Every producer and promoter working within a specific genre has to decide where he or she will draw the line. There are no hard or fast rules - when you pay the piper you can call the tune.

Why some people view skill and talent as some kind of threat defeats me.

For me the key word in the competition title is 'Young.'

Embrace that, and just relax about the rest, and suddenly this is a very worthwhile.

Maybe we need more from the BBC - including, why not, a Young Tradition contest (plus of course much more from the 'adult' awards) but attacking this one for not being folk, or being too MOR, is unlikely to achieve that.

Tom