| Mỹ Tâm | |
|---|---|
My Tam on stage (2011) |
|
| Background information | |
| Born | January 16, 1981 Da Nang, Vietnam |
| Origin | Vietnam |
| Genres | Pop, dance-pop, acoustic, blues |
| Occupations | singer, composer, dancer, actress, musical director |
| Instruments | vocals, piano, guitar, flute, drum |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | MT Entertainment |
| Website | My Tam's Official website MT Entertainment |
Phan Thị Mỹ Tâm (born January 16, 1981), who uses the stage name Mỹ Tâm, is a Vietnamese pop singer who achieved fame through well known songs such as "Nightingale", "Sing With the River", "A dream of love", "We Seemed To Be...", "Wish", "Brown Hair Dark Lips", "Bleeding Love", "Old Road", "Foolish Love" and so on.
My Tam was born in the city of Da Nang in 1981. She started learning ballet for three years from the age of 6 before moving to learning instruments such as guitar and organ. She enjoyed singing, but was never aware of her ability, and also never regarded singing as a career. She got the First Prize in her secondary school's singing competition and was chosen for the municipal competition. She got another First Prize for the city's solo singing competition and then the Gold Award for Beautiful Voice Spring 1997. She was chosen for the Military School of Art in Hanoi. However, due to her family's condition, she decided to enter Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory for a 4-year course, learning vocal training. She graduated as a top student from the course.[1]
She quickly got a contract with Vafaco record company in 1999 and participated in many singing teams. My Tam has gained many awards in various singing competitions. At the start of 1999, My Tam made her first demo for the song "Please, baby" by Nguyen Ha, an important person in building the image of My Tam at the starting point of her career. After that, she composed the song "Love Forever", a soft ballad, together with Nguyen Quang. The two songs were later included in her debut "Love Forever" album.
After her contract with Vafaco ended in 2000, My Tam began to attract attention when she cut her long hair typical of female students and colour her hair yellowish-brown in a Korean style. She also changed the way she dresed in a more sexually attractive way. Following this period, she attained the bronze medal at the Asian Music Festival held in Shanghai at the end of 2000 when she was working in the Music Center in Ho Chi Minh City. This was a very significant achievement for her. She graduated in 2001 and became active in the music market.
In these two years, My Tam released 2 albums: Love Forever and Not Only Me, one VCD single "Sing With the River", 2 CD singles "Dawn of Love (Japanese song)" and "The Guitar of Students".
Her first major hit "Toc nau moi tram" (Brown Hair Dark Lips), an uptempo dance record from her first album Love Forever, was to impact the fashion trend with many young girls changing their hair to dark yellow to look like My Tam. Her self-composed title song of the first album Love Forever established her as a young songwriter. Two other hits "My love Candle" and "Foolish live" were significantly popular in Karaoke during the period. Her next big hit "Twenty", was a present from her longtime musician Quoc Bao in celebration of her twentieth birthday. The song was about the youthful energy that a 20-year-old girl could dedicate to life and became young women's anthem. It was an important song from her first album, as many young female students in university at that time performed the song in various public occasions. Together with "Brown Hair Dark Lips", "Twenty" made My Tam a new influence in Vietnamese music industry. Another hit "Please, baby/ Nhe Anh" was also a success, accompanied by a popular music video. However, the success of "Please, baby" was hampered by copyright issue, a major concern in the industry. Love Forever sold 54,000 copies.
Her first CD single "The Student Guitar", became an instant success due to its appeal to My Tam's original audience, the students in their 20s. The song quickly became the ionic song of early 2000s and tied her to the tertiary level students as her greatest fan base. This served as the basis for her 2004 tour around various universities across the country. Up to now, "The Student Guitar" was used frequently in the media to portray the lives of students as warm, romantic and artistic. The song firmly established My Tam as a pop icon, propelled her to become the number one rising star in the industry. It remained her signature song. "The Student Guitar" was also included as the second track in her first VCD single Sing with the River released on May 2002 to capture its success. The title song of "Sing with the River" was successful despite criticism of its lazy and incomprehensible lyrics. "My Childhood Hometown", the third track from Sing with the River was initially not a hit due to the overshadowing success of the first 2 tracks, but slowly became popular. The song became a classic for My Tam.
