Controversies
The gameshow has come under intense criticism alleging voting irregularities and the lack of transparency in voting procedures. Major newspapers such as Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre ran stories about votes for a contestant being counted for another contestant though there was no hard evidence to prove the allegation and the organisers maintained that the results cannot be manipulated. While the organizers maintain that allowing up to 500 votes per phone number and not publicly tallying votes are standard practices of all Idol shows, they have been accused of doing so to maximize profits at the expense of fairness. Furthermore, there were rumors about contestants' relationship with one of the judges and the PR manager of Vietnam Idol. A public auditor from the Singaporean auditing firm Paul Hooi & Co. was flown in to audit the vote counting process during the Grand Finale.
Read more about this topic: Vietnam Idol