I'm not keen on BGT, DOI or the X Factor but when I do see these shows the judges seem much better (apart from the occasional nonense) than IDA. The judges are far more engaging and I actually bother to listen to them. As for IDO it just seems all blah, blah, blah,......


JB - Foghorn Leghorn

DVO - Tries but totally insipid. Really out of character from ADWD

BH - Very laid back but why should we care about his opinion?

What do you think?

JB - Brilliant or Bxllxcks?

DVO - Brilliant or Bxllxcks?

BH - Brilliant or Bxllxcks?

+

ALW - Brilliant or Bxllxcks?

CM - Brilliant or Bxllxcks?

Barry has actually turned out well after an insipid start - apart from when Sam wears shorts. His comments make sense and are consistent at least, JB is a random word-generator and if he succeeded in teaching them all to act like him no one would watch. DVO is very replaceable.

ALW is like Alan Sugar. sometimes wise, sometimes random, sometimes bizarre and sometimes just bad tempered and rude.

CAM makes sense but a sensible man would have done a better job making sure he got an Sarah Brightman and not a Gracie Fields.

I agree

as for CM and JB - neither brill or b******s - JB - average judge id say, and CM, who knows! and BH has improved

BH - Randomly is good, but someone should really stop him watching Sam - it's vile to watch.

DVO - West End leading lady, my arse she seems to have it in for those more attractive and talented than her. Oh wait that would be most of the final 12!

JB - I think he's wrong about Sam but he's right about the rest.

ALW - He pisses me off he just about explodes when two weak performers end up in the sing off but not when it's the competitions two strongest performers. Also he has a thing about untrained teenagers over professionals who can acually do the job (not just in this but in ADWD).

Really the panel needs only one of BH, JB or DVO to represent musical theatre performers. BH's opinion is potentially the most valuable because he has performed in the show many, many times over the last forty years or so. Also you don't get the same feeling of a slightly distasteful passing judgement on your peers that you do with JB and DVO. Although I've found him a little inconsistent I have found him more honest and, in my opinion, more correct than JB or DVO. I don't really value the opinions of JB or DVO. They come across as inconsistent at best and at times downright bitchy.

I feel ALW has been handicapped by being given too prominent a role in the show, and presented in such a way that he has to act out of character to try and live up to it. For example his comments about Ashley and Jodie that meant with such disapproval just seemed like misguided attempts to try and be witty. On balance he has talked a lot of sense, and some of what I feel were his more dubious decisions in the sing-off were because he was influenced by JB and DVO instead of trusting his own judgement. However perhap his greatest contribution to the show has been when you see him more in his element, giving the girls direction and guidance one on one. It would have been good to see more of that.

Having seen CM at the auditions and at the semi-finals you do wonder why he wasn't on the panel the rest of the time.

Very much agree with all of this, particularly your comments about Andrew. I definitely think he was trying (and failing) to be funny when he made those hurtful comments. And I think that it's essentially John's fault that Andrew ended up saving Ash (though I could see what John was trying to do at the time).

I have to say, I really appreciated the presence of Cameron this week. I thought he was a beacon of sense among the biases and hysterics of John and Denise. Apart from choosing Jodie to go, I agreed with every thing he had to say, I thought he gave a sensible and balanced opinion on all of the girls.

Panel should have been ALW, CM, David Gringrott, Zoe Tyler and JB.

ALW - I think he is wonerful but a tad misunderstood.
JB - Just a bit of eye candy/ who would want to act like him
DVO - A waste of space

BH - Should know what he is talking about being that he played fagin

CM should have been on the panel from day one, I believe we would have a different final.

I agree with this. I think ALW's been trying to kind of act out a character to appeal more to the public; I don't think his idiotic comments were meant to be malicious but rather a failed attempt at wit. He always comes across better when he is talking about the musicality, the interpretation of the lyrics etc when working with the girls one-to-one. At the moment, I find him quite irritating on the live show - he is so wordy leaving me thinking "and his point was...?".

DVO and JB are up-down for me; sometimes they speak sense, more often than not they are amazingly blind/biased/ridiculous. BH... hmm, at the beginning I thought he was useless but he does actually speak sense at times (when not lechering on Sam). I still wish he'd speak faster though. The show always seem to lose momentum when he's speaking.

I don't think we've seen enough of CM to form much of an opinion, but he comes across as really quite sincere in his comments towards the boys (much more so than I felt with ALW's comments towards them), and I wish he was on the panel from the start.

ALW, mostly makes interesting and useful observations, and I wish that we had seen more of him working one to one with the contestants. He seems to make some rather odd choices when faced with a sing off. Sarah Lark should not have gone so soon, and to vote off Rachel last week was a travesty.

