VietCeleb.BlogSpot.com: Ho Ngoc Ha

Friday, October 10, 2014

Ho Ngoc Ha

Ho Ngoc Ha: Famous Singer, Actress and Model
of Present Day Vietnam

Hồ Ngọc Hà (1984- ) first rose to prominence as a fashion model and has since enjoyed even bigger successes in her careers as a Vietnamese pop singer and film actress. Born on November 25, 1984 in Hue, Central Vietnam, Ho Ngoc Ha's exotic good looks are a clear sign of her Eurasian mixed genes. Her paternal grandfather was French who had resettled in Vietnam during the French colonial era. At the age of 15, Ho Ngoc Ha began modeling professionally. Four years later, her modeling career would take her to Ho Chi Minh City where she competed in the 2003-2004 Supermodel of Vietnam Contest taking the first prize. Although her modeling career was in full swing, Ho Ngoc Ha had set her sights on pursuing a career as a professional singer. Her notoriety as a fashion model helped land her a guest spot on the popular televised program, Nguoi Dep Hat (Beautiful People Who Sing), where she caught the eye of musician composer Bao Quoc. Soon after, Ho Ngoc Ha would be contacted by Bao Quoc with a personal invitation in which she readily accepted to record a song written and produced by the musician, himself, and would later be featured on a compilation album of his compositions recorded by various other artists. This would mark Ho Ngoc Ha's very first professional audio recording.

In 2004, Ho Ngoc Ha recorded her debut solo studio album, 24 Gio 7 Ngay (24 Hours 7 Days). Although relatively well-produced, promotion for the album was rather weak as it didn't receive the strong financial backings from the record label, Viet Tan Studio, and therefor did not achieve the commercial success she had hoped for. However, distribution for the album was fairly wide enough to introduce Ho Ngoc Ha onto the pop music scene of Vietnam and allowed her the exposure needed for her to partake at numerous live concert shows throughout Vietnam. As a live performer, Ho Ngoc Ha triumphed as audiences instantaneously took notice of her regal stage presence and elegant style of performing. During this time, despite the fact that she was new to the pop music scene many members from the audience would recognize Ho Ngoc Ha due to her successful modeling career having one of the most recognizable faces in Vietnam. Before the year ended, Ho Ngoc Ha's singing career would gain significant momentum with her highly successful live performances coupled with the exposure generated from a scandal in which several of her nude photos she had taken in the past unexpectedly surfaced.

An introduction from musician Huy Tuan, executive producer of Ho Ngoc Ha's debut album, to his fellow musician friend, Duc Tri, would develop into a romantic as well as a professional relationship. In 2005, she signed with Duc Tri's record company, Music Faces, as an exclusive artist and remained with the label for the next five years. Duc Tri would also produce most of her recordings while she was under contract with Music Faces. Her first two solo studio albums for the Music Faces label were produced by Duc Tri, Va Em Da Yeu (And I Have Loved) and Muon Noi Voi Anh (I Want to Tell You), and released in 2005 and 2006, respectively, to enormous commercial and critical success giving Ho Ngoc Ha the much needed boost in her music career. That same year Ho Ngoc Ha embarked on a successful concert tour performing for overseas Vietnamese communities in several cities across the United States. A duet album, Ao Anh, recorded together with singer Duc Tuan was also released to round out the year.

