks than before.  Firstly, Sam performed his Riverdance themed routine from Week 8.  Perfecting the traditional Irish dance was on his cards and it worked but was left astounded when the judges’ only gave him half mark improvements on last time.  With the highest score out of all previous routines to be done in this round, the omens were good for Laura to match Sam in earning a 10 mark.  Her dance to ‘I’m So Excited’, as first done on the ninth week, it did the job in acquiring a 10…only for it to achieve a perfect score!  The praise led to judge Jason Gardiner finally removing his hat after 12 weeks to reveal a huge growth of hair!  Last up, Chloe went back to her Bollywood inspired routine.  A huge risk considering it wasn’t her highest scoring routine of the series so it was just a case of getting as high as she could, and that was easily achieved.

PREVIOUS ROUTINE SCORES

Laura & Colin 30.0

Sam & Brianne 28.5

Chloe & Michael 28.5

TOTAL SCORES

Sam & Brianne 58.0

Laura & Colin 56.0

Chloe & Michael 54.0

CONSISTENT: However, it wasn't enough to get Chloe to skate the Bolero

Dancing on Ice had never experienced a tighter final than this before with just six points separating the final three.  Sam was still the front-runner but with Laura’s maximum score putting her right into contention and Chloe’s consistency of convincing the public, this was not going to be an easy decision as to which two couples would skate the Bolero.

     In the end, the result was as widely predicted.  Sam and Laura advanced into the skate-off for the title and Chloe exited in third place.  In the Bolero skate, Sam did his right to near-perfection whilst Laura struggled with what content to put in and that would prove to be her undoing and a sloppy first half to the routine handed Sam the title on a plate.

WINNERS: Sam and Brianne are 2011 champions

     Most people would have been convinced that Sam was simply showing off throughout most of the competition but no one could deny that his Bolero was completely the better and deserved to win.  He like Laura and Chloe came into the competition as unknowns, rarely mentioned in the public spotlight but they will prove to be all winners as their heroics have acquired them a huge fanbase and all three will move on to bigger and better opportunities.

     Overall, despite a thrilling final, the verdict on the series has been very lacklustre with many people saying these huge changes to the show’s format hasn’t worked and it has in fact, sent the show backwards.  ITV will undoubtedly want to call an urgent meeting of the producers to discuss what went wrong and decide on how to make it better next year.  I’m not one to judge on this issue but I think I have to be fair and say it could have done better and maybe this format can do another series and then decide which direction the show is heading from then.

     However, amongst the rather criticism and questionable choice of the public, everyone has congratulate Sam Attwater for becoming Dancing on Ice Champion 2011.  Once again, the pre-competition favourite has triumphed in sensational fashion.