I got to say that the rest of them as well as they might do none of them will win this thing this year unless they get the public sympathy vote like JS did last year

The 5 dances over the first 2 weeks were by far the 5 I mentioned

I'd say that it's very early days. It has happened a couple of times before that dancers who were bad in week 1, sorted themselves out, worked really hard and gone really far, Gethin/Matt/Darren come to mind. Personally i didn't like any of them, but you can't have everything.

As for this year, i think that Craig has some potential, however i think he may have gotten a bit of an emotional thumping this week and may not get over it. Also Natalie is a possible but her form may get in the way.

I think he`d improve if he lightened up a tad .. he seems too uptight all the time.

I agree it will be an open battlefield

Don't write off Tuffers quite yet. I see a JOURNEY coming up!!

I agree with you based on what we've seen so far. But I hope that some of the others improve over the weeks and give them a run for their money.

At the moment, I would be quite happy for one of those you mentioned to win. But there's a long way to go and lots of things can change.

I also agree with your assessment, however I do hope Craig improves.

So do i as i got a bet on him at 25/1 :yawn::yawn::yawn::yawn:

On ability yes and possibly that list could be 3 or 4 long.

Its going to be very interesting though how they can get rid of Lynda, Tuffers and Joe who are probably all sitting on big fan bases and two of who are better than JS. Interesting too to see if Nat has a BBC fan base

OK, I'm going to stick my neck out and say I think Tufnell may win. He's not the best - he never will be. But I suspect he's got a big fan base, he's already done well on one reality show, and he's good enough, with a huge personality. Of course, the judges will try to shaft him and come the quarters and semis, because of the voting system, as we know they can succeed. Ricky W is outstandingly the best dancer (so was Colin Jackson!) but is he popular enough? The three girls are a bit like three Rachebots at the moment. Good but overhyped already and no personality, no journey to be made.

I wouldn't write Jade off either. She's got room for improvement, and possibly more talent than Natalie.

I don't believe it's that straight forward at this stage. Don't forget there's bound to be an upset. Two of those five only need to be in the dance off together, one has to go, and suddenly it opens it up again.

Also it depends what routines the pros give them. I'm really impressed with Natalie so Ricky W's got two advantages. Laila's going to suffer, unless Anton gets help.

Tuffers is a definite outsider. I thought he'd be a car crash but wasn't and has a huge personality -possibly the biggest. I think it will be a big mountain for anyone to
beat ricky w. Unless he gets arrogant he appears to have all the major advantages. Depends
if he can be sold as a non dancer from his past as questions will be asked.
Ali will also be formidable if she loses her nerves as she will have had a better journey than ricky. However not sure how her fast Latin will be.

I agree all others may be technically beter but phil is better personality, also dont like Ricky's professional dancer ( the new one) but do like phils.

I`ve seen posts on hear saying that Ali has experience but does Ricky ?

Ricky should win on paper, as he combines good scores with good looks. However, I'm not sure about him; he doesn't do much for me. His rumba was good in ways, but it left me a bit cold. Other couples seem to have more personality and chemistry.

I wish some of the celebs would lighten up, have fun and not take it too seriously.

I've sort of mentally split the contestants into four groups...

The Contenders:
Ali and Brian
Chris and Ola
Zoe and James
Laila and Anton
Ricky and Natalie

The 'Journey' Men/Women:
Natalie and Vincent
Ricky and Erin
Jade and Ian
Phil and Katya

The Could Go Either Ways:
Craig and Flavia
Rav and Aliona

The Nice But Realistically No Hopers:
Lynda and Darren
Joe and Kristina
Jo and Brendan

I dont think Zoe will win at all - sure she''s good, but she's with Jame Jordan and neither come across as very likeable IMO

Its between

Ricky, Ali, Laila, Chris and Phil

I think that very soon the BBC will push the idea of rivalry in the Jordan household and try and make a huge thing about how well James and Zoe and Ola and Chris are doing. I don't think they are good enough to win (yet) but this story make take them all the way to the final.

Personally I don't think Ricky W has enough of a journey to go on to win. I think he may go out in the quarter or semi finals.

I thought Laila was vastly overrated. She was graceful enough but she was out of time and constantly looked lost and dragged around like a rag doll. Much like I always saw Lisa Snowdon.

Yes, I would agree with this in the main. I rated Ricky even higher last night than the first time he danced. He looks like a natural. Still, so many of the others have great potential for improvement.

Furthermore, I wouldn't give up on Calsaghe just yet - wooden and stiff he might have been to date, but now he's supposed to have a "thing" going on with his pro partner, don't be surprised if she has him loosened up and gets him using that body to good effect


http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/...5875-21702873/

I think, given the opportunity, he will improve technically; however a lot of work needs to be done on his presentation, including geting that face into smiling gear.

i think that next week the top 5 will be Ricky, Ali, Zoe, Chris and laila but in what order i dont know.

though i think chris might be like cherie lungie who stays at the same standard throughout

I wouldnt write of Ricky Groves......I think there is the glimmer of a reasonable dancer amongst the fun and laughs.......I thGink he might suprise you.....some people dont like their SCD favs to be too good at the start the public quickly get bored with that.

Gethin got 21 for his first dance Penny Lancaster got 35 !!!!! who made it further in the series ?

I'd forgotten about him; he has the potential to be a good dancer added to which we have the entertainment factor.