Not only does she call him a donkey.... http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...ol-donkey.html she also agree with Alesha on his arrogance!
I wonder if everyone would be baying for her blood like they are Aleshas had she had been the one calling him deluded.

Of course not everyone would be 'baying for her blood'. Fortunately some people don't take Strictly so ridiculously seriously.

However, some of those that do would be 'baying for her blood'...as was the case last year...subsequent to which they got her 'blood' let's not forget.

Alesha's getting some OTT criticism....but all the judges do.

Oh, I should think people would be baying for her blood after last year were she still in the post of judge. The only subtle difference here is that Alesha was brought in specifically to empathise with the competitors which obviously Arlene wasn't. I'm sure this whole Alesha thing will die down - until the next time she says something a little dodgy. Alas, it's the fickle nature of fame. It gives you a leg up and then it kicks you right down.

As for Arlene, I'm glad she's lost none of her sharpness.

'baying for her blood' is an over-reaction - SCD is not that important - but if the question is, 'Would you be criticizing her disgraceful and disproportionate turn of phrase? - then yes.

The unrivalled theatre of the Tower Ballroom provided the perfect stage for Craig to demonstrate his full repertoire of loony facial expressions and lamentable dance technique,

Anyone witnessing such an unedifying spectacle would be hard pressed to disagee with anything that Arlene said.

Do they sign up for this rubbish?
Or to be in a dancing show to raise some money for kids?

What or Who is the 'rubbish' you are referring to?

And who's raising money for the kids?

You are NOT thinking SCD is for CiN are you?!

Just imagine that Arlene had never left the show and, sitting in her judge's chair, said to Craig. "You danced that like a Blackpool donkey!"

Would she have got the level of "feedback" that Alesha has, and if not, why not? I have my own theory, but would like to hear yours first.

Please don't say, because it's funny. It's the kind of feeble, predictable one-liner that so many got fed up with Arlene about. JohnfromWales is funny, not AP.

Rubbish = insulting people for a cheap headline
Does the money NOT go to CiN any more? I've just checked ..... you're correct.
OK then lets all forget our common humanity and just make cheap jibes shall we? Certainly makes ME feel good about myself.

Yet another "Let's criticise Arlene to make Alesha look better" thread. These are getting rather tiresome. Arlene isn't a judge any more, so what exactly is your point? Alesha is supposed to be objective and she virtually lost her temper, which was unfair to Craig.

Simple really. Arlene knows what she's talking about. Aleisha hasn't a clue.

You have two options: complain to bbc yet again, or don't watch the show if it makes you sick.

So her comments about Craig being a donkey is justifiable because she 'has the relevant experience'?

This is getting more and more ridiculous...

Arlene isn't a judge now, so this hypothetical thread is ridiculous and a bit desperate. It doesn't change the fact that Alesha made a very inappropriate remark. I'm sure it won't be her last slip up either.

imo it would have attracted the same response as Craig's Skippy comments to Jo; unconstructive and unnecessarily insulting.

From my own point of view, it was the terms in which she couched her criticism that I found distasteful. In return for a salary which is, for some inexplicable reason, higher than that of three experienced judges, the poor love had to 'endure' around 90 seconds doing what she's paid to do.

This is a sort of thing Arlene would have said had she been on the judging panel. This is clear since I watch SCD in series 4. But I agree it shouldn't not be an excuse to rubbish Arlene in order to big up Alesha, and so far only a few attempted that.

Not complaining about the show ..... just the attitudes of some people.

And yet, spookily enough, they reached the same conclusion!

In fact I was thinking on similar lines to Alesha when she told Craig. "Every move you did, you was ticking boxes". The words in my head were "He's doing dancing by numbers" but I knew exactly what she meant.

So, to cite Blackadder, she must be a g-aeee-nius too.

If a blackpool Donkey was behaving like that they'd put it down!

I think what the OP is missing is that Arlene made comments about the dance performance when she was on the show.

Alesha made comments about the dance performance but also chose to throw in comments which:

- made it clear she is biased
- made it clear she personally did not like Craig
- sought to humiliate him by saying he thought he was better than he was. Whilst this MIGHT be true (who knows?) there was no need to say that in front of millions.

Arlene was never nice but at least she was constructive and knowledgable. I think what people objected to with Alesha was that what she was supposed to bring to the table was empathy and a bit of warmth and she can't even do that.

Arlene would have never said that on the show, not enough alliteration there

How about 'You look dopey like a Blackpool donkey!'

Dance had all the delivery of a doped up donkey?

Biased in favour of Zoe - your interpretation. Biased in favour of every improving dancer - my interpretation. Both are interpretations, Alesha's comments made neither view clear.

I heard nothing that showed that her criticism was personal. What exactly are you referring to?

Craig has been repeating the same refrain week after week. "I thought it went quite well actually" "I didn't think it was that bad." That flew in the face of the judges' scores and comments week after week. Dozens of posters on ten or more threads here have called him deluded about his talent.

So how do you know Alesha sought to humiliate him rather than to shake him out of cloud cuckoo land? What exactly did she say to make you believe that?

So which comments are you talking about Eugenie? Come on, let's have chapter and verse.

I have nothing against you personally, but I fear you're letting your own bias show here. If you are one of those people who make specific claims (in your list) without being able to produce the evidence for those claims, I'm afraid I must (dis)regard you as a sloppy and prejudiced thinker.