Sizzling singer Ho Ngoc Ha believes keeping quiet, hard-working and courageous would bring her to the singing triumph

She is an unquestioned success as a model. Like quite a few of her peers, she has used her modeling as a stepping stone to a career as a singer. By most accounts, she has made it. But is Ho Ngoc Ha a diva?

Those who object say it isn’t that one can leave the catwalk behind and turn into a recognized singer in the blink of an eye.

Six years ago, Ha sent a demo CD to Huy Tuan, a musician renowned for the success of Vietnamese diva My Linh. In the CD, Ha revealed a low-pitched voice which is quite rare for female singers.

“Ha had all the potential to become a star. However, she was an inexperienced singer then, so I asked her to get some more vocal training before we could work on her first album. Ha was serious about her singing career, otherwise she wouldn’t have flown to Hanoi to see me. Notably, she had a solid music background, having studied the piano for seven years. I believed she could make it, and she did,” says Tuan.

By asking Ha to take vocal courses, Tuan says he also aimed to put her through a patience test to see if she really wanted to be a ‘real’ singer or was content to remain an amateur.

Even after becoming Ha’s producer later on, Tuan says a veteran singer told him he should never risk his reputation by promoting a model to a singing star. But Tuan knew he couldn’t disappoint someone with true passion.

Tuan says there can be a ‘success formula’ of sorts that turned Ha into the pop star she is today, 50 percent of which would involve assistance from her collaborators, including musician-composer Duc Tri, 30 percent from her own voice, 10 percent from choreography and 10 percent from promotion.

Initially involved in several music projects with the most celebrated singers in Vietnam like Thanh Lam, Hong Nhung and My Linh, music composer Duong Thu says he really appreciates Ha for her achievements in the entertainment industry in which she is now a leading artist.

However, Thu says if he was to promote Ha as a new ‘diva,’ he would have to think again, since a pop star doesn’t share anything in common with a ‘diva.’

What makes a diva?

As a judge of several singing contests, Thu doesn’t seem to be impressed by Ha’s singing ability.

“Ha has an ‘addictive’ voice, but it lacks inner strength to move her audience. I heard Hong Nhung singing “Papa” in Hai Phong when she was still a sixteen year old girl. Standing back stage, I was absolutely speechless! I saw that some people had started to cry.”

“It’s the inner spirit of a singer that counts,” Thu says, adding that Ha hasn’t been able to move him at this point or maybe she hasn’t had the right songs to allow her inner power to grow.

Thu differentiates a ‘singing artist’ from a ‘performing artist.’ According to Thu, an audience listening to music and an audience watching music are totally different, although singing sometimes involves performing and vice versa.

“Michael Jackson and Madonna are both worth watching and listening to. They are real singing stars. No singer has been able to do this in Vietnam by a long shot,” says Thu.

Famous fashion designer Cong Tri compliments, “Ha is a pretty picture that doesn’t need any more colors. As an audience, I admire her performances. As a designer, I admire her extraordinary height, but above all, I admire her as a catwalk beauty queen being able to turn into a successful singer.”

Singer Siu Black, a Vietnam Idol judge, says Ha has perfect physical potential (good looks, great figure) and a perfect collaborating team with professional musicians, make-up artists and fashion designers. Thanks to them, Ha enjoys a professional working environment.

“Being beautiful and being able to sing is different. Ha has to show off her singing ability in order to rub out her image as model-turned-singer to become a ‘real’ singer. We used to share the same stage so I believe Ha can go further than just a model-turned-singer, providing she improves and continues singing live onstage.”

Reported by H.Anh