Bitter fruit among sweet fruits

The salary when I first came to Saigon was 100,000 VND for a performance of 2 songs.

In life have you ever had to choose music over something else?

I realize that my artistic path up to now has been quite smooth and lucky. I had to choose when I was a student at Thang Long University and joined the Watermelon band. At that time, I was in a lonely situation when Watermelon was known by many people but was forced to choose the path of parting ways so that each person could keep their own career. Going back to university or pursuing a singing career, I chose the more challenging path of dropping out of school to go to the South to start a solo career. On February 20, 2000, I left Hanoi with nothing but confidence, no money, and an unstable singing voice. At that time, in my head, there was only a simple hope that I would have new experiences, earn my first money as a solo singer to support my mother and support myself, then if I had extra money, I could save up to do something.

How did those days of nothing but confidence go?

I had to go to each music venue to audition. Luckily, everything went smoothly because the people of Saigon already knew that I was a member of the Watermelon group. At that time, Saigon had countless music venues. If you were healthy and loved, you could sing 10 shows on weekdays and 12 or 13 shows on weekends. I sang from 9am at Dam Sen Park, went home to rest, and at 12pm sang somewhere else. At 2-3pm, the bars opened to welcome guests and I continued singing like that until night. The salary at that time was 100,000 VND for a performance of 2 songs. And I earned more money than I thought.

When did you make the breakthrough from a venue singer to a top singer in Vietnam?

That was in 2002, that was the time when seniors like Phuong Thanh, Quang Linh, Lam Truong all organized their own mini shows. I thought that if they could do 10, I could do 4-5, I spent all my money on the live show... and sure enough... I lost money, like all my live shows up to now, the most recent show also lost 300 million.

Why don't you cooperate with show organizers to avoid losses?

It is true that show organizers know how to reduce expenses and attract audiences, but I want to do what I like, sing the songs I like and prepare carefully and make sure that all the people who come to my live show are people who really love Tuan Hung. Not only me but all singers who organize their own live shows lose money, but no one regrets it because it is also a way to show gratitude to those who love them.

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