Tears of the candy seller caused a stir at 'X Factor 2016'

(Baonghean.vn) - Recently, the Nghe An boy who specializes in busking and selling candy Le Cuong "caused a stir" at the X Factor 2016 program on VTV3 when he made the judges debate fiercely. Thanks to his passion, emotion and singing ability, he convinced the judges to enter the competition round.

Le Cuong on the X-Factor stage.

Le Cuong is from Quynh Tam (Quynh Luu). Cuong has loved singing since he was a little boy. At the age of 4 or 5, he sang all day long. His parents often complained that "his mouth babbled all day long like a radio and never got tired".

During his primary and secondary school years, Cuong was already a famous "artist" at school, in the neighborhood, and in the commune. His family was poor and did not have the opportunity to listen to music, so Cuong often went to his neighbor's house to listen to music from a tiny cassette player. He knew all the songs on the tapes the neighbor had. On days when he was busy with housework or studying and could not go over, he would stand behind the house and listen until the tape was finished.

In high school, Cuong loved singing and music even more. But his parents absolutely did not support their son to follow this path. Cuong still secretly sang, played the flute, and went to music classes at a center dozens of kilometers away from home.

Le Cuong burns himself out on stage

Having no money to buy musical instruments, Cuong had to make the final move of secretly taking his parents' money to save up to buy a cassette player and a guitar. Sometimes it was five thousand, sometimes ten thousand. After months, he was finally able to buy both the radio and the guitar. When his parents discovered the guitar after hiding it for a while, Cuong was severely beaten by his parents. They still refused to let him pursue music, forcing him to return the guitar. At that time, Cuong cried a lot.

After graduating from grade 12, Cuong asked his parents to let him take the entrance exam to the art school but they still did not agree. He had to take the entrance exam to a school according to his parents' wishes but the university gate did not smile on him. After that, Cuong joined the army to complete his military service. During that time, he never lost his passion for music.

Leaving the army, he decided to go to the South to work as a construction worker and painter to earn money to support his passion. The work was hard but the pay was low, so Cuong returned to his hometown to retake the exam. Cuong was admitted to a maritime college in Ho Chi Minh City. But it seemed that the blood of music had seeped deeply into him.

After graduating from college, he had no intention of working in the field he studied. He decided to stay in Saigon to pursue his dream and passion. He started with all kinds of jobs: parking attendant, salesman, waiter, bar manager... Every time he passed by music stages, Cuong often stopped, looked up at the posters of famous singers and dreamed. And just like that, his passion became more and more intense than ever.

Cuong earned a small amount of money from his daily work. He knew that passion alone was not enough, the most important thing was that he had to have a basic foundation in music. Cuong started studying vocal music at some centers in the city. But the path to music and to the audience was not easy. Cuong still did not have a place on the stage even though he had completed the courses.

A real-life Le Cuong selling taffy and singing on the streets

At the same time, while eating with friends, Cuong saw a busker and a candy vendor nearby. Cuong ran out and asked to sing with him. After that, finding this job interesting and able to nurture his passion, Cuong decided to quit his job as a bar manager to sell candy and busk.

Up to now, Cuong has been a “street artist” singing and selling candy for 3 years. But he still feels sad because his parents have not supported his singing career. During all this time, he has always hidden his current “career” from his parents. But on the contrary, he has the support of passersby, who still listen to him sing when he pulls his “sound system” past. They share and sympathize with him when listening to his singing.

Still "burning out" on the "stage" on the sidewalk

Cuong confided: He pursued the “job” of busking because he was so passionate, but it was not uncommon to feel bitter. Today here, tomorrow gone is a fact, many times he was singing but had to run away because he was chased away by restaurant owners, or warned by the police for causing noise and disorder.

However, he still refused to give up. Rain or shine, he still went everywhere with his “tools”. He said: “Maybe I sing for passion rather than to make money”. And many times, he cried because of his life, hardship, difficulty and humiliation.

He has also released a number of his own music products and has been enthusiastically supported by the music community: Tinh yeu tra tra trang sao, Cho su long em, Xot xa, Nu cuoi biet ly... Most recently, Cuong released the song Than gai xa nha and was very well received by music lovers. This is a song Cuong devoted a lot of his heart to giving to the children of Nghe An who are far from home. Currently, Cuong's personal Facebook page has more than 9 thousand followers and supporters.

Dragging a loudspeaker on the streets every day, Le Cuong hopes to one day stand on stage and nurture his dream of becoming an artist.

Through all the hardships, Cuong still hopes to become a true artist. And Cuong appeared in the X Factor 2016 competition organized by Vietnam Television, broadcast on VTV3. After many efforts, going through 3 preliminary rounds, 1 reunion round, with enthusiastic performances, Cuong conquered the judges and entered the next round. Cuong shared: "I hope to be loved and supported by everyone for my passion, especially the people of Nghe An, my hometown, who always follow and support me."

Thien Thien