Unbelievable that Jill's paso scored only 37 when compared to some of the ridiculously high marks in subsequent series.
(I refer here to both latin and ballroom dances, not just the paso).

I think what people often forget is that series length has increased as the number of series's increase.

For example, the final in Series 2 was week 8, in Series 6 it was in week 14...

So it's perfectly acceptable for there to be higher scores nowadays than before.

It's not about when she performed it though. Her Paso was one of the strongest dances ever seen on Strictly, so whether she performed it in week one or week fifty it merited an exceptional score.

I was commenting on the "ridiculously high marks in subsequent series."

I know, but the fact that the series go on longer doesn't justify higher marks. If anything it should be the opposite- Jill's Paso after only seven weeks was far superior to dances that are produced ten or twelve weeks into later series, even though those routines have the advantage of significantly more training.

I remain persuaded Salome was slightly better than Jill.
Jill won hearts and minds, but Salome won by a head.

I take your point but there seems to have been a tendency for some judges hand out high scores in the first couple of rounds.

Seems to me earlier contestants had to work much harder to good marks.

I completely agree.

Well yes, I agree with the majority with both of your posts - it'd be very interesting to see how Jill's dances would be marked if they were to have occurred during Series 6. And whilst I agree she was/is an absolutely phenomenal dancer, her ballroom rarely cut it for me (aside from her Foxtrot, which was fabulous).