Filipina housewife Janice Buco wins 'Vietnam Idol’

Filipina Janice Buco, under her stage name of Janice Phuong, wins Vietnam Idol

Janice Buco charmed the Vietnamese audience with her rendition of “Hello Vietnam” in both Vietnamese and English in the show’s finale.

The Filipina has lived in Vietnam for seven years and works as a professional singer in bars and clubs.

The singing competition allowed foreigners to participate only this year for the show’s seventh season.

From Inquirer.net:

“I didn’t have an inkling that I would win. I thought I’d only end up in second place because I was a Filipino and not Vietnamese,” she said on Saturday. On the night of the finals on Friday in Ho Chi Minh City, she could not believe her ears when the host called her name as the victor, defeating a 22-year-old local. “Up to now, it still hasn’t sunk in. I couldn’t help crying when they announced that I won,” she said. She won 54.25 percent of the audiences’ votes with her powerful alto, taking home a cash prize of 600 million Vietnamese dong ($28,600). “Vietnam Idol” is based on the show, “American Idol.” Read more.