Sao Mai Diem Hen was once both professional and popular.

In the nostalgia of the 8x and early 9x generations, Sao Mai Diem Hen is a new wave, a time when young people were willing to skip breakfast all week to... vote via text message for their favorite singer.

Ngoc Anh, Tung Duong, Ngoc Khue, Ha Anh Tuan are singers who came from Sao Mai Diem Hen but their paths were different - Photo: NVCC

It's been a long time since Nguyen Ngoc Anh's solo album. After Late Blooming Flower, an album very Hanoian, very poetic, very romantic, very autumnal, very sweet, the flower hid itself, it took her 5 years to make From the Heart and almost twice that time to make Promise.

Sao Mai Rendezvous Ngoc Anh and Ngoc Khue

Ngoc Anh's voice is so beautiful, that is both her advantage and her limitation; such a beautiful voice is often framed in beautiful music or beautiful lights.

Perhaps that's why The Promise is a way for Ngoc Anh to break out of her cocoon, not completely breaking it, just opening it up to see if there's anything else. But think about the fact that she's over 40, definitely not the age to explore.

The Promise is Nguyen Ngoc Anh's 4th album - Photo: BTC

Right from the opening song, The Last Waltz, although still inheriting the love song color associated with Ngoc Anh's voice, we can see that voice has new movements, sharp, concise, and bouncy; in Dong Sang Di Mong, a song with electronic sounds, Tung Duong created a dreamy and perfectly excited space before Ngoc Anh sang.

It seems that it is rare to hear Ngoc Anh's voice as angry and resentful as here, although her pronunciation is still round and clear like her name, which made her known to a wide audience from the Sao Mai Diem Hen contest nearly 20 years ago.

Earlier this year, another female singer also came out of Sao Mai Diem Hen (albeit in a different season), Ngoc Khue, also released Dao Choi, an album made on vinyl, with new arrangements of the songs that made her name: Chuon chuon ot, Giot dew bay len, Ben bo ao nha minh, and Ba toi.

Singer Ngoc Khue

Nowadays, many young singers associate themselves with contemporary folk music, all of whom say they are inspired by traditional Vietnamese cultural heritage, whether it's folk songs or folk songs, quan ho or cai luong, but when Ngoc Khue first appeared, she was truly unlike anyone else.

And perhaps no voice is as convincing as Ngoc Khue's.

Listening to her sing "Grandma" or "Chun Chong Chit" again in a melodious ambient mix, recorded with a sophisticated 3D sound system in every echo, her sweet and sour voice echoes to paint a vivid scene of the Northern countryside.

Thi Mau was still flirtatious, still flirtatious, the way she pronounced each last word of her sentence was still like a flirtatious invitation.

Music that is both professional and viral

In the nostalgia of the 8x and early 9x generations, Sao Mai Diem Hen was truly a new wave of music at that time, it was the time when young people were willing to skip breakfast all week to... vote via text message for their favorite singer.

Looking back, it seems that the same program created the idea of ​​a music market that harmonized two factions: the real faction like Tung Duong, Ngoc Anh, Anh Khoa, Ngoc Khue and the entertainment faction like Hoang Hai, Ha Anh Tuan, Minh Thu.

At that time, people did not need to ask whether they should choose talent or "idols", because the professional side still had entertainment value, and the entertainment side still had rich creative energy. They created music that was both professional and broadcast nationwide, and also created a fever among young people.

We still see this spirit in many Sao Mai Diem Hen artists who are still active today.

Tung Duong sings Rebirth by Tang Duy Tan

Like Tung Duong, he no longer keeps his distance from "commercial music", he is living in his "multiverse" (as the name of his album last year), diving into creative territories light years away from the earth, duets with pop phenomena, then a few months later sings love songs by Pham Duy or Nguyen Anh 9 (like in the vinyl project The Voice - Timeless).

Needless to say, Ha Anh Tuan, at his peak, created a new wave of music consumption in Vietnam with his live shows, creating a whole new concept of music evaluation (for example, "civilized music").

Ha Anh Tuan shares the stage with his close friend Den Vau - Photo: BTC

Although there is still debate: Is Ha Anh Tuan truly creative or a media master? Does Ha Anh Tuan sing well or badly?, he still opens his own path, takes a path that no one else takes, or no one else can take, like putting his name next to Asian legends like Kitaro or Yiruma.

Of course, the next wave pushes the previous wave. Music competitions are getting more and more evolved and attractive. Young artists are not lacking in talent and entertainment. But nostalgia is still nostalgia, and sometimes we still dream about the time of Sao Mai Diem Hen, 20 years ago.

Hien Trang

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/sao-mai-diem-hen-mot-thoi-vua-chinh-chuyen-vua-gay-sot-20251123090052406.htm