As if she had not heard the discussion around her at all, Gan Yan Yu hurried toward an empty chair the moment she entered the viewing room.
She sat down, looked up, and waved at Lin Tian.
After Lin Tian came over and sat beside Gan Yan Yu, she immediately clenched her small hands, straightened her back, assumed a proper, well-behaved posture, and looked toward the big screen.
On the screen—
The Golden Hall, which they had seen countless times in recordings,
Now appeared before their eyes with astonishing clarity.
"...
A Black contestant was performing onstage.
He was playing a simple chamber piece.
The piece was not particularly difficult, and its melody was simple. Yet the beautiful music flowed gently through the Golden Hall like water, exceptionally pleasant to hear, immersing the audience completely.
Even though this was only the qualifying round, the performance quality was surprisingly high.
After listening for only a short while, Lin Tian immediately sensed the gap.
Sure enough, no one who made it to the Ke'er Cup was ordinary.
Several more contestants took the stage one after another.
After listening through their performances,
Playing the score flawlessly and smoothly, without a single mistake, was merely the baseline.
The strongest impression was—
Individuality.
Nearly every performer, while playing the score without mistakes, was able to inject their own distinctive musical understanding into the performance.
Take that Black contestant just now, for example.
His chamber music carried the lightness and spontaneity of a Black rapper's gift, creating a sense of freedom and exuberance with an improvisational quality.
"Whoa."
Gan Yan Yu held onto the armrests, repeatedly swinging up her fair legs as she watched, completely engrossed.
"Every contestant is so amazing."
"But they're still a little short of the very top tier."
Lin Tian added from