During her participation in Sao Mai, a prestigious professional music festival, Nui was considered a mature contestant, with a stable performance, a wide range of sounds, rare sharp notes, and a very smart way of choosing songs. She also had a very confident style of competition, competing as if acting, meaning she was very immersed in her role, very invested but not concerned with winning or losing. “I didn’t think I would win the championship, but I competed with the utmost comfort, the prize was not important. Looking back, I always think that it was a milestone of my youth, a mark of my acting career.”
No one would have thought that the singer with such a handsome face and stage presence was once a professional player of the SLNA U17 tournament. Nui said: “I came to football with a burning passion, always dreaming of becoming a professional player, playing in the main team. And every time I went on the field, I forgot all my fatigue, only knowing about the ball”. Nui joined the SLNA youth team when he was 11-12 years old, eating football and sleeping football since then. Every 2 pm in winter or summer, blazing sun or stormy wind, Nui regularly went on the field with the spirit of a boy carrying the career of shorts and numbered shirts. “My mother felt sorry for me when she saw me practicing under the sun and rain, but when I have a passion, it is extremely difficult to stop”. Then, through annual training, Nui was selected to join the SLNA U17 team and thought for sure that he would stick with this path.
Mother Nui, an actor at the Provincial Center for Traditional Arts, although she discovered her son had musical talent since he was a child, she could not persuade him to pursue an artistic career, even though she knew he would become famous. “Seeing my son’s passion for football made me feel very sorry for him, because he had to endure many hardships due to physical injuries and worries about his future. And then when I saw that my son had artistic talent, I did not dare to discuss changing his career path, because I thought he was not destined enough.” But then, after a long-term injury, Nui decided to quit football, much to the regret and disappointment of his teammates and even himself.
“When my son decided to quit football in 10th grade, I discussed with him that he should try his hand at singing. If he didn’t succeed, it would be okay. I didn’t expect him to be valedictorian of the Military University of Culture and Arts, to my extreme joy and his surprise,” said singer Trinh Van Nui’s mother.
“Having to say goodbye to football made me feel regretful and sad, but singing is also my second passion, so after deciding on the path I would take and dedicating myself to it, I felt relieved and gradually got used to the thought that I would become a professional singer, not a professional player anymore,” Trinh Van Nui said.
Since childhood, Nui has been a good singer and the center of attention of the crowd whenever he holds the mic. Nui covers trendy songs intelligently but simply with his own way of thinking and feeling.
The turn from football to music usually only meets the criteria of a talented amateur student, but with the highest score of the class, Nui surprised his family and friends. "Of course, being the valedictorian has many advantages when entering the path of studying music, but I also have to try very hard to be able to participate in the best way". And the memories of the music student began with the difficulties of training. "Having chosen it and committed to it, of course, the love for the profession is increasingly multiplied. But to stand with the profession, new music students must always strive to practice from vocal techniques to stage collisions. What I remember most is the day I was able to go on stage but had to use crutches because I unfortunately broke my leg".
It is impossible to describe all the difficulties and confusion that a provincial music student had to experience, because when entering the profession, each individual must have enough perseverance and breakthrough. Then, when he finished his studies at the school, Nui was recruited directly into the Military Region 7 Art Troupe. He was highly appreciated by the troupe's leaders, friends, and colleagues, and had high expectations for the upcoming journey.
“Then, with the encouragement of my teachers and also wanting to test myself, I researched prestigious vocal competitions. And the goals set in each stage of the journey in the competitions began again.” In the first competition, The Voice Kid of Da Nang, I “immediately won the championship” to my own surprise. Although I was commented to have a wide and bright voice range and an expressive resonance in the central area, the most important thing in the competition is still the expressiveness in the emphasis, in the creativity, and in transforming into the character of the work that I intend to convey.
Coming to Sao Mai by chance, by thinking, competing to gain experience, she only had a short time to inform her family and received encouragement from her mother. "Parents do not have much to prepare for their children, only spiritual companionship and encouragement that the competition is a big stage, competing to test one's abilities and not to focus on winning or losing", said singer Trinh Van Nui's mother. So she entered the competition with the utmost confidence, as a singer singing for fun on a big stage.
However, to stand on the big stage, players like me must be alert and have a very strict level of training. From choosing songs to entering a piece, there must be advice from experts, as well as the right choice of oneself. The songs that were carefully edited with good arrangements such as: Too long (Vinh Khuat), Cuoi ngay (The Flood), Lieu troi (Do Trung Dung), Hoang hon thang 8 (Pham Toan Thang) were all performed by me with the dedication and true emotions of a mature artist. These are also the works that brought me memorable milestones in the rounds from the regional to the national finals.
“I especially like the song “Lây trời” (Pray to the sky), it is a song about a social theme, the flood that just passed with heavy damage, and “Lây trời” is also the heart of a child who is far away, longing for his motherland like me. So I sang this song with all the heart of a child from the Central region. Maybe that is why I touched the emotions of the judges and the song brought me to the pinnacle of glory in the final ranking night,” said Nui.
A singer from the countryside who was not well-off or trained since childhood, Trinh Van Nui believes that to have this glory is fate, this fate is like when I am passionate and dedicated to football, it makes me sublimate, to be myself. Therefore, when asked if football and singing have anything in common, Nui replied, they also have something in common, which is to find your own identity, and never waver from the path you have chosen.
Just like its name, each milestone and destination are mountains to overcome, arduous but also glorious and happy.