The ọnghátViệVoice of Vietnam () is a reality television singing competition created by John de Mol. It premiered in Vietnam in July 2012 on Vietnam Television. The format is Dutch and the original Dutch version of the programme was broadcast in the Netherlands for the first time in 2010 as The Voice of Holland. The programme was commissioned after a successful first season in the United States, where it aired on NBC domestically and AXN Asia regionally. It is produced by Cát Tiên Sa.
Format
Contestants are aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. The show's format features three stages of competition. The first is the blind audition (vòng Giấu Mặt), in which four coaches listen to contenders without seeing them, and turn their chairs to signify that they are interested in working with that contestant. If more than one coach turns the chair, the contestant chooses the coach he or she would like to work with. The blind audition ends when each coach has fourteen (Vietnamese version) contestants to work with. Coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their singers, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success. Since Season 5, the Blocks (chặn) are added. Coaches can block another coaches to prevent them from having an artist. In Season 6, coaches can press the block button even after they turned their chair but they can't block the special coach.
The competition then enters a battle round (Vòng Đối Đầu), when the coaches pick two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After the one-on-one battle on stage, the coach must choose which singers will advance to the next round, which can be either the Knockouts or the Live Shows. Another twist is added on Season 2, the Steal. Coaches can steal two losing artists from another team and they will be switching to that team. In Season 4, coaches only have one wildcard save and can't steal.
The Knockout Round was added in season two, adapting from the U.S version. In this round, two contestants from the same team are paired against each other to sing individually in succession. Contestants are not informed who their opponents will be since coaches will decide the pairs directly onstage. At the end of the two performances, only one contestant will be saved by his/her coach to advance to the Live shows.
In the live performance phase of the competition, contestants from each team compete against each other during a live broadcast. The television audience vote to save one contestant from each team, leaving the coach to decide live who they want to save and who will not move on. In the semi-final round, the public directly chooses between the two contestants left on each team based upon an online music video produced and released by the executive producers.
Finally, each coach will have his/her best contestant left standing to compete in the finals, singing an original song. From these four, one will be named "Giọng hát Việt" (literally: "The Voice of Vietnam") - and will receive a cash prize of and a recording contract with Universal Republic Records.
Coaches and hosts
On March 14, 2012, four coaches were chosen, namely Thu Minh, Trần Lập, Hồ Ngọc Hà, and Đàm Vĩnh Hưng. They each guided a team of fourteen. The first season is hosted by Phan Anh, former host of Vietnam Idol, while V.Music band, including four members, and Phương Mai take the role of backstage and social media correspondents respectively. After the finals of the first season, Thu Minh announced her departure from the show for a European residency. Hồ Ngọc Hà and Trần Lập did not return as well due to professional reasons. Three new coaches recruited for season 2 were Mỹ Linh, Hồng Nhung, and Quốc Trung.
On March 6, 2015, Tuấn Hưng confirmed he would become a coach for the show's third season. A week later, Đàm Vĩnh Hưng was announced to be returning to the show for his third season. On April 13, 2015, the coaching panel for Season 3 was officially confirmed as Tuấn Hưng, Đàm Vĩnh Hưng, Thu Phương, and Mỹ Tâm. Phan Anh continued his job as host in Season 2 and Season 3.
Coach Trần Lập died after a long battle with rectal cancer on 17 March 2016.
On January 4, 2017 it was announced that Thu Minh would return to her red chair for the show's fourth cycle after two seasons of absence; while former Vietnam Idol Kids judge Tóc Tiên as well as two coaches from The Voice Kids, Đông Nhi and Noo Phước Thịnh, would be joining the show as coaches. This marks the first time in any franchise of The Voice worldwide to have three female coaches and only one male coach. The fourth season is hosted by Nguyên Khang, former host of The X Factor Vietnam.