My impression of the judging this series has been very poor and that the judges have very obvious favourites. I looked into how they have scored the ‘Big 4’ this series and there were some interesting results.

These numbers are based on all dances to date, a total of 12.

Total scores awarded (average in brackets):

Kara
Craig 100 (8.3) Len 103 (8.6) Alesha 111 (9.3) Bruno 107 (8.9)

Matt
Craig 96 (8.0) Len 101 (8.4) Alesha 104 (8.7) Bruno 103 (8.6)

Pamela
Craig 99 (8.3) Len 103 (8.6) Alesha 106 (8.8) Bruno 106(8.8)

Scott
Craig 88 (7.3) Len 102 (8.5) Alesha 105 (8.8) Bruno 107(8.9)


The judges’ highest scoring contestants are therefore:

Craig – Kara
Len – Kara and Pamela
Alesha – Kara
Bruno – Kara and Scott

Based on this, I think Len and Bruno have the most to answer for when it comes to favouritism. If the judges are there to score the technical and dance element of the show, Len scoring Pamela as the equal of Kara is debatable and Bruno scoring Scott as the equal of Kara is ludicrous (in my opinion of course!).

These figures also show that Matt should be glad the judges don’t have a say in the final. Len, Alesha and Bruno have all scored him the least out of the ‘Big 4’ and all the judges have scored him least out of the three finalists.

None of this is an exact science of course, but it does suggest there is some truth in the claims of bias in the judges scoring.

I dunno, I think it averages itself out. Kara has certainly been better than Matt for my money and so her higher scores would seem only natural.

Pammie might not always have outdanced Matt, but she's done more dances with the requisite emotional connection, thus earning herself higher points (albeit probably unmerited a couple of times.)

The one thing I truly can't understand about the scoring is how Pamela's managed two perfect 40s and Kara hasn't had one. I wouldn't mind hearing Craig justify that in a way that doesn't include anything about the 'lift rules' that no other judge is following

I think these figures prove just how competitive is it is and how consistent Pamela and Kara have both been. Can't agree re bias when Len differentiates four dancers by just 2 marks apart.

[quote=Lorelei Lee;46549955]I dunno, I think it averages itself out. Kara has certainly been better than Matt for my money and so her higher scores would seem only natural.

Pammie might not always have outdanced Matt, but she's done more dances with the requisite emotional connection, thus earning herself higher points (albeit probably unmerited a couple of times.)QUOTE]

I wouldn't disagree with your points. Kara has produced the highest standard of dance this series, so it's not a surprise she is top.

What amazes me is that Scott, who has had one disastrous dance and a few mediocre ones has been scored the same by one judge as Kara, who has never been less than good and has often been great.

In a similar way, if you were to watch Pam's dances back-to-back with the equivalent dances from Kara, it's pretty surpising that they have amassed the same amount of points from one judge.

I think Len's lack of differentiation is perhaps where my problem is. Has Scott really only been worth 1 point less than Kara? Has Pamela been the equal of Kara?

Len has lost all credibility as a serious judge.
He thinks of himself as a great personality/celebrity based on the build up that the goofy "Claude" gives him.

Totally agree with this post although I would delete the bolded 'probably'

I don't see how these figures illustrate "favourites"

These are the best four contestants so will get (on average) high scores from the judges.

A lot of us didnt even notice Kara in the early weeks. It took her Paso for some of us to wake up and have a "Hold on, where did she come from?" moment.

It was during these weeks that Scott was running away with the show and producing what will always be some of the most memorable routines of this series.

Kara gained momentum, Scott lost his. But ask yourself this, if what I think of as the two halves of this series had been reversed, you could very well be saying "Has Scott really only been worth 1 point more than Kara?"

Love or loathe Pamela's style, it cannot be denied that she has been the most consistent of any of the celebs this year. She may not set the floor alight à la Kara and Artem, but her equal footing over 12 weeks just makes her the Tortoise rather than the Hare. I don't think it means the Judges have been inaccurate on any individual night.

That bit in bold I would like to reflect and comment.

And there's a lot to do with expectation too.

Nobody expects Pam to be good and when she danced her waltz, everybody sat up. She has been consistent in that respect, barring that shameful jive she did.

Knowing Matt's gymnastics background, it's probably less surprising to see Matt good from the start. But he has also been a consistent contestant barring the woeful salsa. Still people are accusing here that Matt's regressing (not improving etc..), not getting as many tens, desperate etc. I blame this partly on his pro partner, Aliona, for not choreographing something more in line with the spirit of the dance genres and not showcasing Matt to his highest potential...

Kara's Paso came in week 5. In the four weeks up to that point, their total scores from Len were:

Kara: 33
Scott: 31

Their total scores from Len since week 5:

Kara: 70
Scott: 71

So Len has actually awarded Scott MORE points than Kara since her Paso week! Admittedly his VW and Jive were outstanding but he has also had one complete meltdown (AS) and a number of fairly mediocre dances. With the possible exception of her jive, Kara has been consistently excellent in that period.

