The judges were falling all over themselves to praise him. When Ruthie Henshall called Ray a triple threat (sing, dance and act), Robin Cousins simply had to go one better. “You are not a triple threat, you are a quadruple threat because you can add professional ice skater to your resume”. Another brace of perfect 6s across the board, and there really wasn’t more they could have done short of order the public to vote for him. With his ability to make the hardest moves look easy, it was Quinn to Win all the way.
This week’s required element, flying, dominated the entire first routine rather than the usual trick inserted to test the contestants’ mettle. With their professional partners given little to do other than move with or beneath them on the ice, all eyes were in the air as Ray, Jessica Taylor and Donal MacIntyre attempted to become soaring doves rather than ungainly ostriches. All carried it off well; and full marks to the men who have the much tougher challenge of not appearing to be a circus acrobat as they somersault towards the ceiling.
Never Argue With The Mighty Jason
Then the finalists got a chance to redo their favourite routine of the series (learning three new routines in one week, including the mighty Bolero, would have been asking too much), and here Donal shone through, proving how much he has improved over the series. Chosing REM’s “Everybody Hurts”, his skating was much cleaner and softer – could this be the same macho, beer-and-pizza rugby fan from the first show? Ray, not surprisingly, chose his 80s week routine where he was first awarded perfect marks, and was flawless once again. As usual, Jessica failed to completely win over Jason Gardiner with her re-skate to “Mercy” by Duffy, and came across as slightly petulant, insisting “I definitely went for it tonight and I think everyone can see that.” Could this have cost her votes?
How Can You Top Perfection?
With a tearful Jessica eliminated after the first round of voting, it fell to Ray and Donal to attempt to do justice to Torvill and Dean’s gold-medal winning Bolero routine. Given free rein to choreograph it to suit their own styles (only the opening and closing moments had to remain the same), it was again notable how Donal immersed himself in the dance, rather than just stringing together a series of moves. Gracious in defeat, he paid tribute to partner Florentine Houdiniere, and even lobbied for a knighthood for Jayne and Chris as a somewhat delayed recognition for all they have achieved over the years.
But in the end the night belonged to Ray Quinn, and deservedly so. Several times throughout the series the judges pointed out he is his own worst enemy; the slightest mistake in a performance gives his confidence a knock, but fortunately there were very few of those. From the first show it was obvious he had talent and ability, yet he never became a show-off, throwing in fancy moves and tricks merely because he could. He and partner Maria Filippov complemented each other perfectly – perhaps they won’t be the next Torvill and Dean, but they’re a superb Ray and Maria.
