Taking a break from Ciao at the moment. Might return when my job hunting is over... Em x
Taking a break from Ciao at the moment. Might return when my job hunting is over... Em x
Member since:27.04.2007
Reviews:44
Members who trust:40
I wasn't exactly overjoyed when my mother told me she had booked tickets to see Dancing on Ice live, don't get me wrong I love watching people parading around in lycra as much as the next man, but it's not really my sort of thing. Seeing it as an opportunity to miss school and go on a shopping trip, I was easily swayed towards this show.
Dancing on ice has, for a third year running, captivated tv audiences, often pulling in over 10million viewers in this country alone. Gold medal winners Torvill and Dean were the most appropriate choice to coach, choreograph and pass on their wisdom to an assortment of singers, sports stars, actors and presenters in this winning formula of a tv show. It was only natural that a live show would follow to give the viewers a chance to see these legends skate.
Arriving at the venue (we saw the show at Nottinghamice arena), we were bombarded by people selling programmes and other memorabilia, such as DVDs and tee shirts. I'm not usually into this overpriced paraphernalia, but on realising the programme contained cards with which you could rate the contestants,
I swiftly went over with my £10 and bought one. The price may seem a little steep, but the program was printed on very good quality card and included the score cards and your own personal rating sheet to fill in. The programme itself contained lots of interesting information about the stars, professional skaters and the tv show.
When we entered the arena, the first thing I noticed was the scale of the show. The stage was set out in much the same way as the television show, with the judges at one end and a small platform for the presenters. We managed to get seats near the centre not too far up from the ice, so we had a pretty good view. Looking around the arena, it stuck me that the way the seats were arranged most people would be able to get a good view of the ice. Above the judges' desk, there were three large screens to make viewing the skaters even easier, which I think is useful for partially sighted people.
Before the show began, a rather annoying man came on stage and made everyone stand up and sing 'we will rock you' in true Gladiators fashion - just to get the audience going I suppose. He told us that the evenings show was going to be filmed for the DVD and the camera kept panning to people in the audience, fortunately I wasn't one of them. Then the actual presenter Andi Peters introduced the skaters and explained how the show was going to work and how to vote. He told us when to boo the judges (mainly Jason gardener, but personally I can't stand the female judge). The show started with the famous Torvill and Dean joined by all the skaters in an impressively choreographed piece.
The first half of the show was exactly the same as the tv show, with each couple performing in turn and then getting rated by the judges. This was followed by a brief interview with the presenter and Torvill and Dean. They remarked that quite a few of the stars had improved vastly in this run of live shows, which made me really think we were seeing the best of the best. This was the point I got annoyed as we were rarely prompted to show our rating cards and that's the only reason I bought the programme. I can definitely see where they make all their money! Any way, rant over. It's worth noting that due to work commitments, some of the stars only perform in the weekend shows, so it's worth finding out before you book tickets if you have a favourite. In the show we watched the stars were Bonnie Langford, Linda Lusardi, David Seaman, Suzanne Shaw, Gareth Gates, Clare Buckfield, Zaraah Abrahams and Kyran Bracken. This meant there were finalists from every show. It was really interesting to see the show live as it made me realise how slow the stars actually are in comparison with the professional skaters. I was impressed with the standard of some of the stars as some of them showed definite improvement from the tv show. Another thing I was impressed with was that the only mistakes made were by the professional skaters, not the stars.
In the interval the audience were able to vote for their favourite star by texting their name to the number shown on the screen. Like the tv show, the audience voters would be combined with the judges vote to leave the top two couples to perform the Bolero. Any profits made form the texts are donated to two charities chosen by Jayne and Chris - Demelza House Children's Hospice and Royal London Society for the Blind.
The second half of the show included routines by the professional skaters, which were truly spectacular and stunned the audience into silence. Torvill and Dean also did a routine where they 'flew', similar to that on the tv show which was very impressive when seen live. These performances were followed by the final skate of in which the top two stars performed the Bolero and then awaited the judges' vote. The winner of our show was Bonnie, who has won over half of the other shows. When the result was announced, the audience booed, which for me was the highlight of the evening. The show ended with a show called Firestorm, which as you might guess contained lots of stunts involving fire performed by ice dancers Vicky Ogden and Simon Crowhurst. This was spectacular and a great way to end the show.
We paid £40 for our tickets and I think they range from £32 - £45 the nearer to the stage you get. I think this is good value for money for any event as popular as this, especially when you get a good view from any of the seats in the arena.
I would recommend this show to anyone who has watched the tv show, as they will have a better understanding of how the voting works. The audience was made up of lots of different demographics, particularly older people and middle-aged women, like the desperate one who was sat behind us. She had me seething with her shouts of 'I love you Gareth/David/Kyran' or whichever man happened to skate on stage.
The show was worth watching, but not as spectacular as I expected. The presenters kept saying how 'different' it was going to be and how new stunts had been added, but the majority of it was just the same as the tv show and a lot of the routines were exactly the same. Having said that, a lot of effort must have been put into the show by the stars and considering where they started, it definitely showed their improvement. Overall, it was I complete mix of boring parts and absolutely stunning parts. It has given me the bug to go ice skating again, even though I'm totally useless at it!
Pictures of Dancing on Ice Live Tour
Tourville and Dean.
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I paid for my wife and son to go to this for mothers day and the only complaint I have is there are no concessions for children. A good review of what is apparantly a really good show.
xdonzx 08.06.2008 20:34
Great Revie! I really wanted to see this , but didn't! x
tallulahbang 01.06.2008 12:03
No! What on earth possessed you to go and see this? You look like a girl in your picture; nothing at all like a gay man...xx
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Advantages: Well worth the money for tickets, amazing viewing, mind blowing routines!! Disadvantages: Would have loved to see Jane & Chris dance Bolero again...aaah well, I have my memories!
phoenixgreen 18.05.2007 (18.05.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Dancing on Ice Live Tour
Advantages: Well worth the money for tickets, amazing viewing, mind blowing routines!! Disadvantages: Would have loved to see Jane & Chris dance Bolero again...aaah well, I have my memories!
phoenixgreen 18.05.2007 (18.05.2007)
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Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Dancing on Ice Live Tour
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May 20th, 2008
exceptional by (8%):
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