I'm sure there are threads on the judges' overmarking this year already, but I've just been looking at some of the old dances from previous series on you tube and it strikes me just how much harder it was to get 10s in the old days than it is now.

Eg Jill halfpenny's amazing Jive got the not-so-princely score of 35 first time around - a mark that would be considered low in the later stages of this year's comp.

(Looking back at some of Jill's other performances, she really was brilliant and would be getting 40 every dance if she were in this year's comp.)

And, amazingly, Mark ramrakash's Salsa got 36, another score that would be considered below par now.

Zoe ball's tango got 38 and Alisha Dixon's Cha Cha Cha 39 (admittedly just 1 point off. Craig ).

I've just named 4 of the best, most memorable, dances ever to have been on the show and yet there have been numerous dances this year that have scored similar marks or more that I can't even remember.

I don't think there's ever been a "peak" time for 10s. It's been passed this year, but if you look at for example Natasha's samba that got a 10 - that'd be struggling for 8s in recent years. I think they got it mostly right (Matt's waltz wtf?) in the last two seasons but have gone completely overboard with it now

It's always been a bit random, Jill scored quite similar to Natasha despite Jill being miles better. The scoring this year though is completely ridiculous.

I'm not disagreeing that the number of 10s given once the floodgates have opened is kind of ridiculous, but actually the first 10 of the series didn't come any earlier than it has done in any other series. It came in the seventh week, same as series 2.

Series 4 it came wk 3, series 5 it came wk 4 series 1 it came in wk5, and series 3 it came wk 6. I guess what I'm trying to say is that they at least started off reasonably well in withholding them, but it all seems to have gone to pot in the latter half of the series.

Rachel is 2 tens off (which she will probably get in the final) breaking Alesha and Matthew's Record which is ridiculous.

They give out tens like candy now. People are getting upset for getting 8s like seriously

In past series you had to earn your 10 not get them despite obvious mistakes

She already broke the record on Saturday didn't she? I think she has one more ten than Alesha now and potentially 8 more on Saturday.

she has 18 tens whereas Alesha and Matthew had 19

The difference this year is that Craig is being a lot more liberal with his 10s; I don't think any of the dances that he has given 10s to have deserved them.

The scores for Jill's dances are hilarious. I think her Paso is the best there has ever been (look at those three unsupported spins she does at the beginning; no other female celeb has ever attempted anything like that [Darren's choreo for Jill was great too; it's what makes their Jive so good, and most others rather boring. I HATE that move where they do a loose hold and do the up and down aeroplane thing with their outstretched arms... should be banned I tell ya!])

Here's the full list from my "Tens Time Table" thread.

Alesha Dixon 19
Rachel Stevens 18
Lisa Snowdon 12
Matt Di Angelo 9
Austin Healey 8
Zoe Ball 7
Mark Ramprakash 7
Gethin Jones 7
Jill Halfpenny 5
Colin Jackson 5
Tom Chambers 4
Matt Dawson 3
Emma Bunton 3
Denise Lewis 2
Natasha Kaplinsky 1
Darren Gough 1
Louisa Lytton 1
Kelly Brook 1
John Barnes 1

Unbelievably, we could see Lisa beat Alesha's record. That's far, far, far, far, far worse than Rachel beating it because Rachel is actually a good dancer. Not as good, but hey.

I do think the problem is partly to do with the public. They seem to have a crackpot notion that instead of marking the dances as seen, the scores should reflect some kind of "journey", getting progressively better as the series goes on. I recall a lot of people getting pissy about early high scores for really good dances (like Louisa's jive) because it "leaves the celebs nowhere to go".

What this results in, is the judges having to mark good dancers reasonably well early on to

a) show a spread with the dancers with less initial talent
b) reflect the actual merit of the dances, because there's no way you can give say, Austin week 1 waltz or Alesha wk 2 rumba a 5 or 6

and THEN inflating their scores MASSIVELY at the end of the series to reflect an "improvement" that is often negligable or non-existent, because some people are just good from beginning to end, just to buy into the public's desire for a journey.

