Artist Thanh Hai: Coming to art with a sincere heart

Memorable steps

If anyone has ever seen Thanh Hai on stageVoice of the Year 1998surely cannot forget the extremely simple but passionate image of the girl born in 1980, from Minh Chau commune (Dien Chau) when she sang the passionate and soulful melodies "Dau Phai Due Mua Thu" by Phu Quang. Listening to Thanh Hai's performance, many audiences had to exclaim that this young person has such an emotional voice. However, few people know that this girl has never been to a vocal training school. She sang with her sincere feelings and told the love story in her own way with a rare deep Anto voice.

With that impressive performance, Thanh Hai won the Special Prize of Nghe An Television Singing Contest in 1998. She recalled: That time I went to the competition but I had nothing but my God-given singing voice. No rehearsal, no coach, no hired musicians to arrange music or a band to practice to get used to the stage... The representative of the Jury said: "The reason for the Special Prize is because this girl is so special, she has outstanding talent and a very confident performance mindset even though she has not been trained". After this competition, Thanh Hai was selected to compete in the regional Television Singing Contest, but it coincided with the High School Graduation Exam schedule so she had to put her passion aside.

7 years later, Thanh Hai continued to participate in the 2005 Television Singing Contest, at this time her singing voice was at its peak, Thanh Hai was an actress of the Provincial Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe. All the songs she tried her hand at this most prestigious competition of the year were songs with Northern folk melodies, such as "Da mong chong", "Dan co" composed by musician Le Minh Son, "Dan ty ba" composed by An Thuyen. When she sang with her powerful voice, the entire audience was silent. In those years, people compared her to diva Thanh Lam because of their similar "voice colors", both were contralto Anto with a husky, expressive quality.

Previously, after winning first prize in the provincial round, she was selected to compete at the regional level, once again she was highly appreciated and entered the round of 3 people selected to compete at the national level. However, before entering the decisive round, a judge advised her to choose the song "Dan Ty Ba" instead of the song "Da Trung Chong" which she loved so much. Normally, if receiving advice from the judges, contestants will change their minds, because they think that the judges have given them the most correct choice. However, Thanh Hai was different, she bravely kept her original choice. And once again, due to her convincing performance, Thanh Hai with "Da Trung Chong" continued to be 1 of 3 light music contestants selected to compete in the final round of the National Television Singing Ranking.

Although she did not achieve high results in the national exam, Thanh Hai said that she had interesting experiences throughout her youth. Going to a singing competition was like going to a performance, going to the competition without any preparation in terms of resources, but she was still innocent and devoted to her performances. In particular, when she sang "Dan Co" by Le Minh Son, many listeners predicted that she would make a name for herself in the contemporary music market, with her experienced emotions and techniques used in the high notes that she fully demonstrated.

When asked why, after such great success through singing talent competitions, Thanh Hai did not find a big ocean to spread her wings and freely create and contribute, Thanh Hai simply answered that she wanted to be with her family, wanted to be close to her parents, wanted to repay the Nghe An Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe (now the Provincial Traditional Arts Center), which was the first unit to discover and train her to have today.

The girl sings love songs

Since childhood, the girl from Hoan Chau has sung very well love songs for adults. Those are the works of musicians Thuan Yen, Thanh Tung, Nguyen Cuong, Phu Quang….

Everyone thought Thanh Hai would be the highlight of the school's art programs. However, she was not that core. Thanh Hai said that she often stayed behind the stage to organize the program for her friends to perform, she knew how to teach dancing, how to mix music for her friends, but she did not express herself. This is also difficult to explain, but Thanh Hai said that for some reason she did not like the praise and applause, but only wanted to stay behind so that when needed, she could "show off".

Perhaps family was the motivation for Thanh Hai to come to the stage lights, since she was young, she was encouraged by her parents when participating in the stages in the commune. Her mother saw that her daughter sang very well sad love songs, rich in narrative. Thanh Hai said that it was her mother who chose the song "Dau Phai Due Mua Thu" for her, and she won the Special Prize in the Nghe An Television Singing Contest when she was only 17 years old.

As the third child in a family of four siblings, Thanh Hai’s family is in a difficult situation, and it is impossible for her to provide enough food and education for her children. Therefore, when the representative of the Provincial Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe came to recruit students, Thanh Hai immediately registered to compete, both to test her ability and to study for free to help her parents. Unexpectedly, right from the first notes, Thanh Hai was accepted by the troupe, and promised to ensure funding for her to study and have an income when she joined the troupe.

Thanh Hai said that the time working in the troupe since being sent to study until now, has been a time of joy, sadness, ups and downs like the music of life. However, what remains in her is gratitude, gratitude for being able to work in a united environment, gratitude because the troupe's leaders always choose her as the main singer in the National Music and Dance Festivals. And it is because of the favorable conditions of the unit's leaders that Thanh Hai has always won prestigious medals. Typically, the Silver Medal for the trio "Trai que toi", the Silver Medal for the duet "Buoc di khong dung dung" at the National Music and Dance Festival in 2018 and 2021. And especially the Gold Medal at the National Music and Dance Festival in 2024 with the work "Bay giu dong Lam" by Pham Phuong Thao.

This is a work about the desire to rise up and express the spirit of a Nghe An native, with climaxes written by the author on the basis of Ballad music and Ca Tru-inspired notes. This is a work that, according to Thanh Hai, best represents her personality, both upright and sincere but also very passionate. Thanh Hai believes that to fulfill the mission of an artist, one must first cultivate a beautiful soul and a heart that loves life, then all success will knock on the door.