I'm cheering for Rachel Kudo, who I saw along with Mei-Ting Sun, Esther Park, and Sean Kennard (all four of whom are in the competition). Kennard has already been eliminated (too bad... he's a really nice guy!). Mei-Ting has quite a lot of technique to spare, but I was a little disappointed with his playing (he did the 1st Ballade). I enjoyed Park's playing, and have little else to say about it.
Kudo's technique isn't particularly great, but she played an extremely musical Barcarolle (Op. 60), follwed by the last three etudes of Op. 25. Her octave etude had silky, flowing legato, and her winter wind was stunningly different from the usual "pound-away" approach most pianists take (not to criticize this method, but it was a big surprise to hear the "wind" as a whisper at times - I thought it worked very well). Her stamina seemed to flag a bit with the oceans etude, which wasn't as great as the other three pieces she played, but she's very musical and talented, and I hope she gets at least some recognition in this competition.
Topic: International Chopin Competition