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Skating with the Stars, Week 2: A few splats and an elimination

By Tracey Brown Nov 30, 2010, 21:40 GMT

04/24/2010 - Sean Young - 2010 Hollywood Show - Burbank Airport Marriott - Burbank, CA. USA © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos

After the second week of Skating with the Stars, it is clear that this show is a work in progress and that there are three skaters who are decent to pretty darn good who are keeping things interesting (Jonny Moseley, Brandon Smith and Rebecca Budig) and those who are, to put it kindly, skating challenged (Vince Neil, Sean Young and Bethenny Frankel.)

Beginning with the best skaters, Jonny once again charmed the socks off of the judges, who appreciated that he is beginning to look like a real figure skater. The performance flair that is part of freestyle skiing is definitely helping him in this competition. 

Oh, and did I mention he’s cute?  Really cute!  That will sure carry him far.

What I appreciated about Brandon and Keauna was they are starting to look like a real pair, albeit a pair in very early stages of training.  Brandon is skating with his pro partner Keauna, rather than just keeping up with or chasing after her. They are on their way to the goal of all pairs skaters, skating “as one”.

Rebecca is definitely the most talented skater in the show. She’s got great balance, footwork and is doing challenging pairs lifts.  But she needs to work on connecting more with her partner Fred.  I’m also curious to see how good a spinner she could be.

Even though Bethenny did the required lift very well, the required footwork and the rest of the program petered off.  Bethenny is doing better than Vince and Sean, but she still isn’t great. 

She complained about having to film her show on the East Coast and having to fly back and forth and how tired she was. This has also happened on Dancing with the Stars and begs the question, why do these celebrities take on doing more than one show at a time when they know how hard it is?  Talk about self-punishment!!!

And then there is Vince.  It's not surprising that Vince fell during his lift, since he had balance issues just skating on his own, let alone when lifting someone else.  He may have skated as child, but those skills seem long forgotten.  I’m not sure why his pro (Jennifer Wester) didn’t spend more time in the first four weeks getting his basic skating skills (stroking, crossovers) down. There isn’t much point in learning the fancier tricks if you haven’t got that essential part of the sport down.

I've got to give credit to Sean, after falling twice that she got right up and sold the rest of the program.  As with Vince, her falls were inevitable, since she never found her center of balance and was leaning forward too much (and on her partner) to compensate.  Although with her it seemed more a nervous reaction than a lack of skill.

I must admit, in spite of her two falls, I was a bit surprising that Sean was sent home, as Vince was definitely the weakest skater.  But as with Dancing with the Stars, it is sometimes about personality, not skill, and Vince does come across as “nicer”.

It has been interesting listening and reading people’s reactions to Skating with the Stars this past week. 

Maybe it is just the skater in me who loves everything on ice, but even though I think the show is a cheesy and tacky, to me, all of these shows are (including DWTS) and I enjoy them anyway.