When this competition first started over 20 years ago the BBC trumpeted it far and wide, gave copious space to it in the Radio Times and broadcast two hours each evening on BBC1 of the heats so that by the time the final came round we had all had a chance to watch each singer and to make our own choice. As the years passed by and the BBC swapped its personnel the station reflected the choice of its then Head and gradually this competition was squeezed out. By the time Greg Dyke took over it had practically vanished and had to be searched for on the schedules and we were allowed to see the final on BBC2 only. Then digital came in and it was sent over to BBC4 working on the then premise that nobody had digital so nobody would see it. The same thing happened to the Proms. Once upon a time you could always rely on at least one or two Proms a week being broadcast either live, or recorded, from the Albert Hall, but these started diminishing in number as well.
As I lived in a block of flats with no Sky, no decent aerial and no desire on the part of the management company to do anything about it, I was doomed to missing out on my favourite programmes. I harassed the Services Manager relentlessly and demanded that they do something about the aerial and in the end they did (I suspect it was mainly to shut me up as I told them that I would not take no for an answer as they had to justify their extortionate service charge). In the end we got a brand new state of the art aerial, I rushed out and bought a digital box and though the supplier warned me that I might not be able to receive all the programmes, found that I could.
Therefore, last summer I was able to watch Proms practically every night, broadcasts of the Ring from Covent Garden and now the nightly heats of this year’s Cardiff competition. As readers of this blog well know, I am a total devotee of Bryn Terfel who I first spotted on this competition when he was 24. He came out and sang the first act aria of the Flying Dutchman and just nailed the audience to the floor. I decided then and there that when he sang his first Wotan, which I knew he would do some day, I would be there to see it and I was, some 20 years later. His Brunnhilde was Lisa Gasteen, another winner of this competition, who when she came out on the final night and sang Pace Pace from La Forza del Destino by Verdi, produced such a terrific performance that there was no doubt that she would win. I met her backstage last year after Die Walkure and a more down to earth, chatty person you could not hope to meet. I told her that I had seen her win this competition and she said it was, and always would be, one of 
the most exciting evenings of her life.
Another winner was Karitta Mattila, who I saw in Un Ballo in Maschera at Covent Garden last year and of course, the wonderfully gorgeous Dmitri (gosh aren’t I the most sexy thing you have ever seen and don’t I know it) Hvorostovsky who I have seen as Onegin and stunning he is too. Just wish he preened a little less.
So far, every time I have watched I have picked the winner, except one year when the jury made a decision that left everyone aghast. That singer has since sunk without trace. I am not boasting or saying that I have any special talent for spotting the winner. Quite simply, what it boils down to in the end, is IT. Singers either have it or they do not. You can have the most wonderful voice in the world, but lack IT. What IT does is make you tingle, makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end, makes you leap about with excitement. And the thing is, that at home watching on television, when you feel this, you just know the audience feels the same.
Tonight’s winner was Elizabeth Watts a wonderful British singer with a creamy voice, great personality and a marvelous performer. One of the commentators said he felt the ‘tingle’ when he listened to her. I did not though I thought she would get through tonight. So, this week is going to be really interesting and I shall see if I can pick the winner again.
I shall be very honest and tell you if I am wrong. promise.
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