Overall I really enjoyed tonight.... I like the new introductions. Punchier, not too much vox pop- short bit of training then straight into the dances.

The show seemed to have a bit more energy than last years bore fest and already Id say they have got the mix of celebs better than last year... theres some characters there, which should make it interesting. The show has already provided us with surprises tonight with Chris being much better than expected and Joe Calghzone!!

Bruno, Len and Craig seemed energetic tonight... no grouchy Len (yet) Good, bouncy start in all.....

..... now if I can only just bring myself to ignore the squeaky creature sitting to the left of Bruno....

i think it will be very promising, tbh though i didn't mind alesha that much but i think they could get better

Well the show whizzed by for me...which is a positive indicator.

Great opening show and most of my favourites are dancing next week so it can only get better

I LOVED it, more of a buzz this opener, had everythign I wanted, suprises from Chris & Joe, beauty and elegence from Lynda & Ali, and the group dance was just very lively, Laila rouass wow wow wow, and Katya is another stunner, can't wait for tommorrow and even better...Laila & Tuffers next week
And as for Alesha, I do miss Arlene, but she wasn't half as bad as I expected, roll on tommorrow

The first time I have watched SCD and used the FF button for big chunks of it. It looks tired .Too many dancers - 'celebs ' I have barely heard of - new judge with inane comments. Brucie's waffle worst than ever - and about 20 mins dancing in a 1 1/2 hour show.
The usual story of the BBC having a successful programme and then hammering it to death.

I don't like the fact part one is on Friday.

Much better atmosphere than last year, particularly amongst the judges.

The split works much better as mixed gender and having to do ballroom and latin looks like it will be a great idea.

I really enjoyed it and think a lot of couples have great potential. LAtin show tomorrow will be much better though I'd have thought.

I prefer the ballroom dances in general but for the first week I enjoyed it more than series 6 (not hard!) but it was not as good as any of the others.
I'm hoping tomorrow is better but tbh I might just go out and sky + it.

latin is better for me as its more fun, allthough tonight was great for me but the highlight was the group mambo it made me laugh so much

The judges comments were entertaining, except for Alesha's. Bruno and Craig were on good form.

It suffered from no Latin, and sometimes there was too much to watch. A medley of all the dances with all the dancers - couldn't see the good for the trees. The group Mambo - difficult to get more than a second's look at anyone.

The dances themselves were of a good standard and fairly even. I think the Waltz is a bit easier to pull off than the Tango, so although Ricky has improved a lot from his training footage, he still wasn't good.
Joe is going to have to learn so many things - posture, commitment, selling the dance etc. He needs public votes to keep him in, but I think he also needs to give people hope that he will improve.
Ali - great.
Martina - got the potential, but needs to be more graceful.
Jade - similar to Martina. I thought the routine itself looked clumsy, but maybe Jade was getting into the wrong positions.
Chris - good start, liked the routine.
Rav - For a big man, I think he did very well. Good approach and got several things right - maybe not so much the dancing, but I think he could become a good dancer. His partner I like, and I want to see her stay in.
Lynda - footwork wasn't as snappy as I was expecting, but I think it was the most difficult routine of the night and she should have got credit for that.

I'm glad someone else mentioned that. I was meaning to but forgot.

I thought the Tango was a tall order for a novice. The Waltz looks simpler (but I'm no expert so could be wrong).

Really enjoyed the show, especially seeing as they were all slow numbers, I usually enjoy the upbeat dances a lot more but it was a good show.

I felt it a bit odd having Alesha judging the professionals, didn't sit right with me.

All the contestants were actually really good, no weak links yet - thought they marked down Rav a bit unfairly. The girl with Rav looked like a good newcomer.

I enjoyed tonight's show very much but - was I imagining it but was there a sort of panto aura to it? Less serious than usual. Just a bit, it was entertaining.

Alesha was far better than I imagined she would be, really mature and confident. I wish someone would tell her when to say "was" and "were" (I'm sure they will), but she was fine and didn't do inappropriate laughing.

Ali was a treat, a real surprise. I am looking forward to seeing her and Brian again tomorrow. She is so sweet and I liked her dress, it suited her, was young. Something about her reminded me of Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing. A lovely, natural girl.

I liked all the others too. They were soooooooo nervous. Bless them.

Me too, I kept thinking how are they on a level playing field.

I thought Rav's tango looked quite difficult.

It's deceptively simple looking. It requires an awful lot of poise and control to pull of elegantly.

To some extent you can cover up bad technique in a tango with a good performance. That's far harder to do with a waltz.

I was glad to see the judge's marks seemed reasonable. Ali's "8"'s were justified I thought, nice to see 5's and 6's from Len.

Was Bruno telling Alesha what to mark?

Thought all her remarks were inane.

Thanks Claire.

I guess the difficulty of the Waltz is to make it look as easy as it does.

As a non dancer, I probably don't appreciate the complex footwork and difficulty of maintaining that frame which the Waltz requires.


Maybe the reason why Rav (and more so Joe) struggled was because the Tango requires more acting than other dances.

The performance element is something that develops as the series progresses and you become more comfortable. It must have been very daunting having to come out and deliver the drama demanded by a Tango for your very first dance.

Thought Ali and Brian's dance was great (if you ignore the screeching accompanying it).

Chris was a pleasant surprise and it was nice to see Ola looking so pleased after their dance. I think they will get on well together.

Didn't like any of the tangos (which is one of my favourite dances) and the song choices for all of them (bar Joe's) were awful. In fact, I didn't really like any of the song choices.

Looking forward to seeing Ricky W next week. He looked great in the Mambo. And I'm looking forward to seeing Laila, Zoe and Natalie. I'm afraid Lillia and Flavia might be taking early marks this year - I hope not.

Hey Sid! <smooch>

I agree with you on the tango. I think they need more experience to be able to 'perform' as well as dance it.

Conversely, I thought Rav's performance actually saved his tango where his technical side wasn't up to much.

I thought the routine looked difficult though, a bit frantic, but I agree I think his performance saved it.

I know nought about technicalities btw so am probably totally wrong!

I'd need to see it again, but my first impression was that his arse was sticking out and that was ruining his posture. He needed to tuck his hips under and then he might have got into a proper hold.

The gap between him and his partner was far too large.

The actors (Ali, Lynda,Ricky,Ricky, Zoe, Laila, Natalie, and the unknown guy from Coronation Street who hasn't got an appreciation thread) are looking OK, as you'd expect.

The others are looking like they havent had dance training before. (Jade was taught a Cha Cha routine last year for a charity dance with Roger Black, so may be excellent later today).