Why is old Len a judge??
Is it because he is an expert assessor of dancing technique?
If so then why do so many of his comments mainly dwell on "givin' it sum welly", "gertcha", "go on my son,give it some" etc etc etc.
Last night scores of 8 for Ben and 7 for Mark and 6 for Hairy dave show that he is not much use judging dancing.

Len has always generally overmarked, ridiculously so sometimes. I think he sometimes does this because he wants to react to Craig's low marks. He used to critque a bit more but I notice quite often now the audience immeditaely start booing if faults are mentioned, which is frankly ridiculous and he doesn't like being booed. I think it is this pantomine element of the show which is being encouraged which is responsible for his further abandoning any attempt to critique properly. The contestants have to be treat like children and the audience pandered to.

I believe he's the only one who is fully qualified to judge ballroom dancing.

I have often wondered this myself. He is a professional ballroom dancer, judge and coach according to wiki but I personally think all of the other 3 talk more sense than him... well, maybe not Bruno

I think in some of them he over marks to make up for Craig's undermarking

Evidently the Strictly producers just don't feel safe without the protective net of scripted quotes to catch their fall. Len's script is the worst and most blatant. The part he has to play is the celebrity's friend. It's another instance of Strictly getting less real. With all the props, light shows, meagre relevance to the original ten dances and scripted judging there's very little that would entice me onto the dancefloor about Strictly now.

Actually nonsense apart I think Bruno talks a lot of sense. He is more constructive than Craig who often gives just negative comments and frequently uses emotive language on a Sat night then back tracks on ITT on Monday. As for Len he is the only judge who has a ballroom / Latin background. Craig and Bruno are choreographers and Darcey was a ballet dancer. He should be best at commenting on the technical side of the routines but is quite often the weakest. His marks are frequently all over the place and you are left wondering if he was actually looking at the same dance as everybody else.

In real life Len is, or has been (don't know if he still does it) a proper dancing judge. And as a younger man he was a dancer himself. So his background makes him qualified, but unfortunately when he's on a strictly he decides to suddenly become very generous to celebs for some reason, and over marks them. He should, on paper be the judge we are able to trust the most with his marking more (as he's specifically of the Ballroom background unlike the other 3) but ironically he's the one (sometimes) to trust the least (apart from the odd occasions when he does decide to put his proper technical judging hat on and doesn't just judge on effort or a nice crowd pleasing performance). Sometimes I think he patronises lesser dancers by giving them generous marks/comments too regularly, but that's maybe how he thinks about encouraging them as opposed to Craig who usually is blunt and honest about how mediocre celebs without being overly bothered about deflating a celebs confidence ( apart from the odd few previous weeks where he too was strangely generous , but back now to his normal self after yest).

Len has become a parody of himself.

Len was a champion at ballroom dancing who runs a dance school. I don't know if this is true but he was born with two extra toes which could possibly make his balance better for dancing, Now that came from my niece who is into the show in a big way. She also said he was a welder on the building of the QE2. He is a fair judge.

So why doesn't he?

He usually makes a few (probably written beforehand) one-liners and then gives just about everyone SEVEN.

Craig might be irritating with his long lecture of the position to hold the little finger but he does give detailed comments which is rare from Len.

I think a few facts have got mixed up.

According to Wonkypedia 'He started dancing at the age of 19 after a short time as an apprentice welder (for Harland and Wolff in Woolwich)'. He took up dancing at 19 so about 1963. QE2 was built from 1965 at Upper Clyde Shipbuilders, H&W built the Titanic but I think that was a few years before his time.

People talk about Bruce but Len is hopeless. He dosent give good constructive criticism like Craig and another thing that gets on my nerves is when Craig is giving an honest assessment Len has to jump in having a go and talking over Craig. If Len says something that draws a few boos from the crowd hes quick to point out hes entitled to his view, well so are the other judges. Scoring Ben an 8 in the first dance left him nowhere to go with the better dancers later on,this then led to skewed marking. I think they should get rid of len, head judge your having a laugh.

Was he really born with an extra toe on each foot? Is it possible to be born with extra toes like my niece said?

He seems to know what he is talking about but h judging is erratic indeed. I'm a bit bored with him. Time for a refresh.

Who would be a good replacement? any ideas? They must have dancing skills too.

the essential thing iff he is replace is that A) they are already a top level ballroom and latin judge at least one of them has to be the other 3 are ffrom stage based dancing at least one must be technical and that could be a tough fit as many many are qualified but not everyone has tv skills - I dont think it should be an ex dancer on the show though

Exactly. His marking is consistent.

The great strength of the judges is that they come from completely different aspects of dance. Len sticks to what he is expert at as do the others.

All this guff about scripts is just that ... guff.

Remember people - this is an entertainment show ! Not a dance competition.

He always seems to be fed cheesy lines. I don't like the bloke - too full of himself and his opinion

I used to think it was a dance competition and have just about got my head round it being an entertainment show AS WELL. But the dancing must still be an important part.

He's a judge. He's paid to have an opinion. That is exactly what judges do, opinions, and marking.

Ignore the cheesy lines, it's not difficult.

I think its the other way round - Craig undermarks because he knows that Len or even Darcey will overmark

Thank you, I thought I was on my own with this one, he can certainly dish it out (mostly to Craig) but boy can he not take any criticism himself.

He might be given a script by the production people but I am sure he writes his one-liners beforehand, they never sound spontaneous.

Very well said and I totally agree with you!