Dancing on Ice (Qualifier 2) - Judge Cole's Verdict

Continuing with my Dancing on Ice commentary, tonight saw qualifier number two.
But first of all, as I did last week, we start with a vintage performance by Torvill and Dean. This time it's the 1982 British Skating Championships and one of my favourite routines of theirs - Barnum.

This is what I'm talking about...



The 2011 In-Take
This year has seen the 16 contestants split into 2 qualifying programmes of 8 each with only 6 from each qualifying for the competition proper. This week was the second qualifying programme.

Former Neighbours soap star Craig McLachlan gave us a showman's opening but his moves were relatively basic - not surprising considering he'd not had that much 'on ice' practise time. Hollyoaks bad girl Jennifer Metcalfe gave a smooth performance which showed plenty of potential but she failed to get into her lift properly. Radio 1's Comedy Dave Vitty gave what I felt was an unspectacular performance but having said that was more confident than Jennifer in at least being able to skate solo. Elen Rives (who I'm told is a model and mother of Frank Lampard's children which therefore clearly makes her a celebrity - please note the sarcasm) gave a decent enough, solid performance but again was unable to skate on her own. Former Test cricket bowler Dominic Cork gave a cheeky chappy performance full of character and with some good moves - certainly one with potential. Then there was Chloe Madeley (again, apparently a model with famous parents in this case). Fair play though, up until this point she gave the performance of the night with some excellent lifts. I must also add that the sight of Judy and Richard in the audience screaming for their daughter was entertaining stuff! It was good to see this famous couple act in the same way as any proud parents would! Eastenders' Sam Attwater topped Chloe's performance with the best routine of the series so far. His lifts and all round performance must make him the early favourite to win in my book. Finally, former Coronation Street star and current Loose Woman Densie Welch gave a gutsy performance which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The Skate-Off
On the performances on the night, Craig, Elen and Dave I felt were probably skating on thin ice the most. But it was Jennifer's mistake that saw her fall into the bottom 3 and Dave survived. Chloe and Sam were definitely worthy of going through and I was very pleased to see Dominic do likewise. But most of all, after the disappoinment last week of seeing Angela Rippon go home early, I was delighted to see Denise go through.

But in the end, as with last week, the final result was no surprise. Of the bottom 3, Jennifer deserved to stay in the competition - particularly after completing her lift successfully the second time round. Elen won't be missed though Craig and his child-like sense of humour will be. But there we are, the viewers have made their decision!

So next week, the programme proper begins. We're down to the final 12.

Let the competition commence...