The next CD single Dawn of Love released in the same month with Sing with the River was less successful. However, a track from this single, "Love If is Distant", was a massive karaoke hit.
My Tam followed the success of her debut with her second studio album Not Only Me. Released in May 2002, it contained a heavy dance-pop influence, unlike her first album, which was more of soft R&B. However, some ballads "The grass ring" and "The sad starlight" were also present in her second album. Indeed, they were the more popular songs from this album. Covers of France Gall's "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" and Cher's "Bang Bang" were made in an uptempo manner. The biggest hit from this album "Love Dream" received massive airplay on radio and TV. The song "Sing for you to stay back/ Hat cho nguoi o lai", was also another hit for My Tam.
In the middle of 2003, she released her third studio album Yesterday and Now. And it became a huge record in the show industry and is the most successful album in her musical career. The album spawned My Tam's biggest hit: "Wish" and another major hit: "My Everlasting Love". "Wish" has become the signature song for My Tam up to date and My Tam still frequently performs the song in many TV appearances. However, My Tam also shared that she did not expect "Wish" to become such a huge hit, but thought that "My everlasting love" would impact the market more. 60,000 copies of the album were sold for just a few months and it received numerous positive responses from audiences and critics. However, criticism of the album included the lack of coherence and poor arrangement. The tracks in the album were just common that they were ballads. Other than that, they varied in themes, genres and influences.
The other hits from the album included "Loving Summer", "Brown Hair Nightingale" and "Belief in Victory". "Loving Summer" took My Tam to the even younger generation of audience, the teenager, as the song described a pupil's feeling before the summer holiday came, that she was going to miss her friend, and that she regretted that the summer came too quickly. It was popular among secondary and high school students and became an iconic song of the teenagers. "Brown Hair Nightingale" was a reference to her first major hit "Brown Hair Dark Lip". However, in contrast to "Brown Hair Dark Lip", a powerful dance record, where her image was an independent girl feeling how promising her love and her life was, "Brown Hair Nightingale" portrayed My Tam as a young innocent, but dedicated girl who was naive about love. This was a reminder of her days singing "Twenty" and also signalled a change in her public image when she grew her hair much longer than before. The gaffes that she committed during various interviews following the release of her first two album may serve as a reason for this change in public image. "Belief in Victory" was, in contrast other ballads in the albums, was powerful. It was becoming a hit at a time when Vietnam was hosting the 23rd SEA Game. It quickly became popular in the media, since the song served as an encouragement for Vietnamese team at that time. The protagonist in the song strongly believed in a day of victory, despite all the difficulties of the life around him.
Following her third album, My Tam quickly released the her first VCD album Love Forever. It consisted of some of her minor hits prior to the release of Yesterday & Now as well as the new track "Xich lo". The song also quickly became popular due to the massive success of her third album.
Knowing that her chance was coming, My Tam came up with the idea about a concert in two big stadiums in Vietnam and became the first Vietnamese artist to have ever got a sold-out stadium concert. The total expenditure for the 2 concerts was about 3 billion VND (approximately 250,000 USD in 2003) and is the most expensive concert funding in the Vietnamese music industry. My Tam was crowned: "No. 1 Pop Star in Vietnam"/"The Queen of V-Pop". After these concerts, her third album hit more than 100,000 copies which made it the highest-selling album of Vietnamese recording industry. The album is still in print in 2008 due to popular demand from new fans.
Later in 2004, My Tam was the only Vietnamese singer who participated in the Asia Song Festival in Seoul, Korea. This festival is one of the most prominent international Music Festival in Asia. She wowed the Korean crowds with her 2 hits: "Wish" and "Oh First Kiss". In the end of the stage of Asia Song Festival, she received 'the plaque of Appreciation' and 'The Best Contribution Award' from Korean Minister of Culture and Tourism as host of this festival. This embarked her motivation for cooperating with Korean producers later in 2005.
