So Im off to Florida in the first 2 weeks.Will any of my 4 Jimmy,Tina,Michele or Goldie be gone by the time I come back

I honestly thought she did good. There are moments of glory in the vid and moments of what needs polish...Cha Cha will be hard but I think she can do it! I hope she can prove she can dance Latin! I'm off to Australia with little Internet but will try to keep in the loop!

Imho Jimmi will be in for the long haul (my choice for the winner), but I can see Goldie being out by the time you get back. Tina should be okay, but Michelle will have to make a great first impression to stay in simply because she lacks a big UK fan base - who knows at this stage?!

The older contestants benefit if they have a 'learning something new and loving it' attitude, which gets harder as you get older, but Pamela has it (albeit Pamela is finding it easier to learn).

Felicity was shown to be struggling a bit, but from what we have seen before, she will be able to dance - just needs to do everything Vincent says, including enjoying it.

The pro is striving to make the celeb look good when showtime arrives, which is a thought that can make the training easier to bear.

Felicity looks like she has been drinking from the same fountain as Cliff! She looks great doesn't she. I liked her and Pamela - she looks really competent - and Jimi best of all. His enthusiasm will get him to the final I think. He's addictive Goldie's my dark horse. He seems to attract people on shows I've seen him on, he's gained friends easily. Could be a good battle of men this year, with Matt also looking very able. Like him too lol. Can't wait til the fun starts. Nights are dragging now. Come onnnnn

Jimmi still in, possibly Goldie and Tina - I suspect Michelle is in most danger

Kara and Artem training

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00b9bk1

I think she looks quite good, but there doesn't seem to be the kind of connection and sense of fun we've seen in a lot of the other partnerships....

Kara said "That's a bit complicated for a first lesson." so it seems that was her first day and if that's right, she is easily my pick as the one who in front right now.

They both seem shy but I thought they worked well together. I don't know much about Kara but Artem has a very quiet nature.

I agree. I think Kara was majorly disappointed to be paired with Artem. I know she wanted James so maybe she thinks being with a new pro will ruin her chances. It doesn't look like there is any connection between them and I think this could be a problem. Can't say I'm all that keen on Kara as a personality. She always seems a bit dull and moody to me.

She won't lose out on too many votes being paired with Artem - he already seems to have quite a lot of fans.

A bit disappointed by Kara's training video, considering she has previous experience and showed ability at that time. She looked a bit ungainly, particularly on the turns. Nonetheless there is dancer there and I think she will be alright on the night. Probably one of the favourites.

I know what you mean, like Jimmi and Flavia, but i'm hoping it's just cos he's foreign and quiet and a few more weeks in once they are more comfortable with each other we will see more fun from them.

I thought Kara was looking very good, but I agree she came over as a bit unsure about having Artem as her teacher. I hope they start to click soon because I'm hoping to see a lot of Artem!

We didn't see that in Pamela and James's video either, but you cant expect that on the first training session. I'm sure now they have got to know each other, they will relax in each others company.

Along with Jimi's, this is going to be another contender for the best week one Cha Cha ever on Strictly.

Agreed - on all counts.

I thought technically (not that I know anything about that of course) they looked the best so far.

Artem reminds me a lot of Matt Cutler in his quietness in the training room. I thought Matt really came out of his shell the year he danced with Alesha. I hope Kara and Artem do gel!

I agree i just hope the song choices are just as good.

I thought Kara looked quite good considering this seems to be first day training. Probably the week they had to take off because of her previous experience would have meant her and Artem had kind of 'cooled' a bit whereas all the others went straight from group training -> launch show -> photoshoots -> training on Monday, and had days of continuous familiarity with each other that her and Artem would have missed out on.

Definitely.

A few may have recognised their partners from the show or the celebraties from stuff they've been involved in the past - Artem is a new pro and unless Kara is an avid SYTYCD fan and Artem has been watching 'Enders for the last 10 years I doubt they'd even heard of each other prior to the show.

I'm really hopeful for these two.

Despite what Kara said, the choreography looked a bit easier than Flavia's, but Kara seems to have better technique from the waist up than Jimi. She looked so good, I wouldn't be surprised if Artem decided to take the choreography up a level after that first session.

While i'm talking about song choices is it still right that the pro's choose the song or has it changed? just making sure i haven't missed anything

Yep, the pros definitely choose the song, Aliona was talking about it on Twitter not so long ago. They put in suggestions then get to pick from a shortlist of 3 each

Artem's voice sounded familiar to me and I've just realised who he sounds like - its Brazilian Formula 1 driver Rubens Barricello.