Vietnam Picks Tóc Tiên for Eurovision Asia 2026

Update, 4 October 2026: the song is now settled. Tóc Tiên won The Sound of Vietnam on 3 October with “Em Tiên”, produced by DUONGK and written by HAROSE for the S•HUBE team, under the 40/40/20 split and with no scoreboard published. The analysis below was written on 7 September, before the song existed; it is kept as published. Read the result →

Vietnam has its act for Eurovision Asia 2026: Tóc Tiên. Vietnam Television confirmed on its own English-language service on 4 September 2026 that the singer will represent the country at the inaugural Eurovision Song Contest Asia in Bangkok on 14 November, and Eurovoix reported the internal selection in full on 6 September. She is the fifth of the eleven participating countries to name an artist.

The selection is unusual in shape, and the distinction matters if you are trying to price Vietnam. Tóc Tiên was chosen internally by VTV3. Her song was not: that is still to be decided at a televised show, The Sound of Vietnam, on 3 October 2026, where five teams of writers and producers each present a candidate entry for her to perform. Vietnam is therefore in the same half-finished state as Malaysia — a known singer with an unknown song — rather than the finished state of Bhutan, the Philippines and South Korea.

Key takeaways

• VTV confirmed it itself. Tuổi Trẻ reported the pick on 2 September and Eurovoix ran it with a question mark; on 4 September VTV published the news on its own English service, which is what moves this from rumour to fact.
• The artist is chosen, the song is not. Five teams of musicians and producers each build an entry and The Sound of Vietnam picks one, on VTV3 on 3 October at 21:30 ICT, which is 16:30 CEST.
• Huy Tuấn is music director, confirmed on 6 September, overseeing all five competing teams. That points to a coherent house sound rather than whichever demo tests best.
• The 50/50 figure doing the rounds is the wrong rule. It is the Bangkok grand final split. Vietnam has published nothing about how 3 October is decided, and with a producer-led format it may not be a public vote at all.
• There is still nothing to bet on. Seven consecutive checks of Polymarket since 4 August have found no Eurovision Asia market of any kind.

What VTV actually confirmed

Two things are worth separating here, because this story was reported before it was confirmed and the site said so at the time. On 2 September the Vietnamese outlet Tuổi Trẻ reported that Tóc Tiên had been picked; Eurovoix ran it with a question mark, and this hub carried it as a media report rather than a selection. That was the right call for two days. On 4 September VTV published the news itself, writing that “singer Tóc Tiên will represent Vietnam at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest Asia”. That is the broadcaster, not the press, and it is what moves this from rumour to fact.

The reason for the caution is on the record. In August this site published a piece arguing a Polymarket price was wrong on the strength of a single media report of an unannounced broadcaster decision, and the broadcaster announced the opposite the same afternoon. A report of a decision that has not been announced is not a decision. VTV’s own statement is.

VTV3 — the entertainment channel, not the news arm — is the production home, working with DAO Music. No song title, no release date and no press conference date have been published, though Vietnamese coverage points to a launch event in mid-September.

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The Sound of Vietnam: five teams, one artist, 3 October

The Sound of Vietnam airs on VTV3 on 3 October at 21:30 ICT (16:30 CEST). It is not a conventional national final, because the performer is already decided. Five teams of musicians and producers each build an entry, and the show picks which of the five Tóc Tiên takes to Bangkok. VTV has described the brief as work that “carries contemporary Vietnamese identity” blended with a global musical language.

The music director is Huy Tuấn, confirmed on 6 September. He is one of the most established producers in Vietnamese television music — his credits include Vietnam Idol, the HOZO International Music Festival, the Hue Wonderverse Music Festival and the Sao Concert Festival — and VTV says he will oversee “the direction, development and refinement of the Vietnamese song”. Appointing a single music director over five competing teams is a strong signal that VTV wants a coherent house sound rather than whichever demo tests best.

One number that is not confirmed: the voting split for 3 October. Eurovoix’s coverage carries the 50% jury / 50% televote line, but that is the rule for the Bangkok grand final, and the fan press routinely appends it to articles about national selections. Bhutan, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines and South Korea all used 40% jury / 40% home public / 20% international for their own shows. Vietnam has published nothing, and with a producer-led format that may not be a public vote at all. Treat any 50/50 figure attached to The Sound of Vietnam as unconfirmed until VTV publishes the mechanics.

Who is Tóc Tiên

Tóc Tiên has been performing since her teens and has built a career across both music and television, with multiple albums behind her and a long run as a coach and judge on Vietnamese music formats. She is a mainstream, nationally known name rather than a breakout or an indie pick — closer in profile to the Philippines’ route through a tier-one broadcaster than to the open-call unknowns some countries have surfaced.

That matters for one specific reason. The pre-selection read on our Vietnam page was that VTV’s risk was defaulting to a “safe” technical ballad in the old Sao Mai mould, instead of repeating the culturally rooted modern formula that won Đức Phúc Intervision 2025. Tóc Tiên is not that safe default. She is a pop artist with a contemporary catalogue, which is the half of that thesis that has now resolved favourably. The other half — the song — is exactly what 3 October decides, and it is the half that has always mattered more.

