Once a star, singer Thanh Thao does not keep up with the market so she falls behind, often causing controversy every time she covers pop music.
Latest song Thanh Thao cover is Rebirth (composed by Tang Duy Tan) was filmed in a well-made MV, with her husband - businessman Tom Han - participating in the acting.
After 1 month of release, the MV reached only 11 thousand views. On the most popular social networking platforms such as TikTok, Threads, the cover was flooded with negative and mocking comments.
"The way of singing is exactly like the time of Love Melody", "You should learn from Minh Tuyet, My Tam - the same generation but musical thinking keeps up with the times", "This voice is only suitable for singing together in bars", "1,000 missed calls from Tung Duong", "Overseas singers seem to be stuck in the previous decade", "Old-fashioned musical thinking" ... are comments that attract thousands of interactions.
It is worth mentioning that this is just one of many times Thanh Thao has covered controversial pop music.
From "meritorious"...
Thanh Thao's story from an 11th grader to a star, one of the typical names of the golden age of Vietnamese music, has inspired many juniors in the profession.
At the age of 16, as a student at Hung Vuong High School, Thanh Thao was taken by her grandmother to Bach Tung Diep stage to ask the manager to let her sing as a backup singer when the main singer had not arrived yet.
At that time, Thanh Thao still used her real name Phuong Thao. When the MC announced her name, the audience thought that singer Phuong Thao in the duet with Ngoc Le was very famous, so they clapped loudly. When they saw a stranger coming out, they exclaimed in disappointment, making her feel very disappointed.
Thanh Thao quickly became famous, not necessarily by luck but it can hardly be called hard and thorny compared to many of her colleagues.
She loved Duc Tri and he wrote a song for her. This was very meaningful because at that time, any singer who got to sing Duc Tri's music almost had a chance to change their life.
Besides Duc Tri, Thanh Thao is also supported by Lam Truong, Ngoc Son and many other artists - not every "rookie" has that.
However, it should be noted that Thanh Thao was very sensitive to the market.
She rose to fame through the common path of singers at that time, the charts. Blue Wave with hits like Who can forget, Sweet Lips ... just went their own way as pioneers in singing Thai music with Vietnamese lyrics - separate and unique compared to the market that favors light music, Chinese music with Vietnamese lyrics or "instant noodle" music.
In the time before copyright law, Thanh Thao almost exhausted the use of exciting, catchy foreign music. Oh Oh Oh, Noi Noi Noi by China Dolls; OK Na Ka by Katreeya English...
These songs are mainly in the eurodance genre - a popular pop-dance style in the late 1990s and early 2000s - but the Vietnamese versions always feature Thanh Thao wearing hip-hop clothes, breaking dancing, and often combining rap.
At that time, hip hop in general and rap in particular were budding and thriving in the indie market but were still new to mainstream audiences.
Therefore, Thanh Thao contributed to promoting hip hop and rap to the public. She was also one of the few singers who went abroad to make MVs at that time.
In general, Thanh Thao's famous case is interesting because it has elements of luck, ready-made food, as well as the singer's own efforts, acumen and creativity.
At her peak, Thanh Thao was a shining star, her name overshadowing many colleagues in the same segment. Many people in the profession still remember the incident when her fans gathered and hung a banner saying "The Blue Wave without Thanh Thao will not be blue anymore" to protest the fact that their idol's name was absent from the Top 10. Most popular artist this award
...to controversy
In addition, Thanh Thao also made her mark by successfully building the "Doll" brand. After this period, her music fell into a series of low notes.
Thanh Thao has a long period of activity in the overseas market, attracting her own audience, but at the same time her name gradually fades in the domestic market.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Thanh Thao often livestreamed to sing for the audience, including covering pop music, receiving positive feedback.
After the period of 2019 - 2021, she officially pursued her passion for singing covers of popular hits such as Upstairs, Cut the sorrow in half, Meet but don't stay, Tomorrow people get married ... and constantly cause controversy.
The common point of all the covers is that Thanh Thao sings cheesy, melodious, and wordy songs; next, the arrangements are often superficial, sketchy, and even overuse tunes to the point of being offensive and controversial, like the song Meet but do not stay .
At her peak, she was not a good singer and had no foundation in vocal techniques (even though she studied with singer Ha Chau), causing many musicians and recording studios to "complain".
Over time, she has never shown any improvement in any aspect from singing to composition. Even her musical thinking has gradually regressed after working in the overseas market.
In the 3 years after the Covid-19 pandemic, Thanh Thao's pop music cover products have repeatedly gone viral on social media in a negative direction.
Even, MV Upstairs became a satirical icon when Thanh Thao transformed into the character Wednesday with the signature dance in the hot movie of the same name. The product attracted many mocking and sarcastic comments on various platforms.
Many Generation Z audiences admitted that they first learned about Thanh Thao through these types of products, and excitedly followed her like many other funny trends on the internet.
Being criticized for being old-fashioned, Thanh Thao once argued that this is a unique singing style that has been preserved for nearly 30 years. However, she did not realize that her contemporaries such as Phuong Thanh, Minh Tuyet, My Linh, My Tam... are being loved by the audience and are eagerly requested to sing covers of pop music even though they still maintain their unique singing style.
Therefore, Thanh Thao's core problem is not only in her singing style but also in her complete lack of updating the market, including audience tastes, music production level, music production process and typical contemporary faces in that process, music trends, technology, media...
Away from these elements, her products are obviously "stuck" in the 2000s.
After their peak, many singers like Dan Truong, Hong Ngoc, Cam Ly... chose to maintain their careers with the foundation they had built.
Others choose to change themselves, to blend in with the new flow of music. For this group, updating is a prerequisite. In the context of the current fiercely competitive music market, many singers have the mindset of "catching a thief with bare hands" and then receive a humiliating ending.
Thanh Thao used to be a typical star of the market, this will never change. Currently, she is still quite in demand overseas, has her own audience segment.
Therefore, Thanh Thao has the right to choose to operate in a safe zone or seriously renew herself, keeping up with the contemporary market, if she does not want to continue to lose the sympathy of domestic audiences.
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