IDK, IMO it would be no harder to judge. It's all 100% subjective anyway. It all boils down to the judge's opinions, there are no hard facts.
The lines are much clearer when assessing chops, than they are when assessing taste. The judges tend to be very like-minded on their decisions, there are rarely ties. Yes, we talk to each other after the winner is announced.
But regarding opinions on what's tasteful or what works in the real world, it's a very different matter. Just look at the various perspectives in this forum on drummers who over/under-play, and exactly what that means to each of us. It would be extremely difficult to separate contestants based on who's musically best, unless you have judges of a specific musical-professional temperament, and then it just ends up being biased towards what the judges would play.
With the chop-fest that is the Drum Off, I don't do
any of that stuff, so I'm completely neutral to whether I would do those kind of fireworks or not. My perspective doesn't come into play, however I know when I'm seeing genuine technical skill being implemented well. Those are the drummers that get high marks from me. FYI, the point range in each category is 1 thru 10, and I rarely give anyone a 10. I've
never given a perfect score. It takes a lot to impress me.
But I wouldn't be comfortable trying to judge another drummer's musical sensibilities... it would be strictly my perspective as a drummer who likes to underplay just a bit.
Unless I was auditioning them to sub for me.
Bermuda