Viah

**Huyen Vi Tranová** (born 1995) is a Czech-Vietnamese singer-songwriter. Previously known under the alias **Viah**, she represented the Czech Republic at The Origin Song Contest 06 in Gothenburg, Sweden. In 2019, she was joined by Rosalie Malinská and Eleni Michailidu, which resulted in Viah becoming a band.

## Early life

Huyen Vi Tranová was born in 1995 in Prague to parents of Vietnamese origin. Before taking up singing, she was previously engaged in dancing and theatre, as well as in playing the piano. She began her singing career in 2013 at the age of 17.

## Career

### 2015-16: *Česko Slovenská SuperStar* and work with Jiří Burian

In 2015 Huyen took part in the fourth edition of the singing competition "Česko Slovenská SuperStar" (English: "Czech & Slovak SuperStar"), to which she refers as being "a crappy Czech TV talent show." Later that year, she connected with songwriter and producer Jiří Burian. After starting working with him, she adopted the stage name Viah and began accompanying the band "Republic of Two" as their vocalist and keyboard player and took her first steps in recording music.

### 2018-19: *Tears of a Giant* and The Origin Song Contest

In July 2018, Vi's debut album "Tears of a Giant", a result of her work with Jiří Burian was released. According to her, the album "is an invitation into an intimate, fragile world of an intense feeler, reflecting on the themes of identity and solitude". It consists of 15 songs, some of which feature guests’ vocals of Justin Lavash and Niro Baits.

On 14th January 2019, she was revealed as one of the participants in Song for the Origin 01, the Czech national final for The Origin Song Contest 06. She participated with her song Gloria, composed by Jiří Burian and herself. On 10th February 2019, she won the selection with 142 points, thus becoming the Czech representative for TOSC 06 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

At the contest, she placed second with 111 points in her semi-final and advanced to the Grand Final. She went on to finish fourth with 112 points, bringing the Czech Republic their second top six finish in the history of the contest.

### 2019: "Viah", *Czeching 2019* and second attempt at TOSC

In 2019, Vi was joined by Rosalie Malinská and Eleni Michailidu, meaning that Viah was not a solo project anymore, but a group. In June 2019, they won "Czeching 2019", a festival organised by Radio Wave. On 11th July 2019, it was announced that Viah will take part in Song for the Origin for the second time in a row with the song "My Head is Glowing in the Dark", presented at the selection as "Glowing in the Dark", in attempt to return to The Origin Song Contest 07. She participated as a solo artist. This time, she was less successful, placing only fifth in the national final.

On 20th November 2019, they released their first song as a group, called "Samurai".

## Personal life

Vi was a student of Fine Arts Experimental Media.

## Discography

### Singles

#### As a solo artist

* "My Head is Glowing in the Dark" (together with "Terrible Love") (2018)
* "Terrible Love" (together with "My Head is Glowing in the Dark") (2018)
* "Gloria" (2018)

## See also

* Czech Republic
* The Origin Song Contest 06