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 Arlene, 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 have to admit, I think Karen would be preferable. Being a professional isn't just about your dance experience, it's about how you conduct yourself in a position of responsibility, and Alesha for me hasn't been as good at that as she was at dancing.

Karen Hardy would have been better, but she is just too busy running her own dance school. Simple as that.

And, yet again, it seems the 'public' don't know what they want. She's been derided for being too technical and not technical enough.


Really? The same respect the public gave Arlene. That they give Len? There doesn't seem to be much evidence of that so why should Karen be any different?


That wouldn't work - do you think if Chris and Ola had been in the dance off this week there might have been a slight conflict of interests with James on the panel....?


Still amuses me that people deride Alesha for being ignorant and rude....by being ignorant and rude.


I really don't care if Karen or Alesha judge, I'm just glad I don't have to listen to Arlene any more. I do think there's a real 'the grass is always greener' attitude towards Karen being a judge though. It wouldn't suddenly bring harmony to the judging panel. It certainly wouldn't stop people moaning about the judges and what they do; they'd just find something else to moan about apart from her grammar.

Although, at least if Karen was on the panel we might get away without seeing dozens of different mistaken spellings of her name...

I've been saying it right from Arlene being sacked....KAREN HARDY SHOULD BE THE NEW JUDGE.


It would even the panel up in that with Karen and Len we'd have two people who understood the technicalities of Ballroom dancing, and in Bruno and Craig two people who only know general dancing.


but I'm not sure I could really hear Karen giving such useful advice as "you was wikid innit".

You mean *you* dont know what the public want - but the public certainly do

Aleisha will never be respected as 'an authority' on dance - and 3 months training wont make damned bit of difference to that - she should've taken up position of 'voice of the public' - alas she dropped a boob by trying to be clever

if/when Aleisha has been judging dance for 20 years she will slowly gain respect of the public for her opinion - she must be deluded if she thinks the public will respect her much before then


All the judges (apart from Aleisha) are respected for their professional judgement - that is beyond reproach


.

No, they don't. Some said they didn't like Alesha because she wasn't technical enough. Some said that they didn't like her when she gave technical criticisms. Clearly there are total opposites of opinion.


I'll remember that the next time people are complaining about favouritism, some being judges' pets, Ricky getting away with mistakes and still being marked well etc...

Perhaps they should have used that professional judgement last week and pointed out to Natalie that she needed to point her toes during the jive. After all, they brought it up with many other couples but seemed to ignore it with her in order to talk about her enthusiasm.

Never seen that ever

There's no division of opinion

Alesha is way out of her depth talking about technicalities of which she knows nowt, zippo, baggar all

and that's the only reason people dont like her - she simply has not yet earned respect as a judge - unlike Karen who would be highly regarded and respected



Public dont have to respect judges personalities and favouritisms - but they respect their professional opinion on dance

which is why they're employed as judges of dance - does this make any sense yet?

.

It was all people could say after her first show!

Thing is, if people on this forum can pick up enough technical knowledge to correctly critique the contestants' dancing ability simply through watching the show, then there's nothing to say that Alesha can't after her far more extensive experience.


But they don't. For a great example see how the judge's opinion of Lisa Snowdon's cha cha differed with what the public thought about its quality.

Apart from her grammar, Alesha is doing quite well. I am amazed and impressed at how much she has improved as a judge.

The public are not one entity; they comprise many individuals.

There will be some who resent Alesha's appointment because she doesn't have the professional dancing credentials to be a judge. These are the people who will complain about Alesha making technical comments because, in their eyes, she is not qualified to do so.

However, there are others who had an open mind with regards to Alesha's appointment. Such people probably want comments from her with a bit more about them than, "You looked great," or "You're really likeable."

Saying the public don't know what they want because you've heard opposing sides to the same argument is like saying the public don't know what they want because they're all voting for different people.

Alesha has a tough job. She'll never convince those who opposed her appointment in the first place due to lack of credentials. She might as well not try. If she can give some constructive criticism about performance and technique without it getting personal (as she's managed to do several times) then that'll do for me.

Alesha:
Don't give bland comments because you're worried that people will resent you if you try to be technical. Stuff them - you were taken on to do a job, now do it to the best of your ability. However, don't start thinking you can belittle contestants because things have happened that you don't agree with. You, of all the panel, know how much effort they put in and what it takes to put themselves out there every Saturday - none of them deserve that.

Not a fan of Alesha as a judge, but Karen would probably make me stop watching the program altogether... Great dancer, but soooo irritating.
I think it's a bad idea to get judges from the ex pros, they're likely to have their favourites, axes to grind etc. because of their previous history with the program. And even if they didn't they could easily be accused of it. Surely it shouldn't be that difficult to find judges outside the SCD world...

Karen was giving us pointers during the screening last night after each dance and she was v. good in just that short amount of time (bit where they were in Tess's room before the scores) - if someone was bad she told us where they went wrong etc etc - and she even found a small fault with Ali's dance, though she did say she was being evily picky! lol. I think she would have been great as a judge.

On the technical side of things Karen would be good, as would most of the professionals but personally I'm not keen, she thinks far too highly of herself, she doesn't have the same likeability factor as Alesha imo.

As a license fee payer, Karen Hardy would probably have come cheaper than Alesha!

An ex contestant might possibly (probably) favour his/her ex partner. Had Matt and Martina stayed for any length of time, would Alesha have remained impartial?


I think after Saturday Alesha's likeability mask slipped - to reveal the real, not very likeable Alesha!

Or she was momentarily p*ssed off. Unless you are really suggesting that one sharp comment clearly indicates that someone is a terrible person underneath...

She isn't being paid a heft salary to be pissed off because one of her favourites left - she's being paid to offer constructive criticism. Personally I don't think she has the experience or qualifications to be constructive, but that's a topic which has already been done to death.

Take my comments at face value - don't attempt to read into them something that isn't there!

I did.

You stated that the real Alesha is not very likeable and the 'normal' one we see is an act.

I suggested that may be a tad premature to decide that based upon one heated comment...

Karen wouldn't take it up if it was offered, I don't think. She has so many other commitments with her dance school, and always described her SCD break as her 'indulgence'

I can't see her doing it for a judging role,

Karen's a professional judge who has judged some, if not all, of the pro dancers in competition, so I'm sure she knows how to put aside any impartiality she may have and to judge objectively.



She said after last series that she was going to withdraw as a pro dancer because of that. To train and nurture the celebs is an enormous time commitment but the judges have a much lesser commitment than that, so it's not impossible that she might do it.

You've massaged your comments more than a little.

This is what you actually said:


Shall we leave it there?

I'm convinced someone is telling her what to say, have you noticed that she wears her hair long, ideal for covering an earpiece

Whatever way you argue the semantics, you said Alesha's comment showed who she really is. I still stand by the fact that it's a tad unfair to base your view of her personality on one frustrated comment.

I can accept that (you are entitled to your viewpoint) - but not your suggestion that I implied she is a terrible person. I don't find her likeable, but unlikeable and terrible have very different meaning: for confirmation consult a dictionary.

You're arguing the semantics to prove an invalid point.

It depends whether you take what I said at face value rather than other explanation. Sarcasm? Exaggeration?

Which is rather the whole point of this thing - Alesha is being crucified for one comment when her reasons and feelings behind it are clearly open to interpretation. Too many seem far too eager to think the worst instead of being more pragmatic.