Although the first season of the singing reality show “The Voice Kids Vietnam” concluded last weekend, the contest has remained a hot topic for netizens due to the incidents related to it.

On September 7, 12-year-old Thanh Hoa native Nguyen Quang Anh beat his two rivals, Phuong My Chi and Tran Ngoc Duy, to become the first winner of the reality show in Vietnam, with 215,903 votes from the audience. The champion, who was a surprise to people who strongly believed that My Chi, with her folk songs, would win, later caused stir on the Internet as his supporters and critics expressed their opinion on the victory.

Authorities call for reality show voting

Before the final night, two dispatches thought to be issued by the Thanh Hoa Department of Education and Training and Thanh Hoa’s Dong Son Ward People’s Committee on September 5 and 6, respectively, were shared online. In the documents, the authorities called on local officials, teachers and students to vote for Quang Anh in order “to help Quang Anh, a son of Thanh Hoa, fly higher with his talent and passion for singing.”

The documents immediately attracted criticism from netizens expressing their disagreement with the authorities’ involvement with an entertainment kid’s show.

Responding the incident, Vu My Long, the Thanh Hoa Department of Education and Training’s deputy chief of staff, told Tuoi Tre that the dispatches, with the agreement of the department’s leader, were issued to tell people to watch Quang Anh’s performances on the show’s finale and support him, not to force people to vote for him.

“There’s no problem with the dispatches,” Long confirmed.

However, on September 8, Le Van Hoa, the deputy director of the same department, told Tuoi Tre that he did not know about the dispatches.

“I would have not have approved the dispatches if I had been asked for approval,” he said. “In my opinion, the Thanh Hoa Department of Education and Training shouldn’t issue such a dispatch, which interrupted a kid’s show. TV audiences are the most subjective voters,” he added.

According to some local lawyers, issuing calls for voting on a reality show is not what local authorities are responsible for.

“This creates a bad precedent, when local agencies, instead of paying attention to their duty, step into showbiz by issuing dispatches influencing an entertainment show,” Nguyen Sa Linh, a member of the HCMC Bar Association, said.

“Education and training departments or local authorities have no managing function in a contest like “The Voice Kids.” In fact, Quang Anh’s win was a convincing victory, but not because of the two dispatches. The documents even destroy the clarity of the show,” Vo Xuan Trung, another member of the HCMC Bar Association, added.

The issuing of the two dispatches raised concerns among many people, who wonder if adults interfered in a kid’s playground too much, and if the adults’ ambition to win overpowered the children’s dream of just being on stage and singing.

Kids’ show, adults’ songs

The show has also attracted criticism for its use of adult songs in kids’ performances. One of the most controversial performances was Phuong My Chi’s “Dem Ganh Hao Nghe Dieu Hoai Lang” on the final night. The song, written in the form of southern traditional music, was considered too plaintive for a child to sing.

Musician Vu Duc Sao Bien, the composer of the song, also said that his song is not suitable for a 10-year-old girl. The musician said he wrote the song for adults, with very plaintive lyrics that also require excellent vocal technique.

“Letting the girl sing the song on stage is like letting her wear an oversize outfit. It doesn’t fit her pure soul and vocal technique,” he expressed. “It’s not her fault, it’s the adults’ fault.”

Gains and losses

Furthermore, local netizens focused on a roughly 7,000-word letter by Luong Quoc Thai, father of Luong Thuy Mai, a contestant on the show, shared with Tuoi Tre. In his letter, Thai, who is from Hanoi, shared the experiences he, his daughter and other families whose children participated in “The Voice Kids” had been through.

It’s not only that the kids had to take tough and stressful training courses in an attempt to win the show, their parents were also put under pressure to take care of them, balancing their expenses while following the regulations of the show’s organizers.

Eleven weeks of staying in HCMC so his daughter could take part in the show cost his family VND50 million (US$2,358). He said his family paid a very high price to discover his daughter’s talent, but he and his wife had never thought that their daughter would be a professional singer.

Thai also pointed out what his daughter gained and lost after the show. She gained chances to shine through her talent, to learn from the show’s coaches, and to be loved by many people. However, he called the contest a costly game because it has no further program to train the kids after the finale and doesn’t offer them any music orientation. Besides, the fact that parents had to spend a lot of time accompanying their kids also disappointed him. According to Thai, just because a kid wins this show doesn’t mean he can be a singer right after the show.

Musician Phuong Uyen, music director of “The Voice Kids Vietnam” also expressed her disagreement with bringing kids into showbiz at such young ages.

“The children can perform if they are invited, but taking them into the professional music performing industry will harm them. I don’t support that,” she shared.