got his grubby little mits all over it. 'Strictly' has always been better than Cowell's efforts.

Anyway...great to have the series back, bigger and better than before. Favourites from tonight have to be Matt and Fel. Goldie has potential to.

Great to see Brucie back where he belongs. I wish I could say the same for Tess. Tess, it is couples not coples. Sort it out love

Much as I hate the tit for tat rubbish that goes on between the two, I do think that, thankfully, the two shows have a different audience. I am glad to be part of the "older" (33) audience that Cowell and Walsh derisively refer to. At least I know that although the judges may try and manipluate the show on Stricly, it isn't a complete marketing exercise like it is over on the £ Factor.

Yes it is. My main fear before it started was we were going to see less of the footwork this series judging by the paucity of it in the training clips. So was pleasently surprised that it was the same.
Disagree with your last paragraph. Bruce was a pain, only interested in how his crappy jokes are going down, while Tess was excellent and professional as always.

Xfactor is still the most watched show in the country tbh.


I only watch xfactor when it happens to be on...and there's nothing else but there are endless people i know who find Strictly boring and get surprised that i watch it.

Guess it's just taste

I thought Strictly was excellent tonight and this is gonna be a great series. Had the kinda special feel last seen on series 5

I cant stand Cowell and never watch his tripe...

P.S. Im not too much of an oldie... in fact much younger than S Cowelll himself.

I've been watching strictly since I was in my early 20's. Does that mean I have been watching the wrong show?! I think the difference is SCD has class and the other is trash! People who watch SCD have taste - simple as.

Well thats my thought.... but I was too embarrassed to say it...

X Factor is for the chav element IMO...

My feelings exactly - what a buzz! I gave up watching X Factor during the 2nd series in 2005 and now it is TV trash to me (I appreciate millions disagree).

I watch both, though spend most of my time critisising (sp) x factor while watching it Don't know why I watch it to be honest.

I love strictly though, especially ITT. Gotta love a cup of tea and ITT of an evening

Absolutely...and the celebs cannot get away with faking it either because it is visual. Auto-tune won't save Ann Widdecombe. I hate the x factor and all that it stands for and represents.

Can't stand Tess and her northern twang. Does my head in. Give me Bruce of the rest anytime.

You forget, Strictly is on a quality channel...namely...BBC1, not like the x factor, where what danni or simon wears, says or doesn't say is the most important thing.

Not by the ratings. Last years Strictly wasn't the greatest for various reason, but previous to that, it was matching the fix factor...and furthermore, I believe it is Strictly's year this year. It is going to kick Cowell's show into next week.

Out of the 2 shows I love xf, only started watchin strictly past 2 yrs love it but xf wins easy ... brucie does my head in x

Absolutely agree with you. Bang on...thumbs up.

I am 35...certainly not old, past it or whatever...and a musician...now that's a novelty! Is Cowell a musician? musical? can he write music? I doubt it. He is just trying to suffocate the music scene with the drivel that he churns out...namely covers.

I would love to be in the audience of, what he passes for, as entertainment, and boo all the way through. I hate him...the rich....

Yes...liking it. Absolutely right on all accounts.

Whatever happens, Cowell must not get number 1 this Christmas. He must be stopped. Facebook...facebook...

Yes...loving the bashing of Cowell.

only the brain dead and the clueless watch XF.

I have just met my TV soulmate! LOL!

:yawn: we will work on you. Why on earth do you think XF is better? Come on...sell it to me.

The cast of Strictly might be older this year, but the show felt revitalised.

There was a fresh buzz about it.

By contrast, I tuned into a few minutes of X Factor on ITV2 earlier and it felt stale to me.

It's not all about having younger contestants. Far from it.

Oh yeah baby. Together we will bring down Cowell and all who sail in her. Now to convince those who know no better.

How very dare you

I watch the X factor, but i watch all sorts of rubbish (thats my excuse )

I agree. Its hard to pinpoint what was so good about this series opener, but it felt new and invigorated. Still too much Bruce for my bucks but that's just a personal preference. I haven't even watched any of X factor this year, which in previous years I would have done. I did catch 5 mins of the auditions and thought "when was laughing at mentally ill people considered entertainment", but hey ho!

I think if someone is quite into the arts they are more likely to be anti Cowell.

whatever the faults of Strictly, and there are many, the levels of manipulation and BS are FAR less. Even when the judges or producers try to "push" a person the public can see through it... (Helloooo Lisa Snowden!)

I dont feel as patronised when watching SCD as when Ive seen extracts of x Factor