1 Michael & Natalie are having a ball - love Bruno's Warne makeover joke
2. Brendan is a selfish pig but Victoria is irritating
3 Colin is hot
4 Too many long intros - right to warn the new girl about the lifts
5 Essex girls.......

He does and I'm going to TVC and ripping the shirt off his back myself.

Sorry too many moobs on show FGS find some buttons

Everyone else can put their's away, Artem is contractually obliged to get his out.

1. Loved Fern and Artem's chemistry
2. Loathed Darcey's constant 'yeahs'
3. Cut out Bruce's jokes and let the judges get a word in
4. Liked Nicky and Michael
5. Victoria will have to toughen up

1. Colin & Kristina - surprisingly good together
2. Denise - ringer
3. No props!
4. Minimal faffing (there has always been some!)
5. Darcy - good start, yeah?

1. Artem - I adore you but please put your chest away. I don't like seeing tits on a bloke.
2. Craig - so glad to have to back on my TV, keep up the good work.
3. Bruce - f*ck off. Now. Please.
4. BBC - if the show is over-running, don't cut out the judges' comments - cut out Bruce and/or stupid pointless skits.
5. James and Denise - you're my favourites.

1 - Craigs rant re: The Lift was totally over the top
2 - Felt bad for Victoria.
3 - Darcey was great, really good choice for new judge giving good advice rather than Arlene and her silly comments. Did not miss Alesha at all. I rather enjoyed Darceys "yeah, yeah, yeahs"
4 - Enjoyed Bruce's 007 Joke
5 - LOVED Denise and James. The "Denise has danced before so get rid" comments are madness. In that case get rid of Kimberley and travel back in time to prevent Emma Bunton, Alesha Dixon et all for doing the show

1. Artem's chest
2. Liked Artem & Fern together, looked like they really get on
3. Colin
4. Denise & James were good, maybe overmarked
5. Colin

1. I was actually pleasantly surprised that some of Bruce's 'links' weren't as cringeworthy as they have been in the past....
2. I LOVE BRENDAN. 4 years ago I would not have expected this, but having followed VP for a while, I think the way he tried to stay positive was sooo good. Not normally one for the 'journey types' but genuinely hope they go on one (as mean as it sounds I hope they don't end up bottom.)
3. I hadn't actually noticed Darcey's 'yeah'-ing until it was all over twitter... my bad The only thing I thought was I loved her 'constructive criticism' but she needs to shorten it a lil bit- pretty sure she said about 4 different things to Fern...
4. For the moment I actually like Denise & James. however at some point I do expect this to change...Denise going on and on about 'how she hasn't done proper dancing before honest' needs to stop, preferably soon :sleep:
5. Forgotten how much I loved Artem

that was probably more than 5 things. If I can add a 6. Me & my dad found the judges hilaaaarious tonight, (especially after the 'lift incident' and Darcey's head was on the table in a 'oh god, what have I let myself in for' fashion) we tend to not take them too seriously- makes it much more fun

1. I thought Craig was fine. He was right to come down on the lift harshly (and no, I don't buy into all these "scripted" crackpot theories) - remember when all the judges kept saying they were going to start penalising for lifts, then didn't?

2. I don't mind people with previous dance experience taking part so long as they're not actual ballroom/latin professionals or anything - but it annoys me the way they seem to be going out of their way to insist Denise isn't a dancer. She went to stage school and was on Broadway! That's fine! She has some advantages but the stuff they're doing here is totally different! Nobody is pretending it's a level playing field! That was all that annoyed me. Her dance was lovely.

3. I felt very bad for Victoria but agree that perhaps the routine was a little ambitious. I want her to do well, she has potential.

4. Darcey was fine. So she has a verbal tic, big deal.

5. I welcome lower scoring in general - remember Alesha giving Holly an 8 for her lacklustre cha cha? - but found it a bit jarring after the last few years. I'm sure it'll settle in soon.

