It strikes me that if the scores over the course of the series were generally scaled down then it would leave the judges with "somewhere to go" as the series progresses.
At the moment we have the situation where a contestant who is not even one of the very best ones gets 35 four weeks in a row and seems disappointed. But to beat 36 one would need to get at least one perfect 10 and he is nowhere near that.
I think having high scores thrown around like confetti devalues them.

I agree with you; the marks generally have been too high. There should have been far more 6s,7s & 8s and lot less 9s.

However, I think Ashley is missing the point. Each week the standard is (or should be) getting higher. So if someone gets 35 in week (say) 7, then to get that same score in week 8 he/she would have to improve. If Ashley's standard was staying the same, his score would go down each week, not stay the same. [That's a bit muddly hope it makes some sort of sense!!]:s

Ashley allegedly performed one of the best "bloke rumbas" ever based on his score of 35/40 - only beaten by Colin Jackson & Harry Judd.

So frankly I think he was massively overmarked and his 35 is indicative of mark-inflation due to being performed late in the competition. That really wasn't a good rumba - it was more like a 30-32 dance...

I understand you.

Such as the week the judges said they were going to be picky, most went down in marks but Ashley's stayed the same therefore an improvement.

I think that's how they do mark in practice at least some of the time, but I don't think that's how they should mark. The notion of starting on a 5 and improving up to a 9 makes much more sense than having to do incrementally more to keep getting an 8.

Plus it's counterintuitive since it only seems to apply to anything less than an 8. We often see dances done early not receiving tens which are repeated in the final with no noticeable improvements and receive a higher mark.

Under your logic, we'd have to think that Sophie's 36 for charleston is only worth a 32 now because of higher standards to achieve the same mark. But when it's reprised in the final, we'll see a score of 38+ and I don't see how she could dance it any better.

When did Ashley say he was disappointed with 35?

I don't ever remember him complaining about having got 35.

Well, Tess poked him into saying he wanted more than his customary 35. I don't think he gives a stuff.

The range too high? Is the Pope a Catholic?

I'd like the marks to be out of 25. You'd eliminate a lot of ties and they surely would give more nuanced marks rather than jump in with 20+ from the kick-off.

I hadn't looked at last night's ITT so have just checked it and Ash did say that getting 35 every week didn't suggest that he was improving.
The judges have been commenting on his improvement so I guess he thinks the scores should be related to that.

How well someone danced and their score? I no longer worry about there being any relationship. There seem to be other things being taken into account and I don't mean entertainment.

I Must Admit That I Didn't See That.

Yes, the judges have a choice between :

a) marking against the same standard throughout the series, so as dancers are trained more and improve they generally score higher, and

b) marking more generously early on, more against what stage they are at.

The judges in general choose b), hence quite early high marks, and comments about them going to get more picky now, but seem to forget themselves at times.

There is though an issue there in that it may be disheatening to not see a progression forward in marks, when you know you are getting better, as Ashley indicated.

I know there must be a wish not to appear too harsh early on, particularly to the less talented, so giving them half decent marks pushes up the better couples' marks.

Personally, I do think they should mark stricter, particularly early on. A very decent dance, but still with understandable mustakes should be say maximum 8. A later truly great dance that wowed folk could then be a 10, much more something to work for and aspire to, rather than something Joe Bloggs achieved in week 3 with a very good dance at that stage.

Maybe, as someone suggested, a bigger range than up to 10 would help, but I just do think there is too much generosity early on and even lately.

10 should be for wow, just wow !

I agree, OP. The judges came in far too high too soon with their scores and now it looks like they don't have a clue.

What they could do is give all the judges paddles from 9.1 to 10.0.

Then everyone gets high scores but the judges might even use all 10 paddles

I find this thread amusing. If Natalie or Susanna commented on receiving the same marks for a number of weeks, this forum would go into meltdown!!!!

It would implode! But it's a bloke complaining isn't it?

Didn't Kara complain when she got 36 for her Salsa?

Oh yes. It makes AAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL the difference!!!!

I agree he has a high opinion of himself imo I was shocked at his reaction he needs to a couple of humble tablets.

I don't think he was complaining about "only" getting 35, I think he was complaining about getting the same score week after week, because he thinks he's improving, which is a bit different,

What order would people place the four dances that got 35 in, in terms of quality, incidentally? Being the quickstep, then the paso, then the waltz, then the rumba? Personally I don't think they were all the same quality, but I don't think the direction in terms of quality has been upwards...

Yes it makes sense- Good post!

Err...where did you get that from?

She opined that she thought the score was 'too generous' as she felt she had made a mistake during the routine.

He probably wouldn't have cared about the score if he'd avoided the dance off or put out a poor performance. He did only mention it when the interviewers specifically asked him to. It did look to me like one of the better male rumbas and it does seem almost impossible for a male celeb to get a 10. On the other hand his dances do seem to have been fairly marked since his technical problems stop him looking like a natural dancer. Others have been over marked in comparison but his leaderboard position was often fair.

Does that cover everything?

Ashley isnt the only one who appears to be not overly happy with what I would say were great scores. Kristina was very annoyed on more than one occassion with her scores so yes, I would say the marking range is too high

to be disappointed with a 35 is just bonkers IMO, it wasnt a particularly spectacular rumba, it was ok but it was nothing special, same with Bens charleston, grossly overmarked if you ask me

I didn't get the impression that he felt he deserved a score higher than 35 but rather that it was a bit confusing/frustrating for him that he feels like he is improving but the scores he has received suggest that he hasn't progressed over a 4 week period. He did say that he felt that the dances he had scored 35 for couldn't all be the same quality. It would probably be less confusing for him even if some of them had scored less than 35.

That is true if she danced it this week at the same standard as she danced it before. It was a great Charleston, and very high standard for such an early week, but there was definitely room for improvement. Her arm movements need work and the lifts definitely need tidying up.

Ashley looked totally knackered. Hardly surprising with his work-load. It might have some influence on what he says.