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Where this leaves the Eurovision Asia 2026 field

Five of the eleven countries have now named an artist. Three of those five have a song. With Vietnam’s show dated and Cambodia’s pinned to 17 October on 3 September, every selection in the contest now has a date for the first time since the field was finalised.

The next three weeks are the densest stretch of the whole calendar: Nepal on 19 September, Laos on 23 September, host nation Thailand on 27 September and Bangladesh on 30 September, then Vietnam’s song on 3 October. Five decisions in a fortnight, into a contest six weeks later.

The betting angle: there is still nothing to bet on

We check Polymarket’s Gamma API on every run of this hub, and we checked it again on 7 September 2026. No bookmaker and no prediction market has listed a single Eurovision Asia 2026 market of any kind. Not a winner market, not a country market, not a top-three. Ten weeks out, with five artists known and every selection dated, there is nothing to price and no odds to compare — and we would rather write that sentence than imply prices exist. When one opens, it will be covered here first.

The only live Eurovision board on Polymarket remains Eurovision 2027 Participants, with 14 country contracts and about $11.6K of lifetime volume. Read against that market, the notable move of the past three days is the Netherlands, back to 43.5% from the 52% it touched on 4 September — still well above the 21% it traded at on 1 September, but giving back most of the spike that followed Talpa Network’s public offer of production support. Kazakhstan has fallen further, 31% to 22%. Those are prices we read from the API today, on a market whose individual books run from $9 to $3.5K of lifetime volume; at the thin end they are placeholders, not opinions.

For the European contest, where markets do exist and prices do move, see our Eurovision winner odds and our comparison of Eurovision bookmakers. For the last Asia selection to actually resolve, see JUNHEE’s win at Korea’s Next Wave. 18+. Please gamble responsibly.

What to watch next

• The mid-September press conference. Vietnamese coverage points to a launch event; a confirmed date, and any detail on the five teams, is the next thing to land.
• The voting mechanics for 3 October. VTV has published nothing. Whether the public votes at all changes how predictable the song choice is.
• Nepal, 19 September. The next selection to resolve, and the first of five inside a fortnight.
• The first Asia market. Seven consecutive checks of Polymarket since 4 August have found none.

Frequently asked questions

Has Vietnam confirmed its Eurovision Asia 2026 artist?

Yes. VTV published the news on its own English service on 4 September 2026, writing that “singer Tóc Tiên will represent Vietnam at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest Asia”. Tuổi Trẻ had reported the selection on 2 September and Eurovoix carried it with a question mark; this hub treated it as a media report until the broadcaster said it itself.

Has Tóc Tiên’s song been chosen?

No. The artist was selected internally; the song is decided at The Sound of Vietnam on VTV3 on 3 October 2026. Five teams of musicians and producers each build an entry and the show picks which one she takes to Bangkok. No song title, no release date and no press conference date have been published.

When is The Sound of Vietnam, and on what channel?

It airs on VTV3 on 3 October 2026 at 21:30 ICT, which is 16:30 CEST. VTV3 is the entertainment channel rather than the news arm, and the show is produced with DAO Music.

Who is the music director?

Huy Tuấn, confirmed on 6 September 2026. His credits include Vietnam Idol, the HOZO International Music Festival, the Hue Wonderverse Music Festival and the Sao Concert Festival, and VTV says he will oversee the direction, development and refinement of the Vietnamese song.

Is the 3 October vote a 50/50 jury and televote split?

Nobody has said so. The 50% jury and 50% televote line in circulation is the rule for the Bangkok grand final, and the fan press routinely appends it to national selection articles. Bhutan, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines and South Korea all used 40% jury, 40% home public and 20% international for their own shows. Vietnam has published nothing.

Are there any Eurovision Asia 2026 betting markets yet?

No. We checked Polymarket’s Gamma API again on 7 September 2026, the seventh consecutive check since 4 August, and found no winner market, no country market and no top-three market. The only live Eurovision board is Eurovision 2027 Participants, with 14 country contracts and about $11.6K of lifetime volume.

How many Eurovision Asia countries have named an artist?

Five of eleven: Bhutan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam. Three of those five have a song. Every remaining selection now has a date, running from Nepal on 19 September to Cambodia on 17 October.

Sources: Eurovoix, 6 September 2026; VTV, 4 September 2026; Eurovoix on Huy Tuấn, 6 September 2026. Polymarket prices read from the Gamma API on 7 September 2026.

Featured photo: Photo of Tóc Tiên: 티비텐 (TV10), via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0; cropped and placed on a blurred background.

Correction, 1 October 2026: this article said no prediction market had listed a Eurovision Asia market. That was true on the day it was published and is not true now. Kalshi, the CFTC-regulated US exchange, opened an eleven-country Eurovision Asia winner market on 14 September 2026. It is thin and should not be read as odds: on 1 October the last trades summed to 143% of the field, eight of the eleven contracts had no bid at all, the whole board recorded no trades in 24 hours, and Laos accounts for about three-quarters of every contract ever traded. Our full coverage of the first Eurovision Asia market →