Yes great point....and should be a new thread.....there are a lot of potentially great skaters this year. They wont all make it. And I bet we'll have a shock elimination within the next two to three weeks at the most.

I love the new panel! Would be even better with Nicky Slater added on the end too though

The new panel is better by a country mile.

Katarina gives knowledgeable and constructive comments.
Louie is actually very good. His comments are relevant and helpful and he sticks to talking about his area of expertise.

Jason was VILE and I was sick of listening to his spouting.
Emma was just pointless.

I like Katarina, cannot STAND Louie. I miss Jason though.

definately big improvement with this panel, love Louis, plus he is not too over confident or cocky like jason was, Katerina is great she knows her stuff, i would have like them to have brough Nicky back as he was really good sometimes as he would love to have a bit of a pick lol, but overall yeh, much better, and loving it

I'm not a massive fan of Louie, but I don't dislike his judging. Love Katerina, she's a brilliant addition to the panel, I love her comments, and have much respect for her as an athlete.

I prefer Jason to Louise and Nicky to Katrina. So old panel best for me.

Well said.

without question NEW NEW NEW

so glad emma and jason gone. emma was bland, no personality, very high street. no star quality or presence. totally forgettable. major mistake to sign her up and itv knew it and dumped her.

i like louis, he can be annoying if he over does it but he is likeable. louis is passionate about what he is saying and he is making constructive comments not in a bitchy way like that awful jason. jason had a nasty streak to his comments along with that self important mannerisms. he way terrible!! big ego not likeable at all.

robin is calm, assured and gives good comments.

but the surprise is the lovely katarina, what a charming woman, she is warm, knowlegeable. im getting used to her accent and im impressed by her good grasp of english and has she great charisma. plus she is a champion. very worthy to be there.

a great show this year!!

Without a shadow of doubt the new panel.

I find myself agreeing, listening and learning this year. Rather than rolling my eyes and cursing the TV.

The new panel

I like Robin - and Katerina is great.
But I dont like Louis as a judge.

Definitely new. Three very different personalities, but they balance and work well together. I love Katerina, she tries to be kind and respects the skaters, but her critiques can be searingly honest at times too. Robin remains the quiet, steady one, and Louie with his dancing prowess and over the top mannerisms and humour, well I much prefer him to Jason. It's made me realise that if the chemistry's there, you don't need a "nasty" judge.

Loving the new Panel, so much better without Jason and Emma.

Am not liking Christine at all, there's just something so humourless and wooden
about her.

The only thing I dislike about the panel is their scoring. At the minute, it seems it's all over the place.

In terms of their personalities and critism, they're brilliant.

Christine is a good replacement for Holly, too. Wish they'd get rid of Phil though.

I get that Louie can't comment on the skating but I wish his marks would sometimes reflect what they're doing with their feet - he seems to be obsessed with the arms to the exclusion of other stuff.

this is the best panel line-up there's been. i'm loving katerina - i thought she may be a bit strict and up herself but she's very down to earth and her english is excellent. i had my reservations about louis spencer but he has proved me wrong and is constructive and entertaining. the weak link for me is john, he's just a bit boring.

i also think christine's doing a great job.

Who's John?

New panel deffo better than the old.

Robin is unreplaceable. Katarina is a better addition than Emma Bunton (as much as i liked her) and has the experience on the ice.

Louie is fabulous! Much better than Jason. Louie isn't afraid to criticise or point out failures, but does it without getting nasty like tw*tface used to. He was nasty for no reason other than being a prat!

Love the new panel, especially surprised to find how much I like Louis, who I've always found to be on the irritating side of 'meh' before now. His constructive criticism and his actual dance knowledge is a breath of fresh air. Robin is great as ever. I knew I would like Katrina, for her skating know-how and expertise if nowt else, but glad she is as likeable and down-to-earth as she is.

Glad to see the back of the annoying and patronising Emma. Jason, while he had his good moments, never quite got the balance of 'critical' and 'insulting' quite right. And every series he had the nasty habit of picking a favourite and a least favourite contestant, and sticking to them (fawning praise for his favourite / endless scorn for his least fave even if they gave a much-improved performance). Nicky knew his stuff but his marks were all over the place.

So yeah, hurray!

I was going to ask the same thing

I prefer neither but miss Jason. Love him or hate him, you could not call him dull

The old panel for me. I miss Jason.

New obviously.