Suzanne was very good but not memorable for me. I'll always remember Ray's skating.

I've never liked the flying and never been impressed until last night. Ray made it look so beautiful and included many more moves than anyone I've seen before. His bolero was the best one I've seen by a celeb.

I think she knows that herself. She gave a good interview on GMTV recently and I get the impression she is training very hard at the moment with Lucacz for that very reason. She is very competitive and know she will have to pull out all the stops to be in that top pack on the tour.

perfect post!

For me there is no competition with Ray winning by a country mile.

I always thought that was Suzanne overated, I have always thought Claire was far better.


I totally agree about the flying, this is 'dancing on ice' and not flying.

In fact I am not a fan of the big lifts either, for me they are not 'ice dance' but 'pairs skating'.


I would love 'Dancing on Ice' to be 'ice dance' which Jayne & Chris performed in the 80's.


Then we would really see who is the best ice dancer!

I think Clare skates better than Suzanne but Suzanne dances better and can sell a routine better. However, I think Jessica skates better than either of them but doesn't sell a routine as well.

Ray can sell a routine as well, if not better, than any of the girls but doesn't always do so. I think, when looking at difficulty, complexity (which isn't necessarily the same) and overall technicality, he skates better than anyone too although Chris can do some showy moves better (especially the spin) and Jessica (in particular) can execute some basic stuff with more poise. I reckon Ray is also the best dancer by some way.

I think Suzanne's flying routine is definitely the best we've seen followed by Clare's. However, flying really does favour the girls and I find it difficult to compare. I rather enjoyed Ray's routine but that was probably mainly because it seemed to feature more "on ice" stuff than any other flying routine I'd previously seen. I've ranted about the flying several times. I find it less than relevant - certainly to deciding who is the more "worthy" DOI champion.

Interesting to read people's comments before the tour started. Now we know the answer - at the current time, Ray is way better than Suzanne, So are Chris, Kyran and Jessica. Can a change of partner really make such a difference? Watching her on Sunday, I wondered if it was simple lack of fitness as she looked very slow and laboured compared to the others.

I loved suzanne last year. But this year when I saw Ray, it was a different class of skater. Ray is far, FAR superior to suzanne, like something never seen before. I dont think they will ever find another person as good as Ray in the series to come.

But you're comparing Suzanne and Ray at totally different circumstances. Suzanne has been out of practice for a year.

That is why I used the words 'at the current time'! All we can say is that at the current time Ray is a lot better than Suzanne. And of course he and the others from this years series have the advantage of the past four months training. However, Chris Fountain and Kyran are also a lot better than Suzanne currently.

Chris Fountain and Kyran Bracken may well be better than Suzanne currently but don't forget they are skating with their established partners ..Frankie and Mel....enough said. Suzanne has had the double whammy of a year off from the real cut and thrust of skating and a new partner to deal with at the same time, the ONLY celeb (and champion!!!)on the tour to be dealt this raw deal.

Have Chris and Kyran been skating regularly in the last year?

Kyran owns his own rink !!! and spends hours a day skating.

Wow that explains a lot. He's a very powerful skater. Nowhere near Ray Quin's artistry but he and Chris were very close. I thought Chris showed more variety of style. He gave the impression in his interviews that he hadn't had a lot of time to train. Is that not right?

She knew the deal when she signed the contract so if she felt it was such a raw deal, she didn't have to sign!

I think suzanne signed out of loyalty more than anything else, she'd been offered chicago but choose to return to doi as shes last years champ.
I dont think you can compare suzanne directly with the others at all at the time, chris dean has said she's doing "wonders" given her circumstances which says alot.
the partner makes a huge difference, they were saying at show that luk is completely different to matt, different size, different style of skating and that suzanne has had to totally adapt her style of skating to suit him, all her hand holds have changed, her body positions and the height at which she enters and exits her lifts. Chris Dean said he was very impressed with her and how shes dealing with it, cos they said they've only had 5 weeks together (!) and he went on to say its difficult for a pro to change partners let alone a celeb and that she was doing absolutely wonderful.
I do think ray is better but I think suzanne is alot nearer to him than the this tour shows. She's probably the next nearest to him closely followed by chris and then kyran (who chris dean has said has come on leaps and bounds since last tour). I do think though that she is definetly better than jessica, and the judges seem to agree, they said with a bit more flow suz would be competing with ray. She has a big disadvantage (ruthies words) but shes still doing very well despite it.
Nicky said that her young hearts routine has extremely difficult footwork and lifts, that all she needed was to do it quicker (which they said comes from familiarity) and she'd be challenging ray in terms of scores.
You can see the familiarity in all of the other partnerships but suzanne and luk dont look like a team yet, chris dean said that takes along time but that they are getting better.
I think if they all had a different partner she'd be right up there, shes come into it with a big handicap and is still holding her own.
Having to adjust her entire style of skating having only been a beginner originally and having a year off with only 5 weeks training, with any partner let alone a new one is a big ask of her.
Ruthie also said you cant tell shes with someone new from her face, that she not showing nerves and that was great. She also said suzi hasnt complained though shes at a disadvantage, that every knock and everything shes just put her head down, got on with it and been "an absolute professional" and that she really admired that.

