There's a new interview with Dan Whiston ahead of this weekend's final which appeared online this morning. He talks about Hayley and the shock of Ray being in the skate-off last weekend:
http://www.entertainment-focus.com/f...nal-interview/

I really think Hayley and Dan could win the series!

Seeing as they are both like puppets with Karen pulling the strings I'm sure the will !!!!

I think Hayley is the only one out of the three that has really improved over the course of the series.

Beth is technically strong but her performance is a lot weaker whereas Ray has been so good throughout he's not really progressed as he was already the best of the bunch.

How does that relate to the public vote?

Could you please explain in what areas and how?

So Ray has been very good throughout, but Hayley deserves to win because she started averagely and has improved somewhat

Her routines are all pick dancing and lifts with a few steps skating to link them together. Send her out solo she skates like a novice.

Even with the flying routine, most of it was holding herself in poses. She touched the ice twice, and both times was clunky in the landing.

From the above article, Dan says about Hayley:


Even if the technical side has improved (I can't see it), she's still well behind Ray and Beth and still needs Dan there to look good.

I'm expecting the showcase routine to have a lot of lifts, maybe from one pro to another. I'll be amazed to see any solo work.

Sure. Hayley started off the series towards the bottom of the leaderboard and has battled with the technical side throughout the competition. In my opinion she's improved week-on-week and her Charleston routine was one of the moments when her technical ability matched her performance skill.

Her confidence has improved as the competition has gone on too. I acknowledge that her solo skate wasn't as strong as the other contestants but I feel like I've watched her grow and get better. I just don't feel that with Ray and Beth which is why I'd like Hayley to win.

What I meant is that viewers always like a story and a 'journey'. Ray has always been so good every week that it's not been possible for him to progress as he's already such a competent skater.

Since when has DOI been decided by a public vote!

The final is decided purely on a public vote - the judges' scores don't count.

Completely agree.

Ray has not come out and amazed me, neither has Beth. Why? Because I knew exactly how good they were going to be from day 1.

Hayley started off at the bottom of the leaderboard and worked her way to the top. She is now, in my opinion, a much better package than both Ray and Beth.

Hope she wins, but I doubt she will.

By 'package', I'm presuming you're talking about both skating and dancing? I'd argue Ray is a better dancer as well as skater. The first is debatable, though I don't see how anyone doesn't feel Ray excels in dancing and performance. As for the skating, you really feel Hayley beats Ray on this too?

LOL

[quote=Schizo82;71632498]I think Hayley is the only one out of the three that has really improved over the course of the series.

Improved how exactly? if anything she has actually gone downhill since her year as she has done the absolute minimum skating possible this year and gotten away with her flaws being missed by the judges and been extremely reliant on being marked highly for nothing but performance. Especially in comparison to the others and her solo skate really showed up how poor a skater she was.

The show is about more than simply coming out and doing nothing but perform your way through every routine and in no way is she the complete package and IMO she has been extremely lucky to get to the final and has only got to the top of the leaderboard due to the complete randomness of the judges not sure she actually deserves to be there on merit on those grounds Susanne or Zaraah should still have been there.