Aug 22, Korea Competition Post Mortum...part 1
After a rather lengthy day of travel, I find myself safely back home. Luckily, within 24 hours of my own arrival, my luggage manages to catch up with me. It made it to Chicago with me on Asiana Airlines without problem. Even though 2 hours between flights in Korea is enough time for me to take a half hour bus ride between the 2 airports, check-in, clear immigration and security and still have almost an hour in the duty free….2 hours in Chicago O’hare only allows enough time to rush to make my connecting flight with 4 minutes to spare and inadequate time to make a luggage transfer (even though it was checked through). I can’t say that I found Korea security one bit less determined than US security…..in fact, it seemed as thorough or more so and decidedly more efficient. No doubt, this lack of efficiency has no relation to United Airlines’ recent financial woes…. but I digress….
Upon return, I discovered that some people were actually reading this blog…..Cool! and there were even some questions…
The first question seemed to arise about the prizes awarded in the finals in Korea. It is perhaps interesting for many to learn of the rules used in most large international competitions. Perhaps the following will explain why some divisions had 1st and 3rd place awards without a 2nd place..and other initially seemingly unusual results. Key in these results are the following rules governing the final round of the competion:
- The final round is scored 0 to 22. Judges may choose to use fractions of points (i.e. 13.5). In order for a candidate to qualify for a prize, the following minimum scores apply:
- Minimum of 16 for 3rd prize
- Minimum of 18 for 2nd prize
- Minimum of 20 for 1st prize
- The high and low scores are omitted prior to computing the judges scores. No rounding of scores is allowed (i.e. a score of 17.99 qualifies a candidate for a maximum prize of 3rd)
These rules mean that if the top 3 scoring candidates do not have one who has a score above 20, then there is no first place. Likewise, if the top candidate has a score equal to or above 20 and the second candidate has a score that equals less than 18, then the prizes awarded can only be 1 and 3.
This scoring system is intended to allow the top candidates in competition to be identified while also preserving a ‘minimum standard’ which means that if the best performer in a given year is deemed to be below the considered standard performance level for a given prize, then an award will not be given. At times, this proves to be controversial. When competitors are close and the result is that no first prize is given, the jury is trying to send the message that the level of performers this year is below the level expected of an international solo winner. In other words, in a solo competition at this level, it is not enough to be as good or better than your current competitors, but you must prove yourself to be at a high level based upon a perceived standard accross the recent years.
This is always an incredibly complicated and often controversial decision, but the intention is to make a first prize in a true International Solo Competition have a quality implication that is consistent. In every area, a given year may have a fluctuation in quality. The intention of the jury, to the best of it’s abilities, is not only to compare competitors to each other, but also to hold them to a minimum standard for each prize level.
In given years, this results in decisions that may be puzzling for outsiders. For those who watch these events carefully – and there are surprisingly many – these results are predictable and represent a competition that comes to represent a quality standard. The more consistent that measure of quality, the more coveted a prize in such a competition.