After the British-origin reality show “Dancing with The Stars” concluded on June 17 with the highest prize going to local pop singer Minh Hang, singer Phuong Thanh, one of the show’s contestants, has accused the contest’s organisers of arranging the result, which was supposed to be based on the numbers of audience votes via messages.

Phuong Thanh (L) and her partner

In an interview with Ngoisao.net newswire a few days after the finale, Thanh said she had been just a chess piece of Cat Tien Sa Media company, the show’s organiser.

At the semi-final night on June 10 in Hanoi, Thanh was the last contestant to be eliminated, since she received fewer votes than model Anh Thu, another contestant.

However, the singer disagreed with the result. “I got a score of 33 from the jury, lower than Thu’s, in the Argentine Tango round and felt OK with it since she was better than me. However, in the paso doble round, she was not as good as in the tango round, but her score was even higher,” Thanh opined.

The singer then demanded that the organisers announce the number of voting messages received for contestants that night.

She also confirmed that Thu had nothing to do with the result and she had no problem with her. “Thu and I were just two pieces on the chessboard,” she added. 

The singer later said that she would not cooperate with Cat Tien Sa in any future project. 

“Though there were TV viewers and even the jury, the show’s organisers had the power to decide the whole thing since they gave birth to the show; the audience was simply passive. Without mentioning who’s right or wrong here, it’s normal to use tricks while playing games, and you can never find the proof of those tricks,” she said.

For its part, Cat Tien Sa has responded to the singer’s accusation.

“It was obvious that actress Van Trang and actor Huynh Dong (other contestants) were much better than Phuong Thanh but they were still eliminated on previous nights due to the small amount of votes they received,” the company’s representative replied. “Why didn’t Thanh ask about it?”

He also explained that the company doesn’t have to announce the numbers of voting messages.Since Thanh is one among many artists in Vietnam, the company also expressed no concern over the fact that she will not cooperate with them anymore.

“We have been very upset about the Phuong Thanh case, but it will not affect the show since viewers, our partners, and other artists can see what we devoted to the show,” the representative added.

Also, Nguyen Ha Nam, head of Vietnam Television’s Secretariat, the broadcaster of the show, said the station was in charge of the show’s content, though this responsibility was jointly held with Cat Tien Sa. 

“With the responsibility of a national TV station, we’ve never planned to use scandals to attract audiences. The result arrangement in “Dancing with The Stars” is just a suspected case without proof. If anyone can give persuasive evidence, we will make the case clear or even take it to the court,” Nam stated.