And then there were 14.

The Operalia Competition 2017 has announced it 14 finalists with some rather surprising numbers.

So on to the people themselves. The 14 people vying for the top prize in 2017 include soprano Vlaada Borovko, countertenor Rubert Enticknap, tenor Davide Giusti, baritone Leon Kim, soprano Ruslana Koval, soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan, soprano Maria Mudryak, baritone Emmett O’Hanlon, soprano So Young Park, bass-baritone Boris Prygl, soprano Oksana Sekerina, tenor Levy Sekgapane, soprano Adela Zaharia, and soprano Sooyeon.

If you read our breakdown from yesterday, you will recall that of the 25 semifinalists, 12 were sopranos. Of those 12, eight are now finalists. There are no mezzos among those that made the last round. There are two tenors, one countertenor and one baritone and bass-baritone remaining.

So odds are, a soprano could come away the winner this year.

Another interesting number to look at is that the most represented country in the final round is Russia, with three representatives including Mkhitaryan, Borovko, and Sekerina. All three are sopranos. The host nation still has one finalist in the form of soprano as well – Mudryak. The US and UK have a total of two representatives, as does Italy. The only other nation with more than one finalist is South Korea which has Lee and Kim.

As for Zarzuela, the five finalists are tenor Marco Ciaponi, Kim, soprano Damiana Mizzi, Sekgapane and Zaharia. The final is on July 29 and will be broadcast via Medici.tv.