Lopez Blogs

Somehow, every year I swear that I will not become addicted to the following reality shows - Big Brother, The X Factor and Dancing On Ice. While my love affair with Big Brother (ew, how Ian in Shameless) has waned significantly, the X Factor has produced G4 (!), Shayne Ward, Leona and (hopefully) the adorable Same Difference. And of course Dancing On Ice just gets better and better with each series... As it's only 3 weeks til the final, I think I'll concentrate on the 3 acts who in my opinion are clearly head and shoulders above everyone else.

Gareth Gates and Maria: Sigh. How come Gareth Gates the ice skating dancer is so much more fun than Gareth Gates the somber 3rd album fallen popstar? Can't he figure out a way to marry the two together? Because frankly, he seems like an utterly charming chap and he should be at the point in his career where people like Shayne Ward, Darin and Blake Lewis are looking to him for pointers. In fact, Shayne, Darin and Blake are the ones producing quality pop with (some) artistic integrity and Gareth is playing catch up to them. Sheesh! But this isn't about Gareth's fading pop career - it's about his grace and ease on the ice. He may not be the best male skater (that title belongs to the oddly chunky Chris Fountain) but there is such glee and excitement in his performance that it's hard not to root for him. If he is not in the final, and if he does not use this opportunity to reignite his musical career with a disco'd up cover of the BeeGees "You Win Again" then there is something seriously wrong with the universe (Ps - he gets points deducted for referring to himself as a musician during the show. That's too Mandy "I hate my first two albums" Moore for my liking!)

Chris Fountain (hollyblokes) and Frankie: Now it would have been a real slap in the knickers if Chris had done his near perfect and exhilarating skating routine to Will Young's version of Ain't No Sunshine. Not only would have Gareth been reminded of his second placing to Will in Pop Idol, but he would also have had to face up to the fact that it's unlikely he's going to beat Chris. While Gareth may be more fun, Chris is certainly more breathtaking. His routines constantly push the boundaries of what has been performed on this show in the past, and they seem to match the music perfectly. As a person, Darren finds him most unlikeable, but I have no such issues and can't wait to see what he pulls out of his well-padded bag of tricks next... (note: ignore the awkwardly inserted body popping he loves at 28s and 1m05s and enjoy the axel leap he almost perfectly lands at 1m45. Marvelous)

Suzanne Shaw (Hear'say) and Matt: Two things - first, ITV (the channel in the UK that aired Popstars, the show that created Hear'say - seen today at Troy's blog fact fans) has treated the Hear'say girls well. First of all Mylene reignited her career by appearing on the ITV show "I'm A Celebrity (Get Me Out of Here)" and is now in demand for classical albums and mother-baby advice books. Then they give Kym Marsh a pivotal role on prime time soap Coronation Street and now Suzanne is by far the best girl on Dancing On ICe. Secondly, while Suzanne's performances have always been quite theatrical (due to the fact that she lifts well and is flung round the ice well by her able partner Matt), I never expected to be as blown away as I was this week with her outstanding dancing - on ice - to Madonna's Music. It's hard to pin point one moment of brilliance, but i am particularly fond of the slow motion skating at 44 seconds. Spine tingling! How Shrek and the gay one from Hear'say boys section must be tucking into their kebabs and cheap lager with bitterness...

Other dancing on ice thoughts:

-- Fred Pascalak is still quite the hottie... if only for his flawless skin and rippling biceps. Plus his skating is quite amazing. You should see him and his lovely wife Mel skate together. Outstanding.
-- I'd quite like to see celebrities like Sinitta (can you imagine her dancing on ice to ToyBoy), Sean from Same Difference and maybe someone rather amusing like Alan Carr in next years show.
-- I'd be quite happy with Sergey Lazarev competing in an international all stars edition... Is there anything this boy can't do???