How can anyone take the panel of "judges" seriously?

There is now only 1 person on the panel who is anyway qualified to comment on how people ice-skate.

Alongside him is a foul, nasty, bitter old fishwife called Jason who is there to insult people and Baby-Bunton who knows nothing.

Hun, it's a TV show. The judges comments are just for the cameras, and the only important opinions are the opinions of Jayne and Chris (and Karen to an extent) since it's them they'll be working with.

When will people realise this and stop moaning about Jason and Emma? They do their job pretty well

well Jasons there to fill the role of the nasty panto villain but i think Buntons a waste of space to be honest.just meh.and dull.:yawn::sleep:

I don't have a problem personally with Jason, I think most of his comments are correct and valid and because he marks lower he can appreciate improvement over the weeks, although I understand some people may be upset with the way he makes his points! Robin is obviously knowledgeable about skating that goes without saying, but he wasn't an ice Dancer or skated with a partner, so losing the two judges with Ice Dance experience was odd to say the least. Why Emma is there is anyones guess, complete waste of time, I actually ff through her comments such as they are! I assume she is there as decoration?

I'd prefer to see a couple of former contestants alongside Robin if we really can't have Karen and Nicky any more - at least they'd have some knowledge of technique in terms of both the dance and skating elements of the performance. Take Hayley Tammadon, for example. Clearly she needs to be there on a weekly basis to report for the website, so why not swap her with Emma? Her comments and criticism would surely have more credibility. As for Jason .... for me, he's not even a "love to hate" pantomime villain - just a nasty, insulting, arrogant little man with a WAY too over-inflated sense of his own importance. I love the show and enjoy watching the contestants rise to the challenge each week, but the judges this year are really spoiling what should be an upbeat and exciting atmosphere.

I agree Emma's a waste of time .. plus I thought it was a bit unnecessary to use the show to announnce her engagement .. the show's not about her and I just thought it was bad timed to make a fuss about it just before Chloe and Michael were about to skate ... it's the skaters we want to see ...not the judges flaunting their personal lives

Jayne, Chris and Karen's opinions don't really make much difference. It's Emma and Jason's marks, along with Robin's, that have a bearing on the placings.

I thought she was already engaged!! I also passed comment that she had put weight on!!! I know shes preggers oh dear

The problem with Hayley is that she doesnt have the likeability factor,according to these forums anyway.
how about Suzanne Shaw?

Oh, add the celebs partners to the list of opinions that count. After all, the judges don't work with them and have NOTHING to do with their improvement, so their opinions are pretty redundant. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if they're told how to mark.

About time there were some real skating specialists on the judging panel what do emma and jason know bout skating and bodylines any way. One is a fashion "expert" and one is a singer!! I teach gymnastics and know little about skating but in terms of body lines and posture I don't know where jason is looking at times!!

i think they should have two of the prof skaters that get eliminated as the celeb skaters get voted off, and maybe swap them round as the programme progresses. they would make a much better judging panel along side robin or even torville and dean and robin as judges.

as for emma bunton what does she know about skating!???! as someone else put it jason g is only there for the panto effect 'booooooooooo'! he was a judge on i think either x factor or britains got talent and didnt last long until he got booted back to behind the scenes as stylist/correographer!

I wonder if they might throw another judge in there sometime this series. That desk certainly looks built for 4...

Karen should be back with them. It amuses me how, following her affair with Christopher Dean, she has seemingly been placed on the naughty step!

Jason is only on the panel to publicise himself and get more TV work. He is now famous for being the nasty judge and he does it constantly to get headlines and to be the topic of conversation. He has made his "name" through these horrible comments to people who feel that they cannot answer back!! Why is an ex-dancer on This Morning doing fashion? Ridiculous, he has no idea but he has a regular spot. He only got that job through being on the panel on Dancing on Ice! It is a bit like a pantomine, he is there to be boo and hiss at. Emma, what exactly does she do? Robin is the only judge qualified to be on the panel and why did they get rid of Nicky Slater!!!

