X Factor Vietnam producer sorry for letting contestants don ethnic headwear as loincloth

The producer of the Vietnamese version of a British reality show has apologized for staging an episode over the weekend in which a contending boy band used the traditional headwear of a local ethnic minority group as their loincloth during a performance.>> Vietnam’s national TV admits error in airing live turtle beheading on cooking show >> Reality show organizers explain TV stripping scene

Cat Tien Sa Co., which produces the first season of The X Factor Vietnam, issued a document on Wednesday, saying that it was sorry for letting F Band don the richly-colored Pieu brocade in the form of a loincloth in the semifinal show aired Sunday on VTV3 – an entertainment channel of national broadcaster VTV.

The Vietnamese firm added that the performing outfits the four members of the band wore during the show were hired from the Youth Culture House in Ho Chi Minh City, with the firm assuming that they are typical of Ba Na or Ede ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands.

The Pieu brocade is actually the iconic costume of the Thai ethnic minority in the northwestern region, one of Vietnam’s 54 officially-recognized ethnic groups.

It has been featured in some local works of music and poetry.

Trinh Le Van, head of VTV’s entertainment desk, also acknowledged their responsibility, further explaining that their outfit selection team is quite young and thus not knowledgeable about the community’s traditional costumes.

Van asserted that the incident was just a mishap and by no means a ploy to create scandals to lure viewers in order to increase the ratings.

The X Factor has the UK as its country of origin and seeks gifted singers and groups who are also judged on their performing skills and “stage personality.”

During the controversial semifinal, the F Band singers utilized the Pieu brocade to wrap around their lower part while performing a mashup of songs characteristic of the Central Highlands.

The incident quickly provoked an uproar among TV viewers and culture researchers as well as outraged members of the Thai ethnic minority, who deem the negligent act an insult to their community.

Some even demanded an official apology from VTV and F Band. The boy band indeed posted profuse, sincere apologies on their fan page on Monday.

Just like several other reality TV programs, which are mostly the local versions of foreign shows, The X Factor Vietnam is not scandal-free.

In late April 2014, VTV publicly apologized for another incident in the X Factor show.

Popular singer Anh Thuy were found deceiving viewers in one of the show’s episodes by dressing up as a poor, scar-riddled coffee attendant and making up a pitiable story.

Thuy, playing the girl with a mask and a woolen hat, successfully aroused mercy and sympathy among many viewers, who were soon frustrated to learn that it was a mere trick.

Even worse, the show producer, Cat Tien Sa Co., claimed that they had no knowledge whatsoever of the trick while failing to confirm the identity of the coffee attendant.

Late last month, VTV admitted they made a mistake in not censoring footage of the beheading of a live turtle, so the disturbing image appeared clearly in the 10th episode of the second season of the “Vua Dau Bep – MasterChef Vietnam” cooking show, which was broadcast on September 20.

In December last year, BHD, the organizer of TV reality show “Big Brother Vietnam” – an adaption of its American original – issued a press release, admitting its PR staff accidentally leaked footage and images in which its contestants were seen stripping almost naked in one of the show’s challenges broadcast on VTV6.

In episode 5 on December 12, nine remaining contestants were asked to do everything they could to lose 18kg in their total weight.

The contestants, including females, then did not hesitate to take off their clothes to shed as much weight as possible.

The images, though briefly aired and blurred by VTV6, enraged many television viewers, who considered them unsuitable for their young children to watch as the episode was broadcast at prime time.

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