Participating in parts one and two of lily judging class is somewhat of an eye opener for understanding what to look for in quality stems. It's not always what a layperson would thing is important or not important.
That said, good judging does come with experience and knowledge, and not every ranking is always fair. But, judges do their best. One of lily breeder Ruth Cocker's stories about lily competition is about one of their seedlings they had entered. Not only was it a "perfect" stem, it had spots on the petals that added to its beauty, and that was something very unusual in the parentage. The judges thought the spots were fallen pollen grains and downgrade the stem.
