Duc Phuc: Spent billions of dong to determine "loss", didn't expect to win the championship

On the afternoon of September 27, singer Duc Phuc held a press conference in Hanoi to share about his journey to winning the championship of the Intervision 2025 international music competition held in Russia.

According to the rules, the winner is determined through secret ballots from the international jury. With an outstanding performance, Duc Phuc was named, officially becoming the champion, receiving the Intervision crystal cup and a prize worth 30 million rubles (more than 9 billion VND).

Singer Duc Phuc shared his journey to winning the Intervision 2025 international music competition championship at a press conference on the afternoon of September 27 (Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam ).

Participate in Intervision 2025 "thought to lose"

The cost of participating in the Intervision 2025 international music competition is a matter of curiosity for many people, and Duc Phuc did not hesitate to reveal the "huge" numbers in this journey.

The male singer humorously said: “Oh my god, the amount of money was huge. I thought I was going to die from the loss.”

Duc Phuc said that up to now, he has not yet made an exact summary but estimates the number could be up to billions of dong.

A significant portion of the costs are related to logistics. The organizing committee only supports 10 people, while the Vietnamese delegation to Russia has up to 16-17 people. Therefore, all airfare, accommodation, travel and expenses for the accompanying crew are covered by Duc Phuc and his crew.

Duc Phuc revealed for the first time behind the scenes of Intervision 2025 ( Video : Le Phuong Anh).

In particular, the most “painful” part comes from the stage effects. At first, he thought that the fire and fireworks effects were free, so he excitedly requested: “Give me all the best effects for the show.”

But then the group received a quote that shocked him: The figure was up to several billion VND. “I looked at it and exclaimed: Oh my God! This much is a big loss, let’s give up, let’s give up,” he recounted.

After calculating with the crew, from the initial 20-30 fire engines, the group reduced it to 10. However, the cost of fire and artillery alone was still nearly 2 billion VND.

When he tried to negotiate, the technical side replied: “Either you do it, or we will act without effects.”

In the end, Duc Phuc accepted but still successfully bargained for an extra shot of the firecracker. Thanks to his persistence, he was also given an extra firecracker in both the mock shoot and the final night. “That was my most effective bargaining deal during the entire competition,” the singer said with a laugh.

The cost was also high because the entire effects system had to be transported, installed and tested over three days: a test session, a mock session and the official performance.

Duc Phuc admitted: “I was certain that I would lose money. The entire set, props, costumes, effects… all cost billions of dong. I just wanted a well-prepared performance, worthy of making the international audience remember the image of Vietnam.

At that time, I really didn’t think about winning. But I never expected that the performance that I had determined would “lose heavily” would bring me to the championship title.”

The humorous singer added: “Luckily, I won so I didn’t lose. If I had known, I would have made some more fireworks.”

However, what makes him happiest is not the profit but being able to bring Vietnamese culture to the world, showing solidarity and love.

The singer of First Day affirmed: "Luckily, I had the opportunity to become a representative, speaking up for Vietnam's love and solidarity in front of international friends."

Duc Phuc jokingly said that he once "thought he would die from losses" because the cost of stage effects increased to billions of dong (Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam).

"Without my parents and Ms. My Tam, there would be no Duc Phuc today."

Recalling the past, Duc Phuc became emotional many times when talking about his parents, who he believes have contributed greatly to his current status. “Without my parents’ education, trust and support, there would be no Duc Phuc like today,” the male singer expressed.

Right after finishing the program in Russia, Duc Phuc said the first person he called to tell the good news was his mother. Even though it was early morning, she stayed up to watch the entire competition and wait for the moment her son shined. That memory became one of the most memorable moments for the male singer after his victory.

When asked about how he shows his love to his family, Duc Phuc humorously said: “After winning, I also asked my parents what they wanted, and I gave them that. But when I asked, my parents said… they still hadn’t thought of it yet.”

Not only expressing gratitude to his parents, Duc Phuc also sent special thanks to singer My Tam, the teacher who guided him from the first days of his singing career. The male singer emotionally said: "I always think of her in every situation and proudly affirm: I am a student of Ms. My Tam. That makes me extremely proud".

He said that My Tam's artistic journey and way of dealing with people has greatly influenced him. For Duc Phuc, she is the biggest source of inspiration, an example for him to follow, not only in music but also in life, teaching him to live kindly, humbly and to make constant efforts.

