Fred's 'Dancing On Ice' Blog
Sunday, 28 SEPT, 2008
What happened to the summer!!! I think I blinked and it was gone... oh well, nothing but good memories, and even better times ahead!
Melanie and I spent much of August taking a bit of a break from skating, but not skating rinks. We have spent a lot of time working with many of our private students here at home, and also spent a great week helping out a very talented synchronized skating team from Canada, NEXXICE. This was our second summer working with them. They placed third at last year's World Championships, and we expect them to do even better this year. Melanie and I developed some amazing lifts for them, and we cannot wait to see what the coming year holds for them -- best of luck, ladies!!
As part of our off-ice conditioning this summer, Melanie and I began taking very intense boxing classes. We've spent three hours every week the last two months in a boxing gym, sweating more than we ever thought was possible! Watch out everyone -- we are stronger, and tougher than ever before!
The last 3 weeks, Melanie and I have been back on the ice working very hard, developing new ideas and new routines -- and even practicing some old ones!!
We have a few shows coming up next month (you can read about them on the NEWS page), and we cannot wait to get back in front of an audience!
Thank you to everyone who has sent us emails. Though we may not have the time to reply to everyone -- there are a lot of them -- we do read them all!
All the best to everyone -- and I promise to write another Blog entry soon!!! With much love, Fred
Sunday, 13 July 2008
Well it's been another long delay since my last blog entry... the last two months have gone by very quickly. After the tour, Melanie and I spent two weeks travelling around Europe. We spent one week in Italy and one week in Greece, both for work and on holiday. In between work, we spent a lot of time enjoying the sun and the beach.
Most recently, we spent some time in Florida, again working, but also visiting family... and the beach! I guess we can't get enough of beach time in the summer!
Today, we are leaving for a very exciting and new endevour: "Kyran Bracken's Ice Party". I know some of you have heard about it. Melanie and I recieved a few emails that some of you will be coming to see the show in Jersey. I know it might be a strange place to have an ice skating show, but Kyran has a lot of family and friends there, so that is why the show is there... this year...
For those of you who are coming to Jersey, please try and find us to say hello. And for those who won't be coming, please keep sending your emails -- we do read them... all of them! -- and I'm sure you'll be seeing more of Mel and me soon enough!
Wednesday, 14 MAY, 2008
The second Dancing on Ice Live tour will be coming to an end in just 4 days -- I can't believe it!! It went by so fast. It has defintely been another fun-filled tour for me. It was even more enjoyable this time around because I got to skate with Zaraah everyday.
Melanie and I have really enjoyed performing our "Candyman" routine this year -- I would have to admit we liked performing this year's routine much better than "Can-Can" from last year.
Melanie and I have also been hard at work helping to develop some new projects and events. There is a good chance you might be able to see much more of us over the coming year in the UK. (Check out this site for more details.)
For all of you who have been coming to the shows, and sending us your emails and letters, thank you soooooo much for your support. We truly love hearing from all of our fans. For those of you who might have been expecting a response -- after a few weeks holiday -- hopefully we'll get through that inbox, and that stack of letters!!
Lots of love to everyone, and.... if you haven't yet..... COME SEE THE LIVE TOUR!!!! (Thursday and Friday night in Nottingham, and Saturday night in Sheffield --- tickets are still available !!!!!!)
Friday, 17 APR, 2008
Wow!! I can't believe a month has gone by since I last updated this blog! The Final of this year's series has come and gone. Though Zaraah and I did not get to skate our 'Bolero' in the final, we still are very happy -- and proud -- of what we accomplished together.
And now we are nearing the middle of the Live Tour. We have a great group this year. I would have to say that the cast is much more cohesive this year. We just seem to hang out as one big group much more together -- it truly is like one big family.
We are having so much fun on this year's tour... hopfully many of you will be able to come and share a few hours with us !!!
Saturday, 15 MAR, 2008
Well it's the the night before the Final and I AM KNACKERED!!! I will be perfectly honest and say this week has been extremely difficult. Zaraah and I have put in soooo much time and effort into making our routines for this week "spectacular-spectacular" !! We are still riding our high from last week, and are ready to perform our hearts out tomorrow!