In 2007, Ho Ngoc Ha's personal relationship ended with Duc Tri while she was recording her fourth studio album, Khi Ta Da Yeu (When We Were in Love). Like her previous two albums, Duc Tri was the executive producer. The outcome of this album was a clear indication that their personal break-up had put a strain on their professional working relationship. After production for the album wrapped up, Duc Tri washed his hands from the project almost entirely. The lack of promotion from Music Faces resulted in disappointing sales for the album after its release. Frustrated with the lackluster performance of her fourth solo studio album, Ho Ngoc Ha went on a two year hiatus. Right around this time, she would begin a new relationship with Nguyen Quoc Cuong, also known as Cuong Dollar, a professional auto racer and heir to one of Vietnam's wealthiest billionaire families who had previously been romantically linked to Vietnamese film actress, Tang Thanh Ha. Their courtship would make Ho Ngoc Ha the target of tabloids that had painted an image of her as a gold digger. By then, Ho Ngoc Ha was no stranger to scandals given how she had been in a much publicized extra-marital relationship as the other woman with singer Huy MC which was rumored to have caused his divorce to singer Thu Phuong. Despite such negative press, Ho Ngoc Ha endured and in 2009 returned with an album entitled as The First Single. Through her association as spokesmodel for Sunsilk of Vietnam, Ho Ngoc Ha successfully lobbied for financial backings from the UK-owned manufacturer of hair products for the launching of the album's promotion campaign. For Ho Ngoc Ha, the heavy promotion for her album brought about a bold resurgence in her singing career. In 2010, she would release her very last album under the Music Faces label, Tim Lai Giac Mo (Recovered Dreams), which was recorded while she was pregnant with Nguyen Quoc Cuong's child. This would mark the first time Ho Ngoc Ha would record a solo studio album without the involvement of Duc Tri as executive producer since signing with Music Faces five years prior. In contrast to what had happened with the previously released album, Khi Ta Yeu Nhau, back in 2007, this album did not involve Duc Tri in the production aspect yet it would receive his strong support with the promotion campaign. Another studio album, Hanh Phuc Bat Tan (Sudden Joy), would also be released in 2010. All three of Ho Ngoc Ha's studio albums released during the years 2009-2010 were major successes and reconfirmed her status as a superstar of Vietnamese pop music.

Her latest solo studio album, Moi Tinh Xua (Old Flame), was released in 2014. Three years prior, Ho Ngoc Ha had released Se Mai Ben Nhau (Invincible). Reportedly one of the costliest productions among music albums ever recorded by any artist of Vietnam, Ho Ngoc Ha made history as the first singer of Vietnam to shoot a music video to one of the songs featured on the album in Hollywood. World-renowned musician Lenon Zervos, who had worked with the likes of major international artists such as Lady Gaga and Kanye West, was credited for the remastering of all tracks featured on Se Mai Ben Nhau which had taken place in its entirety overseas in Australia. Ho Ngoc Ha's immense popularity with audiences at her live concert shows have placed her in the ranks of Vietnam's most bankable live performers. Her widely popular concert tour back in 2009 named after her second solo studio album, Va Em Da Yeu. was televised and broadcasted nationally in Vietnam. Two years later, another taping for television featuring Ho Ngoc Ha live in concert, Ho Ngoc Ha Live Concert 2011, took place in front of a smaller, more intimate audience at Lan Anh music venue located in Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition to her successful singing career, Ho Ngoc Ha has also appeared as an actress on the Vietnamese silver screen. Like her previous experience as a singer with her debut album, her debut film released in 2005, 39 Do Yeu (39 Degrees Love) which she had costarred with actor Binh Minh, turned out to be a commercial failure and was panned by critics. Her next film, however, Chien Dich Trai Tim Ben Phai, released later in the same year was both a critical and commercial success. In recent years, Ho Ngoc Ha has been in collaboration with the popular television program, Vietnam's version of The Voice, as a mentor. Dubbed unofficially as "Vietnam's Queen of Endorsements", Ho Ngoc Ha has maintained a lucrative modeling career through the years as celebrity spokesmodel endorsing products for companies like Sunplay, Toshiba, Sony Ericsson, Sunsilk and YanTV.

In 2010, Ho Ngoc Ha and Nguyen Quoc Cuong became parents after she gave birth to a baby boy named by the couple as Nguyen Quoc Hung. From the beginning of their relationship, the couple has constantly been surrounded with controversy. During her pregnancy, it was revealed that Ho Ngoc Ha was once married to a wealthy businessman by the name of Pham Quang Hung. She was just 17 years old when she first married and divorced the following year. Upon becoming parents, the couple's controversial decision to remain unmarried had been one of the hottest topics with the tabloid press of Vietnam. On March of 2013, the couple finally tied the knot in a lavish wedding held in Ho Chi Minh City. In June of 2015, it was reported that the couple have separated and are on the verge of filing for divorce.