Who would have thought that there were over 80,000 budding dancers lurking around the UK? Tonight’s first episodes of Strictly Dance Fever showed the barrage of hopefuls whittled down to just 100 and then to 50 by the shows four judges Arlene Phillips, Wayne Sleep, Stacey Haynes and Ben Richards.

We caught the second episode at 9:30 and had great fun trying to predict who would get through to the actual live competition. It’s a bit like X Factor, really – the editing focuses more on the people who are interesting or who eventually got through.

Take Katie, for instance (the one with the mad afro-thingy) – she got plenty of camera-love and by the end of the show it was obvious we’d be seeing her next week.

Look at the lover’s tiff between Rammi(?) and Maria – they bickered constantly during the rehearsal and got through despite their performance being less than amazing. Despite getting through, poor Maria wasn’t so sure she wanted to continue after the ordeal with her boyfriend. And we think Rammi was an arse, by the way!

JP was the street dancer who Wayne Sleep said didn’t have “what it took” to get through. However, he excelled at the salsa and our money’s on him to get through to the final 10 couples.

Next week’s show will continue to whittle the auditionees down to 20 (that’s 10 couples) and the competition begins in earnest the week after.

What are your predictions for the final 20 contestants? Leave a comment and let us know!