Skating with Celebrities, Episode 6: Coming Up "Short"

We begin the show with a long recap of the season so far. And, we are reminded that we have down the skating pairs down to Kristy Swanson and Lloyd Eisler, and Jillian Barberie and John Zimmerman.

Scott Hamilton and Summer Sanders welcome us. Scott tells us that the demands of the competition are unprecedented. They would say that. The remaining pairs are introduced – Barberie and Zimmerman are clearly the audience favorites.

Scott welcomes back all of the pairs who appeared through the season. Nice to see them again. Scott says the final two will face off first in the “short program.” Technical requirements include a jump/spin/lift sequence, a spin of at least four rotations and an over-the-head lift!

Summer talks to Jillian and John backstage on the practice ice (which looks HUGE compared to what they actually perform on). Jillian says this is the hardest job she’s ever had, and John says they are going to pull out some tricks they’ve been working on since day one. AGAIN, we get a recap of Jillian and John’s journey to the finals (alright, already!).

John says they are definitely leaving their comfort zone. Jillian says they have saved some of their harder, riskier elements for last. Choreographer is worried that they haven’t properly practiced them. Will they pull it off?

The usually rock solid Jillian and John start off as strong as usual skating to Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” The trick sequence was done with shocking ease, their spin sequence had eight revolutions! But, when they try their first overhead lift to a pull-through, it goes horribly visibly wrong. It seemed to rock them for the rest of their performance, which looked a bit cautious. The next overhead lift goes much better, but there is a sense of failure about them.

John says it was surprising, more energy and excitement than he’d seen from the before. However, the risks they took didn’t always work and that will cost them. Dorothy says it was red hot. She admires the technical difficulty and is impressed. Mark liked that they make difficult elements look easy. Mark doesn’t agree that the mistake necessarily means that major points have to be deducted -- the effort should be commended as well.

Technical scores. John 9.7, Dorothy 9.8, Mark 9.6 = 29.1
Artistic impression scores, John 9.6, Dorothy 9.8, Mark 9.8 = 29.2
Their total is 58.3

Scott joins Kristy and Lloyd backstage. Kristy agrees its been a rollercoaster for them. Lloyd feels like he’s in his fifth Olympics!

Summer introduces Jenny Meno and Todd Bridges for an unjudged performance. Todd looks even more steady on his skates in this incarnation of “Wild Wild West!” Deborah Gibson and Kurt Browning do a “Grease” number that is short on tricks, but charming nonetheless. Nancy Kerrigan and Dave Coulier brush off their “Soul Man” routine. They skate with more speed this time, and it is more effective. Dave looks downright masterful on his skates! Tai Babilonia and Bruce Jenner repeat their “Endless Love” performance, and it is their best. Bruce has come a looong way in this competition. He should feel good about that.

Kristy and Lloyd get their recap of their journey. For this next performance, Kristy is battling injured ribs and Lloyd has tendonitis. Yet, they are performing some tricks that Lloyd says only “a handful of teams around the world are trying.” Yikes! This could be brilliant or a disaster!

They skate to “Unchained Melody” in a beautiful, soaring, elegant performance. Their trick sequence was the equal to Jillian and John’s, their spin was done in a pairs move (smart), the overhead lift was positively inspiring. This is going to be a close call!

Mark says their performance continue to improve, and congratulates them on a beautiful program. John says it was a superb, moving, musical performance. Kristy has grown in confidence and Lloyd has finally gotten his leg up (in the spiral) and it’s taken 20 years to do it! Dorothy says they took her on the journey she wants when she watches a performance. She calls them romantic and passionate and brilliant.

Technical scores. John 9.7, Dorothy 9.8, Mark 9.7 = 29.2
Artistic impression scores, John 9.8, Dorothy 9.9, Mark 9.8 = 29.5
Their total is 58.7

Summer reminds us that Kristy and Lloyd have a .4 point lead! Scott tries to rationalize this by saying Kristy and Lloyd’s skating to a ballad may have made the difference in the artistic impression. Whatever, dude. Of course, its not as outrageous as Stacy Kiebler finishing third (you heard me) on the latest Dancing with the Stars, but its definitely inconsistent.

The finale of the finale should be hot! Both teams are promising big stuff. Who will deliver? Who will win? Let’s find out next week!

Sting7 has been a respected published writer for 16 years, as a music editor, entertainment critic, columnist, and interviewer. He also has a curious love for pro-wrestling! You can email Stinger at stingseven@yahoo.com.

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