Ho Ngoc Ha is planning for a new single, a trans-Vietnam tour and her debut solo show

Ho Ngoc Ha is not letting a little economic slump slow her career.

“The financial crisis isn’t a burden,” she says. “There’s no pressure, especially for the coming concert. I’m lucky that I have a lot of sponsors, but how well I perform is another matter.”

Is it risky to release a new single, music video and live show at the same time during an economic slump?

Ha says she’s optimistic because she believes in what she’s doing.

“The single includes an energetic dance song, and a really loveable love song. I love that song so much… I think the audience will like it.”

And Ha says her career is so much more than a single or a concert.

“But I won’t be judged on just one live concert,” she says. “Looking at my career from the past to the future, a live concert is just one landmark, a distinct portrait of Ho Ngoc Ha and her music. I’ll sing with everything I’ve got and each audience will have its own opinion.”

Ha has already achieved far more than many of her critics said she would when she made the switch from modeling to singing a few years ago. She’s already the most recognizable face on major advertising campaigns throughout Vietnam and her singing has won her several major Ho Chi Minh City Television awards, including “Singer of the Year,” and The Thao Van Hoa (Sports and Culture) newspaper’s prestigious Cong Hien (Devotion) award, given annually to one artist from any discipline.

The 25-year-old’s new single, which includes two bonus tracks and two music videos, is set to be released in July as a teaser for what everyone says will be an extravagant live concert.

Also in the pipeline is the major Music Faces Tour, in which Ha and several singers from the Music Faces Entertainment Company will celebrate the record label’s fifth anniversary with a trans-Vietnam tour July 3-19.

Anh Khoa, Le Hieu and Phuong Vy will also be performing alongside Ha.

Ha says that despite the crisis, she’s in her prime.

“I’m focusing on music,” she says. “I’ve even had to refuse several roles in movies.”

One in a million

The industry’s reaction to the rising star has been mixed. Noted composer Duong Thu described Ha as a “phenomenon,” saying the artist is a “performer” not just a “singer.”

But famed composer Huy Tuan said at least 50 percent of the credit for Ha’s “success formula” should be given to the artists she works with, such as musician-composer Duc Tri. Tuan said 30 percent was due to her own voice, 10 percent to choreography and 10 percent to a good advertising campaign. More and more young were aspiring to become the second Ho Ngoc Ha, Tuan said.

But Ha doesn’t see that happening.

“There will be no second Ho Ngoc Ha. To succeed, an artist must be himself or herself, not a copy.”

She says every one should follow their dreams, but she has what she calls “sincere advice.”

“It’s totally wrong to think you can become a singer because of your beauty.”

Asked if it was easy for her to succeed, Ha is reflective.

“I remember how hard it was and all the depression I went through along the way.”

Ha says part of that came from a heart-breaking romance with Duc Tri, who produced her first hit work.

“I no longer believe in the long-lasting and head-over-heals love,” she says. “I am a demanding woman, and need my lover to love me more and more each day. But that’s unrealistic. There is nothing like that. Now I focus on working.”

Ha says many open-minded Vietnamese women are now taking the more independent route in life.

“It is not what I choose for life but what life chose for me,” she says. “And I enjoy it.”

Reported by Thao Dien