As the third season of the Vietnam Idol competition continued to draw over 20,000 auditions from across the country, the popular show is now in the midst of a controversy after mixed opinions have been buzzing around the streets, on the internet and in almost every form of media.

The issue surrounds on one of the contest judges, the known singer Siu Black, over her remarks on a disabled candidate Son Lam Nguyen. Indeed, Son Lam may be considered special and unique among the other candidates. At the height of 83cm and weighing 23kg, he was disabled by the effects of Agent Orange, of which, he inherited from his father. Having swept aside thousands of other contestants from the initial selection processes was a success in its own. The pre-qualification in ${bigcity_Hanoi:"Hanoi"} had over 4,000 candidates who were rejected.

Along with other members of the jury including musician Quoc Trung and director Nguyen Quang Dung, even Siu Black was very surprised and touched by the message of Lam Son’s song performance. Though filled with admiration over the young man’s talent, Black believes it is not enough to earn him the "golden ticket" to head to the next round. That is where the talk around town started. 28-year old Lam believes he was discriminated during the audition, claiming that Siu Black told him about her being surprised with his performance, but is sorry that he could not go through because the competition is “not just about singing.” More so, Lam also recalls how the judge added a remark saying that “if he competed in a contest among the handicapped, he would have won.”

But Black denies the accusations. According to her, the actual statement she made was “If in a show for the handicapped, you want to sing for everybody, you will succeed.” That, however, yet have to be verified once the tape is aired. Looks like the speculations and mixed views will linger for a while as Vietnam Idol’s organizers have refused to release the tape until the first episode of the show is live on August 21. On top of that, they also rejected Lam’s allegations and insisted that the entire selection process was fair. It would be weeks until everyone gets to the bottom of this controversy. That gives the entire country more reason to mark that day on their calendars.