One thing that really irked me yesterday is the producer's superficial attempts at adding excitement to the show. All the injuries and difficulties were hyped up in order to produce a better show.

Kieron obviously had by far the worst injury, but the producers concentrated on nothing more than will/will he not do the jump (why T&D insisted on such a jump putting him in jeopardy, when a very easy jump would have sufficed to get higher marks will remain a mystery to me).

Emily and the big lift. To a certain degree, I can see why people are thinking the standard must be low this year, as they made a big deal out of this lift (and will or won't she do it in the show). I think it was pretty obvious that she was capable of doing it probably 2 days before the show, but to make things more interesting....

The same with Mikey's fall (although it looked painful and would have been painful), but to listen to them it sounded like he had broken his arm or worse. Gary's inablity to finish the routine even in the rehearsal because of speed issues , Hayley's inability to do the twirl bit at the end, yes big drama (well Dan was there to catch her anyway). Daniella and her knees and her hammstring and the non-existent jump.

I love DOI, and I like watching the show to see the progress of the skaters, to see their partnerships developing and to see some nice routines. All this superficial hype is not necessary IMO and spoils the show.

I agree with you here. The focus that they put on in injury's (and why be it so necessary to show us the cctv footage of the bad falls....it's hard to watch :-s...) is ridiculous and they should concentrate much more on just the final performance. It is very unnecessary - and I think they did it so people knew why Mikey was so bad last night, and voted for him.

Silly, really !

The random 'found footage' thing for Mikey was bizarre. I don't mind them showing the injuries in the VT, but randomly giving us extra footage in the middle of the show, plus all the reminders of him being in physio, looked distinctly like the producers trying to get him votes.

I don't mind them having some 'will they, won't they' tension when its seems genuine, like with Kieron doing the jumps after his falls, where clearly that was going to be a big psychological hurdle for him. But the whole Hayley thing was pretty pathetic, given she was standing right beside Dan anyway... It loses power where they do it with every routine...

That's not what I meant though. By all means report about the injuries, and the difficulties, but don't hype them up so that the routine becomes uncomfortable to watch.

Every single routine yesterday was announced in this "will they/or won't they" make it fashion (and don't forget I included Hayley's routine in this as well).

It's not a reflection on or criticism of individual skaters, but the programme makers.

I somehow knew you would say that. However, (and I'm sorry to say that) I think even that bit was overhyped. I was holding on to my sofa until he had done the jump, and i was mighty pleased for him (but even that felt like a manipulation). It's not his fault, and I think they should have changed his jump. However as someone else on here said, since Sharron-gate, it might be very difficult for the other competitors to say they can't deal with something.

With regards to Hayley, I don't think her VT's have always concentrated on the "I can't do it" bit (or have I missed something?). I only saw it in yesterday's show and on top of all the other hype, I found it annoying (again nothing to do with her but to do with the editing).
Last edited by lach doch mal : 01-03-2010 at 09:51

Which makes the portrayal of Sharron as person who wouldn't shut up about her shoulder and the downplaying of all her injuries in general to make her look like a moaning slacker, all the more laughable!

Really cheesed off with the way this years series has gone - the manipulation behind the scenes has been so obvious and it's taken away some of the excitement I feel watching the skaters and pros. Even watching Chris and Jayne has been spoiled for me a bit after the way they treated Sharron

It's not Hayley's fault. She doesn't make the VTs. Just I really wasn't really going to get too excited at whether someone might... SHOCK HORROR, spin round a little bit too much while right beside their partner...

Even with Emily, at least there was some genuine fear involved - so I found the Hayley one particularly lame this week!

This show has too much hype on trivialities but play down serious injuries.

They should have simplified Keiron's routine and it is very much to his credit that he even attempted the jump. If it had been me - I would have told them to stuff it. There is something very wrong when contestants land up in A&E.

Yes I fully agree. I even thought that Chris and Jayne were slightly more subdued (spelling??) yesterday (maybe I imagined that), and Chris even making the point to someone "thank you for attempting it". Maybe they realised that Sharron-gate wasn't too good for their reputation either. After all, Sharron was an olympic athlete and not a complete no-name competitor.


I agree. I think the VT editors are missing a trick. Someone who is good at things can be portrayed in a positive fashion. Hayley obviously hasn't got the same problems with the lifts or steps as some of the other girls, so they thought they needed to put some suspense in.

