I love watching skating but do not know much about it . The headbanger seemed to not go well . jayne and chris not happy with it and jayne said it was travelling . Does anyone know what went wrong and why ?

You could tell that Brianne wasn't sure about it and she said she shouted at him to get her out of it.

I thought it was Sam that said it was travelling though.

Awful lift.

It was travelling, though. (Just means that rather than spinning in one spot, he was moving across the ice as he spun.)

I think he'd have gotten more points if he'd left the headbanger out and spent the practice time on other parts of his routine.

I don't think the headbanger helps anyone these days, even if you do it well.

Plus, Brianne wasn't confident enough to keep her arms behind her back. She kept one arm out touching the ice, to protect herself.


Completely agree!


Also agree but it's regarded by the contestants the ultimate move that only "the best" get to do. Based on the VTs over the past few years, to the contestants, the headbanger seems to have become as much a desired attainment as doing the Bolero at the end. I rather think we're stuck with it.

I usually love watching the headbanger when the male celebs do it, but watching Sam I was nervous and it was perfectly obvious that Brianne was not at all comfortable with it. Think it's time Sam was reined in and told to concentrate on the work he's given. I think his ego's getting in the way and quite deservedly Laura overtook him to top the leaderboard at the weekend.

Sam's the first male celeb to do it. Barring Chris Fountain on the tour of course.

I think Sam has been badly advised.

David Seaman did it in series 1.

David Seaman is. He didn't do it properly first time around but am sure he did it OK in the skate off though.

Brianne's head came within a whisker of the ice a couple of times, and on the last revolution it looked like Sam was seriously losing control as he tried to slow down the spin. He's getting too cocky by half.

And they replayed it how many times??

Oh yes, didn't he wack his partner into the ice so she needed stitches on her chin? That's probably why C&J have steered clear of giving it o the male celebs since!

Yes that's right. They then put it in the following week.

I think it was OK for them to let Chris do it on tour last year as he had been skating for 3 years by that point but it came too soon for Sam. Chris is a better skater than Sam IMO but I equally wouldn't have wanted him to do it with Frankie on the TV show.

he did the float spin, which he was calling the head banger at the time though... but it was the float spin

Thanks makes more sense now . I noticed that by the time sam stopped she had trouble getting her leg up to stand think she shouted because he carried on to long or was letting her get to low .

Perhaps the contestants will start to become disillusioned with it, if they think about what happened to Sam.

And "the best" does have to be in scare quotes because it's also been used by some who weren't among the best but thought it would boost their points. Notably Roxanne Pallett.

Now Sam has made the same mistake.

I can believe Laura would do it because she likes the speed and thrill, but I'd wonder about the motives of some of the others. If they do it because they think it will get them high marks, or because of pressure from T&D, I think they're making a mistake. (I think Laura would be making a mistake too, but for better reasons.)

A well-executed float spin would be less dangerous, would work better with the judges, and and might not take so much practice time away from other things.

My impression was that they had arranged the shout as the signal to stop, so that it doesn't necessarily mean anything was going wrong.

The first time he tried it, during props week, it was a float spin.
When he tried it in a later week (I think it was the week after) I'm pretty sure it was a bounce spin or ankle bounce (ie, the headbanger).

That's what Brianne said but it was still badly executed by Sam.

I did say I wasn't going to watch it this week but I did see Vanilla Ice skate to his song (had to see that and was so happy it was on last) and the results show so I only saw the headbanger in clips.

From what people (on here) are saying is that it wasn't very good, he didn't stay on the spot and Brianne kept putting her hand on the ice for protection etc etc. So as I didn't really see anything I just assumed it was Torvil and Dean who decided to give them the headbanger - but was it Sam that asked to try it? And if Brianne was not happy/uncomfortable/ not confident doing it then could she have not said anything? I know there was the whole thing when someone else wanted something different (can't remember who) but she is the professional, getting spun round, by the ankles, by someone who has only been skating for about 4 months really (going to an ice rink to try and pull ain't skating).

I don't really like the headbanger; it's a stupid name for a move and it is not as impressive as the over head lifts.

I don't remember if he asked to try it but Brianne's as competitive as he is so I think she was quite willing to do it.

EDIT: What am I saying? Brianne's an athlete: OF COURSE she's competitive. She wouldn't be as good a skater as she is if she weren't competitive.

People here seem to have assumed that it was done at Sam's own insistence. I would seriously doubt that.

Didn't T&D say in their VT that Sam and Brianne had been asking to do the headbanger for several weeks?

Yes, apparently Sam and Brianne kept trying it out in practise and J&C had held off letting them do it in the show, until this week they decided 'the time was right'. To me, that sounded like Sam and Brianne had been pushing for it, and J&C caved in. But then I am a cynic

From their (J&C's) comments afterwards though it sounds like they regretted allowing it!

If Sam had dropped Brianne whilst she had her arm out would it REALLY protect her? The least she would come out with is probably an arm broken in several places. It wouldnt protect her from a neck break...would it?

I think it was more a precaution against him swinging her too low than against him dropping her. It looked to me like she had her hand ready to push herself up a bit if he swung her too low. I doubt it would have helped her if he'd dropped her.