It's 1.15am, more than 13 hours after the competition, so the excitement has already died down somewhat. So this post won't be terribly exciting...

First of all, I'm happy. Really happy. I did my best and gave a great performance. I wasn't hoping to win. In fact, I knew I hadn't a chance in hell of winning, what with the dirty politics and all. So I basically brought the journey to a brilliant conclusion today.

I felt I played well.

The fact that my friends all said I played really well confirmed it, and gave me a sense of achievement and satisfaction.

Some people even told me they felt that I should have won. Now, this was priceless, even though I know it's not true.

I'm rather disappointed in the Composition department people... I can't believe that only C.T. turned up to give me support. What's wrong with you guys? I needed your support, which was why I made the announcement on Monday. Oh well, at least it was good.

Last but not least, to the jewel of my heart... You have no idea how happy you made me when you were so indignant about me placing 4th... but as I said... the 'placing' was a formality, really. What really mattered was who got first. It was, of course, either Gabriel or Min Jin... However much you think I should have won, I couldn't have stood a chance against these two giants.

But, thank you for giving me confidence during bouts of self-doubt... It is the greatest feeling in the world to know that I am admired by the one special to me...

...I love you.

Honest opinion of mine, I'm not sure I fully deserved my 4th. But then again, I'd probably have easily been auto-5th if not for the fact that Pamela screwed up big time. Politics at work? It's hard to tell. Comment reserved.

Without further ado, here are the comments from the judges...


































































First one's from Volker Hartung, who actually gave me decent comments. Well projecting!!! Priceless, priceless. His last comment, however, is troubling - Keep going, but get performance training. What's he trying to say? That Mr Song isn't good enough?

Second comment sheet was by Lynette Seah, who gave lots of *gulp* constructive comments. However, I do agree with her about my totally craptastic intonation. It probably comes with getting my cello set up twice in the past month. In fact, after last Wednesday, after my cello got knocked down, I never found my intonation...

Third one, the unnamed one, was by Chan Wei Shing - yes, Sihan's uncle. He wrote surprisingly little for someone who knows the piece. (Does that mean I was good or bad???) Tempo somewhat a little on the slow side - but that's what my teacher told me to do! Oh, and look at this... Nice cadenza!!!

My cadenza was the selling point of my performance. Yes, I wrote it myself. Yes, it was very well written. And yes, a miracle of God happened today during the performance because usually by the time I reach the cadenza, I'm pretty tired, and the cadenza is technically demanding. I can see the future of the history textbooks:

'One of the most highly-regarded cadenzas for the first movement was written by a Singaporean cellist, Tan Wen-Bin...'

Wouldn't that be neat?

...

At this point in time, it's time to put the bow down and take a long, hard look at the future. No doubt I will be concentrating on PS, and what's important in life...

...like spending time with my precious jewel...

Ah, but I will not be bidding my beloved Haydn C major concerto goodbye just yet. I may have performance opportunities in the future, with this concerto. It's likely that I will be invited to perform it in April. Hmm. Third movement, anyone?