Well I'm not interested in listening to her opinion further, she annoys me (as does Bruno now), I shall be watching on the iPlayer in future, until the final, and fast forwarding the filler between the dancing.

So very true.
I remember a girl in music tuition who so loved music and was desperate to learn the finer points, but she was literally tone deaf so although she was excellent at the history of it, composition etc, she could not perform it at all.
I feel Craig had a similar problem but maybe was reluctant to admit it.

Gosh - is this thread still trundling on with everybody repeating the same things ad nauseum?


I've heard this mentioned quite a bit on here, but has there been any official BBC anopuncement as to what her role on the panel is, and what she is supposed to comment on? AFAIK she was brought in to bring a new dynamic to the panel (which she has done) with no special responsibility for being nice and sympathetic. Bruce, Tess and the lovely Claudia do that.

"Miss Dixon" made quite a big thing of how she was there not to judge the techniques of the dance but to look at the performance from the celeb's view point. To me she has failed on all fronts there is nothing that appeals to me and I think the only time we have had an original, honest comment was when she let rip about Craig.

Comments on chat shows or in the media are not official announements as to her role.

I don't think the BBC have ever specified what judges are there to look at and mark on. What has happened over the years is that they have pidgeonholed themselves. Being new, she has yet to fully find her feet. It may be that any comments she made were before the start of the series, and either she herself (or the BBC) now sees a different direction.

But I think she has brought a new and welcome dynamic to the panel. Overall (apart from one comment she probably regrets) she'd done this pretty well. It couldn't continue as it was. Arlene may have had unfair comments made about her, but she was the architect of her own destruction. Whatever Alesha does, she's going to get bashed for, and she's done the right thing in toughing it out. If people don't like the new "Tough cookie" Alesha, then they should reflect on the effect their consistent criticisims would have on any human, and believe it or not being a judge on Saturday night car crash TV does not somehow take away someone's humanity.

Let's face it, if Karen Hardy made the panel, even though she does tick the box for knowing about dance she'd get EXACTLY THE SAME roller coaster ride in here.

Bravo - well said - have a rose @--/--

The only part of your post I don't fully agree with is your suggestion that Karen Hardy would get a 'roller coaster ride in here' - perhaps you hadn't realised that you're posting in the absolute shrine of Hardy worship, dahling?

Nope - I know that! In fact, I'd love KH to be on the panel. I think three is too few judges to get a balanced view, four means Len gets to vote twice and five to me represents the ideal balance.

Would Karen of the Hardy get a rough ride in here? Well, although it's a shrine of worship I think she actually would! If she'd replaced Arlene there would have been howls because she was relacing dear, sainted Arlene (how dare she, the jumped up little madam) and if she was simply added as an extra judge there would be a whole load of new whines and bitches here. You know what this place is like! OK, she might have had the roller coaster ride from a small regional amusement park as opposed to Alton Towers. Somebody in another thread made the comment that she is "Marmite", so I think she'd have had a fair amount of flak too - equally undeserved.

Craig was never shown much love on the main part of the forum, I agree, but for some curious reason his appreciation thread was better attended than other celeb's by far. Trying to cheer Bhoy1888 up I actually posted figures 3 weeks ago (when Craig, Zoe and Jo were still part of the show) and Craig's thread had more than double the replies of the next current appreciation thread - Ali and Brian.

Craig - 1,528
Ali - 762
Natalie - 638
Chris - 356
Jo - 229
Jade - 175
Laila - 157
Phil - 122
Ricky G - 89
Ricky W - 77
Zoe - 58

Let me also point out that at the time of posting these figures, Bhoy had not contributed to the Craig appreciation thread once (I made a point of checking as I felt he may have contributed to this huge lead).

Back on topic, which is not about Craig, but about a judge's "critique." It is absurd to suggest that someone who speaks out about Alesha's extremely rude comment is doing so as part of some game meant to demonise her. It's bordering on delusion frankly.

Did a quick search of my own posts and found only one previous reference to Alesha -


I am sure that if you took the time to vet the posts of the majority of posters who found her comment unnecessarily offensive you'd either find nothing of bias or support for her place on the panel.

Actually, my impression of this forum is that it's always been utterly polarised when it comes to Karen. She has die-hard supporters and absolutely immovably nasty detractors. Rather than a shrine, I'd call it a boiling pot of tribal and visceral opinion!

I was never keen on her as a pro on the show, despite her perfect-for-TV big personality, since she seemed to make it as much about her as about the celeb she was mentoring. Then again, I say that, but I don't seem to ever get to the strength of feeling of many FMs, so don't think she ever made me spit at my telly or owt.

On the other hand, I think she'd make a superb judge: for me, it's all getting a tad too far away from ballroom/Latin and she'd bring it back a little; she's hugely knowledgeable; she's an experienced judge; she's got a big personality that could easily hold its own on that panel.

I dont know about that actually , many dont like Karen
I was never keen on Karen as a dancer , mainly because of her gurning and faces she pulls I find very offputting
But am liking her on ITT and her slots are very interesting and I am learning alot .
Sans faces Karen is ok .

There might have still been an outcry about replacing the older woman with a younger one had Karen replaced Arlene but what could NOT have been said is that Karen knows nothing about dance! The accusation levelled at Alesha could not, in any shape or form, have been said about Karen, so eventually the fuss would have died down IMO.

