I wish the judges could have half marks. Sometimes they back themselves into a marking corner and have no where to go but with the higher scores. Even if a dance isn't really 'worth it' - if a less competent dance has been scored '7' - what can they do

I don't see the problem with the lower marks, to be honest. As long as someone is given a low mark just for meanie-judgy-points at least it gives them room to improve and something to aim for. Perhaps the marks could be capped - so in weeks 1 through 4 the highest mark would be a 6, then 4-8 the highest would be an 8!

Those were my thoughts too- "good jive, but no Jill Halfpenny". As for Kelly and Brendan, to be honest I found her dancing a little shaky and noticed a few stumbles.

I think the problem with marking is that over time 'average' starts to graduate from 5 towards 7- I used to write for a review site where you had to conclude with a mark out of 10 and it happened a lot there too.

If anything they were undermarked.

but i think because they had given other contestants 7s and 8s they felt they had to give kelly/Alesha 9s as they preferred their dance. I think Matt and Gabby would have also got 9s if they hadnt made a few slight errors.
I do think both Alesha and kelly would have got lower marks if they were first to perform but i still think those 2 and matt were the best on the night.

the marking just seems to be getting higher and higher

no way was Mark and Karen's dance a 40 in the final, but it seems that they are expected to give high scores now - look at Gabby's disappointment with her 8s and 9s!!

When compared to Muttley and Cuttler yes. Don't think it was on a par and yet three of the judges marked it as so. Only Len marked them down for the error!

It wasn't an intentional lift, as long as one feet touching the floor it should be fine. But sometimes it wasn't excuted well and it became a lift. Last year Louisa and Vincent made the mistakes more than once and they were never penalised.

When ppl were accused of lifts on DWTS they said it was a lift if the person can't propel themselves and 2 feet off the floor i believe

And we all know the answer.

I am glad that Brendan has finally got someone who can dance, after all those years. I can see them in the final.

Yeah of course it was overmarked.
Whether it was the pro or celeb who makes the mistake there was one and it was very noticable, 9's were too high for this dance

funny that Brendan didn't storm out - like last year when he complained of inconsistancy with the marking - funny that

Does anybody think that the marks are reflecting DWTS which is running alongside! The ability in the American show is far in advance of on this show, some of the couples it is a struggle to see who the pros are, could they be marking the Brits high to put the scores more in line with the Americans?

I think ALL the scores are all over marked as some of the judges (especially Len) seem to distinguish between Celeb mistake and those of a Pro. Kelly was almost foot perfect, Brendan made the mistake, why penalise the Celebrity?

Technically, Kelly did all the dance moves and did them well (unlike Alesha who failed to do one single straight kick or flick in the jive) and it seems that Len has his favourites (celeb and pro) and he will often either "reward" or "penalise" according to his personal bias. Otherwise Kelly would have got a 9 from Len.

I don't think they were over marked, one of the best performances of the night imo.
Penny L.S's seems to be the judges darling I think, did'nt think too much of her routine tbh.

At Breakfast interview, Karen Hardy seem to disagree with the conventional wisdom.

She didn't think Penny did that badly and she was a little disappointed with Kelly's performance...

Karen should be one of the judges

The lift definitely wasn't intended - it was a little bit of a mistake for the feet to come off the floor. Whether she should have marks taken off for that is debatable, the judges haven't really penalised for this in the past and I don't think they should have for this routine.

They had a lot of great stuff in the routine and the drama was incredible. I think the drama hid a few things though. When they were doing still poses they were great, when they were moving I wasn't so sure (I agree with Karen - lack of energy) and I didn't find there was enough movement in the routine as a whole. However the passion and drama is half of the dance and you can't fault it. Overall I think they did a really good job, but like people say Alesha's Jive was no Jill Halfpenny - Kelly's Tango was no Denise or Zoe.

Can't agree with an above poster who said there were not enough moves in Alesha's Jive - that routine was packed with difficult stuff. Wasn't all flicks and kicks, brought in lots of other Jive moves and she had some tough spins in there. Also there was a lot of detail in everything - lots of expressive arm moves at the same time as the leg stuff - none of the other Jives really did that. There was a slight mistake in the underarm spin and a couple of flicks were from the hip, but like Kelly's Tango - the performance was so great it more than made up for it.

Should either have got nines so early? Everyone wil have different opinions, but I thought the overall positions on the top 4 of the leaderboard were spot on.

I agree, Erin, in general, with your comments. In particular, I don't think there should be so many nine dished out so early in the competition. There are good performances in some of the dances, but to hear Craig saying if Gabby didn't make mistakes she would have tens (nines maybe) would be quite debatable...

Definitely, but so were some other couples. 8 across the board would have been fairer for them.

Thought Dom and Lilia and Gethin and Camilla were also overmarked though.

That remark surprised me a little..... but hey what do I know.
I thought B+K dance was passionate and had impact. First impressions always count.Easy to criticize a performance after you`v rewatched it 1/2 a dozen times.......Ditto Alesha`s Jive.

I dislike the overmarking so early on - judges then paint themselves into corner for later in series - Alesha, Gabby & Kelly were all very good. Of the 3 Alesah the better, but all slightly overmarked. Others were marked a bit harshly though.

We must remember Gabby has a HUGE ego! I think this willl be here downfall ultimately - like Emma Bunton last year. She looks a bit man-ish to me. (Gabby). Don't like her.

I really enjoyed her Jive though.

I thought Gethin and Camilla were hugely overmarked! Way too slow and his left arm was soft and in the wrong position for the entire dance! Another couple, another night - that particular feature would have been murdered by the judges.

I also thought Kenny and Ola were undermarked. Far from perfect, but a lot better than the judges implied.

I agree with the above, I actually prefered Kenny's to Gethin's, and Gethin's face was very scary-and not in a good way!