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SEMI FINAL 2, SERIES 2 (22/03/09)
FRIDAY MARCH 27, 2009
Huge congratulations to Hannah and David for reaching the final and commiserations to Steph and Justin. However, to make it to the final 4, from 10,000 applicants is a great achievement and I’m sure their family and friends will be extremely proud.
Duel’s always a great way to open the show, after all it is the ultimate game of Gladiators where neither Gladiator nor contender have the advantage. All skills including speed, power, strength and balance are tested and losing usually means the embarrassment of a soaking. Of all the events, Duel is the one that the Gladiators get most nervous beforehand. I think that part of the reason is because you are so exposed up on that platform, and there is nowhere to hide from the audience if, for example, you need to deal with a wedgy! Panther once had the misfortune of this situation and had to endure chants of “Panther’s got a wedgy, Panther’s got a wedgy, Na-na-na-nah . . . .” which left her with the awkward decision of whether to go against costume department advice and make the necessary adjustments, or tolerate discomfort of a wedgy and the jibes for half an hour! Yes it really does take that long. By the time we have filmed the first pre-match contender interview, then got the contender up on the platform, got all of the pre-battle camera shots, 3-2-1 and had the battle, contender has got out of the pool and been interviewed, then repeat all of above for contender 2, half an hour can easily have passed.
BA had two great bouts and demonstrated her brute strength and Steph did a great job to get stay on for 5 points. Steph had been one of the strongest contenders in Duel throughout the series. I remember one occasion, in make-up, when Steph was extremely frustrated (whilst being dried off) that she had lost to Panther, as she thought that she stood a chance of winning . . . yeah right?
Spartan showed his usual great form on Duel!
The girl’s efforts on Pursuit and Pyramid were undoubtedly poor for any stage of the competition and especially for a semi-final. There’s nothing more frustrating than when you’ve waited for ages to do an event and then the contenders don’t perform well enough to allow you to get stuck in. In Pursuit the contenders really do seem to struggle with the high hurdles, but Kathryn and Emma managed a much better effort last week. As for Pyramid, it is a difficult event for the contenders, but the men have shown that winning is by no means impossible. As said by Tom Hanks in ‘A league of their own’
"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great."
David and Justin looked much more convincing on the Pyramid. The correct decision was made regarding Justin’s outcome, but it was a shame that he couldn’t have had a warning that he must let go of the structure, as he would then have had 50 seconds remaining to take on the Big-O and a victory could have meant a different eliminator outcome. As for David, it looked as though he would have possibly got to the top if there had been another 5 seconds added onto the time but Predator was so cool, he just left him at the end, knowing there was no time left on the clock.
I won’t comment too much on Earthquake, except to say that Hannah seemed to think she was a Koala bear, after winning 5 points previously for clinging onto Battleaxe as she was thrown off, she seemed to adopt this as her game-plan on Sunday. This probably conflicts with the rules, but John didn’t seem to notice, he was probably too busy checking out Siren’s behind like the rest of the male nation. Ha-ha, so well done to Hannah for using her brains and being the envy of thousands of men. Panther’s battle can be summed up in one word - “EASY”.
The eliminators provided some ‘edge of the seat’ viewing. The girls really had to grit their teeth to cross the monkey bars with wet hands, and Hannah just clinched it by being faster up the Pyramid. Steph dealt with the travelator much better than previously.
David executed the whole of the eliminator faultlessly, as he knew he must with Justin chasing. Justin’s speed on the cargo net and up the Pyramid was impressive, but he didn’t manage to reduce the 4 second gap overall, which shows just how deceptively fast David is.
I think we’re in for a treat in next week’s final. Who will be crowned the king and queen of Gladiators 2009?
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