LookAtVietnam – Ngo Kien Huy, who began his career as an unknown singer, has become a heartthrob among southern teenagers.

Singer Cam Ly has cultivated a unique style with the help of her agency, Kim Loi Studios.

Soon he signed with Music Box Entertainment Company to manage his career and he has since been taking the music scene by storm and driving young fans crazy – especially teenaged girls – who scream his name at live shows.

Though Huy is confident in his abilities, he admits Music Box has been indispensable to his rise to stardom.

“Without my manager, I was just a singer who loved music enough to devote my life to a singing career,” Huy told online music magazine NhacVietPlus in a recent interview.

Singing on stage like professional singers is a dream for many young singers, and not many can achieve the dream.

Huy is one of the lucky few in that he signed up with his agency as one of their exclusive performers.

Music Box organises music shows and arranges recording sessions with DVD producers for Huy.

“[It] also encourages me to improve my vocal technique and dance skills with specialists from famous centres like the HCM City Music Conservatory,” he says.

Truong Quynh Anh, another successful singer, was in the Music Box stable for just a couple of months before she hit pay dirt.

Though she said goodbye to the agency last year, many of her fans still think she is a Music Box girl.

Music Box Entertainment is managed by pop star Thanh Thao, who has 15 years of experience in the field.

The agency has invested significant money and resources in the training of Huy and many other pop singers like Ngan Khanh and Nam Cuong.

New business

“Becoming a skilled singer is not easy for any youngster even if she or he is a promising talent,” singer-lyricist Thanh Thao, director of Music Box, says.

“We select talented singers and train their voices and perfect their performance styles,” she says. Her company is like a bridge that connects singers and their fans, she adds.

A spokesman for Kim Loi Studios Company, who does not wish to be named, says it was the huge demand from aspiring young singers that led his company into the music industry in the first place.

He says some of young stars like Huy can never succeed on the concert or recorded music circuit without agencies like his. “Compared with other singers who work alone, they have taken a shortcut to their dreams,” he says.

Kim Loi, which was set up in the 1990s, is a pioneer in developing the professional music market. The company created top singers out of unknowns like Quang Vinh and Cam Ly.

“An experienced manager will teach you how to become the best performer you can,” Cam Ly says.

Through her agency, she has cultivated a folk style that is not simply an imitation of veteran artists but is identifiable as her own unique style.

Good market

There are several agencies in HCM City managing musical talent – Vafaco Company, HT Production, Music Faces, and Wepro – and training young singers and pop bands. Some individuals, like musician Ha Dung and designer Viet Hung, also act as mentors to aspiring young performers.

As more young girls and boys dream of becoming pop stars, many are spending a lot of time and money to attract the attention of agents in the hope one of them will provide the start required for a successful career.

“I have limitations … [but] I still have the right to dream. One day, I’ll be a pop star. Why not ?” says Nguyen Thi Minh Phuc of Dinh Quan district in Dong Nai province.

She is one of hundreds of teenagers across the country who have signed up to take part in a reality show launched by South Korea’s Rainbow Media Co this month.

The Viet Nam Super Star Contest is meant for young female singers and dancers. Organisers have announced that the winner will get a US$10,000 prize and a one-year scholarship to train in South Korea’s Goguryo University.

The contest will become an annual feature if this year’s event is a success, RainBow Media has said.

Following in the footstep of RainBow, music agencies in India and Thailand also see Viet Nam as a promising music market.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News