Of course, these numbers should be taken with a pinch of salt, as they show Alesha to be by far the 'best' judge - she is the only one who clearly has Kara ahead of the pack and the other three much of a muchness.

I didn't think it would pan out this way initially, but thank god we have the public vote this year.

There's just too much controversy with the judges' voting this year.

Thankfully we have the three best through and its up to us now who wins.



p.s. thnaks for taking the time to do that BoulderHill.

Interesting to see that Craig was the only one to mark Scott below Matt.

The other 3 marked Scott on average above Matt, lol


and Bruno has marked Scott and Kara the same on average, lol

nutters

Yes, this is some way from hard science! In fairness to Alesha though, taking the series as a whole, I don't think she has been too bad. It's just that her biggest error (the 9 for Scott whilst scoring Matt an 8 in the AS) is probably the single most bizarre decision of the series!

Interesting post, but statistically flawed, I believe, because the numbers are both too small and too close together to be significant. Kara is the only finalist never to have slipped below 30 in her score, so she has been the most consistently highly scored contestant, which is why she tops the polls for all four judges. Pam actually scored less for her jive (27) than Matt for his salsa (28) or Scott for his sub-30 dances (only 29 for the waltz and 28 for the rumba, funnily enough), but she has also been consistent.

But cheer up - the judges have been slated for their over-marking, favouritism and manipulation of the results (and I've been in there slugging away at them, too), but look what's happened! The best three dancers are in the final.

A 7 from Len for Ann's Flying Tango is my most "wtf" scoring moment.

And the two 40s.

Problem we as the viewer has with the scores is the lack of equality with what we perceive.

Having been confused by the scoring for the top 4 throughout the series it only makes sense if marks are awarded based on the judges expectations. Pamela scored highly because she was marked as "exceeding" judges expectations. Kara & Matt were marked as "reached expectations & occasionally exceeded". The one where this falls down completely is with Scott, who seemed to be marked by Craig understandably as "did not meet expectations" and Alesha & Bruno marked as "well he normally does better so we will give him the benefit of the doubt"?

yeah , good point.

I think , say for example, Matt's samba, and the 4 x 7's
In itself you could say, if Gavin had danced like that, the score would have been so much higher, because he would have exceeded expectations.


So, yes, sometimes I think, I wish it was anonymous ( impossible I know) but to get rid of the expectation factor, which skews the whole thing.

I think those scores only intensify the point!

Kara has outdanced all of the competition, and continues to do so week on week, yet is tied with Pamela for Craig and Len's scores!

Up until Blackpool (Samba) Scott had only one mediocre dance (Rhumba) with that fabulous Jive separating them so 6 out of 8 performances were top notch and it's a real shame that his AS is the one always alluded to.
The quality of his dancing in the parts he remembered was still high so he has not been punished for his dancing but for exhaustion.
Both Natalie and the girl who was a guest at the Dress Run, said their Smooth was fabulous but the Public are an unforgiving lot.

The demoralising has gathered momentum since then while the rest have been able to concentrate fully without being hampered by self doubt - their circumstances (work etc) are the same as they always were so S&N did a great job on their dances since.

Kara was great from the start with a few silly mistakes here and there but the over-promoting of Pamela after Halloween night (Jive) is what has over-shadowed Kara's contributions to the series as she just quietly gets on with it..

I would still prefer to watch Scott and Kara dancing over Pamela and Matt (Aliona's choreography!) but you'll never see that reflected in the figures.

Stats as of Blackpool week

Last Saturday's total figures

For me:
Best female performances - Kara
Best male performances - Scott.

Please, you do Len an injustice.
He actually marked Ann 9 , then deducted 2 points for an illegal lift.

But that's where I disagree, the judges have scored her consistently but has she danced consistently? Hell no, imo. Her charleston was shocking, very badly danced, no double bounce or swivel, heavy and leaden-footed and got 38 (I think), her latins are awkward, lacking in stamina and laboured and scored highly, her 2 "40" dances in no way deserved 40 although the VW I can tolerate but the QS?

And that's what happens, because of the judges's scores people just remember the scores rather than the actual dance (not saying this is true in your case, just in general). It happened with Lisa Snowdon, people remember her as a great dancer because she must have been good with those scores, right? Well no, she was probably only great in the VW and waltz, everything else was pretty poor imo.

The judges' scores have been random at best this series. Scott got 9s for a rubbish dance, Anne achieved a 7 (!), Matt's AS got rubbished although it was good technically and artistically.

Then Alesha remarked on ITT that she gives high scores to even out Craig's low ones - er, isn't Craig allowed his opinion then? Doesn't she realise she's not there to even out other people's opinions, but to give her own?

Credit where due. I do think Alesha is a fair marker. She let herself down when giving Scott a 9 for that terrible AS.