HCM CITY — The Keeng Young Awards, a special prize for singers and musicians under 30, kicked off in HCM City this week.

Music fans can vote for their favourite artists in 16 categories, including best artist, favourite male and female singers, best band, and best composer, song and music video of the year, and best songs in different genres like pop, dance and music score. Each category has 10 nominations.

Singers Bích Phương, Đông Nhi, Hương Tràm, Sơn Tùng M-TP, Noo Phước Thịnh, Khắc Việt, Min, Tóc Tiên and Vũ Cát Tường, who are in their mid-20s, have been nominated in the best artist category.

Their songs have attracted millions of views on zing.vn, nhaccuatui.vn and YouTube.

The artists have also been nominated for favourite male and female singer, and bands Lip B, Da Lab, Uni5, and Monstar for best band.

Young talents Vũ Cát Tường, Tiên Cookie and Châu Đăng Khoa are among the nominations for favourite composers.

The best song category includes works like Bao giờ lấy chồng (When Will You Marry?) composed by Huỳnh Hiền Năng, and Em gái mưa (I Can’t Feel Your Love) by Mr Siro.

MV nominations include Có em chờ (I’m Waiting for You) sung by Min and Mr. A and Xin anh đừng (Please Don’t Leave Me) by Đông Nhi.

Voters will choose the top five for each category and the judging panel will decide the winners.

The judges include nine experienced composers and journalists such as Anh Quân, Huy Tuấn, Hồ Hoài Anh, and Phương Uyên.

The winners will be named at an awards ceremony to be held on January 16 in HCM City. — VNS