Lotte promotes Vietnamese pop stars

The contest winners will earmark part of their prizes for charity

Ngoi Sao Viet (Vietnamese Stars), dubbed Lotte VK Pop Super Star, is the first music talent search and contest and joint cooperative programme between the two countries with Lotte acting as main sponsor.

The contest is aired on VTV3 every Saturday evening and started in mid-March.

To join the contest, Vietnamese contestants needed to joint pre-qualifying rounds that ran December 20 and 22, 2013 in Hanoi, January 3 and  5, 2014 in Ho Chi Minh City and January 10 and 12, 2014 in Danang.

45 contestants were then selected for the televised portion of the show. They were divided into small groups of three members based on similarities in style, age and appearance.

Once the contest narrows the 45 to 15, they will have the opportunity to join a professional training course in vocal art and dancing in Korea, to directly experience K-pop culture, meet K-pop stars and visit famous tourism venues in the country.

Contestants face mounting pressure as they will have to practice 12 hours a day with famous Korean diva Baek Ki Young.

The Korean judges – Baek Ji Young, Korean hit song producer Kim Doo Hoon, music producer Shin Sa Dong Tiger, training director Kim Jin Woo, singer-producer Mario and musician-producer Choi Gap Won – expect to see the contestants’ ability to conquer themselves and show-off their gifts.

In Korea the contestants will not only face challenges associated with a different language, climate, culture and food, but they will also need to excel as only seven will join the semi-final where they will perform in Vietnam to demonstrate the skills they learned in Korea and their true and full ability.

Only three finalists will join the Super Star Gala to select a winner.

Apart from getting an opportunity to become professional singers, the contestants are involved in a total prize pool of VND7.5 billion ($357,000), including training expenses in Korea, production of a music video and album, and career launch.

Founded in 1948, Lotte has taken part and succeeded in diverse fields including food and construction and has grown into a global entity.

The winner of the contest will receive VND660 million ($31,400) in cash. The second and third prize winners will get VND143 million $6,800) and VND121 million ($5,800) in cash. They will also have the chance to meet and be trained by Korean experts in the future.

Fourth to tenth place contestants will receive from VND110 million ($5,200) to VND55 million ($2,600) and also can sign contracts.

One of the most noteworthy values of the contest is its CSR activities. The winners will earmark 10 per cent of prizes for charity activities.

As senior experts in the music field, Vietnamese singer Phuong Thanh and choreographer John Huy Tran are also part of the panel of judges.

“Lotte VK Pop Super Star is a new and interesting contest, that while challenging, will help to promote real Vietnamese talent,” they said.