Dunk's first DOI Blog

Sujet: Dunk's first DOI Blog Mar 15 Jan 2008, 12:38

HELLO and welcome to my first Dancing On Ice blog.

Getting to the final of the show last year was an amazing experience and I’m still skating now - only not as intensely! I was presenting a show on Capital Radio last night, standing in for the lovely Myleene Klass, so I had to watch the first Dancing on Ice show on a little portable TV in the green room just before going on air. I couldn’t miss it now, could I?!

What a great start to the series last night, though! First of all, the judges - it was so lovely to see Ruthie Henshall on the panel. I worked with her on 10th Anniversary of the musical Chicago in London’s West End last month. She really is the most incredible performer and I think she brings something else to the panel, another dimension. She can talk with authority about the performance side of things, and offer some fantastic advice to everyone. Go Ruthie!

It was also great to see Jason back in the centre of the judging panel where he belongs. Nice to see the polo necks have gone as well and he’s working a different look! Jason obviously hasn’t learnt to bite his tongue yet, as he had some cutting remarks for Greg and Aggie. I laughed out loud when he said that it looked like Aggie’s partner was dragging round an OAP. Hilarious.

I spoke to both Jason and Ruthie last night after the show so I can give you the inside scoop on what they thought. They think the standard is very high, much higher than last year at this stage. Jason was saying that everyone is impressed with the skaters technically, but that means the weaker contestants will go quickly. I’m sure we’ll see the real contenders standing out very soon.

Out of the contestants, I was very impressed by Suzanne Shaw especially. She is a great skater technically and looked fantastic. She has a real finesse about her and her lines are really strong. Look at me with my skating talk! I sound like one of the judges¿

The other person that really stood out for me was Gareth Gates. He’s dancing with my ex-partner from last year, Maria, and I thought he showed great potential, His lines were graceful, and he was down on his knees and ankles which was really important.

I thought watching Maria with Gareth would make me feel jealous, but I wasn’t! I felt so proud that she has a great partner in Gareth. Maria is very special to me, so I now want Gareth to go all the way. Not just for Gareth but for Maria as well because it would mean so much to her.

Last night’s show has inspired me to get back on the ice again. I met up with Maria last week and had a little skate with her which was very nostalgic for me.

Chris Fountain was also very strong last night and he again just goes to prove how high the standard is this year. However, I do personally feel that Chris has an advantage over the other contestants because of his ice hockey playing. Some of the moves that Chris was pulling off in week one were more advanced and technically skilled that some of the moves in the final last year.

Chris is setting the bar high. But if you start off that good, is there anywhere to go? Mark my words, some of the other contestants will start improving and then give him a run for his money. He might crash and burn so we’ll have to wait and see!

Michael Underwood was really impressive as well. He’s dancing with Kieran’s partner from last year so they could very much be a winning pair. He seemed very cheeky on the ice and reminded me of Kieran last year.

As for the skate off, well, I’m very surprised that both Sarah and Samantha were there. I didn’t expect to see either of them doing it. I don’t Sarah should have gone as there were worse people who should have left. If I’m honest I think Aggie should have gone on skating alone, but she obviously got a big Scottish vote to keep her in.

I felt gutted for Sarah as she was meant to do the show last year but had to pull out. It was so good to see her skating finally, but upsetting to watch her go out so early. She had so much more to give the show, so shame on people for not voting her in!

I also feel upset for Fred. He’s such a lovely bloke he should have stayed in for a lot longer. I’m also surprised that the public didn’t keep Sarah and Fred in as I would have thought the ladies would fancy Fred and want to see him in action every week!

In reality though, the first few weeks of Dancing On Ice are all about who the public likes as a personality. After about week five people start judging on skating ability and the real favourites start to shine.

I was shocked to see Samantha in the skate-off. I’ve met Sam a few times and she’s a lovely girl. I know she’ll be coming into practice today feeling really low and thinking she is going out next week. My advice to her is step up to the game, work really hard and go back out there on Sunday and show everyone why she deserves to be in the show rather than Sarah.

One final thing. I had to smile when I saw Tim Vincent wearing exactly the same gold outfit that I wore last year. That was my ‘Reet Petite’ outfit. Obviously the wardrobe department are up for a bit of recycling and saving some money. No expense spared!

See you next week.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article686709.ece