Vietnam Idol (season 3)

Process

Following a break in production, it was confirmed that the show has been renewed for 2010. The new season will adopt a new structure, with changes to broadcasting and production. The broadcasting stations were changed from HTV (Ho Chi Minh City Television) to VTV6 - a cable channel targeted at young audiences of VTV (Vietnam Television) The producer company of the first 2 seasons, Dong Tay Promotion, will be replaced by BHD Pictures. Siu Black remains on the judging panel but will be joined by two new judges, Quốc Trung and Nguyễn Quang Dũng. Phan Anh will also take over as the host of the contest.

Audition round

Auditions were also held in Central Highlands and North regions.

One hundred contestants will advance from this round and into the Knock Out Round.

HCMC week

The first day of the week featured ninety-six contestants (but actually ninety-three were present at that time) advanced from the audition round. After the first elimination, forty-eight remained and then split up into 12 groups of four. Twenty-four made it into the final round in which judges revealed who were the semi-finalists.

Semi-finals

The semi-finals takes place over three weeks, with the results announced the following Tuesday. During the first two weeks, sixteen contestants are split and perform by gender. Only four of them will be given a bye to the Top 10, while the remaining 10 contestants compete in the last semi-final round for a spot in the finals. During this whole process, judges have the right to let their five favorite contestants be finalists.

Finals

The finals began two weeks after the semi-finals had concluded. Journalist Đặng Diễm Quỳnh is added to the judging panel at the start of the finals.

Each week the finalist perform live on stage to a television audience. The contestant receiving the least viewers' votes are eliminated from the competition. Introduced for the first time this season is the ability of the judges to collectively override the voters' decision once, if they deem that a contestant has been voted-out prematurely. However, this results in two contestants eliminated the following week instead of one.

Top 10 – Random choices

Mentor: Phương Vy

Top 9 – Pop/Rock

Mentor: Phương Thanh

Top 8 – R&B/Hip-hop/Dance

Mentor: Hồ Ngọc Hà

Top 7 – International music

Mentor: Thanh Bùi

Top 6 – Unforgettable songs

Mentor: Cẩm Vân

Top 5 – Diva night

Mentor: Mỹ Linh

Top 4 – Duets

Mentor: Thanh Lam Result: Lân Nhã was eliminated

Top 3 – Judges' choice

Mentor: Siu Black

Finale – Contestant's choice, International music & Winner's single

Mentor: Hồng Nhung and Mỹ Linh

Grand Finale

The grand finale took place in Lan Anh Music Center. 2500 tickets out of over 3000 are invitational; therefore, some tickets left were scalped up to 500,000 to 700,000 VND each. The show started at 9 pm (local time) and were broadcast live on VTV3, VTV6, VTV9, YanTV and several local TV stations. Hồng Nhung and Mỹ Linh, previously mentors on the show, performed with the two finalists – Mai Hương and Uyên Linh. The show's judge Siu Black performed together with Nguyễn Thị Phương Anh. Phan Anh announced the winner of the season was Trần Nguyễn Uyên Linh from Ho Chi Minh city. Linh then performed the winning song Cảm ơn tình yêu.

Musical Performances

1. "Bèo dạt mây trôi" – AnB Group
2. "Giấc mơ Chapi" – Du Mục band
3. "Những nụ hôn rực rỡ" – Male Finalists
4. "Cô gái tự tin" – Female Finalists
5. "Hoa nắng" – Top 10 (excluding Mai Hương and Uyên Linh)
6. "Đừng ngồi trong bóng đêm" – Mai Hương
7. "Giấc mơ nào với tôi" – Uyên Linh
8. "Dại khờ" – Đức Anh and Đăng Khoa
9. "Phút giây ngọt ngào" – Lân Nhã and Lều Phương Anh
10. "Ly cafe ban mê" – Lân Nhã
11. "Căn gác trống" – Trung Quân
12. "Khao khát môi hồng" – Nguyễn Thị Phương Anh and Siu Black
13. "Đêm tình nhân" – Vương Linh and Bích Phương
14. "Một ngày mới" – Mai Hương and Hồng Nhung
15. "I Believe I Can Fly" – Uyên Linh and Mỹ Linh
16. "Anh mãi là" – Uyên Linh and Mai Hương
17. "Cảm ơn tình yêu" – Uyên Linh (later joined by the rest of top 10)

¹ The official results had Uyên Linh eliminated from the show. However, Đăng Khoa, who was safe in this round, announced that he preferred to withdraw from the competition in her stead. This followed controversy from a released surreptitious recording of a conversation involving eliminated finalist Đức Anh insulting fellow eliminated contestants, judges, the media, and others. The fifteen-minute audio was first released onto the internet forums, and subsequently released onto websites like YouTube. Đăng Khoa has admitted to being the one who did the recording but has denied being the one who released the audio. On behalf of the Executive Producers and Judges of Vietnam Idol, Diễm Quỳnh accepted Khoa's request to withdraw; therefore, Uyên Linh was saved from elimination at the last moment and did not have to perform her exit song.

Compilation album

This was the first season to produce a compilation album. All the tracks from the album were recorded in studio after the season ends.

Cảm ơn tình yêu Live Show

Cảm ơn tình yêu Live Show was a concert featuring all of the season 3 finalists, except for Lều Phương Anh with personal reasons. The show was produced by Huy Tuấn, who was also the musical director of Vietnam Idol this season, and was sponsored by MobiFone. The concert was held in Hanoi on January 23, 2011.

Setlist

Lân Nhã, Trung Quân, Phương Anh, Bích Phương, Vương Linh, Đức Anh and Đăng Khoa —- "Những nụ hôn rụ rỡ" (from the same name movie) and "Hoa nắng"

Đức Anh —- "Bất chợt một tình yêu" (Nguyễn Đức Cường)

Đăng Khoa —- "Dòng thời gian" (Nguyễn Hải Phong)

Vương Linh & Bích Phương —- "Đêm tình nhân" (Phương Uyên & Lê Minh)

Lân Nhã —- "Bóng mưa" (Hà Anh Tuấn)

Lân Nhã & Phương Anh —- "Khúc giao mùa" (Mỹ Linh)

Trung Quân featuring Thái Sơn (Top 24) —- "Bèo dạt mây trôi"

Trung Quân —- "Căn gác trống" (Ưng Hoàng Phúc)

Trung Quân & Mai Hương —- "Hồ Gươm sáng sớm" (Hoàng Hải)

Mai Hương —- "Đừng ngồi yên trong bóng đêm" (from Giải cứu thần chết) and "Cánh buồm phiêu du" (Hồ Quỳnh Hương)

Uyên Linh —- "Giận anh" (Phương Vy), "Take Me to the River" (Al Green), "Chỉ là giấc mơ" (Thanh Lam),

Uyên Linh & Mai Hương —- "Anh mãi là" (Lưu Hương Giang)

Uyên Linh & other performers —- "Cảm ơn tình yêu" (winning song)