Manh Nguyen: Quitting school from grade 2, having to go to the lake, selling candy, changing my life thanks to the Bolero exam, what is it like?

Manh Nguyen was born in 1994 in Vinh Long in a family of 9 siblings. His childhood was not as smooth as any other child. Because of his difficult family, he had to leave school early and plunge into a life of livelihood.

The singer shared: "I do a lot of things, from supporting lakes to making umbrellas. Every job I do, as long as I earn money and take care of my life."

However, the difficult living situation did not make Meng Yuan less in love with Bolero. From an early age, he heard his father sing lyrical songs over and over again, and each melody and lyric of old love songs was ingrained in his mind.

Whenever he has free time, he hums and sings and becomes the only one of the 9 brothers with a good voice, as well as the same passion for music as his father.

Talking about his job as a candy seller like his father, the 23-year-old singer said he started this job quite by accident. When he went to Saigon alone to earn a living, while eating with friends, he met a candy seller and found him singing very passionately. At that time, Meng Yuan came up with this idea, because he could both satisfy his passion for singing and earn extra income.

Later that day, he bought a speaker system out of his own pocket to do his job. The young man also did not forget to invite his father to Saigon to sell candy candy with him.

"In the early days of the father and son singing, the amount of money earned was extremely small because everyone was shy, did not dare to stand and sing much, nor dared to invite customers to buy candy. But after gradually getting used to the work, things also get better.

Later, my father also bought more speakers for the father and son to separate, each of them went to sing a place to earn extra income," Manh Nguyen shared.

However, during his time singing in all the streets and corners, this young man also faced humiliation and bittersweet memories.

"Because the places where I sing are pubs, guests have a lot of different personalities. Some people are very happy, kind, they do not need to buy candy, just listen to me sing, serve music to be satisfied and send me some money to cover the day.

But there were also times when he encountered unpleasant guests and despised street singing work. "As soon as I started singing, they shouted, some told me to turn off the music, some swore and sent me away. At those times I felt very sad and ashamed. But then gradually I got used to it and considered it just unfortunate things in my singing work," Meng Nguyen said.

In addition to singing candy, Manh Nguyen also had time to participate in the Street Music Festival competition and won the fourth prize. However, everything stops there. Although he was passionate about singing and Bolero music, the young man did not dare to dream of signing up for professional singing competitions on television, much less change his life because he knew his situation was not enough to pursue a professional singing career.

"After my dad was invited to participate in the 'Love Bolero Festival,' I had the opportunity to appear on television with him. I also didn't expect my performance to receive so much good feedback from the audience.

Receiving compliments and encouragement from family and friends, Manh Nguyen decided to submit an application for the Solo competition with Bolero.

From a boy with a particularly difficult situation, Meng Nguyen suddenly rose to fame at this contest and became the contestant with the highest votes every week.

With his powerful voice, handsome appearance, bright stage, Manh Nguyen conquered the judges and viewers to be crowned the Champion and won the cash prize of VND 200 million.

At that time, singer Manh Quynh also praised Manh Nguyen: "I have a sympathetic and handsome face, a relaxed style, lyrical and very manly. I have all the elements to become a professional singer, from my physique to my voice, as long as I can hone more and have the right direction, I will be very successful."

After the competition, Manh Nguyen pursued a professional singing path and became a familiar singer at stages, music venues, tea rooms,...

"Now we don't busker at pubs anymore, I go running shows. Every week, people call to book in advance, every week there are and shows at parties, birthdays, restaurants,... Every week is like that, no longer have to sing on the street every night", artist Manh Thuong - Manh Nguyen's father shared.

Talking about his love for bolero, Manh Nguyen said: "The bolero music, lyrical, hometown is like my own person, simple and rustic and close. When I sing this music, I see my image and person in it.

I also listen to and sing many other types of music, but bolero still holds a special place in me. Perhaps, this music has already seeped into my blood and person."

After the competition, Meng Yuan was quite expensive. He is active in art regularly and is a beloved face of many. Despite being the winner of a prestigious music contest, recently, the singer still decided to participate in a TV show that is Love Story Teller 2023.

Manh Nguyen said: "I am not afraid to challenge myself in other playgrounds. I also did not feel pressured by the previous championship title that I had because each competition has different criteria, which cannot be compared.

At The Love Storyteller, I'm going to have to act — something I've never tried before and sing other types of music.

I find this very interesting and new. It gave me extremely valuable experiences, which helped me a lot in the path of long-term artistic activities in the future.

If you achieve the championship, of course, it is a very good thing, but if you do not achieve it, it is okay because the most important thing is what you learn after this competition.

I think, not only me, but all my classmates have the same thoughts. People participate with a love for music, not a matter of winning or losing."

In this program, besides bolero music, Manh Nguyen also surprised the audience by performing young music songs and creating emotional performances for viewers.

In terms of personal life, Meng Nguyen is living a peaceful life with his wife and a lovely daughter. Because he did not want too much public scrutiny about private matters, Meng Yuan never made his wife and children public in public. Economic life has also been more stable since Meng Nguyen was famous, expensive and loved by many people.

Kim Thoa, beauty queen of bolero, divorced her first love after 16 years of marriage. Kim Oanh16:22:51 15/03/2025While participating in the program Where is Happiness, singer Kim Thoa surprised everyone when she revealed that she and her husband had just divorced after 16 years together. The singer confided that she still could not overcome the sadness after her broken marriage.