BATTLE OF THE BLADES SEASON 3 FINALE SHOWDOWN
TORONTO – November 11, 2011 – The top three pairs remaining on BATTLE OF THE BLADES Season 3 will face their toughest battle yet in the finale showdown for the first place $100k prize of a donation to their chosen charity. Broadcast live from the MasterCard Centre on Sunday, November 13 at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT) on CBC, Tanith Belbin and Boyd Devereaux, Tessa Bonhomme and David Pelletier and Marie-France Dubreuil and Bryan Berard will perform their personal favourite routine from this season as well as a new routine. Each pair is fiercely determined to showcase everything they’ve learned to impress the judges and inspire Canadians to vote for them. In the last episode on Monday, November 14 at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT), the entire Season 3 cast will perform a group routine and then the winning pair will be crowned as champions.
“Viewers can expect to see a more powerful and emotional finale on BATTLE OF THE BLADES than ever before,” said Sandra Bezic, Senior Producer and Head Judge on BATTLE OF THE BLADES. “Fate brought this cast close together and the charities that they have each selected have deep personal meaning, which has helped give them the extra strength to carry them through to the finale.”
The top three pairs are:
TANITH & BOYD – Five-time U.S. Ice Dance Champion, four-time World Medalist and 2006 Olympic Ice Dance Silver Medalist Tanith Belbin is paired with former Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers player Boyd Devereaux, an Ontario native, who won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2002. Tanith is competing to win prize money for the Montreal Neurological Institute and Boyd is competing for Epilepsy Huron-Perth-Bruce.
TESSA & DAVID – Tessa Bonhomme, BATTLE OF THE BLADES’ first female hockey player, was part of Canada’s Gold Medal-winning women’s hockey team at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and a member of the Canadian National Women’s Hockey Team since 2004. She is skating with David Pelletier, a three-time Canadian Pairs Champion, World Champion, Grand-Prix Final Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist, who in 2002, captured Canada’s first Olympic Gold medal in pairs skating in 42 years. Tessa is competing to win prize money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure – Sudbury Run Site and David is competing for Ronald McDonald House Southern Alberta.
MARIE-FRANCE & BRYAN – Returning from Season 1, five-time Canadian Ice Dance Champion Marie-France Dubreuil is paired with Bryan Berard, who played for six NHL teams including the Toronto Maple Leafs and battled back from a severe eye injury in one of the greatest comeback stories in hockey history. They are competing to win prize money for Do It For Daron with the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health.
About BATTLE OF THE BLADES:
For more information about the competitors, please visit the official online portal of BATTLE OF THE BLADES, www.cbc.ca/battle. BATTLE OF THE BLADES is produced by Insight Productions in association with CBC Television. This TV series partners the stars of hockey and figure skating in a competition for the first place prize of $100,000 for their chosen charity. The prize amounts for second and third place have increased this year to $35,000 and $30,000 respectively. It is produced by Insight Productions in association with CBC Television.