This has obviously been discussed a lot in the press. Tbh i don't understand why people want Arlene on the panel.

I understand people who think one of the men should have been replaced as there are to many of them on the panel.

However, i am pleased Arlene has been sacked. She was extremely out of order to John Seargant last year and seems to be very harsh on other challenged contestants.

I think Alesha will be amazing and does have some credentials to be a judge - she can understand how the contestants are feeling since she was there herself. I'm not a regular viewer of SCD (always watch X Factor) but i might watch more of it now Alesha is on the panel.

im happy she is

she will bring a different edge to the show
+ we have craig, len and bruno for all the technical side of the performances! she can tell it from the viewers point of view, and point out what were all thinking!

good call in my opinion!

totally agree with you , I am actually looking forward to the changes, got so bored with Arlene last year. Alesha will be a breath of fresh air

But the viewers point of view should be demonstrated by the voting. That's why the overall score is half and half.

No. There are a few others who also want Alesha as a judge, but you are certainly in the minority.

I too am delighted to see change and looking forward to it ,. I love SCD but am not stuck in a rut , I love change and new blood .

I think having Alesha as part of the show is an excellent idea given her popularity, but it has to be in the right capacity. Having her as a judge doesn't make a lot of sense, she should have been given her own role, not just plonked anywhere. It will be interesting though.......

I can't say I want Alesha as a judge - like flutegirl, I think she'd have been better in a different role - but I am at least willing to give her a chance.

Empathy with the contestants is not the same as being able to judge the finer points of dance - is she going to give marks for effort whilst the other judges mark on performance?

She's a lovely young woman with a lot of personality but she just isn't qualified to judge dance.

None of the judges reflect what we're all thinking - and Alesha's opinion will be subject to as much difference of opinion as that of any other judge. The main difference being that the other three will offer an informed critique as opposed to that of Alesha who, with the best will in the world, simply doesn't have the experience or background to judge the finer points of dance.

same i don't really think she has the credentials to judge like the other 3 judges, she should mark on entertainment and as tomandaustin said, she can tell it from a viewers point of view.

Having given it all some thought, I do wonder rather than Alesha being the voice of the public whether she may be more the voice of the celebs. Increasingly in the last couple of years, and last year in particular for me, remarks made by the judges often seemed to be quite personal and sometimes there is no positive to counter the negative or anything constructive in the remark. (Craig is my favourite judge but "dull, dull, dull" gives you little to work on and no encouragement for the next week!) I would have thought this would be pretty demotivating for a contestant - whether they have ability or not, they all give a lot in the training - and won't help the live show nerves for other weeks. In Alesha celebs may feel they have someone from their side of the fence, who is on their side, and may put them more at ease. I know a lot of people don't want someone who will just give everyone good marks, and positive feedback, but I don't think Alesha will do that, I just think she can balance out the panel by understanding how celebs feel in front of the judges and will give encouragement. Judge would not be my first thought of how I would want to see Alesha back on SCD, but I am willing her to do well and happy to give her a chance. I just really hope it's not a move back that she and others will regret.

If a person does not allocate marks, does not trigger elimination, does not criticize celeb dancing, does not sit with the judges, then that person is a chatterer not a judge, and there is no issue.

The risk of volunteering to be spokesperson, is if the persons for whom one volunteered to speak, turn round and say -- No, we did not vote for you to speak for us.

I'm very happy for Alesha too.
As far as I'm aware, she'll be focusing her criticism on the performance aspect of the dances, which I thinked the panel kind of lacked last time. Occasionally one of them would mention it. And as Alesha has been a contestant, I think she'll be able to appreciate that you improve throughout the series, and she won't be too harsh in the first week, when they've only really just trained [ie. Craig, Arlene].
I never really like Arlene anyway, she definitely had her favourites so she wasn't entirely impartial [then that could apply to Len, Craig and Bruno] , and her obsession with the good-looking men such as Austin Healy, Mark Rampakash (spelling?), and the fact she seemed to take ages to get to her point, she seemed to just try and get the sentence to last as long as it could even when it should have finished [as Simon Amstell pointed out when she was on Never Mind The Buzzcocks] -- hell, she annoyed me.

So..yeah, I'm Team Dixon!

It was a shock, but I'll join Team Dixon!

Arlene may have had favourites but when they failed to come up to a high standard she did not fail to mark them down. In terms of her marking she was one of the fairest judges. And she was able to offer technical advice of which Alesha will be incapable.

All this will lead to one consequence - the dumbing down of the show. It is very sad.

I'm for Team Dixon Too ! it's about time the poor girl got a break,

Well Alesha seems to have had too many breaks already! She can't sing. Has a poor voice which is not musical or tuneful. Now she has another job for which she is not qualified. How many breaks can she deserve?

She deserves a break from your constant put downs, as for her voice or music, I assume you are suitably qualified to "Judge"?

Probably as qualified as Alesha to judge dance.

I may be wrong but i'd imagine Alesha is in a better position given her experience, to judge, than the poster is to judge Alesha as a singer. My point being that it seems to be alright for posters to decide that Alesha is not qualified to judge, but are then prepared to judge Alesha's singing without the required qualifications, seems a bit hypocritical to me.

I have been looking at some threads on here from last year and Arlene was really disliked and people were crying for the panel to have changes.

Now its got them.

That's what I thought originally, although now the whole world is shouting ageism I was starting to feel lonely...

Give Alesha a chance, the supposed 'dance experts' on the panel normally only spout drivel anyway (aside from Craig, I like Craig).

She should at least be able to match that, if not better as she will probably make an effort to make a good impression.

What, do you mean by spouting drivel too??

You mean that new programme from September?

Strictly Spouting Drivel