Scandals continue to plague Vietnamese versions of reality shows, which have already lost their appeal to local viewers.

The latest reality scandal has occurred on Vietnam’s second season of the “MasterChef” reality cooking show, which aired its first episode on national TV channel VTV3 on Saturday last week.

A few days ago, Chung Chi Cong and his wife, Tran Thi Thanh Thao, both Top 40 contestants, posted accusations of corruption and lack of professionalism on Cong’s Facebook.

Cong is quite a public figure. He made it to the final of the Young Lions Competition, an international competition held by Cannes Lions for young talents in advertising, media and marketing.

He is also known among local netizens for his unique online videos.

According to Cong, when he and his wife signed up for the show, they asked representatives of the show if his wife would be disqualified for running an eatery, as the competition does not allow professional cooks to compete.

They confirmed that she would be able to compete.

During the show’s first episode, the four jurors unanimously agreed to let Cong’s wife enter the Top 17 after they tasted her dish.

However, the jurors then took an intermission, after which they announced that the organizers would check on the scale of his wife’s eatery.

Cong and his wife waited for quite a long time, but received no phone call or documents from the organizers.

Cong then phoned the show’s organizers to inquire about his wife’s results, and to his dismay, was told that she had been eliminated.

The man also expressed his frustration on his Facebook page that during the audition round, all the contestants had to wait for their turn to try out for the show from 6:00 am until well into late evening.

However, a female contestant arrived at the venue at 4:00 pm, protesting that she had been sick.

The show producer immediately switched the order of several other contestants and allowed the girl to audition right away.

While the other contestants were allowed only 10 to 30 minutes to prep their food and cook it, she was given up to 30 to 45 minutes for the tasks, with all the cameras focused on her the whole time.

To the other contestants’ frustration, she was allowed to enter the Top 40.

Cong also accused the show’s editors of purposefully making it seem that the jurors’ comments on the woman were about another contestant.

His Facebook status soon received almost 4,200 likes and 900 shares.

The show organizers announced on Thursday that they would rebroadcast Cong’s and his wife’s session in its second episode, which was scheduled to air at 8:00 pm on VTV3 on Saturday night, so that viewers could see the entire story for themselves.

They have yet to comment on Cong’s accusations so far.

Similarly, a number of TV viewers have expressed their frustration at the coronation of Thanh Tung at the “Ngoi Sao Viet” (Lotte VK Pop Super Star) finale on Saturday last week.

The “Ngoi Sao Viet” reality show, which is the collaboration between a local company and a Korean partner, required that contestants perform mostly K-pop songs with Korean stars’ signature choreographed dances and styles.

Tung, with an average singing voice and mediocre dancing skills, somehow beat his best friend, Hoang Son, to earn the title and the whopping VND7.5 billion (US$353,008) prize.

Tung, who purportedly took Son to the show and happened to join the audition, competed unsuccessfully in previous rounds.

He was not picked by the three group leaders, including Son, who were outstanding performers and thus earned the right to form their own groups.

Tung was also almost eliminated from one of the rounds.

Similarly, a female contestant who was “saved” in one round competed in the finale.

Viewers suspected that crowning Tung a “saved” contestant was planned with the intention of adding a dramatic element to the show.

Reality shows no longer ‘real’

Corruption is also suspected in such programs as “The Voice of Vietnam” and “The Voice Kids.”

In the first season of “The Voice of Vietnam,” a famed musician/singer was suspected of fixing the results for a contestant.

The first season of “The Voice Kids Vietnam” last year also drew harsh criticism from netizens for adults’ interference with the final results.

Twelve-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.

Anh’s coronation was quite a surprise to viewers who strongly believed that My Chi, with her folk songs, would win the show.

Before the finale, two dispatches thought to be issued by the Thanh Hoa Province Department of Education and Training and the provincial Dong Son Ward People’s Committee on September 5 and 6, respectively, were circulated 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.”

With a shortage of talents and viewers’ waning interest, reality show producers have resorted to tricks and even dirty gimmicks to gain viewers’ attention.

Contestants, particularly the women of “Big Brother Vietnam,” stripped off nearly all their clothes to shed as much weight as possible during one of the show’s challenges in a December 2013 TV broadcast.

A few months ago, local viewers were also outraged when singer Anh Thuy tricked them by dressing up as a poor, scar-riddled coffee attendant and made up a pitiable story in one “The X-Factor” episode.

Thuy, who had hidden her real identity with a mask and a woolen hat, successfully aroused sympathy among many viewers, who were soon frustrated to learn that she was tricking them.

To make it worse, the show organizers denied any knowledge whatsoever of Thuy’s real identity.

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