And I could never imagine her saying to a contestant what Alesha said to Craig last week, nor in the manner it was said.

Anyway, who's going to be taking notice of Alesha tonight when we have the Tess and Claudia show!

In the last few days this thread has been kept active by posts from the same small number of members who are all just agreeing with each other again and again about their dislike of Alesha and/or her comments last Saturday and/or her being on the panel in the first place.

There is a new show on tonight, so can't we all just move on and allow this thread to die now?

I disgaree, i have never disliked Alehsa, infact i never minded her but it doesnt take a genius to understand that she was out of order last week no matter how much you dislike Craig. When Craig was rude to Jo Wood people discussed it, it's just i dont think his remarks were as bad as Alesha's.

Hello again Ab 40 - I've got to agree with you here I've never been a fan of Karen the Dancer but Karen the Expert on choreography corner is excellent. I'd be happy to see her on the panel

No, sorry - Alesha should not be on the panel and she shows that clearly week after week - from her bad grammar to her inept remarks. For as long as she is in the show - i.e the whole run now - this thread will be thriving.

I have to put my hand up on this one as I have dipped in and out every day. I have also read your posts Buddy and, unusually, we disagree on this point.

I have never said that I dislike Alesha and didn't post about her replacing Arlene. In fact I wanted to give her a chance. Generally my views on her are a bit mixed but I am afraid her comments last Saturday were beyond the pale and rude. I do not like to see people spoken to in such a rude manner and thats why I don't watch X-Factory. I know the other judges can be harsh - Bruno particularly this year but to bring Zoe into it was a cheap shot and she should consider more carefully what she says in future.

The thread should die today and lets hope that it won't be necessary to start a fresh one tonight. I hope she has learned her lesson.

Absolutely.

If the issue people have is Alesha herself, then constantly bleating on about it here is pretty pointless. It might make you feel better in some way, but it won't CHANGE anything. The BBC appointed her as a judge, and it's the BBC that will decide if she comes back next year. Does anybody really think that the BBC read these boards, let alone take any notice??? Her future on the show WILL NOT be decided by a few people repeating the same monotonous whining on a forum that is likely to be unrepresentative of the GBP. If you want the BBC to hear you, you need to talk to them. If they feel she works well, they will keep her next year, if they don't then they won't. Constantly whinnying on here that she blinks too much, you don't like her grammar, she was uncharacteristically rude to someone or the fact that she didn't roll over and die when criticised here is getting boring. IF you want to get rid of her GO TALK TO THE BBC - SHE'S THEIR EMPLOYEE!

Time to move on.

Oh come on Buddy, it is kept equally alive by those who disagree with the opinion that Alesha's comment was rude.

If anything I would say more so, but at least I can recognise my perception is based on my bias against that comment

Edit: I do think that it will die a natural death after tonight's show, which will give us more interesting and current things to discuss.

I did complain to the BBC about her comments and got a stock answer back. So I feel that I have made my feelings known. As I said in my post, I have not taken part in any threads about Alesha being a judge, just this one as this is a matter of manners and good taste. I hope she doesn't come back next year. I would much rather have her as a singer and, even though I didn't like her last week, heroutburst hasn't changed my opinion of her music which generally I enjoy. So please don't imply that I am an Alesha basher.

This is an impressive piece of research backed up by evidence . You could not have had much time left for a smokey .

This thread has not been stoked up by a public unable to endure the judge -- that has gone on continuously for 6 months to no avail and the public had fallen into exhausted silence.

This thread of 995 postings has come about because the judge could not endure a celeb she arrived to speak for. The judge could not endure the public who voted for him and paid for her.

Sorry - I didn't mean to imply that you were. It's a general rant at those people in this thread who are sounding very much like a stuck record. You did the right thing in writing to the BBC. OK - you got back a stock reply, but at least the powers with the ability to change anything know how you feel. By commenting direct, you might have made a difference - unlike the rest of this thread.

This sounds about right to me. I' ve heard comments I really disliked from all of the judges before, but this is the first time I felt the comment as something personal, almost as though she was insulting me as well as Craig. I think anybody who has ever been on the receiving end of such a bitchy put-down will understand what I mean.

I'm expecting (but don't want) Ricky Groves to go tonight. Whatever Alesha has to say to him, I'm sure it will be patronizing.

It's not you place to tell other FMs to move on, you can of course feel free to follow your own directive and move on.

Granted that her position is secure and nothing we say will change that.

I liken this to a current predicament I have at work where one person's bad behaviour is adversely affecting the performance of many others. Those higher up the food-chain will do nothing (easier that way) unless people like me spring to the defence of those being bullied.

I could let it go (at work) as some do but I don't feel it's right. Even if I achieve nothing I know I will continue to do my best and protect those who are being bullied.

That's much more serious than Alesha except insofar as viewers who see these sort of ill-natured remarks go unchallenged begin to think that it is OK to treat people with disrespect. A "thin end of the wedge" kind of scenario.

Hi Stewie, apology accepted. That was the reason why I complained to the BBC. There were so many people on here complaining about Alesha's comments that, unless you put your head above the parapet, the BBC wont know how you feel.