Dancing on Ice might just inspire Olympic dreams

Figure Skating Winter Sports Post a comment

Posted: Thursday 8th January 2009 | 12:31

THEY are an entire alphabet away from A-list but this weekend's latest collection of reality TV wannabes - one-hit wonders, preening teen soap queens plus Ellery Hanley and a Nolan sister - should be praised, not pitied.

UNLUCKY 13: The 2009 cast of ITV's Dancing on Ice, which premieres this Sunday (ITV.com)

In a TV schedule groaning under the weight of celebrities with limited name recognition in their own living rooms, ITV's Dancing on Ice sparkles.

And not just because the wholesome but not too wholesome Holly Willoughby's neckline continues to inch ever closer to her naval.

The cast of this year's show does underline the difficulties producers now have in finding willing recruits and maybe explains while Strictly Cresta Run and Soapstar Slalom never got out of development at Challenge TV.

The happily married Graeme Le Saux spent a footballing career having his sexuality questioned by terrace morons - mainly because his, excuse the expression, morning organ of choice was The Guardian, as opposed to the Currant Bun.

So the sight of the 36-capped England left back in a skin-tight sequined outfit with more chest on show than Jodie Marsh at Funky Buddha, won't do him any favours in battle with the bigots.

But in the celebrity infused soap of reality TV shows, the challenge set to Dancing on Ice's 13 competitors is surely the sternest.

Singing an off-key medley of Barry Manilow's greatest hits in a glorified karaoke contest puts nothing on the line but professional pride.

Eating grubs and letting rodents nibble on your nether regions might be a Bushtucker Trial but is hardly a real trial.

And while it takes a special dedication to master the Argentinean tango, the opportunity to enjoy such close proximity to a perspiring, sorry glowing, Camilla Dallerup negates any sympathy.

Learning to skate is hard and learning to stop is even harder. But learning to skate, then stop, then dance deserves a nod of recognition.

Expect plenty of tears, bumps, fractures and breaks in the weeks to come.

But, more importantly, Dancing on Ice's primetime slot is good for a sport too long starved of the oxygen of publicity it enjoyed when 20 million plus tuned in to watch Torvill and Dean in their imperious pomp.

It's now a quarter of a century since Bolero and ice skating is finally enjoying a renaissance, despite struggling to attract the UK Sport funding it needs to be really competitive again.

Christmas ice rinks are packed out and others around the country report a surge in interest every January, as people say: "if Andi Peters and Dr Fox can do it, so can I."

Next week, the British Ice Skating Championships are held in Nottingham with Scottish siblings Sinead and John Kerr looking to secure a sixth national ice dance title.

Britain has a proud tradition in the sport - in addition to Chris and Jayne think Curry, Cousins and Altwegg - and the Kerrs, tenth at the last Winter Olympics in Turin, are the best we've had for a while.

And daring to be different could take them to the summit.

The Kerrs like to defy convention, forcing themselves to push the boundaries of a sport whose rulebook contains more clauses and sub-sections than the EU constitution.

For those interested, the International Skating Union's ice dance judging manual is 130 tightly typed pages of A4 and includes 605 stifling regulations and codicils.

However, the Kerrs' expressive style, choice of music, outfits and the simple fact they are brother and sister, all combine to make them stand out from the crowd.

And if Dancing on Ice inspires just one future champion to also get their skates on, and follow their lead, maybe reality TV isn't so bad after all.

Plus I forget to mention Melinda Messenger.

Good luck to all, just don't break a leg.

UPDATE: Dancing on Ice pulled in over eight million viewers, worth noting the peak audience for the 2006 Winter Olympics was the 3.6 million who watched Shelley Rudman win skeleton silver.

James Toney is the Managing Editor of national press agency Sportsbeat and four-time shortlisted Sports Journalist of the Year.

MORE BLOGS BY JAMES TONEY:

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