Besides, Duc Phuc also mentioned musician Ho Hoai Anh, who always wholeheartedly guided him in music. For the male singer, singer My Tam and musician Ho Hoai Anh are both people who have had a profound influence, contributing to creating the Duc Phuc of today.

At the event, Duc Phuc shared many interesting behind-the-scenes stories about his journey to conquer the international music arena (Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam).

Sharing about the performance Phu Dong Thien Vuong , the piece that helped him win, Duc Phuc said that the first choice suggested by musician Ho Hoai Anh was Cay Truc Xinh . However, he and his crew then wanted to find a stronger, more symbolic image.

“I thought of Saint Giong and the image of Vietnamese bamboo, a symbol of the nation’s resilience, resilience and indomitable will. The poem Vietnamese Bamboo by poet Nguyen Duy became the inspiration to create this song,” Duc Phuc said.

The male singer also revealed that the song Phu Dong Thien Vuong was mainly composed by musician Ho Hoai Anh, and rapper Phuc Du was urgently invited to collaborate by Duc Phuc.

In just about 30 minutes, Phuc Du finished writing the rap and edited it for another 10 minutes to complete it. Singer Orange participated in performing the English part, musician Huy Tuan was in charge of the Russian part, bringing diversity to the song.

“It can be said that Phu Dong Thien Vuong is a product of collective spirit, where each person contributes a piece to create a complete performance,” Duc Phuc emphasized.

Standing on the modern stage of Live Arena, the most modern performance center in Europe, where the Intervision 2025 final round took place and performing in front of 11,000 spectators and thousands of people watching on live television, Duc Phuc admitted that he could not help but feel nervous.

“I was only shaking for the first 10 to 20 seconds, then thanks to the enthusiastic cheers from the audience and thorough practice, I quickly regained my composure and integrated into the stage. Thanks to that, the performance was perfect as expected,” the male singer shared.

To realize the idea, Duc Phuc's team had to follow strict regulations from the organizers: Each performance was no longer than 3 minutes and there were only a maximum of 6 people on stage, which meant Duc Phuc could only use 4 dancers.

To overcome the limitation on the number of people on stage, Duc Phuc said he came up with a way to "circumvent the law" but still completely comply with the regulations.

Instead of adding real dancers, the crew “multiplied people on screen”, creating a visual effect as if there were up to 50 dancers appearing at the same time. All the dancer scenes were filmed in Vietnam first, then sent to Russia to be integrated into the visual system on stage.

“I want the performance to not only capture the essence of Vietnamese culture but also combine modern, contemporary and entertaining elements. During the 3 minutes, the audience will be breathless, constantly getting goosebumps and having to exclaim in amazement from beginning to end. Emotions need to be intense, increasing gradually and have unexpected moments that will startle the audience,” Duc Phuc expressed.

Duc Phuc bowed and shook hands to thank the audience and those who have accompanied him throughout his journey (Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam).

Regarding the visuals, Duc Phuc and his team had planned to bring a giant horse model to Russia to recreate the scene of Saint Giong riding a horse into the sky. However, due to difficulties in transportation, this plan had to be canceled. Instead, the moment of Saint Giong was shown through visual graphics on stage, entirely done by the Vietnamese creative team.

In the music section, producer Duong K is in charge of arranging, skillfully combining traditional instruments such as flute, erhu, zither with modern electronic sounds, creating an overall composition that is both traditional and contemporary.

“We want the world audience to see Vietnam through music, through bamboo, through Saint Giong, and through the creativity of a generation of young artists,” Duc Phuc said. “This is how we tell the story of Vietnam in a global language.”

Intervision 2025 is a music competition, taking place at Live Arena stadium (Moscow, Russia).

The event gathered representatives from 23 countries, including host Russia and representatives from China, India, Cuba, Venezuela, Egypt, South Africa...

The winner of Intervision 2025 will be determined by secret ballot from an international jury, receiving the Intervision crystal trophy and a prize worth 30 million rubles (more than 9 billion VND).

Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam

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Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giai-tri/duc-phuc-chi-hang-ty-dong-xac-dinh-lo-khong-ngo-duoc-quan-quan-20250927180716798.htm