Is he just trying to be controversial or something with his scores ?

I think so. Hoping to get a spot on another show maybe?

No . He always was random. He marked Suzanne's routine, on teh basis of what he thought it should have been, and implicitly criticised other routines including Beths. He then rewarded Sam for skating like a male. He found fault with Ray for not being perfect , criticised Beth for too many moves off the ice, and threw marks at Hayley for being carried around for half the routine........

lots of valid points, randomly applied.

No. He' s knocking off marks for technical errors that others, including Karen, are ignoring.

I actually quite liked Nicky's scoring, and often have in the past. I like that he judges on Skating and difficulty, rather than performance, or letting loose, or how big someone can smile, or whatever Ashley and Jason score on.

I agreed with most of his scores, even with Ray, who I want to win. I think the only reason the other judges gave Ray a 10 was because they gave Hayley 9.5s for her overacting.

He has always been a bit weird but I totally agreed with him about Ray. Karen pointed out a mistake but chose to ignore it and give a 10 anyway? Surely she should have marked him down for it.

He's terrible. I don't think he knows what he's doing. He's even more stingy than Jason. Bring back Robin I say!

Where is Robin tonight, is he ill?

He's in Sochi covering the Olympics.

Yeah I have to say just seeing Ray skate, it definately didn't deserve a 10. Maybe Nicki's not that terrible at scoring after all! Lol

I think it's fair to say that Nicky - a judge for the Europeans - knows what he's doing.

Well the other judges kept rating higher. Including Jason. I don't know what Nicky's problem is.

I think he showed the other judges up.

Karen said Ray's performance wasn't perfect....yet gave him a perfect score. Nicky pointed out some flaws and took a .5 off.

He seemed - to me - to be the only judge marking PROPERLY.

Yeah I must admit I didnt get Karens logic on her score for Ray.

Aside from his comments to Ray (comparing him to championship skaters... really?) I thought Nicky was spot on. I liked that he deducted marks because of mistakes or other issues that the other judges conveniently ignored. (E.g. something going wrong in Kyran's lift or a large chunk of Beth's routine not actually being on ice).

His scoring was a little harsh but I think he put the contestants in the right order, which is what really matters.

The others had to give Ray 10s because they gave Hayley 9.5s - he was better than her and deserved higher marks!

I think Nicky was more realistic than the others who are sometimes over generous.

The rest of the panel don't judge internationally.

You can hardly compare Nicky's expertise with Ashley's or Jason's.

Karen is a very experienced skater but on her own admission let Ray get away with a mistake.

This!!!

I think too much over scoring goes on and makes high marks meaningless.

Karen even said there were errors, but who cares, well as a judge you should!

I also agreed with him on Beth, what she did off the ice is not worthy of marks because it's dancing ON ice, not next to it. Off ice she could do an uneven bar routine, but that isn't what this comp is about.

That, by his own admission last night, is the problem. He is still working to Nicky Time. He still expects to see all the moves more familiar to those who watch Olympic level skaters. He hasn't realigned his criteria to take into account the fact he isn't dealing with Olympians any more. He is dealing with celebrity skaters who, no matter how good they are, can never be as good as the Olympic skaters who are in Sochi right now.

That said I agree 100% that all too often over the years the judges have let certain skaters get away with mistakes which put them in a false position which leads people to think they are better than what they are. Nobody can become perfect. Even the likes of Ray, Suzanne and Haley can fall prey to wobbles. Nicky is far more subjective than any of the other judges and is far less willing to let those wobbles go. He is prepared to point them out. Keep it up Nicky.

I enjoyed having Nicky back and wish he was there every week. I'd rather have three skating judges and let Jason mark for the dance and performance.

I agree if Ray made an error (or wasn't perfect) Karen should have knocked 0.5 off. She gave Hayley a 9.0 so there was room. He would have still scored 39.0 and been in the lead.

And even pointed out to one skater (I forget who) that their mark was partially based on the fact that he'd given an 8 to someone else but as this performance was of a lower standard they got a lower mark.
Perfectly sensible to have marks based on where a performance is in relation to others.

I interpreted his comment about judging in terms of international competition more as he was using that environment as a yardstick for his relative scoring and placing, rather than expecting any of the DOI celebs to be up to that mark (given that most of the pros haven't achieved close to that either).

I hope Chris and Jayne took this on board - Beth doesn't choreograph her own routines.

The same applies to Suzanne imo her routine was frantic and messy. Either Beth or Suzanne could have done just as well, maybe better, than Hayley with the latter's routine. Could she have done as well or better with theirs?

Exactglky so.


Indeed, tonight his presence and comments made 'little Miss Perfect Karen' look like, and sound like, someone completely out of their depth. Her (as always) content free comments were not worthy of any Judge.

This is how I interpreted it. He specifically said something along the lines of if he'd watched them (the celebs) skate week after week, he may well have scored it differently, but as it is, he watches professional skating week after week, so he only had that against which to compare and score.

I also wondered if it was a sly dig at the other judges, as if to say, out of all of us, I'm the only judge who does this (watching professional skating) for a living.