I think sometimes it's better to be seen as being undermarked than being overmarked.

Scott's VW wasn't worth the three tens, his jive's better, but worth perhaps one ten, two if pushed.

Kara did really well, but I don't think she deserved tens for her previous dance (see? I can't even remember what she got ten for), but her AT came mightily close.

Matt needs to nail that hand thing. Surprised to say so, because last week I thought Craig was mad, but this week I can so see what he's on about. Matt needs to relax into his dance, esp. facially. If his Blue Peter's stint at jive and paso was anything to go by, I think it's very likely he'll score his tens for those two dances later in the weeks to come.

Can't understand why people are going on about him moaning about not getting tens. He's not moaning, he was constantly asked about it by Tess and Claudia, what more could he say? If he says he wasn't after tens (i.e. seeking to perfect his technique, which is what ten is all about), then he'll be lying and some might might turn around and say he's disingenuous!

I don't think he will get 10's before he sorts the hand thing, but none of the judges (well apart from Craig last week) seem to tell him. I'm not a fan of the rumba (but his hands were the only thing I was watching), and so far a lot of Matt's dances were just ruined because of the hands. Now I'm not a dancer, but I have learnt from watching Strictly and particularly Darren Gough that hands are important and Matt's hands are huge and they look like spatulas.

I hope Aliona will sort it out.

I don't think he'll get 10s until he deserves them. Which he hasn't so far. Kara in particular has, for both dances (the paso and the AT, which actually deserved more than two 10s in my opinion) and Scott thoroughly deserved his 10s for the VW but didn't quite deserve so many for his jive, I agree. However, I don't think that Matt deserved the 9s he got for the rumba tonight so while he may not have had a 10 so far, that doesn't mean he hasn't benefited from overscoring.

I take issue with all the 10's that were handed out the week Kara and Scott did their Paso and VW. There was so much dry ice floating around the dance floor the judges could not see if they were doing the steps correctly or not!

I don't think it's fair that Tess and Claudia put Matt on the spot and keep asking him about 10's.

Best idea is to e-mail bbc and ask them why Tess and Claudia are doing this.

Matt's dance left me stone cold tonight

However, I adored his VW last week and think he will get 10s at some point.

They have also done it in previous years, well Tess has. The year Mark & Karen won nearly every week someone got a 10 she was asking Mark if he wanted a 10! It starts to sound like a stuck record after a while. If Matt continues to not give the answer i'm sure they are hoping for they may get fed up with asking.

Paso! That was it! I actually forgot which dance Kara got her first ten! Shame on me!

No, I don't think Kara deserves MORE tens than she's getting, though I can firmly say she's the one I'm supporting now (can't really warm to Artem, but hey ho).

Whether Scott deserved his tens in the VW is highly debatable because half the time the smoke literally covered his footwork. And if I recalled correctly he didn't even attempt the fleckrl. There are only three basics in a VW, so how can you score a perfect score if you leave out one of the three basic steps in a dance? Gethin Jones did a fantastic VW with fleckrl and all and even he only scored 36!

Didn't he do his fleckrl on the stage? Don't agree about the smoke covering his footwork. It seemed pretty contained in the cauldron and you could still see most of his movements

I thought he did the fleckl? I'm sure he did when he was on stage.

Did he? See, the smoke could hide this fact! Matt Di Angelo faked the fleckrl by doing a standing spin, and due to the lack of smoke, Len picked up on it. I stand corrected though.

Maybe the prop thing and the zombie make-up put me off. Scott might have actually danced a very marvellous VW, but I just didn't like it.

There was no smoke near the stage. Everyone had a good view of it because they were on a raised platform.

I must watch it again when I have time...

If covering the footwork is a problem in being judged and awarding 10s then practically every female celeb doesn't deserve a 10 in ballroom because so often their dresses cover their feet at crucial moments. I must admit I was very annoyed by the smoke in Halloween week - one of many things that annoyed me that night lol - but I thought Scott was utterly mesmerising in his VW, he was almost flawless and so deserved to get an almost perfect score IMO.

The camerawork suggests it might not be seen because it start to zoom in from past the cauldron, but you can see the judges table in clear view when they go for the shot of them near the stage.

Back to Scott's jive, I don't understand why some people said Scott didn't point his feet when he did those flicks, I thought it was sharp and precise, much better than what Natalie was doing! For that alone he deserve a ten, or maybe two. Three is pushing it.

I totally agree, I thought personally that the kicks and flicks were utterly fantastic! They were the part of the routine I thought absolutely deserved the 10s I was especially impressed by the steps he was given. There was a very difficult jive step in that routine that I've never seen a celeb being given in Strictly because it's so difficult. Okay he didn't knock that step out the park but he almost did which is very impressive for me. It was the basic steps that I thought let him down, he was a little more steppy and skippy than he was bouncy, which is what he should have been. I think one 10 or maybe two would have been more appropriate. 39/40 should involve more technical mastery than he displayed tonight but I'm not too annoyed about it because I think that was the best male celeb jive in the history of Strictly, well done Scott

I agree, the best male cele jive.

So far.

You see, I have a feeling that Matt might - just MIGHT - beat Scott on his jive! I've watched him danced his jive in his Blue Peter days, and even then he was fantastic. I know you'll probably disagree as I know you are not impressed with Matt.

Don't think Matt's comfortable with answering the question to be fair to him.

Well I'm not impressed so far but I'm always open to change I don't have anything against Matt at all. I don't really get his partnership but I'm always up for a good routine, no matter who it comes from. To be honest, I would wish that his great dance wouldn't be the same as say Scott's or Gavin's because I really couldn't take the bitching between fanbases that would happen on here lol.

Reckon there is a 1 in 2 chance of Matt getting 10's for his Salsa too.

Wonder who's dancing what in Blackpool. If they have the Vegas theme, would it mean they can't choose the music again and will be forced to do tacky things. Not that they things they do now are not tacky enough, mind.

Will Matt have a fast dance like the jive?

Literally every male winner has had the "when will the judges cave and give them a 10?" storyline. It's getting rather boring and repetitive. Really obvious deliberate "underdogging" IMO.

As a matt and Kara supporter, I agree very much with the op. I also agree that him not getting the 10 yet gives him (one of the better dancers since week1) somewhere up to go, which means that he has to strive for perfection which usually is a better recipe to win than just mainting the excellency that judges seem to give Scott.
Lens scoring is bait bleh this season, he score the same Scott and matt's rumba!.

I always value your opinions, Monkseal, though I many not always agree with you, but are you sure he's being 'underdogged' artificially by the judges? So far I've yet seen a dance he did that's worth a ten. Then again, there were tens flying about already on dances I don't find particularly deserving them in the series so far, except Kara's AT!