So was Len marking out of sympathy- and lost his objectivity

I think Chris was slightly under-marked last night.

He did have problems keeping time and those silly knee-slides and "air-guitar" ( I believe its called) were embarrassing, irrelevant, and unnecessary.
But he did have plenty of energy and bounce that others lacked and there was a good amount of genuine Jive content.

I thought Craig was also slightly under-marked.

However in the end the low marking helped them both, as those at the bottom get the sympathy vote.

The hopeless Joe Calzaghe, not at the bottom, missed his sympathy vote and rightly went out.

This is helping me get some perspective, ta

I do think that while the judges may believe Chris should be doing better than he has on Saturdays, he's being marked slightly under the standard he's producing, where others who under-deliver are being encouraged by slight over-marking.

That jive wasn't perfect by any means but the timing issues didn't detract that much from its fun and content. I think the judges could've managed a few more marks for personality, especially when so many other jives came out a little flat.

Putting it on the same level as Laila and Anton was frankly laughable, when Laila's timing and content issues were far more pronounced. And marking Jo Wood higher - words fail me.

Were they though?

There were tiny moments when Laila showed promise (they were few and far between) but she wasn't completely hopeless.

The quality of Chris' Jive was ever so slightly better overall, I agree, but he lost timing and messed up his steps a fair bit too.

They are both amongst my favourites but neither impressed me and I failed to see one as clearly better than the other. Len should have awarded a 6 instead of a 7 to Laila but that's the only discrepancy as far as I'm concerned.

I feel that C and O are not necessarily undermarked but are certainly undermarked compared to some of the others. I really like them and think that Chris has some real talent there but mistakes are letting him down. But at least they look as if they are dancing the same dance together unlike some of the other couples. Even with the mistakes they have a real rapport and Chris has great energy and attitude.

But the content was missing in serious chunks because he clearly forgot what he was doing. Energy in abundance, but you have to keep doing the jive...

I agree though that it was more exciting than some of the more technically adept jives.

As for the Laila thing, I'm not too concerned about it as for me at least two of the more competent dancers are through, even if they both did mess up royally.

As others have pointed out I think Chris is 'suffering' because of how the judges are marking him.

It's not his raw marks that are hurting him but how he's being marked in comparison with others. He was clearly better than Laila and should have been marked as such. It appeared though that she was marked on the basis that it wasn't as bad as they'd feared, whereas he was marked on the fact that it wasn't as good as they'd expected.

The marking should be done based upon how other couples on the night have done (which is why I can't get two upset about Ricky's 10 - he did look better than jade who'd already got a 9...). In Chris's case this doesn't seem to be happening.

And yet Len gave Ali a 7 and gave the same to Jo and Laila who were dire in comparison so in that case you can say that Ali was undermarked.

An argument can be found for or against any contestant (depending on your likes/dislikes) to rage against the scoring system.

The problem is that as long as the judges are only marking out of 10 and most of the time forgetting they have paddles 1-5 then you are always going to have discrepancies/perceived judges favourites/unfair marks.

Bit it seems as if the chosen ones are being marked more generously even if they mess up badly

Look at Ali's jive she went wrong- and still she got two 8s. 6 or 7 would have been a more realistic mark. They can't have one rule for some and one for others

That was my point. Hardly any of the marking is consistent and thats mainly due to the restricted marking system.

I don't think theres favouritism going on. It just sometimes feels that way depending on who you support and how unfairly you think they've been marked.

For example as an Ali and Brian fan i can argue that it was unfair that Natalie was marked higher (by Craig). I also think it was unfair that Jo and Laila were given the same mark by Len when she was vastly superior to them, regardless of a mistake.

The point is moot though because as i said its the narrow scoring band thats at fault more than anything or anyone.

Thye are marked to the standard they produced. Ali's routines are vastly more difficult - she should score more even with errors doing it. Rickyeven on half training and with errors is still top 3 - he has more content in half a routine than any other male has in a full one. Zoe does simpler routines without obvious errors and improvises well when she makes them. You can't give the adequate dancers making mistakes the same mark as the people in a different league making mistakes because they are doing something harder. Thats looking at it top down.

Looking at it from the bottom up, if they opened up their marking to make the justifiable gap between the adequate people and the poor, the poor people would be attracting a JS vote and the adequate people would be going whatever mark they get. What they are doing is working so far as even Joe has gone. The bottom of the score board isn't accurately reflecting ability - but that what happens when you are trying to live with a public vote that produced the nonsense it did last year.

Net result is that people in the middle will get squeezed - although some are being marked too near to the top 3 or 4 as others are being undermarked.

I think slightly under marked.I say each round they have deserved about 3-4 points more.

Couldn't agree more they have been constantly undermarked,could this be manipulation by the judges if they are getting the public vote,to try and get rid of them.
Chris and Ola have the best chemistry of any couple this series,they're enjoyable and uplifting to watch,can dance,and bags of personality,which all adds up to winners for me.
I would probably swith off if it were a Ricky W and Ali final,all very intense and a tad bland when we're talking personality,and entertainment..I'm sure they're lovely people but lacking the wow factor.

Ellie

I agree with OP, Chris's personality comes shining through every week. I know this has been said in other threads, but I agree with OPs who say they have really warmed to Ola this series, she seems really happy

She is certainly the nicest female dancer by far

Sorry, I don't enjoy watching his performances so tend to agree with the judges' scores. I find him a bit like a ragged nail, rough and unfinished, ie he never finishes off movements smoothly etc and I always get the impression he's just tagging along with his partner. Although, to be fair, last night's dance was decidely better and slightly more polished than it's been for the last few weeks and the scores reflected that imo.

I think this comment shows that you don't really have the ability to judge a dancing competition properly

Don't mean to be harsh with you and I like you as a person but your comments are not suited for this

You are not being harsh, just stating your opinion as am I. The only problem that arises is that obviously we do not share the same opinion.

I feel Chris is being marked fairly for his competence at dancing - and in the last few weeks I feel his performance has been adequately judged and marked, in particular, by the judges with years of dance experience behind them. I am not judging him on his personality.

I'm not sure what you mean by "my comments are not suited to this" ...commenting on a forum or this particular thread, appreciation of a person's ability to dance?

Are Chris and Ola being undermarked?


"Yeah Baby"

You may have an opinion all I am saying is that I dont think you would make a good judge on SCD

No, actually he makes me cringe deeply. I'm surprised I'm in a minority.

None of us who aren't qualified dancers would make a good judge!

But all our opinions are valid

He's been overmarked 2 weeks running now.

Well of course they are but some are more than others I guess

Ha you said it!

I did agree with your opinion that I wouldn't make a good judge though. It was a valid point.