Monday 11 March 2013

Dancing On Ice Final: Why Beth Took The 2013 Dancing On Ice Crown

So, some of you will know ITV1's "Dancing On Ice" is pretty much my favourite TV show of the year. What's not to love? Ice dancing is beautiful, dangerous, and there are lots of sexy men wearing tight clothes! :p

The final of this year's series aired last night, and the winner was quite a shock to some people - though I'm not really sure why. You see, Beth Tweddle was being tipped as the winner for quite some time, so the angry reaction on Twitter when Matt Lapinskas didn't win was a little weird. From what I could gather, many viewers felt Matt was too cocky, and his Twitter exchanges with his ex Shona McGarty did little to dispel that theory.

Here are my theories as to why Beth triumphed over Matt.

Firstly - she was brilliant. Not saying Matt wasn't, but it wasn't as if she was stumbling around all over the ice like she'd had a few too many pre-show vodkas. People seemed to think Matt's ability was far superior, and in reality, it wasn't at all. They were on par with each other and it could have gone either way.

Secondly, while Matt was always fantastic on the ice, Beth grew through the competition. She got stronger and stronger every week. Sure, Matt learned how to get better control of his skates, and pulled off some great tricks, but Beth's transformation was much more noticeable, and people love that. They respond to people who don't whine when they get bad comments, and instead, they pick up and try harder.

Finally, Beth is one of our Olympic heroes, and we are still holding onto that pride from last summer. I mean, come on. Louis Smith won Strictly Come Dancing, and Victoria Pendleton was absolutely horrendous, and look how long she stayed in the competition! As a nation, we are still very much in the midst of a love affair with our Olympians, so that factor must have helped. The only difference with Beth is that she genuinely did deserve her place in the final.

But mostly, on the night, she was simply fantastic, despite the judges poor marking. Giving Matt's showcase full marks was bizarrre. He skated well, but there was nothing in it that was memorable, while Beth, and even Luke Campbell put their heart and souls into routines that were packed with fun and impressive moves.  The judges favouritism for  Matt was never clearer than when the results were announced. Jason Gardiner looked outraged, Karen disappointed, Robin surprised. I know you can't control your expression when you hear something unexpected, but frankly, the sulky and pissy look on Jason's face that continued right to the closing credits was unprofessional. It's one thing having favourites, but being so very blatant about it showed huge disrespect for Beth's achievements.

I leave you with Beth's amazing showcase - and, now we countdown to next year's show!


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