I think you're thinking of Brian Friedman

Jason is there to be Craig from Strictly and to make the same detailed choregraphers points. Thats what he does - but overdoing the negativity. Craig has toned down to shape the vote more effectvely - Jason's idea of toning down is to offer a few more helpful suggestions after he has been too rude.

Emma is there because enough of the people who vote increasingly ignored the skating and voted anti-judge. They tried putting someone with acting and dancing performance expertise in to guide the voters, but Ruthie was ignored too. Emma is the ultimate weapon - the voice of sweet reason that people will follow when she says some dud dancer must go. Its worked really well so far - as, indeed, has Alesha who performs the same role on SCD. Both of them have been very successful in getting rid of hopeless cases who had long passed their sellby dates.

Robin is there because you need someone who can skate, make technical points and perform on ice - you certainly don't need 3 of them though to point out what angle the blades hit the ice or that someone moves slowly. When they did have three of them it just regularly confused the message as teh other two disagreed with Robin - and they were often all still ignored when they said who was good and who should go..

Karen's function was essentially to be nice to everyone - she still fulfills that role but isn't in the contradictory role of being a judge too and the judging is now less constrained.

Nicky often couldn't see the wood for the trees and marked randomly - he was the one with least credibility.

Given that more skaters might have no TV entertainment or choregraphic credentials, that you don't need 3 skaters to comment on technique, that the public and contestants didn't like anyone with performance expertise saying what was good or not, that all these shows have a panto villain judge and that you need someone popular to ease the deadwood out , what you now have seems very appropriate.

That's not what he does. Jason certainly comments on details -- usually ones that are far less important than other things the contestants need to address -- but the details are seldom choreographic ones.


As if that's all Robin does. (Indeed, has he ever commented on the angle the blades hit the ice???)


Who on the panel has entertainment or choreographic credentials?

If Emma has them by virtue of her performing experience, then so do the skaters.

And Jason ... what are his credentials, exactly? He seems to have experience as a performer, but again, so do the skaters. If he has any serious choreography credentials, why does his career now consist of being an opinionated ******** on DOI and a "fashion expert" on This Morning?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Gardiner

Jason has been a choregrapher and dance captain on shows for two decades. He's ballet trained too.

Thats what he does on DOI. He points out what doesn't work, what doesn't look right and the finer details of whats wrong with legs, feet, toes, hands, fingers, faces and bottoms . He' s probably the most acerbic dance captain anyone has had - but he's fully qualified to act like a dance captain or angry choregrapher.

Skaters don't perform for audiences or for TV or for fans and neither do they obviously have any stage or drama school training. They perform for judges and most employ others to work out whats required in their routines. Emma's got experience acting, singing and dancing, did go to stage school and was in charge of personnel selection for the Spice Girls. She knows how to choregraph a performance what looks good on TV and how to perform live. Its perfectly true they might have gone for someone with more performing or acting experience, but there are not many people anyone would have heard of - and when they did go for one of the best qualified with Ruthie , people complained when she pointed out what wasn't good. The only alternative is someone similarly popular, with more acting or dance experience who can skate too - but Suzanne Shaw is tied up in Emmerdale so you can't have a direct mirror of Alesha. If what you really really want is a nice judge to counter Jason and someone who is very popular and whose judgement will be followed, casting Baby Spice is actually a brilliant idea.

Nicky's assumed main role was to comment on the technicalities of putting blades on ice, which he did every week. . If we have to be told about that, Robin is perfectly capable of telling us about it. He's also got performing skills, and stage experience most recently in Grease, which makes him the natural choice if you just want one judge with skating skills as neither of the other two skating judges can match his stage, or ice, CV.

I'm getting a little sick of the Jason Gardiner 'what are his credentials' comments. He has had a whole wealth of dance experience behind him. So what if he makes barbed comments, celebrities continue to go on it and then get annoyed and throw their rattles out of the pram because he has dared to make a nasty remark. Oh diddums. In the first week he made exactly the same comment as one of the other judges but of course they didnt get booed and didnt get the nasty comment back off Holly/Phillip. Who incidentally encourage the crowd to boo so loud we cant hear him THEN have him on This Morning to discuss the programme and fashion.