For all of you supporting us, PLEASE make those phone votes count tomorrow -- it's going to be 100% up to YOU to get us to the "Bolero Skate-Off". Zaraah and I would love, love, love, to perform our Bolero on Sunday. Our Bolero is one of our favorite routines we have ever skated to, and would love to perform it for everyone to see!
On another exciting note, the movie ("The Cutting Edge 3") that Melanie and I are skating doubles to the lead characters in, premieres (in the US) tomorrow, the same day as the FINAL !!! What an exciting day for us !!!
Tuesday, 11 MAR, 2008
"HOOOOOOOOOOOLY ...... (fill-in the blank)......" is what Zaraah and I said to each other after we were officially voted into the finals by the judges. It was such a GREAT feeling to know that all our hard work had finally paid off. We worked sooooo hard last week -- especially Zaraah on her solo part -- and when it came down to the most important moments, we performed just like we did in practice: it was absolutely stunning!!!
The most important thing about last Sunday is that everyone got to see exactly what I see everday day in rehearsal. Most Sundays, Zaraah's nerves have got the best of her, but this Sunday her true talent and inspiring artistry shown for everyone to see.
We are working very hard this week, and we feel as if we are on a roll... we want to build on what we accomplished the last two weeks. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve to teach Zaraah... I have a feeling we might surprise everyone AGAIN next Sunday...
Saturday, 8 MAR, 2008
I CANNOT WAIT FOR TOMORROW NIGHT!!!!!!!!! Zaraah and I have such a great routine to show everyone. It is our best by far, and we cannot wait to perform it.
We have accomplished exactly what we wanted to this week, and I know everyone will love this routine as much as we do!!
Thursday, 6 MAR, 2008
Zaraah and I are working soooo hard this week! We are determined to 'wow' everyone on Sunday. Being that it's only Thursday, we are not quite there..., yet. But I do have a feeling that this week's routine will be something special.
I also just want to remind everyone out there to not give up voting for us. If we can have as great a performance as I know we can this Sunday, I really believe that along with everyone's support, we can stay out of the Skate-Off, and make it into the Finals. (We've also had a bit of help from Melanie this week -- she's really helped us with a few big tricks!!)
It is so wonderful having Melanie back. Though our week has been getting busier by the day, we have found plenty of moments to enjoy together. Life is much happier without an ocean between me and my Melanie!!!
Monday, 3 MAR, 2008
What a great feeling it is to be in the semi-final!! Zaraah and I have come so far since the first day we skated together. We could not be happier, at this point. It has felt as if we've had to fight to get this far... 3 SKATE-OFF'S!!!... but, we are OK with that. And, we'll do our best to win another skate-off, if we have to.
As always, thank you again to all of you who are supporting us, with your kind messages, letters, emails, and VOTES!!! We know we have a lot of support out there. We just need a bit more, now, to get us into the FINALS!! I'm really hoping we may have won over some more supporters with our great performance last night!!!
On another exciting note, Melanie arrives back in London tomorrow!!! YEAH!!!! Less than a day before she's into my arms!!!!
Wednesday, 27 FEB, 2008
Well it's the middle of the week, and things are going really well so far with the routine Zaraah and I have. It's very fun, and the props are working out really well -- that's right, P-R-O-P-S, as in more than one. We actually have three props to work with. I know each couple has more than one, but not everyone has three.
As I said, the props we have are working great in the routine, and we've incorporated them in lots of tricks and choreography. The worst thing about the props is that when it goes wrong, it goes really wrong!!!
Lastly, I just want to thank everyone who is supporting and voting for Zaraah and I. Even though we have been in the Skate-Off the last two weeks, I know there are tons of you out there who are behind us -- I do read all those e-mails!!!
Even if we have to be in every Skate-Off from now until the final (hopefully not, though!), we are going to keep working hard, and hopefully we'll be in it all the way until the end!!!!!!!!
Friday, 22 FEB, 2008
This has been a very difficult week for me. Our routine is quite hard, and Zaraah has been struggling a great deal with the required element: an unassisted, solo jump. That being said, we have great music, and when the routine goes well in rehearsal, I think it's fantastic. Though our training this week has not been easy, I am still hoping we can pull off another great performance.
