I very much disagree there. There has always be a proportion of people on here who vocally did not like Karen for whatever reason.

I don't think Karen being a judge would solve very much - I can't see the people who are complaining about Alesha's comments ignoring it if Karen said something similar just because she's technically qualified to be bitchy about someone's dancing if she chooses.

I disagree. Firstly, viewers are inclined to let people get away with being blunt if a) the person is deemed qualified in the subject under discussion and b) there is no personal element deemed to be involved. Alesha in under question on both counts tonight.

I don't think that Karen would ever have made the mistake Alesha did tonight which was, imo, letting personal feeling override her brain, and opening her mouth before thinking about whether what was going to come out of it was a good idea. I think Karen is too sharp to do that.

Well until her bitch fest with Craig tonight I was agreeing with most of what Alesha saying in he critiques but then she had to go and spoil it again. I think it's far too early into the job for her to be making personal and nasty comments like that, she should still be trying to keep the audience on side. IMO she will have angered a sizeable amount of viewers tonight ... hell, I had just got over the drunken rag doll comment

I don't honestly think that Karen would ever have been as unprofessional as Alesha was tonight. She has a vast amount of dance experience has already judged competitions and would give very good critiques IMO without resorting to unnecessary, nasty and personal comments.

So I'm afraid I have to say: KAREN FOR JUDGE NEXT YEAR!!

No! She should have been on the judges' panel as soon as the BBC decided to get rid of Arlene.

I also notice she is getting a lot of stick for her grammar. People forget that they way she speaks is her local cultural dialect – there are hundreds, if not thousands of local cultural dialects across the UK.
ER.. I dont think so. She was born and lives in 'leafy' Welwyn Garden City....Its nothing to do with local cultural dialect... I live near there and people dont speak like that per se I promise you!

Best idea on the forums for weeks. Is it too late to get up a petition now? Mind you, a chimpanzee trained to hold up one of those score paddles could do as good a job as that obnoxious and rather thick young girl

Yes to Karen Hardy and rubbish to the person who said poor grammar is down to local dialect.

No you are not, and I agree with you about Karen.

On my life, you must mean ALEEEshaa "U woz wikid" Dixon, no word of a lie. saife.

Please, please, please BBC, save SCD and give us Karen NOW!

Anyone consider she (Karen) might not have wanted the position?

I too also think Karen should have been a Judge on the panel, she is very constructive in her criticism, gives praise where due, can be tough but also knows what she is talking about, am really disliking Alesha and her attacks on the celebs

Yes, Karen should be a judge. I think she'd be very good, as long as a stylist kept a check on her rather dubious taste in clothes. She knows her stuff and is as tough as old boots when she has to be.

As long as I never have to watch her dance again and wince at her terrible gurning and slapstick makeup.

What I would like is for there to be a fifth judge, the pro who has been kicked out the previous week. That way there'd be no "Len has the deciding vote".

Brilliant idea!

Wow, i think i may start watching again if Karen becomes a judge, why didn't the BBC think of that?!!

Hi BruciesToupe

Local cultural dialect has less to do with where one lives (leafy or otherwise) and more to do with cultural influences – people can share a cultural dialect at opposite ends of the globe, particularly in modern times when TV, internet and media are making this world metaphorically smaller. Culture, whilst covers a wide ground, in this sense means 'social learning and shared values'.

There are broad dialects for various regions throughout the UK, then these are broken down into smaller and smaller chunks until you get to micro-dialects that may only be common in one or two streets, or even less. The smaller the chunk of local dialect, the more influenced it is by 'local-social-culture', which in itself is influenced by many, many things and can be more a melting pot of influences, sometimes that are not local.

It wasn't that long ago that people from the various counties of the north of England were kept off of national TV because their predominant cultural dialects were thought to be 'improper' by the southerners who sought that homogeneous, non-descript 'Queens English' accent. I'm from the west country, and I've yet to see the 5 or so main predominant dialects from my locale make it on to national TV, let alone the hundreds of local cultural dialects. In fact, whenever on the rare occasions someone on TV does speak with a west country dialect, or even accent for that matter, it's still a source of 'gentle' mockery and/or fascination on TV; because the exposure to it in 'national culture' is still very low.

There really is no wrong or right way to speak as long as one uses grammar to their own understanding. I personally feel, in a venue where one is trying to convey information to the masses (TV) that delivery, clarity and understanding of what one is saying is more important (of course, that issue is being 'debated' ad nauseum).

Forget the language. Look at the credentials. In my opinion Karen would be better than Alesha in EVERY respect.

I'd rather have Arlene than Karen Hardy tbh...

There were things I didn't like about Arlene - her personal comments - but I miss her passion for dance.

Of course Karen is knowledgeable about dance - all the pros are. I've seen a clip of Brendan as a judge & he was great. However, personally, I've always found Karen slightly irritating...

No - i think that too! Camilla would be ok too.

But her comments would be backed up by the wealth of knowledge and experience gleaned as a World Champion Dancer and International judge.

I think it is a genius idea. When Alesha starts talking all I hear is "blah blah blah you was blah de blah"

I never really warmed to Karen as a dancer, but think she's great on ITT. She would make a great judge. I'm not too fond of Bruno either but at least he has experience and as such knows what he is talking about (even if sometimes I don't).

I really don't think you have to particularly like the judges but you should at least feel that they know a more about dance than you do!!

Maybe Karen has other commitments in the dance world, and is unable to take on SCD, we don't know. But Aleysha Dixon is just a joke, she is spoiling this series for me.

I've always felt the same - since Karen isn't dancing this year she seemed to be very obvious choice to replace Arlene

Aleisha could've been great as the 'voice of the public' but instead she decided to pretend she has a clue what she's talking about and so receives zero respect from public - get rid

It's called respect

Karen would have loads - Aleisha has Zero

Whan I first found out that Alesha was to be a judge, I was over the moon - a) she's my favourite contestant ever, and b) I had long thought how nice it would be to have a non-professional voice on the panel, someone who could judge the dances from an entertainment or a 'been there, done that' contestant's perspective. I was never overly keen on Arelene, and thought Alesha's lively personality would be perfect for the show, so I defended her against her detractors.

However - I hate to admit this - I haven't liked her as a judge. I've felt she's tried too hard to prove herself as a judge of the technical aspects, and hasn't been the 'voice of the people' I'd hoped she'd be. Her comments to Craig were not good, either. So, to cut a long story short, if the Beeb replaced her with Karen Hardy, I wouldn't mind. With hindsight I think Karen would be preferable.