Gareth skates off before the Ice Dancing Final - next Sunday!

It came down to Gareth and Zaraah in the semi-final skate off to see who would join Chris and Suzanne in the hugely anticipated final next Sunday.

Gareth was in the bottom two for the first time, and in skate-off queen Zaraah, he had a formidable opponent. He managed to keep it together though, executing a solid performance with his partner Maria as Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer boomed away in the background. Gareth said: "Definitely a better performance and more secure. I just gave it my all, it was all I could do." Zaraah followed up next with partner Fred Palascak, accompanied by One from U2 and Mary J Blige, and she didn't disappoint in a spellbinding display that brought the crowd to their feet. She was so overcome with emotion that she could barely get any words out before the judges were called to deliver the news of who would be given the axe this week. With Karen and Nicky opting for the highly charged performance from Zaraah, it was left to Jason to deliver the knockout blow to Gareth leaving Ruthie and Robin to make it a clean sweep of five votes to keep Zaraah in.

A gracious Gareth claimed: "I have fought out there. It's been a fantastic experience and I love Maria to bits." He's certainly brought a massive smile to this year's competition, however it is Zaraah who will take on the favourites Chris and Suzanne next Sunday to see who will be crowned this year's Dancing on Ice champion. COME ON CHRIS!!

With Leona Lewis' new single setting the tone for a sensational semi-final, the skaters had to head out solo to their favourite track before their partners joined them on the rink. So, what did the judges think?

Gareth Gates and Maria Filippov skated to Livin' on a Prayer (Bon Jovi) scoring 24.5 pointsNicky Slater: "What an electric start. You set the place on fire with the way you were presenting. You are translating the pop star onto the ice. As a male celebrity, the lifts you were doing were amazing."Jason said "It was amazing. You were sharp, you were on it. Slowly but surely, though, the whole routine got away from you. You were playing catch up. Your arms let you down. This is the semi-final and that wasn’t a semi-final performance."
Suzanne Shaw and Matt Evers skated to Eternal Flame (The Bangles) scoring 27.5 points. Robin said ""I enjoyed it immensely. You have such an experienced partner. It was your own talent, though, that got you that mark. The audience at home won’t know the difficulty, but the technique of your skating got you that mark." and Ruthie said "It was wonderful to see you do something that wasn’t full of fancy lifts. It was so beautiful to see you skating gracefully round the ice with a beautiful relationship going on. It was stunning."
Zaraah Abrahams and Fred Palascak skated to One U2/Mary J Blige scoring 27 points. Jason said "That is a semi-final performance. You have such beautiful arm lines. I could watch you all night. You deserve to be in the final because of that." and Karen said "Tonight it’s going to be so difficult to split them up. They all have different strengths and deserve to be in the final. I was most worried about you tonight, but you pulled it off."
Chris Fountain and Frankie Poulteney skated to Livin' La Vida Loca (Ricky Martin scoring 29 points. Robin said "It was wonderful. He was fantastic. These lifts are a 50/50 split between the partners, it requires both of you." and Nicky said "What he has done in a week is amazing. That routine was put together in seven days. That was awesome."