Perhaps I am on my own thinking this but...

Is it me, or have Craig and Arlene swapped roles? On Saturday I thought Arlene was very critical, a little bit nasty and OTT, whereas Craig was critical but in a very constructive way, and was actually quite nice.

Bruno is Bruno and Len is Len - oh I love them so. But Arlene is starting to irritate me recently.

What's going on?

She certainly seems to have gone particularly evil this series - it looks like they're making a half hearted attempt to outdo the X Factor. You always need some pithy and direct comments to mix things up a bit but SCD is generally a good, adult (as in mature) form of entertainment and should stay that way. People should treat each other as they would like to be treated themselves.

I'd never thought I would say that I am actually warming to Craig!

But my favourite judge is definately Bruno, so over the top and camp - I love it!

Especially when he drools in his latin tones;

'Queeeeen of the carnival!'
'Diiiiva on the dancefloor!'

You might like to know, Bruno is in The Mirror today talking about the difficulties of growing up a a homosexual in small town Italy. Go to www.mirror.co.uk and follow the links.

I totally agree with you gray_v. I was just thinking that Arlene needed to take some of Craig's 'happy pills' before tonight. The level of noise out of that woman shouldn't be allowed. She's too thick to make snide or cutting comments and resorts to roaring and banging the desk (a personal favourite of mine!). It's sad to watch. I used to think she was dignified and knowledgable. I liked Craig playing the Bad Cop because he was such a bitch about it. He is to the point, exactly accurate and totally cutting in about three words. Genuis!!

I do respect Arlene's choice in men though.. James and Darren... The lady knows a hunk when she sees one. So I suppose she can't be all bad.

Becks

I have noticed that Bruce interrupts Arlene much more than he does to any of the other judges, and maybe she feel she has to be more emphatic just to be heard over BF's inane comments.

Yea, i actually LIKE craig this series, which is quite shocking and I really DISLIKE Arlene, which is not quite so shocking, when did she decide to become all mean and pushy?

I saw that, what shocked me is that he's 50

He looks in his early 40s! Couple that to Arlene's 62, and I need to get me to a dance studio

You're kidding - is Arlene really 62? I was amazed about Bruno being 50 - I'd have put him 10 years younger.

The fact Arlene is 62 was shocking enough but Bruno is 50?!

I'm waiting for the articles next week now that reveal that Craig is 80 and Len a sprightly 349

On the subject of the Mirror article, re: Bruno, & to go a little off topic, it says that he's from Ferera & describes the place as a village.

If it's the place I'm thinking of, it used to be a duchy, ruled by the D'Este family & one of it's great Rennaisance art patrons was none other than Lucrezia Borgia.

Funny isn't it how the judges seem to be split along the lines of Len & Bruno = nice & Arlene & Craig = nasty & that they've arranged their seating so you could actually split them down the middle into the two halves?

Glen

Oooh Italian Art history - I ADORE this forum

Yes does seem that Craig and Arlene have swapped roles this year. She definitely seems to be a lot more critical and nasty. Didn't she flat outright say that Dennis should go the other week rather than just being critical? Interesting article about Bruno. See he's working on Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens. Saw that a few years back at my local theatre loved it. Has a song in it which has to have one of the best titles ever Glitterboots Saved My Life. a song which is now stuck in my head damnitt

Arlene, 62? Well, dancing does keep you young.

When I just used to dip into the show I got fed up with the typical bad judge/good judge scenario. However, watching it more it really is a case of Len and Bruno being positive and generally helpful and Craig and Arlene giving honest and very consructive criticism even when it is harsh. It is the audiences Pavolovian reaction to boo any 'negativity' that is starting to annoy me now. The only way anyone improves is to be given that sor of basic advice plus the general encouragement.

Two things seem to have changed slightly in the dynamics this year: 1) the quality of dancing is SO high that the judges are all getting more picky, even Len, BECAUSE the quality is so high and it IS getting to the point where corrections are coming down to spotting and slight timing and footwork errors, which is some praise to the celebs, and 2) I have a feeling that the judges were put into those good/bad roles to an extent by the Beeb producers and maybe the judges are a bit fed up with it. They are still in the same basic technical/feeling roles but they are not sticking to it as much as they used to and are being more 'honest'. How would you feel like as Criag havng to be the bad boy every week. He tells the truth every week because it is after all a competition but he is also giving honest praise more than he used to. A shame the audience can not actually applaude brilliant, constructive expert criticism form the best in the country. Any dancer would die to have their technique deconstructed by those people. Especially when the advice on such a detailed picky level which indicates you are a darn good dancer to have some pick up just those subtleties.

Shock of the series - Len and Bruno both marking LOWER than Craig and Arlene