Asia 48 – 75 Nam Am Nhac Viet Nam
Asia Entertainment tried to do the impossible, and that is to cover almost a century worth of music in a couple of hours. As a result, they only scratch the surface of the history of Vietnamese music. What I want to see is more details of how our music has changed and grown over the years, and how earlier important figures like Van Cao and Pham Duy have influenced the latter songwriters. Maybe that requires Asia to make more than one release, but they want to sell more DVDs, don’t they? Nevertheless, 75 Nam Am Nhac Viet Nam (75 Years of Vietnamese Music) is a fantastic show.
The best part about Asia is that they never recycle their arrangements, and with a handful of skillful producers like Truc Ho, Truc Sinh, Sy Dan, and Vu Tuan Duc, they always churn out great sounds. For instance, the earlier version of Dang The Phong’s “Giot Mua Thu,” which was produced years ago for Asia’s girls including Nini, Ha Vy, and Vina Uyen My, was gorgeous, but they refresh it again this time for Anh Minh and Thuy Duong.
Beside the breathtaking arrangements, Asia is doing something quite odd on this video by pairing up singers from the two different generations. Kieu Nga and Trish on “May Lang Thang” is a strange combination, but the production pulls them together in a creative way. Kieu Nga starts off “May Lang Thang” with a mid tempo so that her strong and clear vocals can dominate. When Trish enters the stage, the beat accelerates and she rides right inside it. Her voice is small, but not overshadowed by the pulsating club groove. This is one of Trish’s best performances I have heard in years. The same goes for Thanh Tung’s “Mua Ngau” with Thanh Lan and Da Nhat Yen on the same stage. The arrangement switches to fast tempo when Da Nhat Yen kicks in. She is actually the only younger generation that topped her older partner. I am not saying Thanh Lan is not good, but the song doesn’t seem to fit her well. Another indelible blend is Don Ho and Dieu Huong. Backed up by Don Ho’s whispery vocals (his special talent), Dieu Huong gives a remarkable performance of her own “Vi Do La Em.” Don Ho also delivers a heartfelt performance on her romantic ballad “Chi Co Mot Thoi.”
Asia 4 doesn’t impress me much with their dance version of Duc Huy’s “Va Toi Cung Yeu Em,” but homeboy Chosen got the flow. His delivery is fast, clear, and way more natural than Hearts to Exist. His rhymes are not that interesting except for the line, “Bun Bo Hue with a little bit of rice.” Now that is Vietnamese ghetto style.
On the weaker side, Lam Nhat Tien could not express Van Cao’s “Thien Thai” to the fullest. His performance is not dramatic enough. Nguyen Khang and Vu Tuan Duc don’t go well together on Doan Chuan and Tu Linh’s “Duong Ve Viet Bac.” Thien Kim does not bring anything to Trinh Cong Son’s “Tinh Nho.” Still, Asia has once again delivered a fine presentation from musical arrangement to stage design to song selection. We’re also feeling their new protégé, Dang The Luan who has tremendous potential in becoming Duy Khanh’s successor.
Always enjoy your critique.
Btw, Doan Chuan-Tu Linh’s song is “Duong ve Viet Bac”, not “Duong ve Mien Bac”. It’s “funny” how you repeat this “error” because the MCs stressed this issue in the video! :)
Asia never recycle arrangement but they always recycle songs, same old stuff. and even dance moves, ie Bai 20 wit 3 stooges. Asia 4 not only have bad moves but bad vietnamese too, til this day I still believe they’re some sort of filipino/laos/cambodian –not viet.
Thank-you for another fine review. However, I beg to differ on a couple of points. Even with the fresh arrangments (and like you I’m amazed)Mua Ngau is atrocious, Kieu Nga visually is – how should I put this nicely – silly, Thien Thai is sleep inducing as an opening number, Dieu Huong butchered her own song (she couldn’t even hit the high notes properly so in a sense that’s remarkable) and Shayla and Mai Le Huyen, put it simply that wasn’t singing, that was a nite out at a karaoke bar. Kim Anh should have sung Nang Chieu all by herself cos that song was simply made for her, TDD (how she became a singer is beyond me) totally destroyed it. One song that I’m disappointed in is “Dem Dong”, the arrangement basically killed the heart and soul of this song.
For a show labeling itself as 75 Am Nhac Viet Nam, you’re right, they barely scratched the surface. Unlike you, the program is incoherent. There’s no continuity, the evolution in the development of Vietnamese music. To me it was all rather superficial. And why prolific composers such as Lam Phuong, Pham Duy, Hoang Thi Tho, Ngo Thuy Mien didn’t get a guernsey… they played major parts in shaping Vietnamese music but Sy Dan got that crappy song recycled.
How beautiful did Kim Anh sing Nang Chieu only to have been butchered by TDD!? I agree witchu Stefan! I like how you tell it like it is. Sy Dang’s Trai Dang song annoyed the hell out of me back then and it still does now, why the hell would the movie Little Fish want it? Bai 20 did not shape vietnamese music. I’m surprised they didn’t include any Le Uyen Phuong songs as well, it would have been interesting to see Thien Kim sing it with Le Uyen. Asia bit off more than they could chew once again.
