[Gayle]

I thought it was interesting and it has made me think a bit. I know there were times when it lacked substance and there were times when it was the old soundbites and cliches, but there were times when real opinions and views came through.

I thought Gordon Brown had the most to lose going into the debate and he certainly lost. And I lost count of the number of times he tried to align himself with the LibDems 'I agree with Nick...' was his catchphrase. Although I did enjoy the 'you can airbrush your photos but you can't airbrush your policies' line. He just isn't a public speaker and he looked really uncomfortable. He also was the first to start losing his temper and so he came over a bit flustered.

David Cameron also had a lot to lose and he too lost big time. He looked nervous and ill at ease for most of the time. His catchphrase was 'what Gordon Brown isn't telling you....' which made him look childish. I also didn't like his use of the - best mates of some of the people he's met - act. Oh, and he made me laugh at times when he came over a bit 'Tim, nice but Dim' with his 'really, really, nice man' bit.

I thought both Cameron and Brown had taken too much advice from their spin doctors and advisors. They had both obviously been told to get certain points across, so instead of just saying things once, they kept repeating them over and over again, which actually diluted what they were saying because it didn't look real.

Nick Clegg clearly won but as has been pointed out, he had nothing to lose in the first place. He looked the most relaxed, he spoke directly to the people who asked him the questions, he didn't look too rehearsed. Got a bit too obsessed with the Trident issue, but over all put in a really good performance.

Of course, part of that was because Cameron and Brown were too busy attacking each other. They've now got a really difficult line to take - do they attack Nick Clegg in the next debate or try to align themselves with him even more - after all, he could be very influential if there is a hung parliament.

I'm looking forward to round 2.