I had no idea who she was until she was mentioned here. I've never seen Dirty Dancing, other than the trailers shown when it is repeated on TV, and I don't intend to watch it either. [I'm assuming that Jennifer Grey is the small one with the big nose and curly hair, not the tall skinny blond?]

I did watch the link Sofakat provided to the cha-cha but I can't say it lit up my PC. What was that strange humping move towards the end? And al the desk-and-chair bothering at the begining took up 32 seconds of the 1min 29 - quite a lot of time spent not actually dancing.

I would like as a judge someone who can speak with authority about the required steps, the moves and the level of skill shown. not just another rent-a-mouth with no real knowledge. We've already got Alesha for that. And preferably someone who won't cost a king's ransom for one week's work. Given the recent BBC cuts, why on earth are they spending good licence money on this?

I think everybody on this board would rather they'd got in a credible judge with real expertise of performing, teaching and judging professional ballroom. I certainly would have been very happy, especially if they were able to give contestants constructive criticism.

However, the point everyone seems to be missing is that the producers weren't interested in how much people knew, but in the number of column inches the replacement would generate. In that context, I think Jennifer Grey's a pretty good pick - she balances some dance experience with a media profile among armchair dance fans in the UK.

Plus, I do see the value of a judge with experience - but when was the last time the vastly experienced Len said anything to any contestant about how they could work on their technique to improve? That seems to be largely left up to Craig - the supposedly least qualified member of those on the panel with a dance background. I think that goes quite a long way to show that a professional judge may not be exactly what we need in this situation.

That can't be. It's in two weeks time. DWTS is just at the halfway mark now.There are still 7 celebs in competition.