Battle of the Blades of Glory

Tonight was the finale of CBC’s hit reality series Battle of the Blades. Sunday evening the top three pairs skated their hearts out and the results were announced tonight. I’ve LOVED the series from the get-go, it’s super cheesy but it’s so entertaining. And in case you haven’t heard yet, Jamie Sale and Craig Simpson were the first ever champions of Battle of the Blades and beat out Shae Lynn Bourne and Claude Lemieux to take home the tropy and all the glory.

The format of the show was just like your standard competition variety program with performances, then judges comments/marks, followed by fan voting and a results show. Except obviously the Canadian version would include the peaceful integration of two sports who have been rivals in arenas for years (for me, it started when my friend’s hockey team made fun of the Micecapades!) and judges that only said nice things, no Simon Cowell on this Canadian success story.

My favourite moment of the night was absolutely the Jamie Sale and David Pelletier program which saw the Olympic gold medalists take the ice for a energy-filled program with lots of lifts (which I think Craig Simpson may have been able to handle actually!). I will admit right here without shame that I was one of those people in 2002 who was obsessed with the scandal in Salt Lake City when they weren’t initially awarded gold. And seeing the pair tonight perform a super fun upbeat routine was fun.

My second favourite moment, but was only just barely second, was when the show aired shout outs from current NHL players from teams across the league. In Ottawa, a handful of players wished the contestants good luck, but when defenceman Chris Phillips, who is a very well known player across the league, was on the screen, his name was captioned as Jonathan Cheechoo… Chris Phillips is NOT Jonathan Cheechoo and it is laughable that CBC – our national network which is famed for Hockey Night in Canada – would get it wrong on a show that features former NHL stars. In this situation I’m not sure who to feel worse for, Jonathan Cheechoo or Chris Phillips? But this isn’t a hockey blog so we’ll just move on.

*Sigh*

I’m sad the season is over before I ever had a chance to blog about it, but I really hope that it comes back for a second one. Battle of the blades not only brought new life to the famed Maple Leaf Gardens which had sat dormant for years, it also had an altruistic side as all winnings were donated to charities as selected by the pairs. In the end, The Spinal Cord Injury Treatment Centre Society will be getting $100,000 for being represented by the champions, but the seven other organizations received winnings in addition to a feature segment during the finale.

The sweetest nicest old man judge on the show, legendary Canadian figure skating powerhouse Dick Button (this guy was amazing, five consecutive world championships starting and ending the years when he won his two Olympic gold medals in 1948 and 1952!) said it best: we should be proud to have brought this event to both worlds of skating. Dick Button, you’re a good man because as a Canadian I really am proud that this show was such a success!

Did you watch? Will you watch if they have another season?