[curzon]

I was at the opening concert last night and am happy to report that Lizzie Watts (England) won the first round and hopefully a place in the final. The first 3 singers were all good if rather generic - Not much to raise the hairs on the back of the neck. Lizzie opened the second half with a well judged programme and she inhabited the stage in way that none of the others did. One really believed in her characters and there was good variety of emotions. She was followed by a Hungarian baritone who had a splendid voice and good stage presence. But he shot himself in the foot by choosing a very heavy programme with a very small range of emotion (mainly jealousy and anger). By the end of his last item he was definitely flagging. However I was still worried that he would beat Lizzie because he had the sort of big voice which does well in competitions. However the judges plumped for Lizzie in the end. So, fingers crossed for the final - It's about time England had a winner!

Sebastian

[Lynette]

Seb, we are gonna be disappointed. If you saw tonight's show you must agree that the counter tenor is going to storm it. He inhabits that stage like he was born there; his strength comes over through the tv screen so in real life he must be something special. But we have many more to go before Sunday. Apparently a soprano aged 29, singing Mozart has statistically the best chance of success. There is one, and she is Japanese.
Catch up with you later in the week.

[curzon]

Seb, we are gonna be disappointed. If you saw tonight's show you must agree that the counter tenor is going to storm it. He inhabits that stage like he was born there; his strength comes over through the tv screen so in real life he must be something special. But we have many more to go before Sunday. Apparently a soprano aged 29, singing Mozart has statistically the best chance of success. There is one, and she is Japanese.
Catch up with you later in the week.

Haven't seen any of the other heats but Lizzie is a soprano, singing Mozart and she's 28. Two out of three aint bad as Mr Loaf would say....

Sebastian

[oratorioboy]

come on the wattage!!!

i will wet my pants if she wins on friday and probably die if she pulls it off by not only getting into the final 5 but then winning on sunday. i have to say that the counter tenor is serious competition but liz will pull out all the stops for it. god i am nervous already.

if her song prize final programme is anything to go by, we should be in for something bloody good on sunday.

at last the wattage rises and soars and gets to show her voice off to the world

[Lynette]

So, my friends, you really think that our little Brit stands a chance against that 23 yr old Chinese guy? I don't know how they grow 'em in China but my goodness this one is superb. Do you remember the wonderful Chinese soprano who won in a previous competition? Is this her son? With him and the Canadian counter tenor and hopefully the Brit in the final we have something to look forward to on Sunday. Of course I'm invited out but will catch up Monday morning.

[curzon]

So, my friends, you really think that our little Brit stands a chance against that 23 yr old Chinese guy?

I actually think she does stand a chance. The fact that she is definitely in the Song final and hopefully in the Opera one has to be good news. There are lot of good singers in the competition - That's a given, really. But Lizzie is a real stage animal as well. Anyway I shall be flying the flag for her and keeping everything crossed.

Sebastian

[oratorioboy]

i agree with you curzon, liz turns it on when she needs to and will put up a bloody good showing, i am concerned about the japanese sop, gorgeous noise and wonderful technique. chinese baritone, whilst sounding wonderful does not match the clarity and intricate detail of liz and the japanese lady. anyway time to get excited with team liz and cross everything possible for the announcement after tonights concert, oh everyone has to vote for her in the peoples choice too, just for fun x

[curzon]

i agree with you curzon, liz turns it on when she needs to and will put up a bloody good showing, i am concerned about the japanese sop, gorgeous noise and wonderful technique. chinese baritone, whilst sounding wonderful does not match the clarity and intricate detail of liz and the japanese lady. anyway time to get excited with team liz and cross everything possible for the announcement after tonights concert, oh everyone has to vote for her in the peoples choice too, just for fun x

From the CSOTW website - The concert winner was Maria Isabel Vera.

It was a particularly good night for Maria, as she found out two minutes later that she has also reached the final.

The other finalists are Maria's fellow Concert 5 competitor, Miranda Keys from Australia, along with Elizabeth Watts from England (Concert 1 winner), Levente Molnár from Hungary (also in Concert 1) and Shen Yang from China (winner Concert 3).
It would seem we don't have to worry about the Japanese soprano any more.....
Interesting that there are two non-heat winners in the final.

Sebastian

[Lynette]

Hmm. I didn't like the sound of the Australian though I liked her personality. I think the young Chinese guy will win if he can wow in the final. Other finals have seen some disappointments with singers not doing their best. But wasn't it sweet seeing Miss England and Miss Australia embracing when their names were called? What opera could take them both? I don't know enough to say but they are so physically different it will be interesting to see what happens Sunday. Good luck to all.

[curzon]

Well, Lizzie won the Rosenblatt song contest rather than the full Opera prize. However there are some fairly notable previous winners of this Prize so I don't think she needs to worry too much about her future! Interesting article in the Torygraph by Rupert Christiansen which echoes many people's feelings.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml...mcardiff119.xml

Sebastian