Girl from Russia won first prize in Sao Mai 2015 chamber music category

Nguyen Bao Yen led the chamber music category while Hoang Thi Hong Ngoc and Nguyen Thi Thu Hang won first prize in light music and folk music respectively.

The final round of Sao Mai 2015 was held on the evening of August 15 in Thanh Hoa. For each genre of music, the contestants had to perform two tests including solo and duet. The art council included musician Duc Trinh, Meritorious Artist Quang Vinh, musician Giang Son, Meritorious Artist Quoc Hung, singer Phuong Nga, Meritorious Artist Tan Minh, singer Pham Phuong Thao, Tung Duong, musician Tuan Phuong and Meritorious Artist Trinh Le Van.

Three contestants won first prize for three genres: chamber music, pop music and folk music (from left to right): Bao Yen, Hong Ngoc and Thu Hang.

Nguyen Bao Yen won first prize in the chamber music category with two songs, Khuc Hoa Mi solo and Time to say goodbye duet with contestant Nguyen Tien Hung. In her performances, she demonstrated standard performance techniques and a strong voice.

Previously, Nguyen Bao Yen and Nguyen Tien Hung were considered two equal competitors for the first prize of the contest. Some people leaned towards the winner of the 2014 Hanoi Voice because they thought his deep voice was quite rare in the modern music industry. The way Nguyen Tien Hung showed his ability in the final round was not inferior to his opponent. However, perhaps because of the advantage of being trained in Europe - the origin of chamber music, the girl who was compared to "Vo Hong Quan" rose ahead.

Bao Yen and Tien Hung were once considered two promising candidates for the first prize of Sao Mai 2015.

The first prizes of Sao Mai 2015 in the folk music and pop music categories this year went to Nguyen Thi Thu Hang and Hoang Thi Hong Ngoc respectively. This year, the two categories for folk music and pop music were not as attractive as chamber music. The inappropriate song selection exposed the weaknesses in both voice and technique of most contestants.

Even Nguyen Thi Thu Hang and Hoang Thi Hong Ngoc could not avoid certain mistakes. The song Vong Quoc with its classical opera sound made Thu Hang reveal her weakness in breathing when performing. It was not until Gap Nhau Giua Rung Mo that she regained her form.

Meanwhile, the solo songs Da hon mot lan and Chuyen tinh song ca co Le Van Dat also did not highlight the strengths in Hong Ngoc's voice and technique in the final night. However, in general, the performance of the first prize winner of Sao Mai 2015 in the light music genre was still more outstanding than the other contestants, and the choice of a solo song with a contemporary sound created a difference from the remaining "safe" songs.

The organizers' decision to include a duet competition caused much controversy in the final night of Sao Mai 2015.

The inclusion of the duet competition also caused controversy on the August 15 competition night. On the page for the online Arts Council, musician Xuan Thuy shared that he found the duet unnecessary because Sao Mai is a highly professional competition, different from other talent search entertainment programs. "Don't put too much emphasis on maturity and experience here. Besides, the contestants will only focus on the solo singing part, so the duet will be weak, and the overall final night will not be complete," he added.

The organizers said there were three reasons for including duets in the competition night. First, if the 12 contestants performed a song of their choice and a song according to the organizers' regulations, the program would exceed the allowed time. Second, the duets would create something new to attract the audience. Third, it would help the contestants gain more experience and demonstrate their coordination skills. To ensure fairness, the organizers set the score for solo singing as a coefficient of two and for duets as a coefficient of one.

Overall, the Sao Mai 2015 final was still highly appreciated because it had many new points compared to previous years, from the way the competition was staged to the efforts to help the contestants overcome the rut of choosing songs. The faces that won high prizes such as Bao Yen, Tien Hung... also satisfied the audience because they gathered enough qualities in terms of performance, singing voice and their own identity on stage.

Sao Mai 2015 Results

First prize

- Chamber Music: Nguyen Bao Yen

- Folk Music: Nguyen Thi Thu Hang

- Light music: Hoang Thi Hong Ngoc

Second prize

- Chamber Music: Tran Thi Bich Ngoc, Nguyen Tien Hung

- Folk Music: Nguyen Thi Hong Duyen

- Light music: Hoang Thi Thuy

Third Prize

- Chamber Music: Le Thi Dung

- Folk Music: Tran Huu Tuan, Nguyen Thi Song Thao

- Light music: Le Van Dat, Nguyen Duc Tien

Contestant with most votes from the audience: Le Thi Dung

Promising Award: Bui Thi Cam Huyen, Hoang Thi Ai Linh, Le Hong Phi

According to VnExpress