I love Kurt, but I actually thought the judges were pretty easy on them last night (at least on the technical merit). Their technical marks were:
John Nicks: 7.8
Dorothy Hamill: 8.2
Mark Lund: 8.0
Average: 8.0
Now, the 7.8 I can see because that's about the lowest mark they'll give anyone. The 8.2 is beyond any of my comprehension. Here's my reasoning:
Dave and Nancy's technical marks were:
John Nicks: 7.9
Dorothy Hamill: 8.0
Mark Lund: 7.8
Average: 7.9
Dave/Nancy and Kurt/Deborah's programs were about equal in difficulty, and actually, their techniques are about the same. Their technical marks are only .1 off.
Bruce and Tai's technical marks:
John Nicks: 7.9
Dorothy Hamill: 8.3
Mark Lund: 8.1
Average: 8.1
Bruce and Tai skated a far more difficult program, and Bruce's technique is better even though he looks awkward on the ice (I address this in the summary, which I promise will go up later today). There's still only .1 difference between the pairs.
Jenni and Todd's technical marks:
John Nicks: 7.9
Dorothy Hamill: 7.9
Mark Lund: 7.9
Average: 7.9
I'm assuming the 7.9s are because of Todd's fall because other than that, Jenni/Todd's program was a little more difficult. His technique is bad, but so is Deborah's. Regardless, they're within .1 of each other.
I think that the judges were actually hardest on Jillian/John. Here are their technical scores:
Kristy and Lloyd's technical marks:
John Nicks: 8.5
Dorothy Hamill: 8.4
Mark Lund: 8.3
Average: 8.4
Jillian and John's technical marks:
John Nicks: 8.4
Dorothy Hamill: 8.6
Mark Lund: 8.2
Average: 8.4
I agree with Kristy/Lloyd's marks, but Jillian/John had harder footwork and a harder spin. Neither of them have great technique, so I can't fully understand Mark Lund's mark for Jillian/John since he gave Kristy/Lloyd .1 higher. (And this is coming from someone who doesn't really like watching Jillian skate because she looks so nice at first glance, but if you look closer you can see all her technique issues.)
It's hard for me to get used to having a minimum score (7.8) that's so close to the maximum score (8.6) with such a wide range of difficulty, which is why I harp on the actual technique more than the difficulty of the element. If I had to rate the pairs on difficult of programs, I'd put them (easiest to hardest):
Kurt/Deborah
Dave/Nancy
Jenni/Todd (it was only this hard because of the lifts)
Bruce/Tai (the waltz jumps and footwork makes it harder)
Kristy/Lloyd
Jillian/John
In order of actual technique alone (worst to best):
Jenni/Todd
Kurt/Deborah
Dave/Nancy
Bruce/Tai - Kristy/Lloyd - Jillian/John (Bruce's posture is worse than the girls, but his feet are really technically quite good. Kristy's on and off...sometimes she hits good positions, sometimes she doesn't. Jillian needs to have a meter stick taped to her shoulder blades so she freaking learns to check. Her free leg has improved, which is the only reason I put her here.)
Sorry, that got a little off the topic of Deborah and Kurt, but I wanted to justify my feelings about the judging.
Sig by J Slice!
I'll put the summary up as soon as I get home from the lab.