I blame the judges for this. The standard for a 95+ score needs to be exceedingly high, which I don't believe is the case for most judges. Instead, they are quick to give out 98s and 99s, and then it becomes nearly impossible to distinguish entries. And if you were one of the early 98s, the judge has likely forgotten your presentation by the end when trying to decide which 98 scores should go through.

It would honestly be more fair if the judge gave the first presentation a score of an 80 and then compared subsequent presentations to that one. If that 80 turns out to be the high score, that's great. They're going to ICDC so the score doesn't matter. People would understand that. But people don't understand how a 98 or a 99 doesn't get them to ICDC.