I feel that Rachel has suffered in the scores by pure virtue of the fact that she was expected from the outset to outclass everyone else.

I think her performances have been lovely and understated so far but have definitely deserved to be up there with the other four (Cherie, Lisa, Tom, Austin).

There does seem to be more bias towards some contestants this year and a lot more marking based on expectation rather than performance.

Although Craig maybe a little too harsh at times in my opinion he is the fairest of the judges in terms of the marking.

I suppose the top 2 men will be Austin and Tom. Obvious from week 1. Tom woman is a lot more open. Hope we see a man/woman final! ( can't really say girl/boy) Apologies to Cherie

Its certainly the most boring to date............

Alesha was in the same series as John Barnes - a sportman with natural rhythm.

Tom has a big advantage over Austin in that when it comes to the more dramatic dances he can act better- that's why I'm expecting brilliance at the foxtrot, tango and the quickstep

Austin may have a problem when it comes to the rumba and the tango- those dances are harder if you are too nice and find it hard to act the dance

Tom to win

I just have a feeling it's Camilla's year, don't know why.

I think the fact that there are so many couples who must be thinking that they have a chance of winning this year from such an early stage is part of the reason that this series feels a little flat to me. The top five seem to be taking it rather seriously because
a) They know they really stand a chance of making the final and
b) They also know the other couples are really close to them and they can't afford to let up.

I feel it's robbing this series of some spontaneity; there doesn't seem to be the same joie de vivre that there was last year for instance. However, what may be a drawback now could become a positive once there are fewer couples.

After Mark's departure I like Jodie and Ian best, followed by Heather and Brian. Also a soft spot for Christine and Matt - but I know none of them will win, so am not really interested in the final outcome.

None of the front runners do much for me.

Alesha had it tough last year against a good looking journey guy (Gethin) and a very popular soap actor.
I do find it quite surprising that the only males that have won are sportsmen. Whereas with the women we've had a singer, an actress and a presenter.
I think we'll have another male sportsman this year (Austin)

Martin was terrible...

I think he was nearly as bad as Chris Parker.

Chris Parker and that cape is a sight I will NEVER forget!!!

I didn't think he was that bad - I just thought he was carrying too much weight - hey ho!

Likewise john barnes. He was puffing his way round the dancefloor in his first dance.. Dennis Taylor also disproved the sportsmen theory ....LOL

No. Austin will win.

A lot of sportsman tend to be good at the ballroom but not the latin - I got the impression that this was the case with Chariots Offiah. Barnsey was the opposite - good latin, sucky ballroom.

I think Austin will win - he seems to have both judges (the samba was the only dance he's had where he's not topped the leaderboard) and public (I don't know if it's my imagination but there seems to be a huge cheer that comes up from the crowd when his face goes by on the opening credits for SCD on Saturday) on side. He's the one front runner that I really like apart from Cherie who I think is going to really struggle this week (I hope it doesn't happen but I wouldn't be surprised if she's in the dance-off this week - I think the judges will save her so she's unlikely to get the chop though).

I'm not sure I agree that this is the most open series ever! I don't think it can be with the judges playing God each week! Just look at last year, Alesha was always going to get to the final whether the public wanted her there or not (loved Alesha btw)! This year, unless they end up in the dance off together one week, the top 3 will be Austin, Tom & Cherie! I can see some advantages of having the judges decide who goes home each week as, IMO, they've made the right decisions so far this series. But I'm not so sure they should have power in the later weeks (especially when it gets down to the last 4/5 couples)!

Last years final was meant to be 3 dancers but Kelly's withdrawl from the show meant that there were only 2 finalists. So if it is Tom/Austin?Cheri then it's down to a public vote.

Not entirely - the positions that the judges give them with their marks can heavily influence the final choice, as we saw last year.

Not sure what your point has to do with mine! It doesn't matter whether there are 2 or 3 in the final, the point I was trying to make is that we should have total control from the quarter finals onwards!