With regards to Emily's lift, the VT seemed to be edited to give us some suspense (I'm very certain she had mastered that lift early in the week - she did it twice with no real problems on the night (it's again manipulation). Unfortunately, it also shows that Emily isn't at the same standard as some of the others (e.g. Daniella and Hayley have been doing quite difficult lifts for quite a while now). However, Emily's lift was presented as a big achievement (if it had been Hayley, everyone would be in arms about it and would say that Dan (in this case Fred) had done all the work - so what is the big deal).
Last edited by lach doch mal : 01-03-2010 at 10:33

Yes I noticed that (Chris 'attempting' comment and the subdued atmosphere). Hmm. They (C&J and Jason, but more so ITV) may have succeeded in dragging Sharron's name through the dirt but they've not come out of it smelling of roses either.

Thanks, I thought I was imagining it. Even Jayne's dress (oh horror) contributed to the funeral atmosphere. I still wonder if Chris and Jayne had no idea that their short clip (in relationship to Sharron) would be used in such a detrimental way.

Yes I'm hoping that's the case, otherwise what a rubbish way to treat an 'old friend'. It's not just last night though, I thought Chris looked a bit stony-faced on the Friday show too. The way he was speaking to some of the pros when they practised the opening number was a bit... I dunno... off?

Exactly.

I didn't see most of the Friday show (I have problems stomaching too much of the lovely Coleen. Was he stoney faced (e.g. not very nice to them) or stoney faced - subdued?

There was definitely a feeling amongst the contestants of, "we have to do what we are told". I was also thinking, if Sharron's blog is right, Daniella and her were getting on really well. No wonder Daniella might have been a bit of her game (I assume she knows more about media manipulation than some of the others).

Well, there was a VT of Chris and Jayne choreographing the opening routine with the silks etc and Chris just seemed to be a bit short with some of the pros, especially Maria who was having some problems with her silk flag thing. There were a few parts where he'd be barking out orders, but then it's like he would remember that the cameras were on him and he'd smile quickly and make a joke or something. Yet when they went back to the studio, Ben Shephard made a jokey comment about the shirt Chris was wearing being the same colour as the silks and had he made his shirt from them and Chris never cracked a smile, there was just this awkward silence before Colleen (I think?) jumped in with something else. Just thought the whole atmosphere seemed a bit odd. I dunno, probably reading too much into it. I'm a paranoid wreck since Sharron-gate! *jitters*

I think all the contestants including Daniella looked a bit off their game last night - so would I be if I were in their shoes after the hoo-hah last week!

I don't think Keiron's burst lip was as bad as Mikey's fall. A lip doesn't disable any part of your body needed for skating.

I don't know, and I think you are a bit unfair IMO. Although he doesn't skate with his lip (you are of course right), he would have lost his confidence and it would have shaken him up quite a bit. So far we don't know what kind of injuries Mikey has, whether they are really serious or not, but I do agree that the fact that it just happened before the show would have been a big hinderance.

What I'm trying to say is, the kind of fall Mikey had is the kind of fall that quite a few of them might have throughout the week. The kind of fall Kieron had seemed a lot worse and unusual. However, the outcome of both falls were similar (loss of confidence and underperformance) due to the proven severity in one case and the timing of the other.

I don't understand why they put lifts/jumps or whatever in that the contestants aren't comfotable with and it then lowers their score whereas someone with an easier jump for example then gets a higher score for a simpler routine. Sinitta and the froglift comes to mind here. Also poor Kieron had I thought a difficult routine which he did all off but was second to bottom on the leader board.

I don't mind story when its somehing we should know but I agree last nights story was everyone is having a problem and everyone hurts. In that mess we lost the important news - whose problem was biggest. I don't even mind them using a story to get rid of people who should gone but they can't even get that right and sing a coherent song. Last night Mikey should have gone and was set up by a VT promising vast improvement followed by yet anoher poor performance that should have destroyed any argument for anyone voting for him. They then ruined this by treating his fall as a Casualty story and allowing him to get away with the claim that it stopped him producing something much better when there was no sign of anything much better. if they are going to spin they at least need to work out what they are doing it for and keep to that story and if they don't know who their weakest, least improved, skater is, they need someone who does instead.

I agree. I thought Phil's comment, at the beginning of last night's show, about how "Sharron's rebellion did not work as she was voted out of the show" rather unnecessary to bring up the whole thing AGAIN. I thought Emily was very brave to do her "look no hands" lift. I think everyone involved in last week's show Phil, Jayne, Chris and the production team were unnecessarily unkind to Sharron and it was all to generate viewers figures. I just thought they all had enormous egos!!! It was not pleasant to watch the icy atmosphere last week. Mike crashing down onto the ice, Kieron's split lip etc just showed the viewers how danagerous the show can be. I thought the whole VT on Hayley ridiculous!! Drama, she was frightened of twisting around on her skate!!! Good grief, after some of the lifts she has done with Daniel. They must have been DESPERATE to generate a bit of suspense.