JB, apart from the hyperbole, I find his remarks and judgments interesting and appropriate. He's an experienced MT actor/singer. I understand his reservations about Jessie, and feel that she could do with training.

DVO, is always constructive and mostly insightful.She knows what works and what doesn't

BH, Is rather elliptical, but quite shrewd, I liked the acting task that he set the girls.

CM, Should have been there long since.

3 fab comments in one post! Class!

JB - I enjoy listening to his comments but don't necessarily always agree
DVO - has been a little bland
BH - he does slow the show down a bit but he tries to be encouraging
ALW - some unpleasantness has emerged this series - we have a (ghastly) Simon Cowell already - we don't need another
CM - wish he'd been there from the start

BH - has revealed himself as a kindly and perceptive man after a bad start, though not perhaps dynamic enough for this type of TV

JB - now past his sell by date. Eye candy but he was once irreplaceable and now isn't.

DVO - as BH has become more outgoing and kind, she has looked increasingly miserable. I'm not sure what she was doing there in the first place tbh but Zoe provided a counterbalance when she was there. On her own, her blandness sticks out like a sore thumb.

ALW - nice man, can't tell jokes or put across one liners. His facial expressions are the high spots of the show. I hope we see him next time (assuming there is one).

CAM - seems like a nice thoughtful man,wish we'd seen more of him.
Last edited by rosehip : 29-05-2008 at 12:42

DVO - not very interactive in this show...wonder if its due to it being females.
JB - Been the most truthful judge.
BH - Might have been effective if he could sit up in his chair straight. Waste of a
position.
ALW, worth is weight in gold just for the mannerisms and facial expressions.

CM - Didnt add much to the show.

Fairly ineffective panel.............id sack them

ALW..With his experience its almost impossible to fault his casting decisions, he must know what will work and put bums on seats. However, I do think he has been somewhat inconsistent at times. I guess he has to keep the programme interesting but cant help feeling that his mind would have been made up weeks ago.

JB..He may not be a great actor, singer or dancer but he is a great all-rounder. I think he plays to the camera/audience too much, his career has taken-off, he's got it made, there is no longer any need for the " look at me " antics. Certainly worthy of being a judge though.

DVO..Outclassed on the panel. She was a surprising success in Chicago but has she really had the experience to judge other performers ?..some of whom have been singers/dancers since they were children. She had a lucky " celebrity " break, and good luck to her, but the girls she is judging have had to work hard and have " genuine " talent.
Why not Ruthie Henshaw ?..A really talented performer, she was on the panel for the ice dancing so is no stranger to this sort of show.

BH..He has done it all. He has taken a one-man show around the world and been involved with some of the greats in show business. What he doesnt know about holding an audience is probably not worth knowing. I agree, this is not really his type of programme. It may have been more interesting to see him take weekly background role instead of up-front on the panel.

CM..I presume there was a reason that he didnt participate from the start..other commitments ? Otherwise, yes..it would have been far more sensible to have his input.
Perhaps the BBC thought it added to the tension having ALW making decisions and everyone wondering if CM would approve.

I think they are neither - just human like the rest of us.

Yes, they are human but they're not like the rest of us. They're being paid to judge on primetime TV on a Saturday night. They are part of the entertainment package of the show. They are introduced by GN as having the credentials to do so. IDA is a search for a future West End performer. We pay to cast our votes. Therefore, as the audience, we can criticise them.

i think you need women and men on the panel but i think DVO could be easily replaced. BH is quite interesting to listen too because he has an insight into the show being fagin however many times. I like JB but i think he has favourites which i don't like. CM was brilliant last week- he should of been on the panel always! ALW has favourites aswell but i agree with the majority of what he says but not all of it!

You only need to see who the panel thought weren't Nancy - the ones that avoided the sing off - to know how out of touch with the public they are - particularly DVO imo and her comments supposedly speaking for us all were so far out they were orbital!

It was cringeworthy to see her holding JB's hand while Rachel and Sam sang.

John just wants the part for himself !

Totally agree with you about John, he is the most truthful judge on all three of these shows, and also he knows when he sees true talent, and he supports them. That's why I believe him the most!!

As far as the others goes, Denise is OK but she doesn't look like she really wants to be there, Barry just lusts over the girls, the younger ones in particular, and Andrew is either really nice or back-stabbing, you can never tell with him. And as for Cameron, like you say Casper, didn't add much to the show at all. I wouldn't sack them though.

From Hayley
Last edited by westlifefan123 : 30-05-2008 at 19:19

With three "performers" () on the panel, we have too many of the same type of judge - we need a vocal coach (or possibly acting coach) to give a different perspective on the performances.