A love letter to the V-Pop fandom culture in Vietnam
Absence makes the heart grow fonder —or so, it seems! When Vietnam’s Yeah1 media group announced the discontinuation of two of its most popular music-talent shows earlier this year, Tuấn Duy noticed the “waves of love for the artists” rippling through the fan community of ‘older brother, sister’ (‘anh trai, chị đẹp’) as the Vietnamese adaptations of these two popular Chinese TV shows have been affectionately known among V-Pop fans.
In this article, Tuấn Duy has researched the rise of fandom culture across Vietnam for Thanh Niên, a Vietnamese daily newspaper based in Ho Chi Minh City. An initial verdict? “The activity of fandoms is stronger than ever.”
The kind of fandom once reserved for “great singers with longstanding careers and constant visibility” has since been democratised by technology. “Connecting, calling and collaborating among fans is no longer difficult”, the journalist comments. The growth of fandom culture hasn’t gone unnoticed by TV bosses. Duy points to the recent WeChoice Awards 2024, which introduced a new BFF – Best Fandom Forever-category for the first time in the music award’s history.
The success of V-Pop talent shows such as Sisters Who Make Waves (Chị đẹp đạp gió), Brother Says Hi (Anh trai say hi), or Call Me by Fire (Anh trai vượt ngàn chông gai) relies on the strong encouragement from its fans. Duy reminds us of the flock of food trucks in “behind the scenes”-footage from the talent show Brother Says Hi, in which thirty male V-Pop singers compete to be on the winning team. Almost all of the contestants had their own fan-sponsored vehicles during the talent show’s third public concert in Hanoi. Yet it didn’t stop there notes the journalist: “the fandoms invested in photo booths to help their idols stand out [during the contest] even more.”
Organised meetings between stars and their fans have also become a popular form of engagement. For example, ‘Older sisters’-contestants such as Kiều Anh, Xuân Nghi, Châu Tuyết Vân, or Ngọc Phước have benefitted from such events, with large numbers of V-Pop fans in attendance. This was especially important during the recent awards season when popular music awards like the Green Wave (Giải Làn Sóng Xanh) or the Golden Plum (Giải Mai Vàng) depended on the votes of the fandom community in closely fought contests between the nominees.
Other fandoms, like that of the band Trang Pháp, have created a sense of community through charity work. Duy points to singer Jun Pham’s recent “turn words into love hearts”-campaign in support of children with congenital heart problems. But there are other sides to fandom culture: Duy noticed that “fans hold an increasingly important position in a star’s career development.” Yet is the star really the star anymore, or just a plaything of fans? In one case fans urged Call Me by Fire-contestant Bùi Công Nam to switch teams using the social media platform Threads. Their verdict? “The old team lacked agility.” The musician took this advice to heart and promptly changed his strategy.
Not all fandoms last forever. Some, as Duy notes, have a shorter lifespan, especially those involving ‘shipping’ (when fans create fantasy pairings of their favourite celebrities.) While ‘shipping’ helps to build loyalty amongst fandoms, such fantasy pairings have adverse effects on the respective contestants’ wider public image and private lives. But then, these kinds of fan communities are short-lived and often become inactive as soon as the show’s season ends.
The full original article by Tuấn Duy was published in Vietnamese on 11 February 2025.
It is available here: ‘Nghệ sĩ Việt và fandom’, Thanh Niêm
Thanh Niên is a Vietnamese-language newspaper based in Ho Chi Minh City.
