Once a star, singer Thanh Thảo failed to keep up with market trends, falling behind and often causing controversy whenever she covers pop songs.
The most recent song Thanh Thao cover is Rebirth (composed by Tang Duy Tan) has a well-produced music video, featuring her husband, businessman Tom Han, in the acting.
After one month of release, the music video only garnered a meager 11,000 views. On popular social media platforms with young audiences like TikTok and Threads, the cover version was flooded with negative and mocking comments.
"The vocal embellishments are exactly the same as in the 'Love Melody' era," "She should learn from Minh Tuyet and My Tam - they're from the same generation but their musical thinking keeps up with the times," "This voice is only suitable for singing together in bars now," "1,000 missed calls from Tung Duong," "Overseas singers seem stuck in the previous decade," "Outdated musical thinking"... these are some of the comments that attracted thousands of interactions.
Notably, this is just one of many instances where Thanh Thảo's cover of pop songs has sparked controversy.
The term "hero"...
The story of Thanh Thảo, from an 11th-grade student to a star, one of the iconic names of the golden age of Vietnamese music, has inspired many younger artists in the profession.
At the age of 16, while a student at Hung Vuong High School, Thanh Thao was taken by her grandmother to the Bach Tung Diep stage to ask the manager to let her sing as a backup singer while the main singer was still waiting to arrive.
At that time, Thanh Thảo was still using her real name, Phương Thảo. When the audience heard the MC announce her name, they thought she was Phương Thảo, the singer in the duet with Ngọc Lễ, who was very popular at the time, so they applauded loudly. When they saw an unfamiliar face, they gasped in disappointment, which left her feeling very let down.
Thanh Thảo quickly rose to fame, not necessarily by luck, but it can hardly be called hard work or a struggle compared to many of her colleagues.
She loved Duc Tri, and he wrote a song for her. This meant a great deal because back then, any singer who got to sing Duc Tri's music almost had a chance to change their life.
Besides Duc Tri, Thanh Thao also received support from Lam Truong, Ngoc Son, and many other artists - something not every "newcomer" gets.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that Thanh Thảo was once very astute about the market.
She rose to fame by following the common path of singers at that time: the charts. The Blue Wave with hit songs like How could I forget "The Sweetness of Your Lips "... forging its own path by pioneering the singing of Thai songs with Vietnamese lyrics - distinct and unique compared to the market that favors light music, Chinese songs with Vietnamese lyrics, or "instant" music.
Before copyright laws existed, Thanh Thảo exploited almost to the limit the number of lively, catchy foreign songs. Oh Oh Oh, Noi Noi Noi by China Dolls; OK Na Ka by Katreeya English...
These songs are mostly in the eurodance genre – a popular pop-dance style from the late 1990s and early 2000s – but the Vietnamese adaptations always feature Thanh Thảo wearing hip-hop outfits, breaking up, and often incorporating rap.
Back then, hip-hop in general and rap in particular were just beginning to flourish in the indie market, but they were still new to mainstream audiences.
Therefore, Thanh Thảo contributed to promoting hip-hop and rap to the general public. She was also one of the rare singers who released music videos abroad at that time.
Overall, Thanh Thảo's case is interesting because it combines elements of luck and success with the singer's own hard work, acumen, and creativity.
At her peak, Thanh Thảo was a shining star, her name overshadowing many of her colleagues in the same segment. Many in the industry still remember the incident where her fans gathered, displaying banners that read "The Green Wave without Thanh Thảo will no longer be green" to protest the absence of their idol's name from the Top 10. Most popular artist this award.
...to controversy
In addition, Thanh Thảo also made her mark by successfully building the "Doll" brand. After this period, her music entered a period of decline.
Thanh Thảo spent a long period working in overseas markets, attracting a specific audience, but at the same time, her name gradually faded in the domestic market.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Thanh Thảo often livestreamed her performances for her audience, including covers of popular songs, which received positive feedback.
After the period from 2019 to 2021, she officially pursued her passion for singing cover versions of popular hit songs such as Upstairs, songs like "Cutting Sorrow in Half," "Meeting But Not Staying," "Tomorrow She's Getting Married, "... and others have continuously sparked controversy.
In all her cover versions, Thanh Thảo sings in a cheesy, overly sentimental style, with excessive embellishments and wordplay; furthermore, the arrangements are often superficial, rudimentary, and even overuse tune to the point of being offensive and controversial, as in the case of this song. We met, but I didn't stay .
At her peak, she wasn't a good singer and lacked a foundation in vocal technique (despite having studied with singer Ha Chau), which caused many musicians and recording studios to complain.
Over time, she has never shown any improvement in any aspect, from singing to interpreting songs. In fact, her musical thinking has even regressed after her time working in the overseas market.
In the three years following the Covid-19 pandemic, Thanh Thảo's cover versions of popular youth songs repeatedly went viral on social media in a negative way.
Even the MV Upstairs Thanh Thảo became a satirical icon when she transformed into the character Wednesday with her signature dance moves in the hit movie of the same name. The product attracted many mocking and sarcastic comments on various platforms.
Many Gen Z viewers admit that they first came to know Thanh Thảo through these kinds of videos, enthusiastically following her like any other comedic trend on the internet.
Criticized for her outdated style, Thanh Thảo once argued that this was a distinctive singing style that had been preserved for nearly 30 years. However, she failed to realize that her contemporaries like Phương Thanh, Minh Tuyết, Mỹ Linh, Mỹ Tâm... are now loved by audiences and eagerly requested to sing covers of contemporary music, even though they still maintain their signature singing style.
Therefore, Thanh Thảo's core problem lies not only in her singing style but also in her complete lack of market awareness, including audience preferences, music production standards, music production processes, and the prominent figures of the time within those processes, as well as music trends, technology, and media.
Without these elements, her product is obviously "stuck" in the 2000s.
After their peak, many singers like Dan Truong, Hong Ngoc, Cam Ly... choose to maintain their careers with the foundation they have built.
Others choose to reinvent themselves, embracing the new trends in music. For this group, staying up-to-date is paramount. In today's fiercely competitive music market, many singers adopt a "bareheaded" mindset, only to face humiliating consequences.
Thanh Thảo was once a leading star in the market, and that will never change. Currently, she is still in high demand for shows overseas and has her own dedicated audience.
Therefore, Thanh Thảo has the right to choose to operate within her comfort zone or seriously reinvent herself, keeping pace with the contemporary market, if she doesn't want to continue losing favor in the eyes of domestic audiences.
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