We’ll Be The Judge Of That! – Skating With the Celebrities, February 13

We’re down to the final three couples. Kristy and Bruce have each had their falls, while Jillian has been gliding through in some respects. But she’s also been told she needs to step it up. What did our judges – Brian Towers, Mary Hart, and Teeuwynn Woodruff – think about the three main performances and the Skate-Off this week? Let’s find out.

Jillian and John

Brian: The pre-skating piece made us wonder if scheduling or injuries would finally catch up with this team. Um, nope! I’m actually not sure John had his best skate, the first lift and spin wasn’t smooth and for Jillian, her timing in the early side-by-side moves was late. However, the lifts were strong, and she skates her edges better and faster than the other celebs. Their content was also far superior (if, perhaps, not fresh). The last two tricks were particularly well done. I’d have marked it as technical – 8.8 and artistic – 9.1.

In the Skate-Off, they led out with a quick footwork piece which actually presented an obvious comparison between the two of them and showed that Jillian couldn’t do the footwork very well. However, what followed was all just fine and they were the clear winners of the Skate-Off.

Mary: I thought at first this was a rerun as Jillian and John’s routine had such familiarity, but then noticed the new requirement: a switch edge with change of direction which she did entering a death spiral. Unfortunately, the set up was better than the trick which was smooth but not, as it should be, breathtaking. John is proving a worthy partner for Jillian, and he gave her sufficient confidence to do a pretty respectable split jump which picked up impressive air. Still, overall the program was a pretty much same old same old, and I’d have liked to see more energy and dynamism. It was almost as if they did their best performance last week and were coasting this time.

No surprise they won a place in the finale. The judges’ feedback did, however, provide a startling moment when guess-who gave Jillian a tongue lashing, asking why, since she’s the best skater is she having to hustle for her spot in the finals. Clear warning: Fox babe had better find motivation and determination equal to her blonde rival Kristy.

Teeuwynn: So, the judges are choosing the songs for the pairs tonight, huh? How American Idol of them! It looks like Jillian and John managed to get a lot of practicing in this week despite Jillian's multitude of injuries and crazy schedule! There program was technically very competent with some great lifts and a solid jump sequence. Jillian did a camel spin, which wasn't perfectly centered, but that's a tough spin – so, good for Jillian! I didn't care for the prolonged standing around at the start of the program and I couldn't help but feel that a bit of the “spark” this team usually has was missing in this routine.

In the Skate-Off, it was obvious that the overall quality of skating of Jillian and John is just superior to Bruce and Tai. Jillian and John could have done a few more big tricks and maybe some jumps too to show they weren't just assuming it was a done deal they'd make the finals.

Bruce Jenner & Tai Babilonia

Brian: This close to the end, we really needed to see faster and smoother skating from Bruce. What I saw was a good effort but… on the initial side-by-side spins, Bruce teetered. He lagged in timing at several points and they lost speed throughout the program until they barely got to the final position. Then he bailed on the closing spin. I like Bruce, and his dedication and commitment are commendable. He has improved astronomically from where he started and further, it is harder to skate the lead position in a dynamic program. Taking that into consideration, I’ll score them as 8.0 in both artistic and technical categories. It was realistic that they planned to be in the Skate-Off.

In the Skate-Off, Bruce promised us a new trick, and I’m guessing it was the flip-over spin. Not bad, not great – needed work. The Death Spiral was nicely done, however. It’s been a nice run, but like George Hamilton on that other show – bottom line, it was time to go and I think Bruce knew it.

Mary: Tai guessed correctly that the peppier music selection by the judges was geared to getting more speed out of Bruce… didn’t work. OK, as Dorothy said, it was kicked up a notch, but hardly an Emeril “Bam!” Wouldn’t it have been great if his pre-performance threat, “I didn’t get stitches and a concussion to come in third,” had motivated him to go-for-broke? It seemed that reliving those past calamities made the Olympian fear another trip to the ER – and who could blame him? He did appear to be more relaxed this time and less bound and determined to just live through the program. Though still largely unsmiling, Bruce managed to look more pleasant and less like he was enduring the last event of a decathlon.

In the Skate-Off, Bruce and Tai pleased the crowd by doing a final death spiral, which once again proved they are tough competitors and great partners. It was all sweetness and graciousness as they took their leave, and there’s little doubt the friendship will continue. There was no indication, however, that Bruce and Tai’s relationship on the ice will be reprised any time soon.