Attractive Game Show "Familiar Faces"

(Baonghean) -While recent music programs on television are often heavy on quantity but light on quality, “Familiar Faces” has brought a new breeze. By imitating a famous singer from appearance to style, singing voice to be as similar as possible, all contestants try to create innocent laughter for the viewers.

If at first the audience paid attention to the program because they were curious to know how the participating artists would play the roles of other famous people, then later that interest turned into affection, even admiration for the contestants' transformation skills. The humorous "scrutiny" of judges Hoai Linh, My Linh, Duc Huy was also an important factor contributing to the success of the program.



Funny judge of "Familiar Faces".

Nguyen Van Thang, a student of the Faculty of Literature - Vinh University, shared: "There has never been a music program that I have looked forward to so much. I get to listen to good songs performed by simple voices, and laugh out loud at the "gender transformation" of male contestants into female stars." With the criterion of transforming as closely as possible into the singers they have chosen, the contestants, whether they are famous artists like Dai Nghia, Phuong Thanh or foreign guy Kyo York, all work hard to practice and carefully research everything from the appearance, performance style, to the voice of the singer they will perform in the competition night.

To have a great transformation, the contestants' talent is required to be very high, both in appearance and voice. In live show 6, Dai Nghia played the role of My Linh very successfully with the song "On the top of Phu Van" by musician Pho Duc Phuong. He shared that all week, no matter what he did or where he went, he always imagined himself as My Linh and sang "On the top of Phu Van". The lingering notes, the glances, and facial expressions were all carefully studied by Dai Nghia, causing the judges and audience that night to laugh heartily.



Dai Nghia's performance as Tung Duong in live show 9.

It is easy to see that, although singer Phuong Thanh is a professional singer, her imitations do not create an effect on the audience, even though Phuong Thanh's performances are invested very carefully. It was not until liveshow 9 that Phuong Thanh's performance moved the audience, not because of her transformation but because of the emotion from the song that Phuong Thanh performed.

The young face Khoi My, who did not appear convincingly in the first two live shows, quickly affirmed her talent when she continuously received the highest score when performing Dang Le Quan or Justin Bieber. With songs by Ha Anh Tuan, Lam Truong or Ho Ngoc Ha, Kyo York proved his ability to sing Vietnamese skillfully, not only in melody and pronunciation but also in the Vietnamese soul in the foreign guy. With the performance "Hanoi, Faith and Hope" when playing Dang Duong, Kyo brought excitement and emotion to the audience, judge Hoai Linh had to exclaim: "Thank you for showing me your love for my country through this song".

In “Familiar Faces”, the audience does not feel “cheated” because the judges’ scoring scales are based on the criteria: the contestant must be able to best portray the character they are portraying. Most of the judges have a relatively even scoring scale for a contestant, and any contestant who receives a score of 7 does not have a heavy mentality, the contestant who is highly rated with a score of 12 is mostly given that score by the TV audience. Not only does it attract young audiences, the program also creates excitement and makes an impression on older audiences. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Ky in Cua Nam ward - Vinh city, shared: “Pressing the button to choose the person the contestant will portray is also completely random, increasing the appeal of the game show. In addition, if the contestant wins the prize in the competition night, he/she will contribute 50% to charity addresses, this also has a very good effect on viewers, showing that playgrounds are increasingly focusing on practical responsibility for social security”.

Although it has created a good effect on the public, this game show cannot avoid regrettable flaws. From Phuong Thanh causing discomfort because of her "responsibility to play a naughty role" to the contestants' expensive investment in costumes, making the audience feel that any music show on television is competitive. Moreover, since it is a less professional show, there should not be supporting dance performances like Chi Thien transforming into Pham Quynh Anh, Phuong Thanh into Madonna. The show itself is attractive because of the main characters, so the appearance of the dancers creates the feeling that the organizers "directed" it so that there would be no "bad performances". And because of that, the natural feeling that the actors themselves bring is not what the audience wants.

Anyway, for the first time appearing, this new music game show was warmly welcomed by the audience.

Thanh Nga