Len judges the dance when he can be bothered to get past his "witty" quips.
Darcey always comments positively on the performance when she can before moving on to a couple of technical hints.
Craig judges what he sees but starts with negatives before going onto the positives.
Bruno ....... is there to be the irritating randy Italian ferret as far as I can see.

Well put- I always look forward to hearing her comments and they seem to make sense and sound achievable rather than Arlene's intangible weekly comments about the dancer's spine.

She also manages to be interesting and entertaining without being either bland or rude.

My only complaint about her is that she's a bit too ten-happy.

I like her; she's one of the few presenter-type women on tv who don't rely on being young'n'pretty or thick-but-cute or controversial. She's just an intelligent woman who has excelled in her field. It's depressing to me how few likeable, charismatic, intelligent women rise to the top within tv.

fantastic ballet dancer but some of her comments on ballroom and latin make me cringe

There has been a severe downturn in judging knowledge/comment from the three men and it does look as if Darcy is joining the watch me brigade

Len was the top technical and advisory to dancers and viewers expert but is gradually being swallowed by his outsize ego

Bruno if forbidden to say "I agree with Len" has very little to say that assists the dancers or the viewers

Craig the least knowledgeable in technique when dancers in hold, stop him and the thumbs/hands and disco bounce comments and all you have left is the brilliance of his self promotion, his ballroom knowledge ranks about bronze medalist

Darcy really started her judge career in a most effective manner helping female dancers with posture and maintenance of same in awkward and/or high speed movement she must now be careful to avoid the "look I am one of the boys" attitude

As far as comments or feedback, I think Darcey is a great addition to the panel.

As far as scoring goes, Craig is still the best judge in my opinion because he has a logical scoring system.

He scores each couple based on the previous week's performance i.e. better than last week gets a higher score, worse than last week gets a lower score, and staying at the same level as last week gets the same score.

It makes sense, where as the other three judges score couples based on what they see on the night. This doesn't make sense because they score after each dance i.e. before they have seen all the dances.

In theory, they say they start with a 10 and then based on the expected content of each dance, deduct marks based on what they see, plus they factor in the performance, artistry and the entertainment value.

The problem with this approach these days, is far too little weight is given to the technical content. Even Len who knows what each dance should look like, can't be said to actually do this well and more.

I really don't think she should be commenting on the technical issues of Ballroom and Latin, as she doesn't really know anything. She should just critique in the areas that she is familiar with. Posture, core strength, balance, arm lines etc. I mostly find that her comments re technique are either incorrect or don't make sense.

I disagree, Darcy Is Extremely Knowledgeable In These Areas And Can Actually Dance The Talk, Which She Has Already Shown On A Number Of Occasions

We'll have to disagree on this one. Only recently Brendan on ITT commented on the correct way to dance jive flicks, contrasting to how Darcey explains it(incorrectly) on SCD. Brendan said that there is no right to reply, so he or anyone cannot correct the "expert". It really takes years and years or studying ballroom/latin to acquire this knowledge, its not something you can learn in an instant. Of course she is learning as she goes along. There are many instances where I see she comments and it is wrong.

I just find it hard to take her seriously. As a ballerina commenting on ballroom and latin dancing, she is like a retired rugby player commenting on football. As my late mother in law used to say, "What she knows would fill a book and what she doesn't know would fill a library." Surely the BBC could have found someone who is a real expert in the field? (Oh yes, they did have one, but gave her the sack.......)

Very much agree with this, lovely saying from your late Mum in Law

could not agree more

I really don't understand all the unwarranted anti Darcy comments after tonights results show, she is without doubt the most balanced and fair judge on the panel, her dance experience is unrivalled, the other judges simply cannot match it or her.

Arlene is a choreographer not a Ballroom & Latin judge so little different in terms of knowledge to Darcey. And Darcey lets not forget, has done some Ballroom dancing including AT. If folks are questioning her ability based on her Gunns comment, Arlene was far worse for lusting after the well built male celebrities.

100percentage agreement. and this weeks DO did her credibility no favours

I think Darcy is generally a good judge but she has her moments, just like the other judges, where it all seems to go a bit wrong. Everyone knew Steve had to go this week, even Steve himself. I don't really care that she marks the girls a bit tougher than the other judges do since there are plenty of well marked, capable, girls every year and they need a bit of separating out.

Some people seem to think that she ought to concentrate on what she knows best. Well, I think she does. Len concentrates on the feet, Darcy concentrates on the arms and shaping, Craig concentrates on the thumbs.

When its someone Darcy fancys and their usually is she gets all giggling and her marking ends up all over the place. I find I agree with Craig the most and I like the way he holds back the higher marks waiting for the perfect dance.

Actually Craig got stuck doing that a few weeks back when he gave Simon a 7 to open the night and it turned out he was second best dancer on the night. That meant he had to give everyone else 6s and 7s and his marking on the night was pretty worthless.

Len and Bruno are the best judges.

Craig is the worst and has favourites.

Darcy always likes the men best.

Any reason you are posting in bold and capitalising every word?

Arlene is not missed in the slightest, but the current judging panel with the exception of Darcy has become very stale and needs an immediate shake up starting with putting len out to pasture.

Yes indeed. She knows a lot more than any of the others put together about ALL dance on a technical level, and that includes Brendan, who I love.

As regards the best judge ... none of them are. They ALL bring something special to the show. Craig's dry 'reality', Bruno's sense of theatre and showmanship and passion, Len's core values and encouragement. Darcy brings most to the dancers as they come toward the final weeks when she can help them refine their technique in an expert way they can relate to.

What a silly comment. Arlene knew nothing special about ballroom at all ! She has spent her career immersed in jazz style theatre dance.
Len is the only one with a career in ballroom and as a ballroom judge. Darcy knows more about ALL kinds of dance than all of the others added together. Her career includes dance of all kinds, including ballroom and she has shown in her public performances that she can match the professional dancers in all of the ballroom skills.

Darcy is without doubt the best qualified on the current judging panel and makes most sense each week.

She plays the good cop well, but her marking is the least consistent of the four judges; she has always favoured the young male contestants. Probably always will.