First up today is one of the crowd's big favourites, and also the star of the Harry Potter movies in the title role, James "the Hoff" Hoffmann! He'll be followed soon after by Australian competitor Scott Calaghan, and later on today Heather Perry will step up and represent the United States. Other highlights from today have to be the Japanese champion, and no doubt there'll be a huge crowd on to cheer for the home town favourite.

James' performance was indeed something very special. He was smooth, polished and very well spoken, dressed quite casually, but very much the consummate professional. During James' performance, I was particularly impressed that he was able to identify some less than perfect shot pulls for his cappuccinos, so without much worry or hesitation, he decided to redo the shots, and still finish quite within the time allotment.

One special aspect of James' performance that a few other competitors also did was the cappuccino pouring, done right in front of the judges. Hoffmann is such a natural at pouring latte art that he made it seem like this was they way cappuccinos should be poured and served.

One other early note - many new familiar faces were around today, as more and more of the industry's personalities arrived, and this helped create an even greater atmosphere of community and friendliness in the competition hall.

Here's some pictures of James' performance.

Hoff warms up James warming up in his practice round, as coach Steve Morrissey helps out.

Settng the table Hoffmann's preset table, featuring nice custom wood settings.

Barista Tools Not to be found in your average cafe, these are some of the tools used to make the signature drink.

Working the grinders In what may be a surprise for some, Hoffman used two Malkhonig grinders, each containing a single origin. A lot of baristas don't like these grinders because they can clump, but they work well for Jim. I hope he doesn't get docked for the automatic functions!

As the judges write James, looking every bit like Mr. Potter, serves the judges as they keep score.

Here's Zachary's video of James' first round performance.