In the end of 2004, she had one more concert "My Childhood Home Town" and the tour "Live With Your Best". Her fourth studio album The Color of My Life was released in 2005. At the end of 2005, she had one more tour for students which was called "Power of Dreams". At this time, Vietnamese audiences did not only perceive My Tam as a singer but also a composer/producer as well. A lot of hits were written and composed entirely by My Tam was published such as: Oh First Kiss, How Come, Untold Love, Miss ... Although less successful than its predecessors, "The Color of My life" was acclaimed due to its coherence as well as My Tam's ability to assume a greater creative control over her album. The album made a record in its first week of sale and went on to sell 20,000 copies. My Tam re-released her fourth album with a pop/rock remix in it, this album included a new song which was to become a smash hit: "Duong Nhu Ta Da"/"We Seemed To Be..." which is My Tam's self-composed song. The track is then to be re-recorded in Korean and appears in her fifth album. The re-release also included some of her hits from her third album.
One controversy was sparked when My Tam lost the status of Best Female Artist to another Vietnamese pop singer Ho Qunh Huong in the annual Mai Vang (Golden Ochna Integerrima). The award was called out as being rigged and fake due to the amount of votes for My Tam was much higher than the other artist. Despite being compared with the new artist, My Tam has still strengthened her position as the No. 1 Pop Star in Vietnam.
Reaching the top, My Tam continues to expand her career. Unsatisfied with Vietnamese recording & studio techniques, My Tam cooperated with Numari Picture (South Korea) to work on her fifth album Fly. During that time, she took more vocal training, dance lessons, and exposed to different music genres. The 5th album instead of followed her usual pop and ballad style, indeed embarked a new sound for her career with more up-tempo R&B, Hip-hop and Soul songs. Fly was released in Christmas 2005. Although this album wasn't as successful as 3rd album, it was critically acclaimed and highly rated. The album has yielded many commercial singles; their music videos were released including: Come To Me, Secret, and Untold Love. A single was released in South Korea containing four tracks recorded exclusively in Korean: "We Seemed To Be...", "The Dew Drop", "Come To me" and the notable Alicia Keys influenced R&B track "Today".
In early 2008, My Tam reunited with another Korean production to record her 6th album: The Return. Unlike the previous effort, the Korean producers are only in charged of mastering the record. All the tracks are composed by Vietnamese producers, including Tam's self-produced track: "Nhu Em Doi Anh/ Like I Wait For You". The album was recorded in Seoul, South Korea. My Tam explained that through the title The Return, she wants to express that the album is her return with "pop ballad and slow-jam" and "emotional feeling". The new album has the similar sound like her third album except it is influenced more by Korean vibes. The Return has been claimed by Vietnamese critics that it brought My Tam to a new level in her career: a more professional voice, significantly improved English, and more skilled singing techniques (especially in the R&B track: "And I Have You"). Even though majority of the album is produced by Vietnamese producers, it contains a more international vibe, excellent quality and characterizes My Tam as an evolving artist. Following the album release, a tour is planned in summer 2008.
The Return has been clearly stated by My Tam that it is only her first step of: "The Time & Myself".
On September 1, 2008, My Tam released her seventh album, To the Beat (Nhip Dap). Accompanied with the release was a live concert tour to promote for the album and her previous successful album The Return (Tro Lai). To the Beat was produced by the same producer who worked on her last album The Return. Unlike those techno-rap dance songs popular nowadays in Viet Nam, the album was said to be an up-tempo one with beats that "make you want to move and shake when you first hear it" (My Tam, 2008). On September 7, 2008, the concert tour was kicked off in Tao Dan stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The official name of the tour is "Multifrequency Sound Wave", which means a sound wave that can come to everywhere so that everyone can hear and enjoy it, no matter you are rich or poor, living in urban or rural areas. For all that, My Tam won the prize "Singer of the year 2008" in the Contribution award held by The Thao & Van Hoa newspaper (Sport & Culture) with participation and voting of 97 reporters.
On April 17, 2009, 1 year anniversary of "The Time and Me" project, My Tam releases "Multifrequency Sound Wave" DVD, a DVD that recorded her concert tour. The DVD is the last move of "The Time And Me" project, officially closes a successful project.