I agree with you Laur on the loyalty thing, giving up the chance of Chicago and returning as last year's champion (not forgetting the Christmas special top marks too). Its just a shame that loyalty was not rewarded more. In spite of the fact that you say Chris Dean has said she is improving with Lucasz I still maintain as DOI champion, she should never have been put into that position in the first place. A girl who came first last year and scored the first ever set of all 6's on both final night routines deserved her winning partner at her side, over a contestant who came 5th this year.

You see this is what I don't fully understand about skating. Obviously, I can see that changing partners must be unsettling for an amateur and I can see if there is a great difference in height differential that would require technical adjustments. But why do hand holds change? Surely there are fairly set grips for set moves? Or does everyone do their own thing? And why is this slowing down her movement so much? To me it just looked as if she lacked pace and he was having to slwo down to compensate for her lack of power.
It really sounds if I am knocking the girl but, having not seen the last series I was genuinely puzzled about how she won. Aside from a lovely smile and sweet personality.

How was the partner thing worked out because I'm getting that this was foisted on her. Did her partner not have a choice in who he danced with?

What makes Zoe so special this is set up for her, to Suzanne's disadvantage ?

I dont think these decisions are anything to do with the pros. Its down to T&D to make the tour decisions are far as I know.

Surely T & D would take the pro's opinion into account though. They don't seem like people who would walk roughshod over other people's views or give anyone a raw deal if they could help it.

No missfrankiecat I'd say go back and watch the series she's very good and a deserving champ, watch music esp in the final. She's gotten 3 straight 30s
They said changing partner makes a huge difference to a pro let alone someone like suzanne... If you are very used to dance with one person it takes along time to adjust, particularly when its a very new skill. Chris said she's doing great and he's very impressed...
Nicky said that suzanne is a very fast skater, but she is going slower than she can for that routine, but also said that the footwork shes doing "is extremely difficult and so are the lifts. bUt once she's got the pace it'll be fabulous. One of the others said the speed isnt there as she isnt used to luk completely yet or the routine shes trying to get the footwork right, they commented on only having 5 weeks together they are still working at things rather than just skating. Suzannes routine doesnt flow the same as the others do because they aren't used to skating together they said this. they said suzannes would increase over time, you have to get the routine right before increasing the pace and that they are getting better, again chris said she was doing wonders for what she'd been landed in...
No matt nor suzanne didnt have a choice, the pairs are put together by the people doing the show...
I'm quoting chris dean who said dancing with luk is completely different to matt. The holds are different, he's a different type of skater to matt and he's a different height. They have standard hand holds for some moves of course but her body position and the height of exit and entry are different and if your only a beginner and have learned it one its very difficult.
Also theres the issue of chemistry and a relationship with your partner and performance time on the ice with them. That magic as chris said takes a long time to build up.I dont think you appreciate how difficult changing partners is, its very tough, even just for dancing. Putting people together for pairs and stuff is almost a skill in itself, some couples are magic, others are brilliant alone but struggle together and nobody can figure out why. For the disadvantage she has they all think shes doing great...

Simple petetard zoe is this year, its highly unfair but that appears to be the only deciding factor. (and they keep, chris and jane and the judges saying that suz has a disadvantage not just me)
I think the pro is contracted to the celeb for the duration of a series the end of the tour and itv have an opt out. If the celeb doesnt get past a certain point it ends, but if they get into the top 6 the pro appears to be bound. They have the option to ask people outside the top 6 as well though.
Matt couldnt dance a kyrans xmas special cos he was bound by the coi contract. He said for this series that he would love to skate with both suzanne and zoe but higher powers decided due to illness on first tour that one pro for 2 partners was two risky.
It does appear wrong that zoe got matt and not suzanne, you'd think they'd have given it to suzanne and matt as champs, but zoe and matts contract was still active and that was that...
The producers decided, they decided that as bonnie and claire couldnt do this year they've include more of the girls this series and zoe was one. I think they also decided that as suz is a better skater she could adapt and still put on a relatively good performance whereas zoe paired with someone else would be a right off. So pairing suzanne would be the lesser of the two evils though it has effectively shot suz in the foot in terms of properly competing and dissappointed far more people than if things had been the other way around.

Really, as Zoe is not so good, Lucasz and Zoe would be as good as Matt and Zoe, but Suzanne and Matt were champions with 3 30's - so the contracts need an extra clause to allow for this. It make take till the end of the tour until Suzanne and Lucasz become as good as Suzanne and Matt.

Well all credit to her for giving it a go and being so cheerful about it. But I have to say if having the same partner is such an issue I'm amazed she didn't refuse to do the tour if she and her choice couldn't dance together. Especially if she had another offer. If she's so much more popular than Zoe the promoters would have to make a business decision between the two. Whereas as it stands she's given up a run in a West End show (which would be a minimum 4 month contract) for what, six weeks, work where to be honest she isn't doing her career any favours from what I saw and heard.