still waiting for an answer., whoever the comment was from. Ido not know anyone who has been encouraged to perfoprm other than the tiny proprtion of winners.
the majority 0f perfoprmers are encouraged to perform because they love this genre of music and they get a good reception when they perform.
competitions and awards can on occasions be a double edged sword, they encourage the winners and can on occasions discourage those who do not win.the bbc would be better off spending money on folk workshops, or propgrammes like "hold down a chord" , but they wont because this is not about education or improving standards for the bbc it is about viewing figures