I miss DVo and JB. They were both constructive and occasionally stood up to ALW. They weren't as nit picking as SH or as bland as JP. I would keep CC with them though.

I miss Zoe Tyler. I think having a good vocal coach on the panel is a real plus, and I always thought Zoe's comments were constructive and helpful.

I liked Zoe until she went all psycho on Lee one week and said he couldn't be Joseph. I think that may have lost her her job, but it was a shame as she did provide a good, measured critique usually.

same, i always agreed with denise and most of the time i agreed with john, sheila is grating on me and john p makes no sense.

yes, she was very good and it helped that she worked with the contestents

i didnt know zoe was a judge - get her back!! she lives down the road from wherei live!!

Zoe was a judge on the Maria and Joseph shows.

Definintely John B. Sure he was like an excitable puppy on speed, but he knew what he was talking about and knew his own mind. His criticism was usually spot on and rather than just telling someone "well, you did this part badly, end of" he would tell them what was wrong, how to improve it and why fixing it would improve the overall performance. I also thought he was the fairest judge and usually the most impartial, although they were never the most impartial bunch.

Zoe's expertise is missed, but being the judge who spent most time with the contestants she most definitely had her favourites and could be very unfair.

Ahh really, i only started watching from the Nancy one. whenever she does tv appearances about singing she seems to be constructive,
it would be good if we saw what the vocal coach had to say about all of them - in fact for me the panel should be made up of the vocal, acting and dance coach - i think then it would be more valid opinions, though i could see problems with that 2, anyone agree?

None. I'm glad DVO and JB aren't in this one. I rarely thought their opinions were correct,they seemed to have it in for certain girls and they seemed to pick on the littlest things.

I agree that having a vocal coach as a judge is a good thing. It's OK to have an actress / singer / performer, but if you have never taught those to other people it's not so easy to be constructive in your critique.

There is definitely not enough proper feedback give to the contestants to show them what & how to improve each week.

I liked having Zoe on the show too, she could be rather brutal in her critiques but she was also constructive as well. I like Charlotte as she rather kindly gives very specific and constructive comments which the contestants can improve on. When they were showing the panel working with the girls I think Charlotte was by far the most helpful and the girls really seem to like her.

JP is rather bland so I'm mostly indifferent to him, he doesn't have John Barrowman's amusing moments of madness. Sheila Hannock can't seem to appreciate that some songs are meaingless fluff and that someone might have a different opinion to her on the meaning of a song. Also she seems to want the girls to put 100 different emotions into the song.


David Ian(big perv) and Dame Edna were the worst. Totally useless. Bill Kenwright was pretty bland as well.

I don't miss any actually, this panel is way superior.

I absolutely could not watch John Barrowman and Denise van Outen bowing to AWL and arse licking
And Denise had the hots for Lee Mead from day one and could not see beyond him

I liked Bill Kenwright. He was never mean.

I really miss Zoe Tyler, I was agreed with her! Even the week she said Lee was rubbish it was a tiny bit harsh but I think she was right.

I miss Denise and JB as well but only because I miss making fun of them lol I didn't always agree with them. Denise I agreed with more than John though.

None of them, I think this panel's much better, although CC and JP have gone off a bit since week 1.

Am I the only one who thinks we would get much better and accurate (good for us) and more constructive (good for the girls) comments if the panel was made up of The Lord and the coaches who work with them throughout the week?! Kevan, is a well renowned choreographer who has worked with many dancers and Claire (vocal coach) and Donna (acting coach) are both also well respected. I know the 'celeb' panellists maybe bring a bit of glamour and higher viewing figures but I think having comments from the people who work with the girls day in and day out would provide much better comments.

I am so, so glad we don't have JB this year. He was so nasty at times. DvO, take or leave really. Barry Humphrey's was just a mistake.

I think it would have been great to have one of the leading ladies who they got to work with the groups in the top 20 stage on the panel. I especially think Ruthie Henshall or Kerry Ellis would have been great. Though they are both booked up currently.

I completely agree! All the panels they've had so far have waffled utter rubbish and the people who actually work with the girls would be much better.

Having said that I don't mind Charlotte Church as she generally sticks to judging the girls' singing which she knows something about having had a lot of training herself (well I thought that up until she performed last night...)

Would love to have Kerry Ellis on every week HUGE fan

I actually prefer this panel to the old one. I like that they have three judges with very different takes on the contestants - Sheila looking for acting content, Charlotte looking for the voice, and John looking at, erm, well I guess the overall performance.

Although I love John B, crazy moments and all, he and Denise had similar MT backgrounds, so there wasn't any real point in having both of them there. And as for Dame Edna out of drag! Waste of time having Barry Humphries there, IMO. I liked Zoe Lucker - she was harsh but fair, and she knew her stuff.

I also don't mind if any of the judges have favourites - nothing wrong with that, it just means they're human.

I miss Denise, strange because I was never a fan of hers before she became a judge.

I think Charlotte is doing a good job, she's very good at giving constuctive cristism without crushing the girls' spirits.

I'm not sure I agree with this. If you look at Fame Academy, I think the judges struggled to criticise people they had got to know and like. Same thing with Karen Baber on Dancing on ice; she works with the skaters all week and can't bring herself to be critical of them. A bit of detachment is not a bad thing. Having said that, I agree with you that having celebrity judges is not necessary - experts are what's needed. After all, if they're good enough (and entertaining enough) they'll soon become celebrities in their own right.

Or do it the other way around and show something of why the song is being done the way it is and how it evolved that wayinstead of dogs running around so we know who was to blame or praise.

Ruthie wouldn't do it (read she has left uK Roxie to be Broadway Roxie anyway) after her Dancing On Ice experience where she called it as she saw it.

There's an issue in there somewhere about why they don't use more professionals. If they can take people out to silly tasks and other shows they could have taken Danielle to Les Mis to see how its done and an awful lot of West End people do teaching sessions anyway. That might actually be important when you have such young girls who need the training and it might be worth doing more than using the idea for week 2.

Coaches are a bit too close to the contestants and may end up praisng their own work but someone needs to show what is their work. Its a difficult choice. A casting agent is anoher idea but that might have too many career implications?