1 LOVE Iveta and glad she (on paper) has a contender but not keen on Thom. The "I was born for this" comment didn't ring true and rubbed me the wrong way.

2 Didn't dislike Simon as much as I thought I would (going on the launch show). I don't think his arrogance and Kristina's desperation will make for a popular couple.

3 Alijaz was a joy to watch. He looked liberated; I love his partnership with Alison.

4 I feel sorry for Aliona, shafted again, but goodness, she doesn't seem to even try to hide her feelings. Totally transparent.

5 Early favourites - Sunetra, Alison, Jake and Caroline.

1. I wasn't surprised by anyone. Those I expected to do well, did, and those I didn't, didn't. Overall though, a decent standard, and 2-3 of them have the potential to be really, really good I think.

2. Adore Iveta but can't warm to wooden Thom. I like Steve a lot but not a fan of Ola's choreography. Dying to swap these two couples around.

3. Mightily impressed with Simon's Jive. Self-assured and full of vigour. And Kristina proving once again what a terrific choreographer she can be. Just needs the right partner to show it off. By contrast, there was too much pausing and posing in Pixie's Jive. For me, the Jive needs to be relentless, not stoppy-starty, otherwise it can fall flat.

4. When taking dancing, personality and partnerships into consideration, my two favourite couples early on are Jake & Janette and Sunetra & Brendan. Unlikely winners (or even finalists) but I hope they stick around for a while.

5. Irish accent, hairy chested, tattooed....tick, tick, tick! Tristan can STAY.

Sneaky 6. I know he gets a lot of flack here and elsewhere (some of it maybe deserved) but feeling a bit sorry for Gregg. He looked quite vulnerable.

1. Better Without Brucie.

2. Really enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere of the whole show (watched Friday on iPlayer then Saturday live). It seemed as though anything could go wrong on First Night, but nobody would really mind.

3. Tess and Claudia will calm down. The Winkleman will shiver when viewing the bandage + pout incident and then inform the directors 'Never again'. Tess doesn't ad lib from the autocue, but I do like her pulling faces at the awfulness of the jokes. She is not taking that part seriously, thank goodness. As usual, the script writers should be shot.

4. Enjoyed the way the judges sent themselves up in the opening sequence - I really don't think that will continue every week - if it does, then the men shouldn't drink before dancing, they can't balance in their pirouettes.

5. Really loved the way that both singers and band get a proper welcome at the beginning - their names read out, the panned camera shot not a whizz-past by mistake - the musicians, not just a black bowler hat, ARE part of the show, .

6. Costumes OK - nothing to faint about.

7. We have a marionette, a wooden top, a moving manniquin, quite a lot of shiny teeth and then we have Tim. Can't dance, but can entertain - I hope voters keep him in a while.

8. Marking was a bit strange at times - why fulsome comments then give only a 6, Craig?

9. Somebody is recycling all the furniture from scrapped TV shows. Please burn it instead.

10. Some of the celeb amateur dancing was really good - better, indeed, than the level of dancing in rounds 6 and 7 of some previous series. So I look forward to a Christmas cracker of a finale.

1. The scoring at the bottom of the leaderboard in particular was a bit odd, I wouldn't say that Gregg, Judy, Jennifer and Tim were all at the same standard. I thought Gregg and Tim were by far the worst of the lot, nearly if not as bad as Scott.
2. Pixie and Trent are very unlikeable, Trent in particular seems to think he has it in the bag already. Pixie was a lot worse than she was hyped up to be by some on here, definitely worse than Caroline yet they got the same score.
3. Simon and Kristina could be one of the most annoying partnerships to date. Neither have any likeability and Simon was overmarked.
4. Mark was undermarked I thought, he was much better than Sunetra and Alison and put in a lot of effort which was nice to see.
5. Jake was by far the star of the show. I don't think anyone expected him to be that good this early on. Our first winner over 40? I hope so!

1. Pleased I'd heard of very few of the celebs - meant I could judge objectively.
2. Frankie - beautiful waltz and very pretty. Rather reserved (much like Sophie Ellis Baxter last year.) Not sure Kevin's choreography can produce a winner or indeed a finalist.
3. Simon - the faux humility stuck in the craw.
4. Tim and Nat made me smile. For as long as they remain in the comp they'll get my vote.
5. Gregg and Aliona - painful to watch - they don't even like each other.

1. Loved Caroline and Simon oh and Tim my faves so far
2. Pixie was rubbish total let down
3. Steve then thom best of the hotties followed by mark who was camp and cringey
4. Alison and Jennifer made me smile
5.poor alimony she deserves much better than the master chef guy, the producers are just mean

1) Shame about Simon's feet. Would have been pretty damned perfect otherwise.

2) Frankie - A-MAY-ZING. ( and I LOVE her hair. I think I've said that before)

3) Greg - Aliona really doesn't like him, does she. Check out that body language! Lol!

4) I'm warming to Tim. Always thought he was a bit of a t*t on Bargain Hunt, but he seems like a nice bloke.

5) Judy first to go, I reckon

1. Please someone staple the judges to their seats so they can't repeat the hideous felony of their danced intros.
2. Poor Iveta, having to try to give Plastic Percy some personality.
3. Is Frankie the least annoying girl band member ever?? I almost warmed to her...
4. I think Gregg has been overdoing the whisking judging by the state of his wrist on quite a few occasions.
5. Is JfG KfG on speed?

1. Thom - comes across very vacant, almost robotic. I'm sure he's a nice bloke but I found it quite awkward to watch.

2. Gregg - I kind of feel sorry for him. It wasn't comical, it was just bad, and Aliona can't hide her feelings regarding being lumbered with him.

