Actor and singer Ray Quinn and skating partner Maria Filippov skated to the upbeat Mmm Bop by Hanson and scored a remarkable 23.5 out of 30.
Confirming that he hasn’t had skating experience, Ray said: “Because I’m from Liverpool the nearest skating rink was in Wales.”
Ray and Maria managed a draw-droppingly good performance. He appeared to be such a natural that, at times, you almost forgot he was dancing on ice. The ease with which he slid partner Maria through his legs and then back again was quite amazing, not to mention his rhythm, musicality and natural ability to perform to the crowd.
What did the judges say?
Nicky Slater (scored 5): “It’s leading but it’s also skating together, it was a real demonstration of dancing together on ice.”
Jason Gardiner (scored 4.5): “Wow, thank goodness we have somebody in the competition who’s brilliant. You have everything we would expect to see from a finalist. Heaven forbid you don’t break anything you will go all the way in this competition I can not wait see you every week perform.”
Ray came second to Leona Lewis in the X Factor final two years ago and, if he has the same public backing we saw then, he must be a sure-fire cert for the final.
