I know people are upset about Arlene but if it wasn't Alesha it would have just been Emma Bunton or someone so why all the hate for Alesha in threads on here?

She was offered a job and took it. They wanted a past contestant she was it. If Arlene hadn't bullied John off the show last year then she would have still been there so she has no one to blame but herself.

Camilla or Karen would have been better choices but they wanted a past contestant and Alesha was the best of the bunch.

I'm not upset for her.

It didn't matter if she made the most excellent of comments last night, she still would have got the "negative" crew blasting her for something.

She was obviously nervous and having to find her way. She will settle in & find her "place" (and I'm not talking physical location), and then in a couple of weeks people will have moved onto the next storm (as is inevitable)

I'll just sit quietly and give her the benefit of the doubt before lambasting her on the basis of one show

It was like watching a normal lamp next to three highbeam headlights. She was subdued, and I agree with ellamena she has not found her"place" yet. The other three have set roles and OTT attributes.

Nobody was bullied off the show...don't be so patronising to Sergeant.

I couldn't really care less about Dixon's feelings. It's showbiz. If she's lame she's going to get criticism..and she was.

However, if she can pull off the anti anti-judge judge role then she justifies herself lame or not...and we can't judge how good an anti anti-judge judge she is...yet.

In a word - no.

The girl did fine.

JJ

Totally agree! She did well and all her comments were appropriate for first time performers.

Craig and Bruno expect far too much, too soon!

I agree, I thought the judges (minus Alesha) were particularly harsh. And, I do feel sorry for Alesha, she is a lovely girl but not suited for the job.

to be honest, if I was asked to do a job I knew I wasn't qualified for I'd probably say no

but then my job doesn't involve being watched by 10m and being paid hundreds of thousands

oh well

I certainly don't feel sorry for her - she's getting well paid, what does she care

I thought she did ok.

Her comments to Joe were spot on and seemed sincere, unlike the rehearsed and wooden Arlene.

Please don't forget just how appalling Arlene was, and give Alesha a bit of time.

It's not the comments that bother me, it's the credibility - there is none

how can someone like Matthew Cutler taken criticism on his routine, or teaching, or techniques from someone who's had 3 months training a few years ago? Exactly, he can't which is why she is going to be unable to criticise that much

so she'll be the one giving all the platitudes - and what's the point of that? You already have Len giving everyone a 6 and above!!

Agreed

She's the wrong person for the job, but she's not to blame for the fiasco.

I would have preferred that they replaced Arlene with someone better. I dont expect Alesha to be better than Arlene and she isn't, but she did well, considering all the negative publicity before the show.
The key thing is, how she is recieved by the vast majority of the viewing public, who do not use this forum. I expect she came across better to them, and if she is popular with them, then she has done her job.

I thought Alesha did fine last night \nd in fact the juding panel seemed alot more playful and as though they were having a laugh and a good time

Its a light entertainment show - last year was far from light - personally on the basis of last night I like the change.

She came across fine in what she said and I think scored quite fairly - she could've said the best comments in the world and been slated for them as everyone is just out to be negative.

People seem to forget how much the judges were hated last year and people were calling for a change - I think its good they're trying something new...

The one positive thing for me was that she seems to have entertaining chemistry with Bruno?

Not for me. She kept on interrupting when he said something she didn't agree with. As fot the chemistry between her and Bruno, their banter was childish and tedious.

Give it a few more weeks and the rest of the judges will be back to receiving their criticism from us .

agree

The judges were a lot more relaxed last night then they were throughout the whole of last series.

As for Alesha I think she needs time to settle in and a lot of people on this forum were never going to like her on the panel no matter what she did

Agreed. She's doing the best with what she has. Yes, in an ideal world that isn't obsessed with youth and looks, we would still have Arlene and her expertise, but the BBC have made their decision.

She hasn't got the know-how to give the critique, so she's there as a sort of buffer, she knows what they're going through. Plus the banter between all the judges was great tonight, some of us want more than just ballroom dancing, we want some extra entertainment, and all of the judges provided that tonight.

I liked that she had the balls to say she didn't like Joe's tango though - I thought she was going to be just sweet and pleasant all the way through.

She's doing really well. So many of you out there WANT her to fail. She was offered a dream job and she took it. She loves Strictly and wanted to be a part of it. I agree that Karen or a former Strictly dancer would have been a better choice but I think Alesha is charming and is doing really well.

I thought she was fine and will continue to give her a chance and I hope she does well ,

What's with the nasty comments about money? It sounds like inverted snobbery - she can take the criticism she's minted. How much she's paid doesn't have any bearing on how she might feel about people being so negative about her.

How do you define being qualified to judge?

There are already 3 judges commenting on technical aspects of dance, it is certainly a good idea to have someone commenting on performance and from a viewer point of view.

Looking at Judges on other similar shows, Ruthie Henshall was not a skating expert and, in my view, many of the participants in X factors have much better voices than Dannii and Cheryl.

I for one will NOT miss Arlene's awful well rehearsed puns and cliched comments!!

yes they do, the nerves could be plainly seen on the amateur dancers faces and to be honest they did well for first attempts before an audience and viewers.

No, she took the money for a job she's neither qualified for or able to do on last night's performance.

The thing is everyone is making it an Alesha v Arlene thing, it didn't have to be either. If they wanted a new judge they really didn't need to go for an ex contestant, they could easily have found a dancer or ex dancer or someone like Darcy Bussell to be the judge. They could easily have chosen someone who is qualified to do the job. They wouldn't have come with the baggage that Alesha does. I think it's just going to get worse as the series goes on though because she is going to be an easy target and the pros are going to get seriously p*ssed off with her. She's damned if she does, damned if she doesn't and surely that should have been obvious to the BBC.

I have nothing against Alesha personally, she's lovely, but she can't do the job she was employed to do for a number of reasons. Most importantly she doesn't have any understanding of dance, apart from learning for 3 months.

I feel a little bit sorry for her, I blame the BBC mostly, but she should have thought about all of this before she agreed to do it, because it could seriously affect the affection with which she's held.

its not her fault arlene got sacked simple as

i do agree ona couple of points though

she'll never undermark matthew because she was his parnter and friend which will benefit him and shes overmarking at the moment i mean 7 for lynda because shes a good actress?

that was ridiculous

im sure len will point it out to her and she'll be more realistic in the next few weeks