Jack & Jill competitions use two systems working together: a competition format that tests connection, and a scoring algorithm that ranks results without ambiguity.
In Jack & Jill, you don’t choose your partner. Leaders and follows are drawn randomly each round — so judges see how well you connect with a stranger, not how rehearsed you look with your regular partner.
Judges score leads and follows separately. Each judge is assigned to watch one role. Competitors are scored on timing, musicality, and connection — not on their partner's performance.
Top performers from each role are called back to the final. The number of callbacks is set by the organiser — typically the top 30–40% of the field. Alternates are also named, so everyone knows exactly where they stand.
Called-back leads and follows are re-paired randomly for the final. Now judged as couples. The RPSS algorithm determines final placements.
Judges are split by role in preliminary rounds— some watch only leads, others watch only follows. This means your placement is never affected by your partner’s performance in the early rounds.
What is an alternate?
When callbacks are announced, alternatesare named alongside the finalists. If a called-back competitor can’t make it to the final — due to illness, injury, or a scheduling conflict — the next highest-placed competitor from the preliminary round steps in. Alternates are announced with the callbacks so everyone knows exactly where they stand. In some competitions this is called a “scratch” (when a finalist withdraws), but alternate is the clearer term for the dancer waiting to fill that spot.
RPSS — the Relative Placement Scoring System — is the established international standard used at WorldSDC, Bachata Dance Council, DanceSport Australia, and major partner-dance events worldwide. It was not invented for this app; we implement the same rules those organisations use.
Instead of asking judges to rate competitors on a scale (7.5, 8.2, 9.0…), RPSS asks each judge to rank them: who is 1st, who is 2nd, who is 3rd. Ranks from all judges are then combined using a majority rule — so the result reflects the consensus of the judging panel, not its average.
Why relative placement, not averages?
Numerical averages have a well-known flaw: a single outlier judge can skew the whole result. If one judge scores a couple 10/10 and six judges score them 6/10, their average is 6.57 — higher than a couple six judges ranked 1st but one judge marked 5/10. The couple the panel preferred loses on paper.
Averages also reward middle-of-the-road judging: a judge who never goes low and never goes high has outsized influence relative to a judge with strong opinions who happens to be right.
Relative placement eliminates both problems. Each judge answers one question: “Compared to everyone else in front of me, where does this person rank?”— not “what score do I feel like giving them today?”
Each judge places competitors 1st through Nth. No duplicate placements allowed. No 9.5 vs 9.8 arguments — just rank order, one opinion per position.
A competitor “wins” a place when more than half the judges have placed them at that position or higher. With 5 judges, you need 3. If 3 judges place you 1st, you place 1st — regardless of what the other 2 think.
If two competitors both achieve majority at the same position, the one supported by more judges wins that position. Still tied? Sum all judge placements — lower total wins. This is Rule 11 of the standard.
Tiebreaking in detail
Step 1 — majority count: Both competitors have majority at the same place. The one with more judges supporting that placement wins.
Step 2 — sum of placements: Majority counts are equal. Sum all judge placements for each competitor. Lower sum wins (e.g. a sum of 8 beats a sum of 11).
Step 3 — head-to-head: Sums are also equal. The system compares the two competitors head-to-head at the tied position — whoever more judges preferred at that specific place wins. A true three-way dead-heat after all three steps is extraordinarily rare.
Highlighted cells are the placements that count toward majority for each couple’s final position. The “1–3 (majority)” column shows how many judges placed a couple 3rd or higher — once that reaches 3 (out of 5), majority is achieved.
| Couple | J1 | J2 | J3 | J4 | J5 | 1–3 (majority) | Sum | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos & Elena | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1st |
| Remi & Sofia | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 2nd |
| Adrian & Nina | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 3rd |
| Stefan & Mia | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 4th |
Reading this table:Carlos & Elena have 3 judges placing them 1st or 2nd (J1, J2, J4 all placed them 1st) — that’s a majority of 5 judges, so they place 1st. Remi & Sofia have 4 judges placing them 2nd or higher, winning 2nd place. No averages were computed at any point.
Transparency is not an optional feature — it’s the whole point. Any dancer who wants to understand their result should be able to verify it themselves, from the raw numbers.
All judge scores published — including the head judge
Individual placements from every judge are visible after the event closes. This includes the most senior judge. Some scoring systems omit or weight head judge scores differently; we publish them the same as everyone else.
Results go live the moment scoring closes
No manual calculation, no paper shuffle, no waiting for a scorer to run a spreadsheet. The RPSS computation runs automatically the instant the last judge submits.
Anyone can re-run the calculation
Every majority count, every sum-of-places, every tiebreak step — all visible at /results. If you want to verify your placement, take the published numbers and apply the three-step process above. You should arrive at exactly the same answer.
No hidden panels, no exemptions
The full judge roster is listed alongside scores. There are no anonymous scores, no scores that are averaged-in silently, and no special weighting for seniority. Every judge has exactly one vote per position.
RPSS is a well-documented standard. These are the primary sources we reference — you can read the same rules we implement.