Bad vibes at French finals as Japanese winners are horribly booed

The public erupted with frustration at the finals of the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition last night when the top prizes went to three Japanese and an Armenian:

1 Kenji Miura
2 Keigo Mukawa
3 Zhora Sargsyan

There were loud groans as a French contestant, Jean-Baptiste Doulcet, was called out for the fourth place and cheers as he was awarded the public prize. The two Japanese winners were greeted with boos and whistles. There were vicious boos for Miura (pictured) on his return for a subsequent prize and further boos for the jury when they were thanked from the platform.

Martha Argerich, who chaired the jury, did not attend until the final round.

Watch video here. Results from 3.50.00.

UPDATE :Experienced critics were pretty upset at the result. This from Alain Lompech thinks the 1st prize should not have been given:

Le Concours Long se fourvoie une fois encore par un palmarès étrange et très contestable ! Le premier prix va à Kenji Miura qui a très mal joué les Valses nobles de Ravel, Dante de Liszt et la Sonate 311 de Mozart ! Et le deuxième prix à Keigo Mukawa qui a tellement mieux joué les Miroirs de Ravel et la 2e Partita de Bach ! Les 3e et 4e prix sont plausibles. Le 5e et le 6e aussi. Mais en réalité le 1er prix ne devait pas être décerné car le niveau global des candidats arrivés en finale était moyen. Réunir un tel jury pour un résultat aussi contestable…