For all of you supporting us, I really hope we DO perform a great routine this week -- I know we can do it!!!
Adding to my difficult week, Melanie flew back to Boston today. We have lived so much of our lives travelling, working, and living together, that whenever we are apart, it can be very overwhelming. And not ot to be over-dramatic, but it is honestly very difficult when we are away from each other.
I will talk to her in a few hours when she arrives home, and all I can do is stare at the clock until then. And after that, I'll be counting the days until we see each other again...
Sunday 17 FEB, 2008
Well, it's the morning before the show, and I can't tell you how excited I am about tonight! Zarah and I have had such a good week, and our routine has come together so well. We were extra lucky to have Melanie around this week to help us -- even Michael came in to watch us train one day! Tonight will also be the last time Melanie will see the show before she heads back home for a bit. So it will definitely be a special night... I hope you all tune in to watch it at home!!!
Friday, 15 FEB 2008
So far, this week has been a lot of fun. After how well Zaraah and I skated last Sunday, I was worried we wouldn't be able to keep up with our own fast pace! But our routine this week is great, I love it! It has a lot of difficult steps, some fun dance moves, and, of course, some really interesting lifts and spins -- everything a GREAT routine needs!!!
I hope everyone enjoys watching it on Sunday -- I know I will be laughing my way through this one!!!
Wednesday, 6 FEB 2008
Last week was mad !!! Mel and I had a great time performing our new "Fever" routine on Friday. I hope everyone who saw it Saturday night, enjoyed it.
Sunday was very exciting, as well. After all of our rehearsals, it was great to finally perform our group Broadway routine. Zaraah and I did a bit of a risky routine, and although it may have not been perfect, we were both very pleased with it.
Thank you, again, to everyone who has continued to support us. We are really starting to believe we can make it to the final show!
Our training sessions have been going great so far this week. We love, love, love, our music, and we are 100% sure this performance will be our best so far...
Today, myself along with Melanie and Zaraah, had a photo shoot for OK! Magazine. It will be a part of an upcoming restaurant feature for Zilli Fish, a restaurant in Soho. We had a great time hanging out together today. We had a huge meal, and kept laughing about how horrible it was we were eating so much food !! I will have to let everyone know when the feature will be out...
Bye for now... I will try and do a quick update of our training later in the week...
Wednesday, 30 JAN 2008
Melanie and I received some exciting news today... we have been asked to perform a brand new routine for ITV's new show Dancing On Ice: Make Me A Star. We are very excited about getting to perform our own routine in the Dancing On Ice studio. We will be filming this in front of a live audience this Friday evening... hopefully some of you might figure out how to get tickets for this recording... I honestly have no idea!?
Another bit of exciting news, during this performance, Melanie will be performing with yet another new celebrity partner. I don't want to give too much away (I don't know if it's been officially announced, yet -- and isn't a surprise always nicer ?) but this partner is from a past series of Dancing on Ice...
Another busy week... but... WE LOVE IT !!!!
Tuesday, 29 JAN 2008
Well, everybody, I hope you all enjoyed the show on Sunday. It was a show full of emotion -- Mel and Michael's interview made me cry!! I finally had to turn away and not listen any more. It took me awhile, but I knew I had to re-focus to get ready to skate my routine with Zaraah. And, what a performance we had !!!
She did so well! I couldn't believe how well Zaraah was able to perform under all the pressure of it being her first show.
We have been having so much fun skating together. She makes me laugh sooooo much!
We learned our routine for the next show yesterday. We were a bit tired, and were quite loopy by the end of our training session, but we got through it, and can't wait to show you all another exciting routine !!!
Thank you to everyone who voted for us this past Sunday. I am really hoping Zaraah and I are in this competition for quite a while longer. She is a lovely, fun and energetic person, and I would just love it if you all get the chance to get to know her better!
Friday, 25 JAN 2008
Hello everybody... sorry, but this first entry to our Blog is going to be very short. As you can imagine, both Melanie and I have been extremely busy this week.
This year's series of Dancing on Ice has been a strange trip for us, to say the least! We hope you all watch this week's exciting show... Westlife ! ... a professional group performance !! ... and one more BIG surprise !!!
