Well, you were right about that too.

You must have understood the process and the possibilities better than I did.

Heidi Basarab would have my vote. I didn't see them all but I looked at all the ones that had high ratings. There is lots of good stuff there in those videos and they are enjoyable to watch.

I wonder what made them go with Khoo. Look at 4:29-4:35. Ech. You kind of get the feeling the performance is on the verge of that kind of thing the whole way through.

Maybe the judges have sat through so many agonizing childrens' recitals in their lives that they've started to like that tense feeling of waiting for a mistake to happen.

Like I said in a previous post, this for me is not really a piano contest. It's crazy for me to post a video of myself on youtube. But it's also a bit of fun to be in the pack and find a few familiar faces.

She's a good friend and I thought she was a top contender.

The judges were "the public." The result is based on online voting.

Regarding your reactions to the stuff, I think you're a good observer.

"It's not the people who vote that count. It's the people who count the votes."

I was one of the 'public' but I never got around to voting. Frankly, I didn't have the time to wade through sixty videos and think seriously about them. I suppose I could have just picked a few (my friends and acquaintances) but that's not my style. More on this issue just below.

I did just watch the winning video and I was quite surprised. A nice performance, but that's about it. I suppose I have spent too much time watching teens play with more riveting intensity and dynamic drive. But this is precisely the problem of having the public vote. It's a popularity contest where popularity has many dimensions. Indeed, all panels of judges can have problems, but widening the franchise in a case like this does not necessarily produce better results.

Am I missing something here? Why Cliburn.org still says the winner will be announced on December 9th?

I was also looking for the info on the winner and can't find it anywhere. Where did you all hear the news? I've only seen it in this thread at Piano World.

Well, that was yesterday.

A dark horse is an understatement. She is playing piano well but with an intermediate level repertoire. I though the two gentlemen who played four Chopin Etudes or the Liszt Campanella demonstrated more agility. For a World Wide competition you would think that a slightly more advanced repertoire would have been presented.

Just vice versa - nothing wrong with repertoire, but quite "intermediate" level of playing.

I think that would be my view as well.

I HOPED SO.

The "Rules" included quite an odd rule: The organization had the discretion to change the rules.
They were free to do whatever they wanted.

I thought the main thing this meant was that they would make sure the winner was worthy, by simply ignoring the votes of an unworthy would-be winner.

You didn't get an e-mail announcing the winner? It was sent out last night, a little before 9 P.M. eastern time.

The "winner" is a woman named ChooHooi Khoo.

BTW.......I don't think I'm doing a very good job concealing my feelings.

For anybody who hasn't been able to see the news release, here it is:

>>VAN CLIBURN FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES WINNER OF SECOND YOUTUBE CONTEST FOR AMATEUR PIANISTS

RECORD-BREAKING NUMBER OF ONLINE PARTICIPANTS

FORT WORTH, TEXAS, December 9, 2009--ChooHooi Khoo, also known as Janice, has won the Cliburn's second YouTube Contest for Amateur Pianists by popular vote. Voting concluded on November 24, assuring Ms. Khoo a berth in the sixth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, to be held in May 2011 in Fort Worth. Watch her performance of Schubert Impromptu, Op. 90, No. 4.

Currently a resident of Bakersfield, California, Ms. Khoo was born in Malaysia. She began her piano studies at the age of six with Thien Joe Goh. In 1989, she completed eighth grade piano at the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music (ABRSM) with high distinction, and subsequently received the Datuk I.K. Cheah Memorial Prize for her achievement. In 1991, ChooHooi Khoo immigrated to the United States with her family, and eventually received her Master of Physical Therapy degree from Loma Linda University in California. She continued to play the piano and sing at church, but music became an avocation while she raised two sons and pursued her medical career. Ms. Khoo is currently a full-time physical therapist and practice manager for a rheumatology medical office.

Describing her recent return to piano studies, Ms. Khoo remarked: "As my children got older, I encouraged them to learn music and my older son started taking piano lessons from Bonnie Farrer, who is the wife of John Farrer, the conductor of the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra. I hadn't heard of the Van Cliburn [International Piano] Competition until this summer when Mrs. Farrer returned from the competition and gave my son a program featuring the finalists...This reignited my passion for playing piano and our family was glued to the computer monitor watching the featured competitors on www.cliburn.tv. We even attended the first concert of the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra 2009-2010 season, featuring the 2009 co-winner of the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal, Haochen Zhang!"

Ms. Khoo discovered the Cliburn's YouTube Contest only two weeks before the submission deadline. "With the encouragement of my husband and children, I decided to compete, even though I only had two weeks to pick a piece, to practice, to record, and to submit the video. During this time, my family and friends have been very supportive, although most of us thought that I was a long-shot, including myself. Even before the winner was announced, my husband ordered me a Steinway grand piano to replace my upright as a consolation prize for losing the competition and to encourage me to continue playing. Having won, I'm very excited about this opportunity to go to Fort Worth in 2011 and I want to use this God-given opportunity to practice hard (on my new piano) and thank those who supported me. I also hope to encourage my children through example, to practice hard and follow their dreams."<<

P.S. Not to be a sourpuss but speaking as a medical person, I think they erred in using the phrase "her medical career."

I have a feeling you might be inclined to agree with my above persnickety post.

P.S. I don't think there was any issue about her choice of repertoire. While indeed in itself it's not a highly impressive choice, I think a beautiful performance of the piece would arguably be a very worth winner.

I think you have it exactly right.

No I didn't get an e-mail, except the regular Cliburn e-notes mail which was sent on December 8th.

Huh......I don't understand why not. I imagine they tried to send it to everyone on their e-mail list, which would certainly have included all the contestants.

CF was not going to spend it's capital (i.e. an odd rule) in this case! Wait for the real event!



Life is not so simple... it's simpler!
It's all about marketing!
Single user could vote multiple times by clearing up "cookies" in his browser...
I'm not saying it was a fraud, but technically it was possible.

I did not get an e-mail as well, finally contacted Bob Ekelund to find out what was going on. Am trying to contact them to se why this happened.

As I said on the other thread, now you tell me!!

I thought that in order to get a ballot, you had to give an e-mail address. Do you mean that you didn't?

P.S. As I mentioned in my post on the other thread, I would hope that I wouldn't have used/abused that.

I think I had to give an email address, though I wouldn't swear to this.

Yes -- as far as I know, you did. There were two methods of voting that I was aware of, and they both seemed to require giving an e-mail, and the system "knew" if you had already done it.

I figured that the people who talked about repetitive voting meant that you could fool the system into not knowing.

I agree. Technically she seemed very good but I got very little emotionally from her playing.