Lets be realistic here, at the moment the top three is going to be Natalie, Sophie and Ashley.

Interestingly their pro partners Ola, Brendan and Artem have won the show before; so are we going to finally have a two time winning pro?

This is exactly what I think. I've got my hopes on Ola, but yes it'll be a two time winner I think.

My answer: DEFINITELY.

Natalie, Sophie and Ashley are the only ones that CAN win at the moment, unless someone makes a miraculous improvement - Fiona perhaps?

I like Fiona, but it would take a lot to calm her nerves. She makes errors due to nerves.

I don't think it's that clear cut. Abbey could win if she stops pulling nasty faces at her scores, someone could have a jur-nee like Ben or Patrick (unlikely I know) Susanna could win, so at this point, who knows?

I would definitely add Susanna and Abbey to the list of potential winners so who knows - we could have one of the new pros winning in their first series!

Think Ashley the only male who could make the final, but quite a few ladies are already good or improving every week.

Far too early to call. This time 2 years ago Jason Donavon looked unbeatable.

Wasn't that Harry McFly year ie the year with the most obvious winner ever

I wouldn't be surprised to see a Pro this year take the double.

However I wouldn't rule out Susanna - her and Kevin have a good partnership and she seems to be good at both ballroom and latin.

For me Natalie is too good too early to win; she has no story, she is just good.

Sophie could come across as a bit too cool for school and may come across she doesn't necessarily care.

So I would say the biggest chance of a Pro doing the double is Ola (atm).

I find it laughable that Susanna might even be a contender. She is getting silly scores for truly mediocre dancing.

Natalie and Abbey are better than her. Ashley has some talent too, but - as we know - it's not about the dancing and if the best dancer wins it's usually a fluke!

And it has been the case before that generally, those who start off as very good tend to have nowhere else to go (when compared with those who started off poor and progressed) and fall by the wayside in the later stages. They might be excellent dancers, but the degree of improvement over the weeks tends to be small (by definition). Maybe it is that "journey" that the public latch on to.

Susanna is a contender not because of her outstanding dancing but because of her Bbc golden girl position in strictly, and her new popular pro.

I think she could be a Chris Hopkins type of winner. Considering that and how she is being treated, I classify her as a contender. Although I do agree with you that Natalie is miles ahead of her, even abbey and Ashley are better .

Absolutely, I would put money now that Susanna is going to win, I thought the Viennese Waltz was gorgeous (although not 9's standard) and she has an incredible (strictly friendly) fanbase, If she's not in the final I will be amazed!

Think that Susanna is better then Abbey, as Susanna has already done a good latin dance (which Abbey still needs to do).

Wouldn't be surprised if Abbey is a shock boot somewhere mid-series (too much middle of the road in her latin weeks and she is not raking in the votes).

At this point I would say that these are the final five:

Natalie
Susanna
Ashley
Ben
Sophie

(in that order

I'd argue that it's generally the people who start off very good, just not as good as the perceived frontrunner who tend to win. Apart from Darren I can't think of a winner who had a duff start. Even Kara falling on her bum was obviously talented.

Completely agree! Even Chris hollins had a very good start (not great!).

Yes, my use of the word "poor" was ill-judged in this context.


And when it gets to the alleged ringers, it seems to be the case that they do indeed progress to the final, but they do not go on to win (DVO for example).

Kevin. I want KEVIN to win!!!!!!

Sometimes not even that *cough* BALLERINA CHERIE *cough*

Ah yes, I've just checked up .....


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherie_...y_Come_Dancing

I would agree that that's probably the likely final 5. Not quite sure what order they'll finish in yet that will depend on what the celebs do in the next few weeks or so both dance wise & how they come across to the audience.

Abbey I don't think is necessarily coming across that well & whilst she's a good dancer I think even in that regard she's in danger of getting lost in the crowd with a number of other good female dancers.

Abbey seems like a slightly better, slightly less likable Penny to me. She might last a little longer than she did, but I don't think it'll be much longer unless the judges start marking her up a bit.

Natalie is better than both but I suspect there's not going to be much between Susanna and Abbey. The latter's jiving was poor last night and she received silly scores for her mediocrity.

Me too!