Nguyen Son Lam, a 19-year-old popping/hiphop dancer and student of FPT Arena, was named winner of Thu thach cung buoc nhay (So you think you can dance) at Maximark Cong Hoa Sports Hall in HCMC’s Tan Binh District last Saturday.

Son Lam (L) shares the stage with hiphop dancer Toan Trung at the fi nal night of So you think you can dance in HCMC’s Tan Binh District.

The contestant from the the north-central province of Thanh Hoa pocketed a cash prize of VND400 million of the third edition in 2014. He was the third male winner of the dancing contest in Vietnam, after Lam Vinh Hai in 2012 and Nguyen Ngoc Thinh in 2013, both from HCMC.

Lam said on the stage at the final night that every morning from now when he wakes up he will have a lot of pressure to try harder. Lam also thanked his family members, friends and the judging panel for their support and comments which helped him improve his skills.

Lam said he felt in love with dancing at the age of 14 when he was a ninth grader and had spent much time watching dancing video clips and practicing. He had spent big on workshops conducted by international dancers to improve his skills before the contest.

Lam was highly evaluated for his intelligence and creativity. In addition to his outstanding performance, he also has a good appearance that helped him draw many audiences. 

Lam defeated 17-year-old Latin dancer Nguyen Duc Tien from the northern coastal city of Haiphong and jazz dancer Pham Thi Lich, 24, from the northern province of Thai Binh in a 30-second dancing challenge. Tien and Lich came second and third respectively, and 24-year-old jazz dancer from HCMC Nguyen Xuan Thao was the fourth-place getter.

The final contestants had joint performances with finalists of the dancing contest in previous years. Lam collaborated with Toan Trung, one of the 20 finalists in the first year, in a hiphop show. Lich joined a lyrical hiphop act with Quang Dang, the first runner-up of the first season in 2012. Thao shared the stage with Dinh Loc, the second runner-up of the second season in 2013, in a jazz performance while Tien and Thao Uyen, one of the top 20 finalists of the dancing contest in 2012, for a samba act. 

Audiences had chances to admire performances of the dancing contest’s winners in 2012 and 2013, Lam Vinh Hai and Nguyen Ngoc Thinh and two invited singers Ho Ngoc Ha and Thanh Bui.