Vietnam Idol Review

Many countries adopt their own versions of Idol like there is water in the home’s sink. And Vietnam, a
Southeast Asian country with 97 million people and back then were addicted to pop music, was no
exception. Their version was successful too.

The Idols series originated from a British ITV show Pop Idol, created by Simon Fuller, they saw many
young artists who saw the light of day, and while it is not as long as other versions in other countries,
this, in the UK, was literally a “big deal” If you are interested on the original, do check out my detailed
page.

1-a The first Vietnam Idol title sequence, based on that from American Idol dated 2005, and was a general style to most
international versions until 2010

In 2007, Dong Tay Promotion and Unilever (who sponsors the show with the Clear shampoo brand) was
put into proposal on bring the Idol series to the country, they spent 2 million USD, the largest to spend
on a talent show in Vietnam at the time from FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, the owners of the
franchise, to put the proposal into reality. And so Thần tượng âm nhạc: Vietnam Idol came live on HTV9,
from Ho Chi Minh City Television, on the 23 rd May 2007, and again as I mentioned, because of the
country’s addiction to pop music and emo haircuts, this became a big deal.
If you already know what the format is, it’s best to skip. But if you don’t, the process begins with a very
gagged-up auditions stage, then into the theatre stages to round out the numbers to 50, then 50 of
those will split into groups of 10, then the best of each of them will advance to the finals, in which one
person would win! But over the coming years, they treat this format as a “last-person-standing”
competition, which makes this game very intense. Siu Black, Tuan Khanh and Ha Dung were the judges
of the inaugural season.

On the 3rd October 2007, Phuong Vy made history by becoming the first pop star to come out from the
Vietnam Idol oven. She performed Duc Tri’s “Smiles and Dreams” (literal translation) during the
conclusion of the final round as she was announced as the winner. She then joined the international Idol
spinoff “Asian Idol” in Indonesia, only lost to Singapore’s Hady Mirza. Three years later, she made an
unofficial cover for K’naan’s Wavin Flag, a familiar song made for Coca-Cola’s promotion during the 2010
FIFA World Cup.
The show was back with a bang for a second season on the 3 rd September 2008, Quoc Thien joined
Phuong Vy as the second idol of Vietnam Idol just after the New Year, on the 14 th January 2009.
Therefore he would participate Season 2 of Asian Idol later that year, but weirdly, that didn’t happened,
so instead in 2017, he joined “Your face sounds familiar” season 5 and won 3 rd place.

HTV later announced, with deep regret, that Vietnam Idol would be on hiatus, with no new season later
that year due the audience drops during Season 2. This was until the license was handed to BHD Media
and the country’s state television network Vietnam Television, or VTV, to kick off the 3 rd Season of
Vietnam Idol in 2010. Another American Idol-inspired titles, another tens of thousands of people signed
up, and another cross-fingers to hope that it will reach a wider range of audiences, just because it’s now
broadcasted on the country’s most largest and most recongizable television station, especially when
they put it to VTV3, one of VTV’s most viewed TV networks.
Uyen Linh took the reign as the first winner during the era on VTV, with her song “Thank you, love”
(literal translation) which she also performed during the conclusion of the final. She received positive
comments, and in 2022, just recently, she joined The Masked Singer as the “Blue-eyed Panther” (literal
translation)
Vietnam Idol went to another hiatus in 2011 before coming back for another season on the 17 th August
2012. It was the second time it ran between two years – with the final round took place on the 1 st
February 2013. The final round went bigger than ever, looking like it was hosted in a National Stadium,
with a small handful of studio audiences supporting for My Tam, the judge who replaced Siu Black that
season. Seen on the left screenshot was host Huy Khanh. Yasuy (that’s his real name since he came from
one of the country’s ethnic groups) crowned as the winner of Vietnam Idol 2012, with his emotional
song “Where love started” (literal translation)

Despite that, Vietnam Idol continued for 2013, with another American Idol-inspired titles dated back in
2011. The name was changed to entirely Vietnamese, following guidance from the country’s Minister for
Culture, Sports, and Tourism. The name is now just Thần tượng âm nhạc Việt Nam, but its english name
is still Vietnam Idol. An other signficant change is that Pepsi replaced Unilever as sponsor.

For the first time ever, the final round and the presentation was hosted seperately, with the final round
on the 4th May 2014, and the prize presentation on the 11 th . So Nhat Thuy needs to wait a week before
she realized that she won! She later, in 2017, she later released a single “A beautiful smell” (literal
translation) which she collaborated Nhat Thuy and Thanh Binh in the Rhythm and Blues genre. She
would go on and win “Your face sounds familiar” in 2019.
2015 saw for the first time ever, a naturalized singer trimuphed at the contest, Trong Hieu, born in Bad
Kissingen, Germany, he also had experience of participating at the Idol series by joining German Idol in
2008. In 2023, just now, he participated at the German qualifiers for the Eurovision Song Contest to be
held in Liverpool, he was put into 4 th place with 52 points overall with his all-english song “Dare to be
Different”

The 2016 edition, the last season in the second era of Vietnam Idol, saw yet another naturalized singer
trimuphed, leaving those who are actually born in Vietnam had no chance. Half-pinoy singer Janice A
Buco, or Janice Phuong in the show, went 1st place in the final series, with her song and an english title
“Love you in silence”

In 2017, BHD Media announced to put the series into an indefinite hiatus to make way to some other,
more interesting shows such as The Voice, or that show then-Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell created his
own show that led to Pop Idol itself being lost – The X Factor. Although its spinoff, Vietnam Idol Kids,
continue to broadcast until 2017 (sponsored by IDP with their milk brand Love-in Farm KUN). So, will it
come back? Well, with no light in the tunnel for Vietnam Idol, it’ll never come back… or is it?
On the evening of the 6th January 2023, Cattiensa Entertainment announced that, along with VTV, still
hold the rights of broadcasting the Idol series, just lurking in the cupboard. Therefore, for the first time
in 7 years, Vietnam Idol is coming back. Virtual auditions started on the 14 th, while by the 3rd of June this
year, in-person auditions will be hosted in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, respectively. With the
progression is still at the first stages, VTV3 will definitely broadcast its 2 nd revival by the 8th of July 2023,
let’s cross-fingers for that.

Image rights © Fremantle, 19 Entertainment, VTV, HTV, BHD Media, Dong Tay Promotion, Cattiensa
Entertainment.

Sources: Various, mostly from YouTube