There's nowt so queer as jurors: I know, because I'm frequently one myself. But the decision by the jury of this year's Kathleen Ferrier Awards seemed both perverse and, sadly, inevitable. The first prize of £10,000 went to a tenor whose relentless pushing and pressuring of every note that was loud and high had me reaching for the earplugs - and who managed to get through Tamino's aria to the picture of his beloved Pamina (from The Magic Flute) without a moment of tenderness.

Ben Johnson is just 24, and has made some creditable appearances in opera. He also has a carefully learned way with the German language, the ability to sustain a long, singing line in Handel and a confidence in presentation - all of which is a certain sort of music to the ears of a jury.

It must have been a tricky year for them. At least Nicholas Payne, the chairman, had the grace not to come out with that old chestnut about standards rising every year. They're certainly not. Except, that is, in the case of the pianists: James Southall well deserved the accompanist's prize of £3,000 - and his rival, François Salignat, also turned in some quite remarkable accompanying.

For the rest - well, they were a motley lot. Alexander Robin Baker was awarded the second prize of £5,000: his was by far the most sensitive and musically intelligent singing of the evening. But he is just 22, and his light baritone probably hasn't yet the ballast to sustain the weight of a first prize. His rhythmic rigour in Schubert's Der Zwerg made up for the lack of heft and dramatic colour, but this will come. Two Wolf songs were deftly characterised, and his Finzi (Clock of the Years) and Tchaikovsky (Yeletsky's aria) showed both pluck and promise.

I wouldn't rush to a recital given by any of the other four finalists, the baritone Derek Welton, the sopranos Elizabeth Donovan, and Ida Falk Winland (who, inexplicably, was awarded the Song Prize of £4,000), and the tenor Adrian Ward.

Idiomatic language skills and real communication of the text were lacking in differing degrees in each one. What are today's teachers and coaches up to?

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