@nya
really? i haven’t seen the video, but I’ve always heard it to be “duong ve mien bac”.
what is the substantiation for the title being “viet bac” instead of “mien bac”?
The lyrics go:
…chieu nao ao tim nhieu qua, long thay ron rang nho nguoi
duong ve mien bac bao cach xa, nhin ve duong loi muon kho khan.
day nuoi cao, day xuoi sau, day la hoa gieo nhu ngan xua…
so the song refers to the character residing in hue, or mien trung where purple ao dai’s are the characteristic and he yearns towards home in the north with someone there in his heart.
please don’t tell me media is trying to change musical history because there are animosities between the “north and south”.
if the song was indeed titled “duong ve viet bac”, then that would indicate the main character to be from outside of vietnam, which is unlikely.
judging from other songs of doan chuan, notable “gui nguoi em gai”, which is fully titled: “gui nguoi em gai sai gon”, doan chuan tu linh often placed specifics on locations in their songs.
@nya
oh, i just looked at the link supplied in the blog.
just take a look at that page from asia entertainment and you will see the title to be “duong ve mien bac”
so i dont know why they would say “viet bac” in the video and print it as “mien bac”.
the commentator, Asia’s website makes the mistake too. It was the writer Doan Chuan himself who said the title is “Duong Ve Viet Bac.” I was whipping up this piece at 1:00 in the morning; therefore, I was half asleep and didn’t even notice the mistake.
Thanks Nya for pointing this out.
oh, as for “gui nguoi em gai”, isnt the full title actually “gui nguoi em gai mien nam”, and not Sai Gon, as previously mentioned? not to nitpick or anything, i’m just curious. =]
It’s rather bizzare but the more I watch this DVD, the less special it becomes. Like I said, it’s rather shallow and superficial at times. And I just can’t get over the fact that they included Sy Dan and Duc Huy songs at the expense of more worthy songs.
I disagree with your comment on Thanh Lan. I think Thanh Lan sang that song so much better than Da Nhat Yen. Ha’t the^`u tha`o cha? nghe duoc gi ca?. I also think Thien Kim sang the song really nice too… even though, I think Ngoc Lan sang that song the best.
It is quite funny how they combined the old and the new generation together, because you can clearly see that the old generation is so so much better. How funny that… lu*’a tre? o dday so’ng cuo.c so’ng sung suo’ng, a(n uo’ng dda`y ddu?, tre? khoe ma.nh ma` ha’t thi` cha? ra ho*i ti’ na`o hehehe
@sis
yeah i think your’e right, it is gui nguoi con gai mien nam.
and i’ve been looking into the titles of doan chuan’s music. it seems there are a few of his works that have “dị bản” and as a result the titles change through the decades.
i believe duong ve viet bac would be the correct one, but i guess i never knew and the mainstream title is “mien bac”.
plus asia’s website doesnt help much then by titling it as mien bac.
thanks all.
I agreed that Asia once again delivered an amazing show. I enjoyed the interesting duets of 2 different generations. By doing that, it somewhat shows how Vietnamese music has changed over time. My favorite is when Don Ho and Dieu Huong performed “Vi Do la Em” and “Chi Co Mot THoi”. I also enjoyed the opening by Lam Nhat Tien, that is one of his better performance. Overall, the show was a HUGE SUCCESS! THanks ASIA!
really? i found that i liked “may lang thang” it was a great performance by trish, and for the first time (in a very long period of time) that trish has sung in vietnamese, im surprised, but her vietnamese voice actually seems very sweet!
as for thanh lan and da nhat yen, that song was wonderful! da nhat yen and thanh lan are both great performers in their time frame and combining them together was really sweet.
the other song i enjoyed was the one of mai le huyen and shayla. though mai le huyens voice isnt as strong as it used to be, she no doubt still put up an interesting performance. what i liked the most about this DVD was the way they used two ppl of two diff generations, gives the song two different audiences and thats what many ppl enjoy..
Again, I appreciated Leyna’s job. She’s so charming.
Her English is perfect. If I have to watch the video, that’s partly because of Leyna’s present and performance. Very well-done Leyna. Keep coming up at subsequent shows. looking forward to seeing you again.
I’m not sure why so many people hate the song by Sy Dan and Duc Huy so much. I love those songs. They are fresh breaths of Vietnamese musics. Honestly i like fast tempo songs better. My fav song of the show is “Mua Ngau”. The choreography with the umbrellas and the outfits was amzing. In addition, the song was sweetly sung by Thanh Lam and Da Nhat Yen. Love it! Now i’m off to find it for my phone’s ring tune. =^^=
lol, can u find it as a ring tone? Damn, i want it too! oh would anyone know where i can get (download) the song “Mua Ngau” and “May Lang Thang”?
