The keys to popularity

Although the pandemic saw a postponement of the competition, originally scheduled for 2020, more than 500 young pianists from around the world, born between 1990 and 2004, registered, with 164 entering the preliminary round in July.

Among the 87 entrants of the main competition, 20 were from the Chinese mainland, three from Taiwan, one from Hong Kong, with 10 of them making it to the second round of 23 participants.

Over the past month, there have been many online discussions around playing skills and musical interpretation, as well as expressing the audience's preference for competitors, or topics such as whether the performers should be loyal to Chopin's original phrasing or add more personal styles, and where domestic piano education should aim to go.

Chen Sa, who won fourth place in the 2000 competition, has joined some of the discussions through Weibo in a candid manner, although as a member of the jury, she has to be reserved on some of the topics.