Hence the longer a series goes on, the greater the "journey" has to be extended for, the more 10s are needed, and the more ridiculous they seem. Tie this in to their need to pretend that every series is better than the last, with a higher standard and more lovable celebrities, and you get credibility carnage.

so if Lisa gets 8 more 10s she will be above Alesha? she probably will going by the marks shes getting.
I think Rachels the best dancer thats ever been on the show so not suprised about her but lisa doesnt deserve those marks

Craig and Bruno give them out willy nilly they mean nothing from them which is why everyone wants a 10 from Craig

I agree whole-heartedly. The 10 really has been devalued. I would be very happy if they announced a revaluation of the 10, and that high/perfect scores would be much harder to achieve.

I presume you mean Len and Bruno. I don't think Bruno has any paddles under 8.

Is that correct ! Lisa has already got 12 tens and Jill got 5 !
It is crazier than I thought. I dont think anyone could seriously defend the accusation of over-marking in this series after reading that.

I must admit I think it is quite ridiculous to see Rachel, Lisa and even Austin so high in QuizMike's league table, especially when you think of the criticism that both Rachel and Lisa have had from the judges this year and that they have been in the dance off 5 times between them.

I am quite amazed that even Craig could give Lisa a 10 when he never gave Alesha a single 10. He has always said he didn't like Alesha's feet sometimes, but as a non-dancer even I can see Lisa is a good but not great dancer. I just cannot accept that Lisa is a better dancer than Alesha (or Matt Di or Gethin just to name a few others).

Obviously the longer the series is the more chance of a 10 being awarded there is, but I'd say the judges comments no longer match the marks they give and the phrase 'moved the goal posts' comes to mind when it comes to awarding a 10.

The days of hoping for a 7, being excited about getting and 8 and ecstatic at getting a 9 seem to be long gone.

Yep...

Scores in the usual seating order.

Lisa's Tens

Foxtrot (Week 11) 9 10 10 10
Cha Cha (Week 11) 9 9 9 10
Waltz (Week 12) 9 10 10 10
AT (Week 13) 8 8 10 9
Quickstep (Week 13) 10 10 10 10

Jill's Tens

Paso (Week 7) 9 10 9 9
Jive (Week 8 - Final) 10 10 10 10

OK...sombody asked if I'd do this on the tens thread and I've now got around to it.

So, the number of tens awards to each celebrity divided by the number of dances they've danced are...

(Number of dances in brackets)

Rachel Stevens 1.286 (14)
Alesha Dixon 1.1875 (16)
Lisa Snowdon 0.857 (14)
Austin Healey 0.667 (12)
Matt Di Angelo 0.563 (16)
Zoe Ball 0.538 (13)
Gethin Jones 0.538 (13)
Jill Halfpenny 0.454 (11)
Mark Ramprakash 0.438 (16)
Colin Jackson 0.385 (13)
Tom Chambers 0.286 (14)
Emma Bunton 0.231 (13)
Matt Dawson 0.188 (16)
Denise Lewis 0.182 (11)
Kelly Brook 0.143 (7)
John Barnes 0.143 (7)
Louisa Lytton 0.091 (11)
Natasha Kaplinsky 0.083 (12)
Darren Gough 0.077 (13)

Thanks but just makes me even more annoyed!

It would a brave or determined or masochistic soul to do it, but has anyone ever added up all of the marks awarded to these 'top #19' dancers and divided them by the number of dances they did?

Thanks Mike.
I am going to print-off your two posts containing the " 10 stats"...I know a lot of regular SCD viewers and they just wont believe it !

The average scores for all the dancers are available on the net. I'll knock up a quick top 10. Watch this space...

EDIT - Did top twenty instead!

Disclaimer : Not my own stats. Just collated from the net.

Alesha Dixon 36.5
Rachel Stevens 35.3
Zoe Ball 34.9
Austin Healey 34.5
Tom Chambers 34.2
Lisa Snowdon 34.1
Emma Bunton 34.0
Jill Halfpenny 33.7
Colin Jackson 33.7
Mark Ramprakash 33.5
Natasha Kaplinsky 33.0
Kelly Brook 33.0
Matt Di Angelo 32.9
Gethin Jones 32.9
Denise Lewis 32.6
Cherie Lunghi 32.4
Louisa Lytton 31.6
Darren Gough 31.2
Matt Dawson 30.8
Claire Sweeney 30.0

Many thanks for this.

Anybody questioning the credibility if SCD 6 marking need look no further.