3. Frankie - always found the girl quite endearing and she's come across very well in her dancing. Can see her and Kevin having quite the partnership if they stay in long enough.

4. Claudia and Tess - great partnership and think the show is a much, much sleeker affair with them hosting.

5. Judy - oh dear, I really thought she was going to have a breakdown in the middle of her waltz. I thought she was the worst over the two nights and quite possibly the first to get the boot.

1. So nice to watch live without having to mute Bruce
2. Enjoyed Alison's dance very much and really hope she doesn't get shoved down the funnity fun jazz hands route by the producers
3. Pixie's jive had eff all jive content and was way over marked
4. Wish Frankie was paired with a pro I like because she was really good and I love her hair!
5. Loved Simon's jive - hard to make it look cool and he did
6. Steve was a real surprise and you could see on his face how much he wants to be good
7. I get the Tristan love now

Tess needs to rein her enthusiasm in a bit - too much over the for my liking

Judy and Anton - oh dear - first for the exit door possibly

Very disappointed in Thom who appears to have absolutely no character at all - very wooden

Pixie was over-marked in my opinion and Trent seems a bit full of himself

Tim Wonnacott is possibly the nicest bloke every to have appeared on Strictly - although they won't win Natalie looks pretty happy

Which is more than can be said for Aliona - who should be being more professional about it - she may not like her choice of celeb but she just needs to get on with it and owes it to Gregg to at least try to look like she's enjoying it

Frankie looks good in ballroom, if she's as good with Latin then she's definitely one to watch

Surprised by how much I liked Steve - loved his remark about everyone looking at Ola's dress rather than him

If Jake can do Latin then he could be the surprise package of the series - that Tango was very good for a first week

Scott was no worse than a lot of the '18's - not quite sure how he came out completely bottom, but I suspect Joanne's ballroom tuition may save the day for him next week

Pleasantly surprised by Sunetra, Jake and Alison, they have potential to have the right mix of being naturally good enough, but not good enough so as to have room for growth, get better and have a 'journey'. Though...

I have a sneaking suspicion that Jake isn't so suited to looser/faster/energetic dances. I really enjoyed Jakes dance though.

Enough with the themes.

Enjoyed the show with Tess and Claudia.

I wish the VT's were less contrived.

1 the show was so much better without Bruce - shame he outstayed his welcome for so long,
2. Gregg lived down to my expectations, and started digging! Free Aliona!
3. Didn't like Joanne's choreography for Scott - it didn't really help him,
4 loved Frankie's waltz ( is she in the Saturdays????) and Simon's Jive - and Steve and Jakes tangos
5. Where's Tommy?

Forgot to mention the facial expressions on Joanne (I think its Kevin's sister) she needs to calm down LOL

BIB no.1, yes I agree, who on earth thought it would be a good idea to have the judges 'dance' their way in?!! Bruno is just cringey


My thoughts:

1, See above

2, Tristan, Steve, Mark, Pasha....we are really spoilt this year

3, Thom was like a robot, and I thought he was gonna be great!

4, Frankie seems so delicate, almost fragile. I do hope she doesn't get slated on here.

5, Jake was my favourite, followed by Caroline, Alison, Steve and Frankie.

1. There are definitely a lot of people with the potential to go either way in the cast this year. Caroline, Mark, Jake, Steve, Thom, Pixie and Sunetra were all for me inhabiting a middle ground that was kind of 'OK, well that's not bad, but are they going to improve, or are they going to plateau?' None of them have physical limitations (like Alison, who will probably never be much better than she is now), so really there should be some healthy competition going on here to see who's the best fixer-upper of the 2014 class.

2. I didn't like Frankie's dancing at all. I like Kevin, the choreography was fine, but I honestly have no idea what she did to top the leaderboard. Maybe it's just because I can't warm to the waltz. Ever.

3. Am I really the only person who noticed that Jake was basically doing the 'Max Branning' dance? I mean, it was my favourite of the week - but 2 minutes of sexual tension, blossoming into moments of violence, with a woman far too good-looking to be in any sort of sexual scenario with him. Isn't that what he does week in week out on Enders? No wonder it was good.

4. I don't think I've ever taken such a violent dislike to a pro as I have to Joanne. Perhaps she'll redeem herself in ballroom - surely even she couldn't choreograph a hypermanic waltz?

5. FOR GOD'S SAKE TESS, CLAUDIA AND THE DAILY MAIL, IF IVETA AND THOM WANT TO SHAG, THEY WILL, OK? STOP RAMMING IT DOWN OUR THROATS!!!!

1. Caroline was my favourite across the two nights. Loved Mark, Steve, Simon and Alison as well.
2. Not sure about Joanne yet but I like Trent and absolutely love Tristan. It's the accent that does it for me.
3. Loved Claudia! Hilarious.
4. I really hope the cheesy job related themes/songs for the dances go. Make it stop!
5. The marking as a whole was bizarre. I don't see how Pixie was as marked as good as Simon and Caroline and I don't think Gregg was any better than Scott.

BIB it already did....Kevin was a finalist last year

1. Thom has sold his soul along with his personality to Kelly Brook & she hasn't given it back (actually I don't think he ever had one). God how I miss Gavin & Katya.

2. Greg makes me feel ill. Greg & Aliona make me want to vomit.

3. Judy is regretting this already & is going to want to kill Anton by the end of week 2

4. Tim & Natalie are going to be a joy on ITT

5. Sunatra showed more personality on the dance floor on week 1 than Sophie managed all last series

6. Bruce Forsyth ? Whose he.