Congrats @silentscreamer. You completely deserve it. Your violin sound is stunning, as I told you before. I come from Esatern Europe and I can tell it's "our" sound, no violin or other string instrument can sound like this in another part of the world. It's like the "flamenco sound" of guitare, only in Spain you can hear that.
As for the competition thing I understand you, I come from the same educational system in Eastern Europe as you and I am professional musician, I now what "fight" is. This is very different when you pay the bills and you put food on the table working as a musician. But here it's about human connection and sharing and I am glad I found you. Congrats and all the best !