I'd also heard there was a new judge - and that it would be a skating judge - but I heard that before the announcements were all made and as ITV hasn't mentioned it anywhere, I'd just assumed it's not going to happen after all

The good news:
With three judges, only one of whom is qualified to speak about skating, i.e.'dancing on ice', we should hear Robin's opinion on every performance.

The bad news:
That is never going to happen.

The worse news:
You can bet your bottom dollar that we'll hear more opinions from Jason than anybody else.

For me cutting it to three judges is a good idea - but they've chosen the wrong three. Robin definitely; Jason I can just about understand as he creates controversy...but Emma above Karen? This is meant to be an ice dance show, not a girl band audition.

Yeah they seem to want to focus on the performance side of it rather than the technical side. It's a shame, I love hearing about the technical side of skating.


And BIB - Promotion, I would think

Dont forget alot of the viewers including myself wouldnt have a clue about the technical side of things therefore watch it for the entertainment therefore I think Emma is great for the show

I don't think any of the skating judges have ever got too technical - if they refer to a particular move then it's probably already been shown in the 'recap' where the commentator says 'that was a perfect triple salchow' or whatever.
What they are able to say is something along the lines of 'that move failed because you went too fast/too slow/were off-balance as you went round the corner' or(shades of Donal) 'that hydroblading, which is quite a difficult move, was spot on'.
Which is far more useful than Emma going 'Oh I could watch your muscles ripple all day' or some equally meaningless comment, and Jason making downright rude personal remarks such as those to Sharron Davies.

But surely the job of judges is to provide 'expert' opinion else why have them at all? And for dancing on ice if you are to have 3 judges at least 2 of them should really have skating expertise.

I really like Karen Barber, as do the other celebrities from previous years, but I have a feeling that she won't really speak out towards people like Jason Gardiner when he gives out his personal scathing comments.

I remember when This Morning had Emma Bunton on the phone last year after it was revealed that she was going to be a new judge. She said that she would speak out at Jason if she ever felt he went too far. And she never did.

I think it may be the same with Karen. She seems too lovely to do that.

So maybe Emma never felt that Jason went too far? It's only this forum that is ultra sensitive about Jason's comments.

If you think it's acceptable to say that someone looks like a piece of shit or accuses someone of using their daughter to get votes when said daughter is a few feet away in the audience all in the name of 'entertainment' then that's your lookout but some of us have higher standards.

I don't find his personal comments amusing or witty, I just find them cringeworthy & it's uncomfortable to watch.

I agree. I don't think the comments need to be too technical.

To be fair the celebrity in question was using his daughter to get votes, and had been slated on here for weeks before Jason said anything.

Gary Lucy had no control over how his VTs were edited. But that's not the point. The point is that it wasn't up to Jason to say anything. As a judge, he was supposed to comment on Gary's performance. Commenting on his daughter, (who was only about three or four years old at the time!), had absolutely nothing to do with his performance. It was rude, personal and completely unnecessary.

He didnt say anything personal about Gary's daughter, he simply said it was wrong to use her to get votes. Which it is.

What exactly does it have to do with his Performance though?

Still think it was nasty & unnecessary for jason do say anything.

Does Jason contribute anything positive to DOI? I want to know which of the production team he is so friendly with that they think he is an invaluble part of the show!

He gets headlines & column inches for the show - I think that's why they keep him. No such thing as bad publicity & all that.

I agree, what is the point of only having 1 skating judge If the judges aren't there to act as experts, what is the point in having them at all.

He contributes about as much as a dollop of excrement going around and around in the bowl but no matter how disgusting it is you just can't flush it away

it's becoming less about Ice Skating and more like a frozen versian of Strictly Come Dancing.

Puts Alesha being slated on the panel with three dancers into perspective

On a show that involves Ice Skating, the Skating Judges should out number the non skating Judges. It's not all about dancing and performing ability, it's about how well the Contestants can skate and their techincal ability!