Competition launched for foreign and overseas Vietnamese singer-songwriters

Foreign singer-songwriters living in Vietnam will have a chance to showcase their talents in music composition and singing at the Tinh Ting Tinh Music Composition and Performance Competition.

The competition is co-organized by Vietnam Television's VTV8 channel and Online Music Copyright Joint Stock Company (MCM Online).

Winners will receive substantial cash prizes, with the first prize worth nearly US$21,000 and the prize for potential foreign contestants worth over US$4,000.

According to musician Le Minh Son, creative director and producer of MCM Online, the competition provides a platform for young and talented musicians to showcase their performance skills while promoting their unpublished musical works.

The competition is a platform for young composers to become professional singer-songwriters. Photo: Ngo Minh/The Hanoi Times

MCM Online will provide the contestants with media sponsorship and copyright protection. They will also help promote their work professionally by signing contracts with artists.

Musician Le Minh Son affirmed that this makes the Tinh Ting Tinh competition different from others.

The contestants have the opportunity to showcase their talents in a variety of musical genres such as pop, rock, jazz and hip-hop during the competition.

They are allowed to sing in foreign languages such as English, French, Japanese and Korean, demonstrating the global integration of Vietnamese music.

With a focus on promoting new musical works, the competition is expected to serve as a launching pad for marketing such works in Vietnam and abroad.

Explaining the name of the contest, the musician said it is a sound that brings joy and has a musical quality similar to the ringing of a bell, which can stimulate and awaken an artist's creativity.

Homeland and Love is the theme of this year's competition, and authors are asked to submit works that express their identity and arouse people's pride in the heritage of their homeland. By promoting the country's regional characteristics, this theme is expected to make a significant contribution to the development of culture, education and tourism not only in each region, but also in Vietnam as a whole.

Musician Le Minh Son introduced the rules of the competition earlier this week. Photo: Ngo Minh/The Hanoi Times

The competition will feature musicians who will provide one-on-one guidance to contestants to help them perfect their work, hone their presentation skills, and build their public image. This is another special attribute of the competition, as it provides opportunities for contestants to build a career after the competition.

The jury will be composed of eminent experts in Vietnamese music, such as musician Le Minh Son, Giang Son and journalist Lam Thanh, also the director of VTV8.

The preliminary round is scheduled to take place between September 6 and December 5 this year. The regional semifinals will be held between March 2 and June 10, 2024, followed by the national final on June 24, 2024.

The full broadcast schedule will be available each week on the VTV8 channel. In addition, MCM Online and VTV8 will post photos and videos of the contestants' training process on their social networking sites.