Vietnam Idol
Vietnam Idol is a Vietnamese reality television competition to find new solo singing talents. It is part of the Idol franchise; it originated from the reality program Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller. Starting from season 3, the show was produced by Vietnam Television and the BHD Pictures, replacing the joint-venture between Ho Chi Minh City Television and Dong Tay Promotion from the previous two seasons.
History
Vietnam Idol was created based on the British show Pop Idol and U.S. show American Idol. Đông Tây Promotion and its sponsor partner Unilever secured the format license for 2 million USD, which was the highest licensing fee paid for a reality TV show in Vietnam at the time. The show debuted in 2007 in Vietnam under the name Thần tượng âm nhạc: Vietnam Idol, broadcast by Ho Chi Minh City Television under the production of Đông Tây Promotion. Due to declined ratings in season two, the TV station and production company lost the license to produce a season to BHD Corp. and Vietnam Television. From season 5, the show was renamed to the pure Vietnamese title Thần tượng âm nhạc Việt Nam as per branding regulations of Vietnam's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.In 2017, BHD announced that the production of Vietnam Idol was on hiatus in hopes of "finding new talents" amidst a rise of new reality singing shows in Vietnam and fierce competition against existing formats like The X Factor or The Voice.
Series overview
Hosts and judges
In the first season, Vietnam Idol was co-hosted by Thanh Thảo and Nguyên Vũ. In the second season, Nguyên Vũ was replaced by Sỹ Luân. From season 3 onward, there was only one host per season. Phan Anh hosted the show in three non-consecutive seasons, the most out of all the hosts in the show's history.Vietnam Idol maintained a 3-people panel across the series run except for season 3 when there were 4 judges. The panel usually consists of a singer, a producer and a composer.
Season 1 (2007)
The first season of Vietnam Idol premiered on May 23, 2007 on HTV9. It was hosted by Thanh Thảo and Nguyên Vũ. The judges panel includes Siu Black, Tuấn Khanh and Hà Dũng. The grand finale was held on October 3, 2007 at Hòa Bình Theater with Phương Vy crowned the winner over Ngọc Ánh; Vy then sang her coronation song "Nụ cười và những ước mơ" but did not release it as her single. Over 720,000 votes were counted for the finale and this was the only season to announce the number of votes. Phương Vy, Ngọc Ánh, Thảo Trang, Trà My, Duy Khánh released their solo albums afterwards and enjoyed moderate success after the show.Season 2 (2008–09)
Following the success of season one, it was confirmed by the producers that Vietnam Idol had been renewed for a second season with auditions would take place in June. However, the authorities subsequently postponed the contest until late July, early August, stating that there were many similar contests on HTV from then to the year’s end and the event was not suitable in the country’s current social and economic situation. As a result, auditions commenced a month later than the original schedule. The season premiered on September 3 on HTV7. Sỹ Luân replaced Nguyên Vũ in season 1 to co-host the show with Thanh Thảo. The judges panel welcomed Hồ Hoài Anh and Trần Mạnh Tuấn as two new judges along with the original judge from season one - Siu Black.At the Grand Finale, Quốc Thiên was announced the winner, taking the title over Thanh Duy. The coronation song for season one "Nụ cười và những ước mơ" was used again for this season.
Season 3 (2010)
After the show took a one-year break in 2009, it was renewed for a third season in 2010. Vietnam Television and BHD Pictures took over the production of the series from previous producers HTV and Đông Tây Promotion. Siu Black returned as a judge while Nguyễn Quang Dũng, Quốc Trung and Đặng Diễm Quỳnh replaced Hồ Hoài Anh and Trần Mạnh Tuấn. Phan Anh took over as the season's sole host. While nearly 40,000 people signed up for the contest only 25,000 arrived to audition. This season followed the same structure as season 9 of American Idol, introducing "Save" option, inviting mentors for each round. The winner gets a recording contract with BHD Entertainment instead of Music Faces Records as in the previous seasons. The semi-final and final rounds were filmed at BHD Pictures Studio and the grand finale took place in Lan Anh Music Center.At the Grand Finale, Uyên Linh was announced the winner, taking the title over Mai Hương. Linh then performed a new coronation song called "Cảm ơn tình yêu" and released the song as her debut single a week later.
Uyên Linh and Văn Mai Hương achieved significant media attention after the season ended. Both Linh and Hương have reached number one on Vietnamese Favorite Song chart. Other alumni in season 3 also went on to enjoy notable mainstream success like Trung Quân and Bích Phương, who both have spawned many well-received hits since mid 2010s.
Season 4 (2012–13)
It was officially confirmed that the show would return for the fourth season. Siu Black ruled herself out of returning to judges' table only before the official press conference. On May 29, it was publicly unveiled the new judging panel, the new format and some changes. Mỹ Tâm replaced Siu Black, after her departure while Huy Khánh replaced Phan Anh as the host. Auditions started in June 2012. Broadcast commenced on Friday, August 17, 2012 at 8PM slot, replacing The Amazing Race Vietnam.On February 1, 2013, the Grand Finale took place in Quân khu 7 Stadium. Ya Suy was crowned as the season winner over Hoàng Quyên. The season's coronation song was "Giây phút khát khao". After the season, Ya Suy's singing career was relatively inactive. He released his first single "Về với lúa" in late 2013 and proceeded to release two more singles in 2014 and 2017 before announcing his retirement from singing due to an issue with his vocals in April 2018.
Season 5 (2013–14)
Nguyễn Quang Dũng and Mỹ Tâm was confirmed to come back for the fifth season while Anh Quân was introduced as a new judge. Phan Anh returned as the host, replacing Huy Khánh from season 4. The season ran every Sunday from December 15, 2013 to May 11, 2014 at 8 pm. The season's top two were Trần Nhật Thủy and Trần Thị Thùy. At the end of the finale, Phan Anh announced that Nhật Thủy received 52% of the vote, effectively becoming the winner of season 5.Thủy released her first album entitled "Tỉnh giấc" in 2015. The album was a part of a project called Young Hit Young Beat, initiated by Vietnamese diva Mỹ Linh, former Vietnam Idol judge Anh Quân and Vietnam Idol's music director Huy Tuấn.
Season 6 (2015)
Two new judges of this season were Thanh Bui and Thu Minh; Thanh Bùi replaced Anh Quân and Thu Minh replaced Mỹ Tâm. Duy Hải became the new host. Broadcast commenced on Sunday, April 5, 2015 at 8PM.On August 2, 2015, Nguyễn Trọng Hiếu, having received an overwhelming 71.5% of audience's vote, was named Vietnam Idol over runner-up Nguyễn Bích Ngọc. Trọng Hiếu, born in Germany and having been placed top 25 in season 5 of the German version, was the first foreign winner in the show's history. Hiếu's coronation song "Con đường tôi" was subsequently released as a single in both Vietnamese and German.
Season 7 (2016)
For season 7, Bằng Kiều replaced Thanh Bui on the judging panel while Phan Anh returned for his third season hosting the show. The season ran from May 27, 2016 to September 30, 2016 every Friday at 9.10 pm.For the second season in a row, a foreigner was named Vietnam Idol as Janice Aranjuez Buco from the Philippines received 54.25% of the votes, beating Phạm Việt Thắng's 45.75%. Janice released her coronation song "Love You in Silence", which contains lyrics in both English and Vietnamese language, as a single after the show.
Post-season, Janice released a new Vietnamese-language singled called "Tâm tư" in 2017. Janice cited language barriers as to why she had yet to make a breakthrough in Vietnamese music industry.