Alice Linh is hot property after coming in second at Swedish Idol 2008.

Sweden’s latest pop sensation doesn’t know about her Vietnamese birth mother and her twin sister, but she’s about to find out.

Alice Cecilia Linh Svensson was born in Vietnam in 1991 but grew up in Hedesunda outside Gävle, Sweden from the age of ten months.

Realizing that she could sing with the best of them, Alice competed in talent quests like Super Troopers in 2004 and was the runner-up in Joker two years later.

She appeared in the children’s show Lattjo lajban, Talang in 2007 and won that year’s Popcorn. Coincidentally, Popcorn was the name of the pop group she recorded an album with when she was only thirteen years old.

But her greatest achievement on stage, so far that is, was in the 2008 Swedish Idol, where she came second in the Globen final on December 12.

A Swedish reporter named Moniqa Swalas wrote a few articles about Alice that came to the attention of Thanh Nien, which decided to get in touch with her foster parents.

The secret of the up-and-coming teenage artist was revealed together with the identity and whereabouts of her Vietnamese mother thanks to the zeal of Le Cao Tam, general director of the tour company Motherland Heritage Ltd. Tam has a formidable reputation for tracking down missing people and has helped reunite hundreds of families in the past ten years or more.

Alice was born Nguyen Thi Huong Linh and has a twin sister named Hoai Linh. Their mother Nguyen Thi Thu Hien is originally from Thai Binh Province but lives in Hanoi these days.

After much time and trouble, Thanh Nien finally received a seven-page letter from Hien full of love for her far-off daughter and sadness that she had to lose her baby after her husband walked out on the young family and left the 20-year-old mother to struggle alone.

“I spent months thinking about giving my baby up for adoption before making up my mind. I will never forget that terrible day. My whole world collapsed but I had to do it as I couldn’t bring her up, not in my situation.

“The doctor suggested I offer Linh to a professional family. She was healthier than her sister. And she has a birthmark on the back that is easy to recognize,” Hien says.

Her circumstances have changed for the better but Hien is still haunted by the memory of her little girl.

Through Moniqa Swalas, contact was made with the adoptive parents. Alice’s foster mother, Katrin Svensson, was deeply touched when she saw a photograph of Alice’s mom and twin sister.

“I was moved to tears when I saw the picture of her sister. They are exact copies of each other, and her mother is beautiful. I can understand that they are waiting to hear from us. Tell them that we just need more time,” Katrin wrote in an email to Thanh Nien.

“Because Alice is away touring, we haven’t told her about the picture yet. I think it will be an emotional experience for her when she sees her sister.”

In another email, Katrin said that Alice has no memory of her origins since she was so young when she left Vietnam.

“Alice would be very surprised and of course happy about any contact, but we have to think how the news could affect her life,” Katrin said.

“She has always been curious about her origins but her career comes first. She is working hard and doing a lot of touring, and she could be making an album soon. Her focus right now is on becoming a major artist, so we’ll have to wait and see what develops.”

“In 2007 our whole family went to Vietnam for a holiday. It was a very nice trip and we love Vietnam very much. We hope we can go back some day and meet Alice’s biological family,” Katrin said in another email.

That could be soon as Thanh Nien wants Alice to appear in the Duyen Dang Viet Nam (Charming Vietnam) variety show in January. “We think it would be really great if Alice could take part,” Katrin wrote.

Hien has written to Stejvan and Katrin Svensson to make clear her wish to meet her daughter again and to thank the couple for raising Alice so well.

Reported by Dang Ngoc Khoa