She never has understood Ballroom and Latin and looks like she never will . She was struggling last night for things to say and I find her contributions embarrassing . All she goes on about is the top line, when Ballroom and Latin are much more then this .

Great shame when we have some excellent ex pros who could do a far better job and know what they're talking about .

FUN FACT: They're all wastes of a judge.

Bruno barfs out some innuendo and makes a few comments about "hip action" without actually clarifying what he wants.

Len goes on about "faffin' abaaht" or "gurtcha and welly" or "cahmin' aaht heah and givin' it sam" but never actually criticises the technique.

Craig knows nothing about dancing and can only really mention hand positioning, fleckerls and the occasional "stuuuuumpy clooooompy footwoooooork daaaaaaaaarling" without any actual dance pointers.


And, of course, constructive criticism of a dance that you've just done and will never do again is entirely pointless anyway...

I think she's a very good judge and I look forward to her comments. If you were going to replace a judge for being a waste of space, I think Bruno should be first in line. His comments are mostly pretty daft and his marks are mainly identical to whatever Len's awarded (or occasionally one mark more if he's feeling particularly excited).

Bruno knows what he's talking about and he never misses the slightest mistake . He always tells the celebs what they need to do to improve . I found his contributions on both days very good .

Bruno can talk a lot of wibble but I would never get rid of a judge who could describe Steve in his tango as "Popeye Meets Marlon Brandon".

Bruno is a very astute judge hiding inside a really crazy one. I found his comments to be the most insightful over the two nights. The one Monkseal mentions stood out -- the Popeye / Brando thingy -- but also in the same dance the way he very clearly identified two moods for in hold and out of hold. That would be helpful feedback.

I just like the guy and how he can give clear feedback on the dance at the same time as making his comments easy for the pair to accept and entertaining for the audience. That's 3 things at once! Kinder-egg good. Even when he's only pretending to cry with laughter he makes me cry with laughter.

But (easy to please) I also like Darcey and Craig, and Len on occasion

Bruno just pervs over whichever male celebrity takes his fancy this year.

Bruno iritates me with his ott antics find it rather tiresome now, also he tends to mark identical to len and how many times does he say "and len is right".... , he could be so much better and could offer more in the way of constructive criticism if he stopped playing the goon.

Absolutely. I have never understood why she was hired. I doubt she even knows how to create a good topline and frame, its far more than just putting arms up and keeping them there. A top pro would be a good substitute.

In fact, Bruno has been the most balanced of all the judges, over the years. Amazing, but true. (As determined by comparing his scores with the average of the other judges.) He does play the goon, but also offers a lot of constructive criticism. He's actually much more consistent than Darcy (and how the hell was she included as a judge? -jobs for the girls?)

Bring back Arlene. Original and best.

I agree, bring back Alesha Dixon....

Have to admit I wouldn't be sad to see any of them replaced with Karen Hardy.

Because after the Alesha debacle they needed someone older (but not "old") female and who was well known by the public as a qualified "dance person" regardless of how much she knows about Ballroom and Latin. I don't think she's terrible but she seems to be wildly inconsistent.

lol

Please no



The judges are fine.

Darcy would be a waste of a judge if this were a proper dancing competition. But it isn't, so she isn't.

It's a pantomime - always has been - so the quality of the judging is less important than the roles they play. Bear in mind that Len is the only one of the four actually qualified to judge ballroom, but he is the one who judges on Goodman criteria, which you won't necessarily find in any dancing manual. "Comin' aht and givin' it some welly" isn't a requirement that professional dancers will have encountered in competition prior to joining Strictly.

Totally agree. I'm so over Bruno's schtick.

Len & Bruno are past their sell-by date...

Perhaps he posts here under a nom-de-keyboard as that description fits a few DS members.

Well for the purposes of this show it is a dancing competition and much better for it . It's the competitive part which gives the show it's structure, combined with the judging and marking . If it didn't have these elements it would be as flat as a pancake and certainly wouldn't hold my interest .

Along with Len's 'give it some welly' , he also points out what they need to correct .

Why attack the female judge because she's newer than the others?

Should we bring back Alesha Dixon? Can't do that, the girl's moved on.

Should we bring back Arlene? A resounding NO - could not endure any more of those ridiculous attempts at onomatopoeia, word play, puns, metaphors, similes alliteration etc She was going so much for word bites, she was forgetting to judge.

Nope, let's leave Darcey where she is. You can always use the mute button, and she is far prettier than Len.

Darcey might not be as talkative as the other judges but when you get someone with as good a CV as Darcey Bussell you have to take her as she is. Ballroom dance experts might not appreciate what she has done because it isn't ballroom but she is still one of the most famous dancers in this country and she takes that reputation to the wider Strictly audience. For all the complaints about her lack of knowledge, she could probably come out next week and dance better than any celeb has ever done or ever will do.

Her comments are not top class but they are good enough, certainly compared to the other judges.

I must be mellowing in my old age because I like all of the judges.

I enjoy listening to their comments, even if I don't always agree with them, and they really do contribute to my overall enjoyment of the show.

It is a bit early in this series but last year Darcey stood out as the only one to make constructive comments on performances. Craig concentrates too much on the negative aspects and can destroy someone's confidence, most of the time Len and Bruno are more interested in making jokes but Darcey will always make some constructive comments.

After watching every series of Strictly I've come to the conclusion that Bruno is the best judge; humourous and constructive at the same time, rarely mean or cruel, and, although I don't always agree with him, consistent with his marking. I think he does know what he's talking about in terms of technique and performance. I'm not against Darcey, she is obvious the most world-class dancer on the panel, but I do agree her contributions add little to the panel. Karen Hardy, or at least a female ballroom dancer, would have been a more useful and interesting choice.

And don't forget the SHOUTING!!! She never seemed to know how to speak at conversational level - letting the microphone do its job.

But must agree about Darcey. It's not about whether she is qualified, it's her delivery. She's obviously just reading her notes and if she gets caught without being able to read them she just hangs in a limbo of waffle. Thats said, she does sometimes give us some entertaining gaffes.

Agreed. When you cut through the faff he actually gives the celebs the best advice. Out of all four of them it's his comments that carry the most weight with me.

Back on topic: I love Darcey and it's like she's always been there. Since she's been on the panel we hardly hear anything about Arlene which wasn't the case when Alisha was judging.