In general, competitions have two ways of announcing winners.
First, after a few days of gradually compiling evaluations and scores, they post it on the website a few days later.
Second, there’s the case where judges announce the results on the day of the competition after a brief meeting.
The ‘Joseon Music Competition,’ in which Do-hee participated, was the latter.
Thanks to that, after all the participants finished their performances, there was an hour left until the announcement of the winners.
The three judges had to quickly determine the high school division awards: grand prize, gold, silver, and bronze.
But deciding on the winners wasn’t going smoothly.
Because pianist Jung Han-bin kept delaying the process.
“This kid was alright, right? He played really well.”
The professor submitted his evaluation sheet.
The male student was recorded with near-perfect scores and was a student at the Seoul Arts High School, renowned as the best in Korea.
“Yeah, he was a student with outstanding skills.”
The principal of a large piano academy nodded in agreement.
And looking at Jung Han-bin, she asked for his input.
“What do you think, Han-bin?”
But Jung Han-bin’s expression was still sulky.
“Well… he played well.”
‘Oh great, here we go again…’
‘We’re running out of time…’
Of course, Jung Han-bin pretended to agree and then played the recorded performance of the participant.
“Looking at just the first dopamin-sire, it was perfect. Not too much, not too little. His skills are definitely maturing. But the second dopamin-sire part should have been softer. Instead, it’s too stiff. Trying to maintain musicality turned it too rigid. You need to get that feeling like ‘ta-da-da-dah, tah-tah-tah’…’”
“I get it, I get it.”
The professor interrupted.
He didn’t even need to hear the end; he knew what was being said.
And all of it was spot on.
“I agree, and I understand that Han-bin’s expectations are high. But even the majors struggle with that part, 90% of the time it’s stiff.”
The problem was that it was inherently difficult for high school students to meet those expectations.
That was a fact everyone knew.
“I think so too. Trying to be smooth like the masters, and you lose the musicality; trying to keep the musicality and it becomes stiff. It’s a dilemma, a real dilemma.”
“Yeah, I don’t think we need to bring this up based on high school standards.”
But Jung Han-bin shook his head.
“No, we need to bring it up.”
And then he played another video straight away.
It was Do-hee’s performance.
“This friend’s performance was different. At first glance, it seemed rigid, precise, and intricate, but the expression, hand movements, expressions, gestures—wasn’t the basic technique filled with smooth musicality?”
“I get it, I get it.”
With all sorts of colorful expressions and hands flailing, Jung Han-bin sighed deeply.
They were so engrossed that their bizarre appearance kept repeating.
Honestly, there was no choice but to give first place to Do-hee.
The exquisite techniques and expressions shown earlier were so outstanding that even I admired them.
It was just that Do-hee’s outrageous variations in the latter half were just too audacious.
It was infuriating.
Chopin’s piece.
Especially the final strike, crushing the note.
But at the same time, I could understand Jung Han-bin’s excitement.
Even from that repeatedly playing video’s last interpretation, Chopin’s theme was distinctly felt.
“The theme was revealed accurately… but… the interpretation isn’t to my liking… seriously.”
As a judge, I had to be more objective than anyone else.
Unknowingly, I seemed to have immersed myself in the performance and made an emotional evaluation.
“Oh, I kinda get it. Now sit down, sit.”
*
News that Do-hee won the grand prize spread quickly through both articles and communities.
[“I thought she was just a pretty idol, but she’s the competition winner”]
—(Article photo)
Is really an idol
The last time she competed was at 14, then after idol activities, after Seven ended, competed again, and at 17, won again.
-Why a real idol?
-Do-hee, play for me…
└???: Ah, the tuning is off.
-This is total balance collapse… so freaking pretty, great physique, top of the class, and a career as an idol, yet wins piano competitions…
-Idol lololol giving up that good brain to be an idol lololol
└What’s an idol lol
└So dumb lol
└This guy’s just trolling a 50-year-old boomer.
└[Comment deleted by moderator]
└Just threw a random diss lol, can’t even say anything. Dude, Do-hee earns in a year what you make in a lifetime lol. Does today’s idol feel like yesterday’s idol? lol
└But honestly, isn’t it weirder with that face to be playing piano?
-Life’s going to be fun.
-What if my darling ends up quitting being an idol to become a pianist…?
What if she quits being an idol and becomes a pianist…?
└ Not my wife. That’s my oneself.
