James and Ola do the same but no-one seems to mind about them do they

Interviewing requires rather more skills than mugging up the material researchers give you. Personally, I think Alesha would need to develop much better listening skills. Having watched parts of her programme with kids who grew up without fathers I was struck by how much she simply feeds her opinions into the interviewee instead of asking open ended questions and responding to the answers.

Oh, that's interesting. I didn't see that programme. On This Week, she seemed fine saying what she had wanted to say (about race/aspiration/achievement in the UK) but completely at sea when asked for opinions on other issues when the conversation in the studio had moved on.

Having said that, I'm sure this whole thread is basically about an off-the-cuff remark by Alesha, who's probably thinking about a long term ambition rather than prime time BBC 1 this year.

I saw a couple of Q&A's about this in the Metro newspaper 60 seconds interview. The relevant bits were:

"What are your plans for 2010?
I’m going back in the studio to record my second album, I’ll probably do another documentary, there’s Strictly and I’m in discussions to do my own talk show.

Who would be your dream guest for your talk show?
Barack Obama. I wouldn’t talk to him about politics. I’d ask him about food and what he does in his spare time."

Don't expect this to change anyone's views, but doesn't necessarily sound from this like she would be going into anything too deeply politically based and Obama as her dream guest, doesn't mean she thinks she's got a chance of interviewing him.

Apologies if this is not the article being referred to, but hope it helps.

What a cheap shot!!

Get a brain!

Can Jonathan Woss talk properly? No, he has a speech defect.
Have you read any of the overseas posts about people abroad not understanding Tess Daley? No, you missed them.

Alesha has presented programmes before, and believe you me, she can speak excellent Standard English when she wants to. Her regional accent (Welwyn) is a great deal easier to understand than the Northern Irish used by some BBc reporters, but nobody complains about them.

So, the sequinned bandwaggon rolls on, eh?

I agree with Dorabella, Wossy cant talk properly, and i am really fed up with all those hypocrits who constantly bang on about her english, talk about mountains out of mole hills, she say "was" instead of "were" Big bloody deal.... I still understand exactly what she means.... as does everyone else, thye just use it as an excuse to jump on her.
I really hoe she does get a chat show as i think it would be a fun show and her personality would really come across, she is no dumb bimbo, any one who thinks so is deluded.

If Alesha had a chat show it wouldnt last very long simply because it wouldnt be very good.

The chat show is an art that probably only Parky - in recent times - has mastered Jonathon Ross tended to ask all his guests the same questions, Graham Norton's and Paul O'Gradys shows are not really chat shows they more like entertainment shows with a bit of chat. The only other good 'chat' show on TV is probably Titchmarsh and he get a lot of help from the likes of Nick Ferrari, Kelvin Mckenzie, Ken Livingstone etc.

I dont begrudge Alesha for being ambitious but I do begrudge the BBC for over estimating her talents. She can probably do the banal celebrity interview - as she showed when she was backstage at the Brits a few years ago - but I doubt she could do anything with any substance.

But what if one of her guests who is better educated and is particular about good grammar interrupts her and says, "No, my dear, it's "were", not "was"", it would be well embarrassing.

I get to carry on being negative over the idea if I quite like Alesha and don't really give a stuff about diction, right?

I actually think the naysayers (aside from the grammar police) have a consistent thread - lack of empathy. I think that was the main objection levelled against Alesha as a judge, and again when she presented on CiN and was accused of talking over all the fundraisers, and again over her documentary on fathers when she was perceived to be feeding questions rather than soliciting original answers, and again on This Week where she dealt with her own subject well but couldn't engage interest on any other.

She seems to be superb at projecting performances - but somewhat less superb at inviting contributions. Horses for courses.

I have to say, I really don't think an Alesha-hosted chat show would be a success.

Well that would say more about them than her.

On the plus side, I'm sure they'd fit in extremely well on the forums with all the people who bitch about Alesha's grammar.

Obviously you dont practise empathy yourself

Well, Gorlagon has an opinion that I simply don't share, and guess what - I teach English to foreigners!