1. Fern is bringing a really warm side out of Artem, which I'm enjoying.

2. Natalie has done a fantastic job with Michael.

3. I'm not warming to Karen.

4. Height difference aside, I was very impressed with Colin.

5. I like the lower scoring - it gives them something to work for.

1. Karen still reminds me of a vampire!

2. Had a feeling Victoria would struggle to remember the routine.

3. Kristina has herself a real contender and he looks really up for it!

4. I typed "Saved the best until last" before Craig said it about Denise & James!

5. Loving Darcey as a judge!

1. Darcey was understandably nervy - it was her first outing after all. But she gave more useful advice in one show than Alesha gave during her entire stint as judge.

2. Colin & Kristina were even better than I hoped they'd be. I didn't really notice the height difference but maybe that's because I was distracted by that hideous leapord print shirt.

3. Nicky reminded me of how Harry Judd was early on - devoid of emotion. And why was he sauntering around the dancefloor with his hands in his pockets? Didn't like that routine, sorry Karen (but willing to give you a few more chances).

4. Natalie looked a vision in red (and got a fairly reasonable Waltz out of Michael).

5. Denise & James can bog off. Awful couple. Just awful.

1. Craig had a point but he could have stopped after 'don't do lifts'.
2. I thought Victoria showed potential in between forgetting the steps. At least she should be in hold next week.
3. I miss Alesha. While Darcey gave good advice the 'yah's' grated.
4. Schedule a show so everything can be shown; it was ridiculous that comments from the judges had to be cut.
5. Bruce is seriously struggling with the autocue;if he's to continue I think it would be better for him to use an idiot board telling him the name of the next couple and ad lib the rest.

She appeared near the end of series 7 as well in a desperate attempt to avoid a tie in the latter stages of the contest. I can't remember the 'yah's' from then.

I mean Darcey's first appearance as a proper judge (as opposed to a guest one). I hope someone points out the annoying "yah's" to her so she doesn't do it next time (I doubt it's how she talks normally, it was more likely down to nerves). But yes, I value her knowledge more than Alesha's personality.

A few more thoughts - cheeky I know but it is my thread

6) Will the Beeb get away without any uproar/complaints about the France topless joke?
7) "Finally nice to have a judge who knows something" or words to that effect - miaow to Alesha!
8) Colin definitely the surprise of the night but wish he hadn't been dressed as a giraffe.
9) I don't think Karen is going to do Nicky any favours and will become a new controversial Aliona type - yawn!
10) Looking forward to Kimberley and Jerry tomorrow - hope Anton plays it seriously.

I'm shocked! You're usually so sweet about everyone.

***Whispers*** Sid doesn't like James.

. He's not alone.

Pet Monkey liked your idea!

1) COLIN
2) COLIN
3) COLIN
4) COLIN
5) COLIN

He only has to be on the screen any walking, talking or dancing is a definite bonus!!!!! Tee Hee!! ;

1) Maybe my expectations for these celebrities this year were too high.
2) I enjoyed Natalie and Michael.
3) Enjoyed Darcey's attempts at providing constructive criticism
4) Felt bad for Victoria, but pull yourself together Victoria and stop apologizing. Save it for the Tesspit or ITT, not in front of the judges.
5) Denise is a good dancer, but please stop with the Miranda impersonations.

I feel bad now!

But Buddy's right, James is my Aliona And it's twice as bad this time because he's partnered with the obnoxious Denise.

Hopefuly, I've got it all out my system now. I don't like to be quite so mean about the couples, especially as they're working really hard to entertain us. But these two really do rub me up the wrong way. It doesn't help that most my twitter timeline don't like them either (so it's sort of become the norm to slag them off - I do it without even thinking!).

1) Felt so sorry for Victoria (Sorry, she seems nice!)
2) Wow- that scoring's rapidly dropped! Not sure if I'm happy or feel sorry for celebs, but signs of getting back to dance basics?
3) Darcy's no Arlene, but infinitely better than Alesha.
4) If Karen's choreography starts to rival Aliona's in gimmicks I'll be highly annoyed- what was the point of the lift?!?!?! ANGRY!!!
5) Tomorrow probably has the much stronger dance line up