How to achieve excellence in a piece?

I will just LOOK AT THEIR HANDS and I can tell in about 5 SECONDS if they have been trained by a competent PIANO TEACHER.. just from the way they touch the keys... If they touch the keyboard like a complete amateur who has lacked any training.. then I really don't CARE what their music sounds like, because I know there is an extremely good chance they are self taught for FREE off the Internet... and I'll flag them in the first 10 bars.

I'm not saying this describes your problem.. you are the only one who can answer that.. but you asked what judges look for and, it's the LITTLE THINGS they look for.. not the major ones.. because it's assumed you can play a melody, just like everyone else.

I hope that gives you some insight