Question is, does Gorlagon have an original opinion, or is it copying what has been said before. One would think that the UK citizenry refuse to accept that people can improve over time and that they can be groomed for jobs.


Or does that make them "fake"?

Ha! Hello!

This part of my post that yelsel took objection to was not original opinion:

I actually think the naysayers (aside from the grammar police) have a consistent thread - lack of empathy. I think that was the main objection levelled against Alesha as a judge, and again when she presented on CiN and was accused of talking over all the fundraisers, and again over her documentary on fathers when she was perceived to be feeding questions rather than soliciting original answers, and again on This Week where she dealt with her own subject well but couldn't engage interest on any other.

As I believe is fairly obvious, since I was drawing what I thought was an on topic, relevant and quite interesting connection to the various criticisms of Alesha expressed by different people on this board.

This part is original opinion:

She seems to be superb at projecting performances - but somewhat less superb at inviting contributions. Horses for courses.

As it is the conclusion I have drawn by reading the reactions Alesha has inspired in other posters and thinking them through.

This part is the part where I say - although by implication/assumption that yelsel might have missed even though I typed it first so that nobody would miss it! - thinking Alesha isn't a great candidate for a chat show host isn't synonymous with disliking her or with dismissing her solely because of the way she speaks, her accent, or her use of grammar:

I get to carry on being negative over the idea if I quite like Alesha and don't really give a stuff about diction, right?

I couldn't care less about Alesha's accent and grammar. It is a perfectly acceptable form of English with consistent grammatical rules. What I don't like is that using words in an interesting and informative way doesn't come easily to her. And so she has been rather a waste of space as a judge.

Well, a lot of her space kept getting invaded by an over-excited Bruno.
Let's not worry. In a few months all this hissyness will be behind us, everybody (bar one geriatric presenter) should be rehabilitated and it'll seem life as usual if Alesha does come back as judge.

Meanwhile Arlene's doing almost fine in her new dance show - still getting shouted down and out by a head judge, and not always given camera space to get her opinions across. BBC not on learning curve, perhaps?

Ian Wright, Jonathan Ross, Charlotte Church, Paul O'Grady, to name but a few, all had successful chat shows. I didnt hear anyone complaining about their grammar fgs. I hope Alesha does get her own chat show if that's what she wants and is able to.

The artists you name speak acceptable English whereas Ms Dixon is apparently only proficient in Gangsta-English and seems to revel in it. I can only speak for myself and say I find it threatening and offensive. When I switch my television to the BBC I haven't paid my licence fee to watch some-one who sounds like a half-educated gangster's moll interviewing anyone - let alone Barack Obama.

Good luck to her.

Whilst I questioned Alesha in the role of judge, I can absolutely envisage her presenting a talk show. She is perfect for something like that.

Agree. She irritates me as a judge on Strictly but I think she would be good on her own show, she's a great presenter.

She is a hopeless interviewer. I saw her trying to do this. All that happened was that Alesha asked questions and then suggested possible answers to the interviewee who was left with very little to say.

The less we see of her the better.

has she taken on the role of a chat show host before then?

i remember her being really good during the red carpet bit of an awards ceremony (i think it was the Baftas, but i can't be sure), so if that's any indication, i think she might suit the role

I'm sorry, but your post is so ridiculous it made me laugh out loud, especially the bit in bold! And you really feel threatened when Alesha speaks?

You're obviously aving a larf and those more than nasty comments says a lot about a person's character.

If I didn't then I wouldn't have written my post. You really give yourself a big tick don't you?

I know what you mean. When I hear someone speaking less than perfect 'Queens English' (which, in reality nobody actually does no matter how perfect they think they are) I feel threatened - like she's going to climb out the TV screen and attack me. I feel quite offended too - it's as though she's shouting profanities at me when she says 'was' instead of 'were'.

Why does it have to be 'gangsta-english'? Is it because she's mixed race? It can't just be a bad habit picked up from a young age? It can't just be the dialect of the area where she was raised?

Blimey. Some people these days ...