[StellarWind]

My thoughts. Caveat: I haven't watched the show before this season.

In my mind the five major candidates to win are Anya, Lacey, Danny, Kameron, and Pasha.

Lacey Schwimmer 10/1 - She's the star of the hottest partnership around and one of the top two women. I have to think her experience with her brother will help her make the right decisions as the event progresses.

Kameron Bink 11/1 - He's well liked and talented. I'd guess he's one of the top three men.

Anya Garnis 10/1 - My personal favorite. Her partnership with Danny is very strong and she has to be regarded as one of the top two women.

Danny Tidwell 10/1 - I like him and he's another one of the top 3 men.

Jaimie Goodwin 8/1 - She tries hard outside of her style but she's nothing special. She'll probably hang around for a while but I can't see her winning. Certainly the line makes her a sucker bet.

Hokuto "Hok" Konishi 7/1 - Dead money despite his obvious popularity. No chance at all because he can only do his hip-hop thing. The judges will pick him apart as things tighten up.

Lauren Gottlieb 8/1 - She could be the best of the rest of the girls but her partnership with Neil is a little awkward and not special. Faina just demonstrated how harmful repeated trips to the bottom 3 can be. It's just too hard to prep a new solo dance every week and go against girls who have been working on the same dance-for-life since the beginning of the show. Even if she outlives Neil she'll be paired with someone else who killed their partner.

Neil Haskell 9/1 - Completely ordinary and a sucker bet at 9-1.

Sara Von Gillern 12/1 - B girl with no formal training or previous experience in heels is dead money.

Jesús Solorio 15/2 - Perhaps he has an outside chance but 15/2 is ridiculous and Sara is no asset.

Jessi Peralta 13/1 - Did you see her solo for her life? She will never last come crunch time. Plus she and Pasha were B3 last week. I totally don't understand that but it's a terrible sign.

Pasha Kovalev 15/1 - Pasha is outstanding but he's trapped with a second rate partner. Any more trips to the B3 will take their toll while his main competitors are on easy street in strong partnerships. Still 15-1 looks very tempting.

Sabra Johnson 15/1 - The invisible women of this competition. She's got skill but lack of stage presence and an unsatisfactory partner in Dominic mean she has little chance. This partnership could be a regular visitor to B3 until it breaks.

Dominic Sandoval 14/1 - Dead money lacking basic skills.

Shauna Noland 16/1 - I really like Shauna but she probably isn't good enough. Maybe if she got more suitable material I might change this opinion. Plus she might as well skip choreography this week and work only on her solo because her new partnership with Cedric has no chance. Her only hope to even hang around is to outlive Cedric and luck into a better partner.

Cedric Gardner 18/1 - Do you have to ask? There is little excuse for the judges' decision last week to keep him around. He totally lacks the ability to do anything but solo and everyone knows it.