"Vietnamese music is so fun"!
“The sky is strangely blue, the sun is pouring on the young leaves…” - the fresh lyrics in the latest “hit” that is making waves on social networks and reaching the Top 1 trending music on YouTube by Tung Duong are probably also the “landscape painting” of Vietnamese music with “strangely joyful” movements. For the first time, the “brother” game shows - which are considered to be more selective in terms of audience (and advertising) than the “Sister” shows - have spectacularly swapped positions in a way that couldn’t be more surprising. Gone are the days when Vietnamese music was “yin prevails over yang” with the “overwhelming” of Divas and “Sisters”. And now is the time of “yang prevails”. From “Anh trai say hi” to “Call Me by Fire” not only bombed the television and overshadowed the show “Sister Who Makes Wave” (which had clearly lost its popularity after season 1), but also quickly “crossed the fence” from the small screen to live concerts and caused “terrifying” sold-out tickets, with everyone and a series of “young girls” competing to get tickets for “anh trai”. It has been almost a billion years since Vietnamese music has been able to leisurely take a bite of that sweet cake: There are not enough tickets to sell, by their own attraction, in a context where big artists have even had to cancel or postpone shows because they could not get sponsors or had no hope of selling tickets.
It is worth mentioning that it is not only the victory of young people and public faces but also the beauty of the dialogues between generations, young and old together. Coincidentally, the live show "Singing Man" (held in November 2024 in Hanoi and early December 2024 in Da Nang) by Tung Duong coincidentally "caught the big brother trend" that is especially popular: All the guests are young male singers/musicians, instead of choosing Diva guests as usual. Previously, Tung Duong's album "Multiverse" also gathered many dynamic young faces. "Last year, a series of young names landed in Tung Duong's project. The album has Antonie Lai, Tang Duy Tan, Double2T, Mono..., all Gen Z. The live show has Soobin, Trung Quan, Double2T... And next year, there will definitely be unexpected collaborations, with many famous young rappers and producers planned...", Tung Duong excitedly said.
Unique combination ideas from directors and game show producers, along with the sublimation and creativity of the players, including experienced veteran stars and young music stars full of fresh energy, have brought the music market close-up suggestions. After the game show, the teams (full team or shortened team) stepped straight from the TV to the big stage and flooded the music market with a series of live concerts selling tickets or year-end customer appreciation shows of major brands, helping audiences (of all ages) enjoy eye-catching and ear-pleasing music parties with strange concepts, familiar yet strange songs with new arrangements and new stagings, bold and surprising mixing formulas that can only come from young minds.
Do you remember a time not too long ago, Vietnamese music was considered "yin prevails over yang", with the "trump card" role always belonging to the "Sisters" and the oversupply of male singers with many "yin" voices with baby faces, "handsome" and sentimental songs, also dominated the charts like anyone else. Now is the unstoppable time of the "older brothers", it can be said that Vietnamese music has never been so "masculine", with concepts that not only show the fresh, healthy, energetic beauty of young or rejuvenated people, but also exude a "team spirit" of strange teams, unexpected "team combinations". “The fact that “brother” shows touch the audience, I think it may come from a very natural thing: Usually, men are easier to form teams with, and the team spirit in men is often more natural, more open and generous, so it is easier to win the audience's sympathy,” commented Diva Thanh Lam, who recently participated in the game show “Our Songs”.
“Just have fun, but not too much fun!”
The days of “everyone goes their own way” in the music industry are over. “In the past, I called my path “The One Way”, but now it has turned into “The Multiverse”. Music is now a parallelism, not a monopoly anymore. Being a monopoly means you play alone without a companion. What comes will come. It is a common trend, in the world too! I think music is limitless: Age, generation..., don't let the difference in your generation limit or hinder your creativity!”, Tung Duong - who just had a very “smooth” 2024 in his career, commented. “Now is the time to come closer than ever. You can't do art in a fragmented way. Fragmentation will not allow you to think big, do big things”, the singer of “Rebirth” added.
“Before, I was mainly familiar with the soloist role, until I participated in the game show “Our Song” recently, for the first time as a player. Now is the time when teamwork skills are needed more than ever, to be able to expand the scope of self-renewal and reach more new audiences,” Diva Thanh Lam commented. “The good thing about young people at this time is that they not only update and grasp new trends well, but while trying to integrate with the general flow of the world, many young people have a deep interest in Vietnamese identity and are aware that this is the best launching pad for them to go further,” she added.
But on the one hand, the former female “leader” of the music industry also did not forget to gently remind: “Have fun, but don’t have too much fun!” Because if you are not careful, having too much fun, getting caught up in acting, “adding legs to the snake” too much, can also become too much and mistakenly think that it is creativity, inadvertently causing a lack of necessary silence and calmness.
“2024 has witnessed the explosion of game shows and music production technology in Vietnam can be said to have never been so perfect, synchronized and professional. But don't forget, game shows are just a trend in the general flow, they are more about entertainment and cannot fully represent the development of the country's art, and are not the only measure. And it is not significant in terms of artistic creation. Because it is also limited by still being competitions with established formats... But clearly it has spread widely with formats that are attractive to the entertainment market, thereby creating breakthroughs. The advantage of game shows is to accelerate and warm up the personal names of many artists. The disadvantage is that it leads to saturation if everyone participates in game shows. Don't forget that there are things that only live shows can fully reflect the artistic value...", the person who went from "Unique" to "Multiverse" commented.
“Just have fun, but don’t have too much fun” is also a gentle reminder to each “microcosm” in the “multiverse” reference system. “I always like to establish my position in the multidimensional space of the universe, as a microcosm. Putting myself there is not to let loneliness swallow me up, but to help my soul become more open and less deified by my ego,” Tung Duong said. “Musician Quoc Trung once gave me a very correct advice: Never consider yourself a special person! Only when you don’t consider yourself a special person, will you have simpler and more relaxed ways to solve problems...”.
Vietnamese music, in that way, has gained a rosy, fresh look instead of being forced and "trying to appear dangerous", as it used to be somewhere!
“Now is the time to come closer than ever. Art cannot be done in a fragmented way. If it is fragmented, it will be impossible to think big or do big things.” (Tung Duong)
“The good thing about young people today is that they not only update and grasp new trends well, but while trying to integrate with the general flow of the world, many young people have a deep interest in Vietnamese identity and realize that this is the best launching pad for them to go further.” (Thanh Lam)
(Posted on the special edition of Labor Weekend Spring At Ty)
