It's not really like you are being scored against the other teams either...you are competing against yourself/the scorecard. I do think scoring up/drivey whatever would be fine, but there are breed differences that wouldn't make it very fair. I wouldn't expect say a St Bernard or even a Lab to be as "up" or flashy as say a Mal, just based on body type.
My personal preference? I don't really care for the extremely head up style. I think the Lab video posted looks more 'natural' than the mal in competition video posted. The Mal looks impressive, but as a personal preference it just seems really extreme to me.
That was my feeling too. Impressive, but the style doesn't do it for me. And yes, a drivey Lab is a totally different look than a drivey Mal.
As I think Adrienne mentioned, the place in scoring where having an "up" dog would most make a difference would be with a dog who is barely scraping by. A judge is far more likely to go light on the pencil if the dog is obviously working with enthusiasm. Remember, judging is subjective. The judge has to mark down for errors, but their decision on how many points to deduct is going to be influenced by their overall impression of the dog.
As far as the "heads up" heeling, it depends on the dog. Not all dogs have a body type that lends itself to that style. With my Tully, who was my best obedience dog to date, I trained for her to focus on my face, but when we started doing real heelwork, she changed her focus to my knee. She was a knee-high square built dog, I'm a heavy woman, watching my face was too hard for her. She had a lovely heel. Her daughter, my Tess, never did that. She tries to look at my face, it's too hard for her and she crabs. And she's well out from me, because she can't see my face if she's close. Not nearly as good heelwork as her dam. I think her son, Pirate, actually
is going to be able to do heads up heeling, but that will make him my first dog that can.
I'm actually not that partial to the heads up heeling, I prefer a dog to move more naturally. I only train it that way because it's easier, and I was a bit spoiled by Tully's solving the problem for herself. For some taller dogs, I think it is more natural, and looks right.