Totally agree. Most people obviously do not have a clue about Jasons expertise or background. He can actually also skate in addition to having a long background in dance, performance and choreography. I get extremely annoyed with the audience booing him before he opens his mouth tbh. What he says is very valid.

So what if he has a wealth of dance experience?

Especially when we see the experience of world class skaters being sneered at as if they were incompetent to judge anything more than technical details.


All of that's irrelevant to complaints being made by forum-members, as in this thread. We aren't the celebs, the studio audience, Holly or Phil.

Thanks, though I had already seen it.

Yet we find him working as a "fashion expert", as an opinionated, bitchy judge on a semi-reality show, and as a Sun columnist.


You're right about the "details" part; but as I said, they're usually details that are far less important than other things the contestants need to address.

He hardly ever says anything about the choreography. It seems pretty clear to me that he is there because the producers want someone who will make unpleasant, acidic comments, stir up emotions in viewers, and perhaps draw media attention, and not because of his dance or choreography experience. His experience is just the excuse (so to speak) for having him on the panel.

Otherwise, they'd have told him to change his behaviour.

Anyway, sure, he has experience; but so do skaters. I don't agree with his experience (and, it seems, Emma's) being transmuted into "credentials" and the skaters' not.


They don't?

Was I dreaming when I last saw skaters on TV? In front of an audience, including fans? Or are you making the absurdly narrow, hair-splitting point that they somehow don't do it "for" tv (or "for" audiences or fans)?

It's true that skating isn't often on tv in the UK, but if being on tv is supposed to be the key ingredient, perhaps we should have some darts and snooker players as DOI judges.


Yes, you do seem to be making the the absurdly narrow, hair-splitting point, alas.

It's not even correct. They don't perform only for judges; and saying they employ others to work out what's required -- as if they had no role in devising the routines -- is a bit of a caricature. Sure, and especially at the highest levels, specialists advice will be involved. Figure skating is a very technical sport, and they are trying to get as many points as they possibly can. But that doesn't mean the skaters are robots, just doing as they're told, with no understanding of what makes for an effective performance.


I think it shows how weak the case for Emma is that it has to refer to her going to stage school as one of it's main points.

I don't know what you have in mind when you say "she knows how to choregraph a performance what looks good on TV and how to perform live." If you mean the in the Spice Girls, then it's a matter of opinion how good it looked. In my opinion, the Spice Girls were lucky in their timing -- in appearing as performers when they did -- (and it attracting tabloid interest) and weren't especially good at anything. (Ok, maybe Mel C could sing.)


Nicky did seem rather weak as a judge, and to see his role as being largely about skating technique; but that doesn't mean other skaters would be the same.

In addition to points Veri has made which I mostly agree with I'm afraid you're showing a little ignorance with some of your points.

Firstly part of what skaters are judged on in competitions is presentation - some are better than others at this but that's the nature of competition just as some are better on technical elements. Also even the top skaters whilst competing will perform in exhibitions and shows as well so they are all used to performing for audiences and then most continue performing in shows after their competitive career is over. Yes most skaters will employ choreographers to help but many will still have a lot of input into their routines & some go on to choreograph later on with some success including Robin. They also employ coaches to work with them on their technical skills but nobody would suggest that's because they are clueless about skating technique.

In terms of your highlighted description of Emma you've actually made a very good case for bringing Karen back & of course there you get the added bonus of skating expertise. Emma may have been popular as a Spice Girl but as a DOI judge she is not popular at all.

I think there is room on the panel for one dance/performance judge but having skating expertise in the minority just makes a mockery of the show. I know from your previous posts thenetworkbabe how seriously you take the show in terms of the credibility of the competition so I'm surprised if you don't see the importance of this. The skating aspect is what makes this show unique - there are other great shows like Strictly & Got To Dance just catering for the dance side of things.

Robin has choreographed ice shows for many years including Holiday On Ice. If you listen to his comments he does also comment on the performance side as well as the skating technique of the contestants.