Strictly Come Dancing 2009

[DinerLandlord]

Ali was incredible, she was like a swan. My favourite so far. Joe Calzaghe was such a disappointment, I was sure he would do well because of being a boxer. You can tell he is used to winning, not losing, and he didn't take it well at all.

I don't understand why Arlene was gotten rid of. I don't mind Alesha as a judge, but I'd rather see her dance. They could have just kept Arlene as well as adding Alesha and had five judges. The judging panel needs Arlene's technical knowledge, which Alesha lacks almost completely. It's just like when they brought Cheryl Cole onto The X Factor - she is just there to look pretty and be nice to the contestants.

[Miranda]

I didn't believe the hype about Joe: he is quite old, doesn't look flexible or as if he likes dancing. Ricky from East enders amazed me, he looked romantic and airy

Did you see that scorching look Joe gave Kristina during the judging? She nearly caught fire! They are supposed to be having an affair, I can well believe it.

I didn't like Alesha's look AT ALL! Her hair was an awful colour and style, it clashed with her makeup, she didn't look nice. I like her though, I'm not just putting her down cos she replaced Arlene, I'm sure that wasn't her fault. But she needs to change her appearance!!

[xGlowingAngelx]

I thought Rav was great when they were getting the comments. It can be quite common for many contestants that aren't actors or have any acting ability to lack chemistry with their pro partners at the beginning, but I did actually feel a chemistry between them. I love how he took hold of her hand whilst they were getting the comments. So sweet. He seemed like one of those that would be willing to work on the chemistry. It'll be even easier to tell tonight because they're dancing the Rumba. I always look to the Rumba to see just how much chemistry I can feel between couples. It's one of those dances where it's either good or bad, IMO. I don't think I've ever seen a middle ground one.

If it was based only on this Ballroom round, I'd take a guess at the bottom 2 been between Rav and possibly Ricky. I REALLY don't think Joe will end up in the bottom 2 with the public. And Lynda could have the Colleen-on-DOI-Loose-Women effect and be saved by those. Certainly exciting anyway.

Also, I know this sounds harsh, but was it just me that kind of glad when Craig gave 3's out? Yey for starting on the low scores! We need improvements, after all. Getting a 10 in week 1 is a little too much! lmao.

[Lesley Bee]

I am honestly gutted that Martina and Matthew have gone, what is up with the public to say she was the worst dancer is a travesty. What about Joe Calzaghe??? or Lynda Bellingham???

[xGlowingAngelx]

I wasn't all that surprised, TBH. And, if I'm being totally honest, I don't think it was that much of a travesty for people to get so worked up over. Ideally, the Dance Off should have been between Joe and Rav, because they were the worse on the two nights overall. We're lucky at least one of the bottom 2 was there. I thought it was actually quite expected for Martina to be there. Martina was in the bottom 4 alognise Rav (who was in the dance off, anyway), Linda and Joe. Joe already seems popular, as well as having the whole of South Wales more than likely behind him and Linda is probably recognised more than Rav and Martina and will also have the backing of those that look out for the older contestants. Given Linda is the oldest there and most series sees the older contestants staying in perhaps longer than they should anyway, I'd say it was far from surprising she was saved by the public.

Plus, I did personally think Rav's dance off was better than Martina's. However, I will admit I personally thought that was one of the best first week Dance Off's we've seen.

Overall, I'd say the result wasn't that bad. Having the likes of Ali and Chris there would have been worse.

After last years fiasco, I think a lot of the die-hard SCD fans that care about the show as a whole, will realise that eventually, they'll have to stop with the Sympathy votes before they ruin the show completely. Give them the first couple of weeks to have their fun keeping the bad one in, since they were going to do it anyway and then just hope they come through when it's really necessary. IMHO, The first week results isn't all tha bad, so long as whoever is in the Dance Off is at least from the bottom half of the leaderboard, which they were anyway. Martina was only 1 point ahead of Linda in both the Ballroom and the Latin rounds, so it wasn't like the difference was MAJOR enough to cause an outcry.

Also, Brendan, Lilia and Darren are the only remaining Pros that have won before now. TBH, I can't see any of them winning gaian with their celebs this year. Jo could be a bit overbearing and loud for the viewers to want to vote and keep her in. Richard was a bit embarrasing to watch during the group dance and Linda could suffer with the Latin dances. JS-gate aside, there's no denying the Public more often than not come through good in the end and (Series 1not included) we normally end up with two worthy finalists.

Overall, I thought it was a decent weekend. Far better than I was expecting. I really think it can only get better.

[irish_angel]

Can't believe they got rid of Martina , i don't think she was too bad. Both Rav and Joe were worse IMO

[Lesley Bee]

Can't believe they got rid of Martina , i don't think she was too bad. Both Rav and Joe were worse IMO

Yeah i thought she was quite graceful and elegant, i guess these days it all depends on who you are and not what you can do, sadly

[Miranda]

I was very disappointed that Martina and Matt were voted off. I think she has more potential than Rav for further rounds, but as said above, it depends who you are. I expect she got few votes because she is a foreign sports star who hasn't won Wimbledon for 12 years [if she had won it 2 years ago she would be better known]. Whereas Rav is presumably well known for Crimewatch, even though I've never seen him before. I thought Martina was graceful and much prettier than I remember.

I was more disappointed to see the back of Matt, he always adds fire and passion to the dancing, but at least he has won already, unlike poor Anton and Erin and Ian.

And I approve of Alesha's look yesterday- MUCH better, back to her pretty self again!

[Lesley Bee]

I was more disappointed to see the back of Matt, he always adds fire and passion to the dancing, but at least he has won already, unlike poor Anton and Erin and Ian.

Yes me too the dance floor just does something to Matt, it completely takes him over but fair point he has won before and it would be nice to see someone else have a shot, i don't think Martina had the potential to win, but i still say she didn't deserve to go first

[xGlowingAngelx]

See for me, it has nothing to do with seeing the back of Matthew. He's a great choreographer. I wont deny that, but I'm certainly not one of those that idolises him (Although I admire Lesley's dedication. A true fan ). Plus, at least the pros still get to take part in Pro dances and more than likely make a good few appearences on ITT. (I also agree with Miranda. Martina looked stunning last night.)

I don't think any of the bottom 4 last night showed anything that would suggets they had potential to win. I do think, out of the four though, Rav and Martina were probably the two that would be more likely to show even a little improvement over Joe and Lynda. That's why I don't think either should have been in the dance off out of those 4, but on a whole, I'm not that bothered. So long as this isn't the start of "Calzaghe-Gate" I'll be fine.

I think winning it is more a curse than anything. Apart from Lilia, the other previous winners from the Pro's have yet to even make the final two again, have they? I know some of them were fortunate enough to make the final 3, but none of them have yet to get down to the final two. Karen was pretty much cursed too.

I'd love for it to be Anton's year. People are saying he may be in with a shot with Laila from first glance, but they also said that about Kate Garraway. Lets hope Laila is at least half decent.

That said, I'd rather we kept the decent celebs than the decent pros. Every pro has their own fanbase and we obviously can't please them all. I'm more concerned about whether we can through the series still standing.

It doesn't sound like Alesha had the best reviews after her first night. One place went as far as rumouring she'd already stepped down, but I'm sure we'd have heard by now. I don't like all this negative stuff going around. I still adore Strictly as much as I did in series One, if not more and I'd hate to lose it because of some really bad decisions.

Oh and..... Did anyone else totally LOL when Ali and Brian were getting their scores? Craig and Len had completely disagreed, yet both scored 7's Len and Bruno's faces were classic!