My Tam wins Singer of the Year award

And the winner is: Composer Doan Nho's Chiec Khan Pieu won Song of the Year
at the award ceremony last night in HCM City.- VNA Photo Phuong Vy

Tam, a judge on Viet Nam Idol 2012, was the first and only Vietnamese performer to receive the Best Asian Artist title at the South Korea's Mnet Asian Music Awards last year.

Her song Chuyen Nhu Chua Bat Dau (A Story That Has Not Begun), composed by Hoang Nha, became a runaway hit with over eight million views on YouTube.

Veteran composer Quoc Trung, currently a judge on TV singing contest The Voice of Viet Nam, won the Musician of the Year award.

Trung judged Viet Nam Idol in 2011 and 2012. Last year, he launched the "Listen with Copyright Awareness" programme, which aims to protect music copyrights in Viet Nam.

Album of the Year was granted to young soprano Pham Thu Ha's Classic Meets Chillout album, which combines classical and chill-out music, as its title would indicate.

Produced by musician Vo Thien Thanh and Dream Studio, the album includes nine classic masterpieces like Serenade, Habanera and Ave Maria, mostly translated into Vietnamese by Thanh.

In The Spotlight, a series of live music performances organised by the My Thanh entertainment and advertising company, won Show of the Year.

The programme, launched in 2012, focuses on the musical career of popular singers Tuan Ngoc, My Linh and Hong Nhung and musicians Tran Tien, Trinh Cong Son and Thanh Tung.

Best New Artist and Song of the Year were given for the first time this year. These titles went to 17-year-old Huong Tram - the Nghe An-based winner of the first season of The Voice of Viet Nam – and Doan Nho, composer of Chiec Khan Pieu (The Pieu Scarf).

Chiec Khan Pieu, which describes the beauty of the traditional scarf of Thai ethnic people, was performed by Tung Duong. Last year, the composition won Song of the Year on Viet Nam Television's Favourite Song show.

Since 2004, the Devotion Music Awards has honoured popular performers and musicians like Hong Nhung, Ho Ngoc Ha Tung Duong, Thanh Lam and My Linh. The awards are organised by Vietnam News Agency's publication The Thao & Van Hoa (Sports and Culture).

This year, 101 journalists from Ha Noi and HCM City were invited to vote for their favourite shows and performers in six categories. Truong Le Kim Hoa, editor in chief of The Thao & Van Hoa, said the awards aimed to promote Vietnamese music and honour artists who made significant contributions to the industry.