They are stuck with anyone really good. Hayley is doing fine is no story. Hayley doing well again underdisplays how good she has to be and the effort required to be able to do it. Hayley hasn't run off with her pro denies them that story. There is only Hayley is in trouble - woops now she isn't - left to fill the VT.

They seem desperate and the problem is that I think much of the vote tends to go two ways. It either votes against the judges or for something else (in which case the VTs that they try and use to show us people trying hard are wasted) or it follows mindlessly any comment made (in which case anything in the VTs or judges comments can have a disproportionate impact. I think it may shape the vote and in some cases it boxes the judges in.

Sunday was full of this. Kieron is afraid so his performance suffered so his mark was lower than it might have been was probably his story/spin of the night - was that true or did the story shape the mark down? Danny was trying hard to improve and nailed his lift and got a high mark so his vote went up - were the marks bound to go up on that story even if I am right and his routine was empty and dull? I think the judges end up judging whether he has lived up to his VT rather than marking his routine versus others and they have to give more marks as he's doing right what the VT identified as what he did wrong. Tick the boxes identified by the VT and he has to gain marks regardless of what else he does or whatever new boxes not identified by VT anyone else ticks. Daniella got criticism for lacking bounce and performance - did she really when her other comments and judges marks still had her doing well - does that one bit of negative spin get picked up and lead to fewer votes than the males who have a casualty story (literally in Kieron's case) or a supposedly massive improvement story?

I agree with you on most of the above post, but I don't agree with the bit in bold. That would lead to favouritism and that wouldn't be right. Also, who decides (before the couples have skated!) who should and should not go: the production team or the judges? According to Jason, it was Emily's week to go. Not having been her greatest fan, I have to say no it wasn't, at least based on last night's skating (mabye it was on overall potential - but who knows). Show their progress and report their accidents, but don't make it the only story worth reporting.

It is all so false. The hype has now become ridiculous and yes I think you are right that ITV are DESPERATE to generate suspense. The ridiculous amount of waiting to hear who will be in the skate off is completely ludicrous.

Every week there is some sob story. One massive sob this week were Daniella's knees. If her knees were that bad she shouldn't be skating at all. And Hayley's little performance was pure hype. We all knew Mikey had been in physio but if he were that injured he should have gone straight to hospital to get his injury checked out before the show. Surely the well-being of a person is more important than some entertainment show devised to massage the ego of Christopher Dean. If a contestant is unhappy about a lift, jump or whatever they should not be forced to do it.

And then we have the delightful Emma Bunton and the even more delightful Jason Gardiner. Their remarks are beyond the pale. No wonder poor Emily Atack was upset after that horrible man's outburst. I would like to see him do a helicopter lift. I very much doubt if he could even attempt it!

I am afraid Dancing on Ice is now past its sell-by date. I will watch this series to see how the current celebrities fare but will seriously think about investing my time in it next year - especially if Bunton and Gardiner are still there.

In an ideal world yes, but the problem is if they don't spin some people out, they will stay for ever because they have a big big vote for reasons nothing to do with how they skate or dance - or anything else to do with the show. If the point isn't being received that someone is weak, not improving at the required rate and better people are going, all of these shows seem at least to try and get the point over either by using a credible or nice judge to spell it out or by showing lack of progress or effort or the consequences. The alternative is riding with it as the competition loses its real competitors and ending up with the person with the votes in a final with someone with the ability.

I agree there's a problem of criteria and you only need to do it with very few people. They instead use negative spin when there's absolutely no need because the weaker people are going anyway - Sharon being one victim. They also get themselves in complete messes spinning negatively one week and the overcompensating the next. They also seem to have contradictory views in play. Mikey I think is an enormous problem - he is at least second in the vote but is now the weakest and on results should have gone out this week not Emily. He was given a ridiculously positive VT that would have been positive if he could perfom up to it but should have been toxic when he didn't. Who knows if the intent was to tell the "truth", spin his story up to match his vote or set him up for a fall? Any way what they end up doing is excusing him and probably adding to his vote by overdramatising his injury. Its a mess and being spun in multiple directions at once.

As I said I agree on most things. But.... last week they clearly spun out Sharron, for no other reason than that she dared to "rebel" against the song or choreography choice (she wasn't necessarily the worst skater).

Generally, I don't mind people being kept in even if they are the weaker skaters. After all, the show is not only based on talent or who's the best, but it's there to entertain. However, I know that not everyone will agree with me on this one, and in previous years, by now, we would have had the "entertainment" vs "ability" debate. This year we don't have the likes of Coleen or Todd, which makes it slightly less of an issue to spin people out of the show because of their talents anyway. For that reason, I don't think it's acceptable for them to manipulate the VT's so blatantly.

I do, however, realise that I'm rather naive and that I would like to live in an ideal world.