Tùng Dương (Nguyễn Tùng Dương) is a Vietnamese singer, born 18 September 1983 in Ha Noi. Duong is one of few Vietnamese singers of the 8X generation to have established a stable presence in the music industry. He is remarkable not only because of the way he shot to fame – by winning Sao Mai Diem Hen (Morning Star Rendezvous) in 2004, a national singing contest similar to Vietnamese Idol – but also because of the genres of music he chooses to pursue.

Instead of sticking to ‘safe’ pop music that is guaranteed to have some kind of audience, however transient, Duong has chosen to explore alternative styles such as jazz, alternative rock and electronica.

Taking a chance, Duong opted for jazz, composing his first album Chạy Trốn (Run Away) with composer, Le Minh Son.

In his second album (Những Ô Màu Khối Lập Phương), Duong has chosen an even more soothing tack, with backing support from musician Do Bao. It’s new but it’s still uniquely Duong, the artist says, insisting that he will not sacrifice his passion for the sake of a wider audience.

Instead of trying to dominate the limelight, Duong leaves people to make their own way to his music.His chosen path certainly seems to have been the right one so far. In 2004 and 2005 he was the only Vietnamese singer to take part in the International Jazz Festival in Hanoi, and in Copenhagen in 2006. He’s now preparing for his next solo concert next year with musician Quoc Trung. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.