I know, don’t tell me, you’ve seen and heard it all before. Every year, they promise us a ‘twist’, something new that’s never been done before, and to be fair, it usually hasn’t, but unfortunately, the hype often outweighs the element of ‘surprise’ and we end up being disappointed.

When I head this week’s twist though, I thought ‘wow’, and also ‘where was the hype’?!

I think they could have played on it much more, but who knows maybe they will during the week, I guess that remains to be seen.

So for those of you who don’t know yet, this is the twist:

The celebrities will go head-to-head this week to battle for a place in next week’s competition. The twist will see each skater and their professional partner paired with another couple, with the match-ups formed based on their position on last week’s scoreboard.

Each pairing will take to the ice at the same time, performing their own routine to the same music.

The judges, will then choose which couple they thought skated best, automatically guaranteeing six of them a place in the next stage of the competition.

At the end of the battles, the remaining six celebrities will be left to face the public vote. The normal format will then carry through to the results show; with the bottom two performing in the skate-off

Based on last Sunday’s leaderboard, the pairings will be as follows: Matthew Wolfenden and Nina Ulanova VS Jorgie Porter and Matt Evers, Andy Whyment and Vicky Ogden VS Rosemary Conley and Mark Hanretty, Chico and Jodeyne Higgins VS Sam Nixon, Heidi Range and Andrei Lipanov VS Charlene Tilton and Matthew Gonzalez,Jennifer Ellison and Dan Whiston V Sebastien Foucan and Brianne Delcourt and Alexandra Schumann, and Corey Feldman and Brooke Castile VSChemmy Alcott and Sean Rice.

Based on the information we have and the scores from last week, this is going to be a tough competition. Matthew and Jorgie both scored identical scores last week, if they do as well this week, the judges are going to have a hard time decided between them. I guess it will go down to technical ability (as two of the judges are skaters). There are some obvious (at least for me) winners already in this, Chemmy, although she scored poorly last week, is sure to stand out against Corey unless he really ups his game.

Again Chico (oh how I hate to say it…) is going to outshine Sam, unless Sam pulls out something amazing. Andy VS Rosemary, although looking to go in Andy’s favour, could be an interesting one. The judges have been saying that Rosemary has potential, and aside from the stumbles she has had each week, even I have to admit that she has looked graceful on the ice. If she has a perfect week, then that could be a close one to call.

Heidi VS Charlene, I think is also going to be an interesting one. Heidi for me this week seemed to have improved quite a lot since the first week, however Charlene was saved from the skate off this week as the judges can obviously see her potential. Which leaves Jennifer VS Sebastien, Jennifer I think has the edge, especially if her rib injury improves, and if they are going to perform exactly the same routine, then I am guessing that Sebastien will not be able to add any of his own moves, which may be a good thing as we will be able to see his true skating ability. It could be another close one.

I can’t wait until Sunday, it’s going to be a very interesting competition.

This post was written by Vicky-Leigh Sayer – Boyzone fan and blogger extraordinaire!

Read more of her writing here and of course, give her a follow on Twitter…she’s a funny girl!