In the opening episode broadcast on the evening of April 3, Trang Phap entered the solo round with the song "Moonlight" composed by herself. In just about 90 seconds, the female singer continuously showed many skills from playing piano, singing, multi-language rap to pole dancing. The climax of the performance was the moment of hanging upside down on the pole while still handling high notes, creating a strong stage effect.
The performance was highly appreciated by the judges for its comprehensiveness and stage control ability. As a result, Trang Phap won narrowly with 382 points, 3 points more than Vuong Mong. This is considered a successful "debut" of the Vietnamese representative in a large-scale playground in China.
However, what is controversial lies in this score itself. On the social network Weibo, many Chinese viewers believe that 382 points is too low compared to what Trang Phap showed. Many opinions believe that this is the most outstanding performance in the first episode but does not exceed the 400 point mark, while some performances that were rated lower have unusually high scores.
The comparison further stirred up public opinion when other contestants such as Ham Thanh Tu or On Tranh Vanh received superior scores even though their performances were not highly appreciated. This made many viewers question the scoring criteria, even doubt the fairness of the program.
In the opposite direction, there are also opinions that Trang Phap's victory is reasonable, but the low score partly reflects the limitations of the performance. Some viewers commented that the female singer is "greedy" when bringing too many elements into a short performance, making the overall performance dense and lacking clear highlights. The continuous transition between skills also partly affects the stability of the voice.
However, the media effect that Trang Phap created cannot be denied. Immediately after the program aired, many keywords related to her entered the search top on Weibo. Chinese media previously also appreciated the female singer, even comparing her to a "Vietnamese version of Thai Y Lam" thanks to her diverse performance ability.
Trang Phap's mark right from the first round shows her potential to go deep in "Dap gio". However, the controversy surrounding the scoring method also poses a significant challenge for the program in maintaining transparency and convincing the audience in the following rounds.