Wellcome Dang the Luan who sings so well. also handsome and young. Hope to see him in next asian DVDs
He sings ok , I like his voice even though I’m not the type of person who likes that style of music
firstly… I FRICKEN LUV DIS DVD… how hot is it?
anyways to j… u bagged asia4 and you are have got to pay!!!… i dont know whether u are in Australia or America but im going to find u and i will shove ur head down the toilet!!!!!
and to the person who did the very 1st comment..(not Nya) i will kill you too coz u bagged asia4!! And the person who wrote the song “va Toi Cung Yeu Em” wasnt Duc Huy but i will find out who did… so i can prove you wrong!!!
anyway the performances dat i liked were from Da Nhat Yen (shes so hot even though im a chick, Trish’s and Kieu Nga’s performance wasnt bad, and cardin’s and Sy dan performance was hot!!
So those who continues to bag asia4.. I will find you and i will bash the crap out of u all!!!
the person who wrote the song “va Toi Cung Em” was Tu Cong Phung… SUCK SHIT!! i proved u wrong you cock blocker!!
i like bai 20 very much but i did not like the performance in asia. =[ i like the version where lam nhat tien and 3 other guys sing it in another show. i forgot what show it was though. and the giot mua thu song sounds really nice and modern pop with puriti singing. i heckuh like their hair! haha.. ^_^
Wow, Donny, you have good reviews on VN music videos ( the only ones I read :-)). Your reviews always matched what I think about the shows.
Something I like about Asia is I can see the young generations on stage with the popular trended music styles. I can see that our VN young people are very talented and can be equaled with other races. Young people needs to sing hip-hop, rock…not just repeat the old songs…It is nice to hear the old songs so we won’t forget them but it will be bored to hear them over and over. This video is good to have the old songs with old mix which is performed by the older generation combined with the new mix is performed by new generations so the audiences don’t feel the show is too old.
Wow, I enjoy reading your review but I have some disagreement with your . Asia 48 I thought was terrible. The songs were excellent but the singing was bad. The younger generation need more practices in singing these type of songs. If they want to something big, then they better do it right. The only song I enjoy was by Le Thu and Diem Lien. The rest was just miserable. Anh Minh and Thuy Duong should just stick to their own songs; they did a terrible job singing Giot Mua Thu. And what is wrong with Y Phuong? I could not understand her voice or even her looks. Shayla looked better than the previous dvds, I give her credit for trying. DNY’s performance was ok (actually this was her only performance that I liked).
To asialuver:
There’s no need to use that kind of language. People have their own opinion, just like you have your opinion and taste. If you don’t respect that then don’t read. Already, I’ve formed my opinion about you. Next time, if you can’t use normal words I recommend you use the dictionary.
i like best May Lang Thang with Kieu Nga and Trist, Kieu Nga ‘s voice is excellence and Trist ‘s performance is impressed. Hope to see Kieu Nga again in the next Asias
Y Phuong and Minh Thong are also very successful with their performance.
May Lang Thang was one of my favorite songs. I also loved Giot Mua Thu by Puriti and Khong by Mai Le Huyen and Shayla. Those 3 songs had WOW’ed me. Nang Chieu wasn’t bad, but that was one of TDD worst performances out of all of her performances. Asia 4 weren’t bad but they weren’t great. Da Nhat Yen was also pretty good. The umbrella performance was interesting because of the umbrellas.
One of the few Asia dvds that were worth watching and was better than the new PBN (80). Smart of Asia, use the traditional, quality music to sell rather than Thuy Nga’s overt use of sex. I liked most of the performances, and though they were worthwhile, I must confess that I didn’t enjoy some so much. Perhaps because I’m not so used to what my parents listen to. Couldn’t stand the Shayla/Mai Le Huyen performance. Shayla was not so bad, nice to see her leave her ‘good girl’ tag off. Mai Le Huyen, that was just too sleazy and try-hardy for me, she’s much too old. I liked Kim Anh, she usually does well. Da Nhat Yen always brings something new and she did great.
Kim Anh should have
whens the next review (asia 49) coming out?
Dang The Luan , the newest and brightest star in the Vietnamese industry ! great job Truc Ho , for discovering another great singer .
Dang The Luan
I believe he will be sucess in the future.. He have awesome voice..
to asialuver,
You’re wrong about “Va Toi Cung Yeu Em” Tu Cong Phung never wrote a POP song, his works are slow-beat romance. And you have no proof to prove it. This song is surely wrote by Duc Huy, written for his wife.
Here is the link to prove you’re wrong:
http://www.vnindex.com/lyric/Detailed/301008.html
Beside, if you dislike people’s opinion, go somewhere else. Your cussing and lack of researching make you no better person.
PART,PART,PART.I DON”T LIKE PART.SADLY,WORRY,SORROWLY,AND DARKNEELY.OH.SO FOOLY
ur a good singer luan
Dang the luan,
You’re an awesome singer and have all of your c.d. Keep up!!
I have hugge fan of ya and big crush on ya, hehe.
Dang The Luan,
You have a wonderful voice. Hope you produce more CDs.
yphuong and dangminhthong hat rat hay va hop. toi rat thich