Quynh Anh

Quynh Anh (1987-    ) is a Belgian singer of Vietnamese descent.

Pham Quynh Anh was born on January 16, 1987 in Liège, Belgium.  Both of her parents were foreign exchange students from Vietnam and had met while studying abroad in Belgium.  She is the eldest in a family of two daughters.  While Quynh Anh was still an infant, her family resettled in in Mons, Belgium where her father worked as a physician.  From early on, her father had noticed how his eldest daughter had taken a keen interest in music.  At the age of 13, Quynh Anh's father encouraged her to compete in Pour La Gloire, a national singing contest show on Belgian television, where she ended up taking first prize out of 1,000 contestants.  Her winning would lead her to a chance meeting with famous Belgian pop singer/songwriter Marc Lavoine  and a recording contract with Rapas Centre, a French division of Universal Music, two years later.  In 2005, Quynh An graduated from Saint Stanislas High School in Mons, Belgium.  That same year, she recorded a duet song with Marc Lavoine, J'espère, that would be featured on his 9th studio album, L'Heure d'été, released the following year as a single.  The music video made for the single garnered heavy rotation on television programs in several Francophone countries, as well as on YouTube with over a million views.  J'espère became a top 20 hit on the Belgian Ultra Top singles chart peaking at number 12.  Following her high school graduation, she went on a successful concert tour with Marc Lavoine of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

In 2006, her recording of a song called Bonjour Vietnam would bring about international prominence for Quynh Anh.  Written by Marc Lavoine and Ivan Coriat, the song is a touching depiction of a young girl's wish to one day visit her homeland.  According to Lavoine, he was inspired to write the lyrics to Bonjour Vietnam from his conversations with Quynh Anh about her ethnic origin and how she has yet to visit the land of both her parents' birth.  While recording Bonjour Vietnam, neither Lavoine nor Quynh Anh had intended for it to be released as a single.  But after it was uploaded on YouTube, the song quickly generated a following within Vietnamese populations from all around the world which resulted in another viewership of over a million.  From Australia, Europe, North America to Vietnam, Bonjour Vietnam touched the hearts of many Vietnamese listeners.  In 2008, Quynh Anh recorded an English version of the song which was renamed as Hello Vietnam with English lyrics written by Guy Babaert.  The single premiered on volume 92 of Paris By Night, the most popular overseas Vietnamese variety music video series produced by Thuy Nga.  An eponymous studio album would also be released by Rapas Centre shortly thereafter.  The following year, Quynh Anh would be invited back on the Paris By Night stage with a performance of her third single, I Say Gold, written by Marc Lavoine, Gunther Thomas and Wim Claes with English lyrics provided by Guy Babaert.

On November of 2008, Quynh Anh visited Vietnam for the first time.  In an interview, she expressed how overwhelmed she was with the popularity of her recorded song, Bonjour Vietnam, there and how it had touched so many lives.  Quynh Anh is the second Belgian singer of Vietnamese descent in history to have achieved international prominence. Eurasian singer Bébé Hong Suong had been the first to do so back in the 1950s with her song, Rio de Janeiro, which had reached the Hit Parade Top Ten singles chart. 

Link(s):

Quynh Anh Artist Page on Universal Music