Rough translation - you like Jake and Sunetra and you don't like Mark and Frankie.

Mark danced incredibly well last night and deserved to be 2nd on the leaderboard. This has nothing whatsoever to do with how many votes he is or isn't getting. In fact he might even be picking up some extra votes because he is dancing well - I gave him a couple of votes last night having not done so previously because he was really good.

Having given Mark a 9 and with Frankie dancing even better than he did, it was entirely appropriate for Bruno to give her a 10.

I agree that Jake should have had a higher score than Simon but perhaps only by one point to break the tie. Given that the judges mark independently out of 10 rather than collectively out of 40, tied results are sometimes inevitable. Jake simply wasn't at his best last night - he obviously had a dance that perhaps didn't suit him as much as, say, the salsa.

The same is true of Sunetra for whom the jive was quite obviously not her dance. Can you honestly say that you thought she was better than any of Jake, Simon, Caroline, Pixie, Mark and Frankie last night (because they were the ones above her on the leaderboard, she beat everyone else).

Well said! I don't understand the animosity towards Mark in this forum. He works so hard, is improving every week, and his genuine enthusiasm is very infectious. He seems a nice guy, and he will get my votes until the end, which the way he is going could well be the finals.

Craig is the only credible judge

To be honest, after the last two weeks, the judges scores are irrelevant. It's the voting public that needs to get a grip.

I dislike him because of the tears and the Uriah Heap act.

He did dance the jive well though

In absolute terms the scores last night were excessive. Much more important, however, were the relative placings and I made them about right.

No doubt the judges do on occasion resort to tactical marking but, overall, they do a fair job of getting the quality dancers to the final despite the worst efforts of the voters.

I too think there has been some really awful marking.

My o/h and I were open mouthed when Jake got the same score as Simon. We thought Jake was better and should have been higher up.

We also felt Alison was overmarked and although I don't like Mark at all he did dance very well this week - however, I do think he has been overmarked during the series.

My feelings exactly! Also agree with the poster who said judges scores irrelevant - except that if a contestant is placed one or two by the judges and they get NO votes - they still won't be in the dance-off - mathematically impossible I think.

I am hugely disappointed at the judges' scoring this year - except for Craig.

Darcey is always way off with her marking. This week's show was a mess.

Odd scoring isn't new to this series and it will almost certainly continue.

The fact is that the producers will know how the public is voting, and they will also have an idea who they want in the final - even now. They will also want to help create as much jeopardy as possible, and if getting the judges to tell off Jake adds to that, they'll do it,

The judges aren't four independently minded individuals who do whatever they want. They work to the producers, and if the producers want them to favour/not favour a certain contestant on any given week, then they'll do it.

There is a fine line to walk in doing this, however - and while they're doubtless going to continue with instructing the judges (who, I believe, watch rehearsals anyway), there's no point in marking up contestants who just don't cut it with the viewing public. SCD6 is proof of that, and provided we don't go back to that extreme, I wouldn't expect anything to change any time soon.

Alison has been over marked since the start!

I agree, and the dancers know that. The marking this series seem more ott than usual.

Yes the scoring is erratic at best (apart, usually, from CRH, my opinion of course).

It'd be fun if they totally revamped the judges scoring system. Say they only commented after each dance, but scored at the end of the show, and had to give placing on the leader board, rather than scores. Imagine how Darcy would stress having to use less than a 5 paddle

It'd make for suspense to the end of the show too!

I have got to say I was dissatisfied with Lens marking last night, the majority of his was the over used Seven, Craig does use a spread of scores do feels far more credible, Bruno lets his passion in and does reward when justified.

Ever dance can't be a sevvveeen, as then the hard work is meaningless.

Craig uses almost the full range (2-9) whilst the others only use a limited range (5-10). It means for 3 of the judges you have many anomolies. It you watched the American version, they had no equivalent to Craig, hence the judges marks became almost irrelevent.

This old chestnut.

The leaderboard usually has the right order. It's all subjective anyway! There is no objective measurement such as goals scored or time taken.

To me Mark's dance was outstanding!

Alison's wasn't great but not bad for ballroom. For Alison.

Sunetra's wasn't good.

Steve's was a bit of a shambles.

Jake? I think Bruno got it right. He's a TV actor. His work is good close-up but it's not theatrical. Add to that his ballroom frame and not finishing his lines and he's got some way to go in ballroom.

Scott was Scott. Judy Judy.

There was nothing outrageous about the finishing positions. Scott didn't end up 5th!

Does 7 equal "I really can't be bothered to think about it?"

I thought Caroline's bouncy lively Samba was harshly critiqued and undermarked, and I must have missed the bit of Frankie & Kevin's dance which was worthy of a ten ( or even a nine). It certainly didn't hold my attention - I was talking to the cat through most of it.