– When I wake up to the sound of piano in the morning, Do-hee is sitting at the piano with a child who looks like me, playing the Chopsticks March. I want to sneak up from behind, give her a back hug, kiss her cheek while she’s shy, and whisper that I love her.
└ Damn, just die.
– Wow, Do-hee will get military exemption, huh?
└ Nope, you need to win an international competition for that. This contest doesn’t qualify.
└ Oh really? I thought it was obvious you’d get exempt.
└ Yeah, but the problem is, there are a lot of domestic competitions pretending to be international, and most participants are Korean. Many kids get military advantages with these, practically through loopholes. This needs to change.
└ Seriously? The military law issues are really problematic. Anyway, Do-hee needs to work hard to get exempt.
└ Do-hee’s a girl, so she’s exempt, you crazy people.
– So, how far does Do-hee play the Czerny? Better than me?
[Reason why the arts are 99% talent]
─ (Picture of a performing pianist)
─ (Performance video)
.
.
.
Conclusion – You need talent to enter competitions, and if you’re a real talent prodigy, you can crush a competition and host your own concert.
(Note) That kid is 18 this year, the youngest winner in Cliburn competition history.
– The environment in Korea is really barren, but it’s amazing when a world-class talent emerges.
– But I don’t know what’s good since I lack knowledge.
└ If it sounds good to ordinary ears, it’s good.
– Seriously, the more you dig into the arts, the more it’s about talent.
– As someone in the performing arts, I always say the top 1% is talent, but the 99% that creates the industry ecosystem is through effort; that kid is just 0.01% of that.
– The youngest winner in 60 years? That’s Messi-level.
– Ironically, talent prodigies sometimes don’t even enter competitions, like Evgeny Kissin.
– So, is Do-hee worse than that?
└ Probably.
[Qualifications every girl idol must have these days]
─ (Picture of a large truck)
That’s right, a Class 1 large vehicle license.
– If you don’t have this, you’re not a real girl idol.
– I wrote these lyrics after personally experiencing an 8-ton truck with a broken steering wheel, wow!
└ For real, surviving a five-car pile-up was a miracle.
– Which girl idol has this, lol?
└ Nowadays, all girl idols are getting their Class 1 large license.
– I was a girl idol!
This topic didn’t just get attention in online communities with rough language.
Do-hee is a member of Seven, which won the music awards last year, and she’s one of the celebrities with the highest traffic volume in Korea.
This was undoubtedly an attractive topic for creators running classic YouTube channels as well.
It couldn’t help but be the subject matter.
It was an opportunity to promote her channel to the public uninterested in classical music and attract subscribers.
Among them, there were even professional pianists.
[Seven Do-hee Lee, Reasons for Winning the Competition│Detailed Performance Analysis]
– 70,000 views · 5 hours ago
– Ha Hyun-jun’s Classical Notes
“Now we’ve just heard the first phrase. What do you think? Isn’t it amazing? If you just heard it, you might not realize how incredible it is. What’s special is that when the sol starts, it’s already coming from somewhere far away as it softly begins to play… in between, mi-mi-re-re-do heavily emphasizes the sol and then stops. Those with skilled practice can hear it all, how much they divided their left and right hand practice and worked hard.”
“I said before, don’t stop. (Imitating piano playing) It’s all about extending it but saying, no, let’s stop. Usually, they’re artificially extending it to show the song’s melody. But throughout the song, there’s no stopping. It’s like a perfect textbook performance. This is truly a pro level performance.”
“Did you hear that? Even as it diminishes at the end, the phrases connect. The right hand carries on, while you can still hear it in the midst of it all. That’s real concentration. Those who can listen to the notes until the end are top-tier. There aren’t many like them, even in the Seoul Arts High School which is considered the best. It shows how difficult it is to listen and play at the same time.”
“The harmony between the left and right hand… while going deeper and adding vibrato. To summarize, the harmony progressions, si-sol-li-la-ra in both hands must be clearly audible. If they sound separate and your fingers seem stiff, it won’t work. It has to sound perfectly cohesive, and that can’t happen without a love for the piano. You must practice separating hands at least hundreds of times.”
“Listen closely, you can hear the notes of do-pa-mi-shi-re really well, right? Meanwhile, the right hand carries the middle part but you can still hear the left hand’s melody. For three sounds to come together, it can easily turn into a chaotic noise, yet they blend perfectly. It’s a stylistic difference, but not many pianists strive for such delicacy and perfection. But what’s amazing is how seamlessly every note flows without any interruptions. This part is something that people preparing for auditions should really take note of and listen to.”
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