Skating With The Stars – Does the soap star take it?

As expected, Rebecca Budig took the prize on the finale of Skating With The Stars.

But, the kicker was this:  The two celebrities who should have been going up against each other appeared as if they were Week Two contestants out there on the ice instead of performers who should have looked much, much better.

Jonny Moseley fell and stumbled all over the place during his routine.

Rebecca Budig teetered and tottered through her entire stint. Neither of them looked as if they were up to snuff. And they weren’t.

The reality of the situation was this: Bethenny Frankel was the performer, the skater who ended up with the better routine when all was said and done. Did she earn the lowest scores of the night? Yes. Did she have the audience votes on her side to win it all? No. But she did walk away with her head held high and with kind, honest intentions toward Rebecca on her top spot accomplishment.

The biggest surprise of the night, however, came not off the ice … but from behind the judge’s table as all three of the cordial, smiling adjudicates — Laurieann Gibson, Johnny Weir and Dick Button — flipped six successive “10’s” at Rebecca and her partner Fred Palascak after their final performance of the show. Perfect scores for an imperfect routine. Guess they felt the need to juice it up for showmanship sake, being it was the final show and all.

And there you have it: The premiere season of Skating With The Stars. Is there anything about this short season you’ll miss? If you’re like me, it’ll be the bevy of quotations from everyone associated with the show — especially from my new best friend, Vernon Kay.

Come on, Vern. What do you say? Can you leave us with a few more gems ’til we meet up again next time? After all, I’m going to miss you, man:

“Oh, Dick: How you tease us with your 10’s!”
– Vern to judge Dick Button

“Uhhhuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh … !!!”
– Vern during the entrance of Jonny Moseley and his partner

“Bethenny got a ten! Bethenny got a ten! Oh, Bethenny got a ten! Woo-Hoooooooo … !!!”
– Vern on (yes, you guessed it) Bethenny scoring a 10 from one of the judges

“This has been no ordinary show (because) I’m Vernon Kay!”
– Vern closing out the show

(Okay … so maybe — just maybe — I put that “because” in there for emphasis. Kinda like the judges doling out 10s left and right, y’know….)

Clacked by Michael Noble
on Dec 22, 2010 @ 08:30 EST5EDT