My Tam possesses a three-octave vocal range, her longest note lasting 13 seconds.[2] She is a mezzo-soprano with a deep, powerful and clear voice [3] that fits her into a variety of genres, including pop, dance and rock. Prior to her album Vút bay My Tam was sometimes criticized for her lack-luster performances which tended to focus more on vocal mechanics than emotions. However, her 2005 album was highly acclaimed by Diva Mỹ Linh since it "marked My Tam's wise move with her voice becoming more subtle and emotional, which would do her good in the long run".[4]
My Tam has been widely praised for her remarkable ability to sing live while performing complex dance moves on stage.[5] In all of her live shows and concert tours, she sang around 20-30 songs consecutively but still maintained a very strong and passionate voice. This is one of the most important factors that has been securing her position as the No.1 Vietnamese performer nowadays.[6]
Sao Mai Điểm Hẹn is a reality television singing competition created and produced by VTV3 every two years starting from 2004. This is one of the two major singing competitions of Vietnam Television, the other one being Sao Mai which is held each odd year. Contestants have to pass the application and auditioning around before entering into the finale, where they perform a range of designated genres like rock, RnB, hip hop, etc. as well as their own chosen songs.
The series employs a panel of judges who critique the contestants' performances. My Tam was one of the judges in the fourth season, alongside music producers/ composers Tuấn Khanh and Hồ Hoài Anh.[7] She was noted for her frank and hard-hitting remarks, but still displayed a sense of humour and gave contestants very constructive feedback for their improvement.[8] My Tam received much positive publicity for her fashion choice during the series [9] as all her outfits creatively fit into each theme of the competition.
Cho Một Tình Yêu (For a Love) is a 37-episode musical television drama film produced by BHD and directed by Nguyễn Tranh - Lê Hóa which premiered on VTV3 on October 7, 2010. The film was the first to star many famous contemporary Vietnamese singers such as My Tam,[10] Tuấn Hưng, Quang Dũng, Minh Thuận, Minh Tú, etc. and thus received very high ratings. Just 3 hours after the first episode ended, the film's demo soundtrack was uploaded by My Tam's fans onto various websites which received 50,000 hits overnight. On one movie forum, Cho Một Tình Yêu was the hottest topic with more than 9,000 comments. Never before had any Vietnamese drama created such a stir among audiences.[11]
The film revolves around Linh Đan (My Tam), a 25-year-old girl who dreamed of becoming a pop singer but encountered various setbacks in love and life. The only daughter of a well-off family, she had almost everything one could dream of until her parents' business collapsed and her sweetheart Hải Đông (Quang Dũng) was unwilling to stand up to his own parents for their engagement. Devastated, she went to Hội An and came across Trần Vũ (Tuấn Hưng) who used to work as a cook at a small restaurant near her old house. The couple struggled to overcome difficulties imposed by Đặng Vịnh (Hồ Thái Huy) - the main antagonist of the film, and eventually learnt to accept each other and fell in love.
Cho Một Tình Yêu is the first musical television drama film of Vietnam and while it received mixed reviews from critics regarding the plot and acting, all the musical scenes were praised for their originality and congruousness.[12] My Tam was the musical director of the entire movie, composing a number of new songs and remixing previous songs by other artists. She then released a single by the movie's name later on which included 8 tracks featuring different versions of the main theme (ballad, guitar, piano, trombone and trompet).
In 2007, beside releasing her fifth album Fly, My Tam endorsed her first perfume which was called "My Time". There are 4 kinds of My Tam's perfume "My Time": Passionate, Charming, Manly and Stylish. We can easily figure out that "My Time" wasn't only a meaningful name but also the way to pronounce her name in English: "My Tam" - "My Time". In the same day, My Tam introduced her new company: "MT Entertainment".
"The Time and Myself" is currently My Tam's newest musical project. The first product of this project is her 6th album The Return. To The Beat album and the Live Concert Tour are the following and last step of the project in 2008.
My Tam established a Charity Foundation named My Tam (MT) Foundation on April 4, 2008. The Foundation operates on both contributions from her own fans and from other audiences in and outside the country, and the extracted revenue of My Tam Entertainment itself. "Nâng bước ngày mai" ("Sustain the Steps of Tomorrow") is a prominent, long-term project of the Foundation which has taken place in a number of cities: HCMC, Huế, Đà Nẵng, Nghệ An, Gia Lai, Bình Định, Phú Yên, Cần Thơ, Đăk lăk, An Giang, Hà Tĩnh, etc. and counting.