With the judges' return still unclear,


BBC has made changes to the cast of pro dancers. What do licence fee payers think in the privacy of the voting booth? (Poll requested again from the Mods).

BBC has made the right decision

I am neutral, lets wait and see

BBC has made the wrong decision

BBC is barking mad - not only have they sidelined popular pros who are great choreographers, but the pros still competing will now be missing from half the pro dances (assuming they'll only join when it's their specialism, which is how I read the press release). Ok, that's good in that it means we never have to see Anton dance Latin alonside far superior pros, but the likes of James and Ola aren't terrible at Ballroom, and Natalie's not terrible at Latin! And where does that leave the true all rounders like Vincent and Flavia - either overworked or underused!

The days of classic pro dances like the Rebel Yell Jive are gone because we'll never have all the competing pros on the floor together again....

I'd have a poll to wait and see all the changes in full effect before starting a meaningless poll

The changes have been announced in a BBC press release.
One vote for barking OP!

Barking mad

Wrong decision.

Don't get me wrong, I'm gutted about which pros have been removed, but changes did need to be made. My subjective opinion is that they have removed the wrong pros, but I don't think it qualifies as barking mad.

BBC has made the wrong decision

The Mods have never declined my poll requests until now (no reply). Reading back at mark 1, perhaps I should have phrased the Polling options more even-handedly. So, here are three questions in Poll mark 2:

BBC has made changes to the cast of pro dancers. What do licence fee payers think in the privacy of the voting booth? (Poll requested again from the Mods).

BBC has made the right decision

I am neutral, lets wait and see

BBC has made the wrong decision

BBC is barking mad

Made the wrong decision. It needed a few tweaks, but mainly with the presenters and judges, NOT the poor beleaguered pros.

Voted wrong decision, although what I really want to say was that refreshing the existing pros wasn't necessarily wrong in principle. They've just messed it up in the way they've done it. Wrong pros replaced. Replacements not the best of choices.

Wrong!!!

Lets wait and see

Yep, that explains my vote too.

I'm going to wait and see; I've been sceptical of other changes in the past, but I've still enjoyed each series. I like the idea of the dance group in principle, although I hope this isn't the end of the occasional 4+ couples pro-routines (like the Frozen Rhumba, or the Rebel Yell jive).

For all we know this could be a half-way measure to keeping all pros, and adding some new ones to 'mix it up', yet also reducing the number of competitors (one of the most suggested improvements on here last year IIRC), and the long term plan is to swap members around. Next year the dance-group pros could be competing again whilst competing pros from this year could be in the dance group.

I know absolutely nothing about the abilities of the new guys so I casn't comment on them; however of the 5 pros not competing this year I think that the one I'll miss most from the competition is Ian. Can't say I'll miss Brian though - I never warmed to him.

I am neutral and will wait and see

Changes were needed, and whatever the beeb does is never going to please everyone.

They said even before the last series - which "everyone" seemed to complain about - that they wanted to liven things up and make it more vivacious and exciting, hence the necessity for new pros.

Personally I'm amazed they've kept in Anton & Erin - Anton especially gets worse each year. But the BBC are not known for having a clue about dancing.

I love Ian and Matt, have known them both for years and both are great dancers. But in all honesty I have to say Matt (particularly) is hardly Mr Personality, and maybe - maybe - that has something to do with the decision?

As for the judges - I'd prefer to see a dancer in place of Alesha, but even more so, another to replace Bruno, who drives me nuts!!!

And Bruce - he really does need to step down before he falls.

I'm... concerned, but even though my favourite pro is one of those offered the position in the dance troupe, I have to say that I'm neutral and I will wait and see because... well, it might not be as bad as people seem to be fearing.

I have to say I'd have removed a different five from the competative roster though...

I am neutral, lets wait and see

Thanks to all who have voted or posted. Among those who have decided the split is 16 versus 1 . Would the BBC management be surprised by this?

All interested are welcome to vote. If this poll attains a credible total like 300 votes I shall send it to the 3 top execs at the Beeb.

One of these 3 wrote back with thanks last year, very interested to hear from the grassroots direct.

Wrong decision for me too. Changes certainly needed making but on the judges panel and with the presenter. The atmosphere on the show changed for the worst last year and none of that was down to the pro dancers imo.

I agree with you again kaycee!

They are trying to turn it into DWTS and failing dismally. The great British public will never like American razz'm tazz and all that whooping and hollering. BUT DWTS does get far better viewer ratings than SCD!

We went to watch the final in LA and thoroughly enjoyed it. The standard of dancing was unbeatable! I'd love to see Derek, Mark and Maks on SCD, but the BBC can not afford them!

I agree with you about Alesha, but I find Bruno to be much improved on DWTS (don't know why). I would prefer all of the judges to be Ballroom/Latin qualified, but that will never happen.

I agree about Bruno, he was better behaved (slightly!) during the last dwts series. Although he still didn't seem to be able to string more than 2 words together without leaping out of his chair.

I find dwts better entertainment and much more fun than scd, although the technical side of the dancing isn't particularly good...... come to that, it is seldom great in scd either!!

the bbc are mad to think that this is a good idea

I'll wait and see before making a decision