After suffering the grimness of Asia’s Canh Hoa Thoi Loan, I was ready to be washed up by Thuy Nga’s Divas. Let me state upfront that I do not dislike Thuy Nga’s male singers, but I do prefer to watch an exclusive female show revealing as much skin as possible. What can I say? It’s the testosterone thing and the best part is that I can enjoy this guilty pleasure with my wife’s approval.

On the first disc, I could hardly pay attention to the music. In fact, I really don’t need to. I could have muted the sound and replace the music with Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew, especially with Bao Han’s wilding-out peformance. Even with all the male dancers dressed as drags, she stood out. That bitch was brewing up the scene. Since this is her last performance, her voice won’t be missed, but her stage presence definitely will.

Now I am not entitled to opine what women should do with their body, but I am glad that Ho Le Thu went under the knife for our visual stimulation. Both Nguyet Anh and Toc Tien looked fine, but Lord knows what they will look like an enhencement. I am not suggesting that they should. I am just saying. Nevertheless, Nguyet Anh looked pretty damn hot in that pink, flashy dress showing off her georgous legs. The carmeramen had done a great job of panning from her feet up to her thighs, then pause for a few seconds before moving up to her face. Not just Nguyet Anh, but most of the hot singers were filmed that way; therefore, camera crew has to be made up of men.

Except for a few performances, the first disc was purely for eye candy. Let’s be real. “Sang Ngang” was clearly over Huong Giang’s head. I doubt that she had ever been heart-broken. If she had, she wouldn’t even be anywhere near that suicidal stage. So even she sang with tears in her eyes, she couldn’t articulate the sorrow of the song. Still, the worse performance on disc one (and the entire program as well) goes to Phi Nhung who was so proud of her lame-ass idea of mashing up rap with folk music. The result was so wack that you just want to slap some taste out of her.

The second disc, on the other hand, had a few listenable moments and the MILFs get the prize hands down. Hot-as-hell MILF Thanh Ha reinvigorated Thanh Binh’s “Lam Lo” with a classy, jazzy rendition. Dam Vinh Hung damn near killed the tune with his “sen” phrasing, but Thanh Ha made it “un-sen” again. MILF Ngoc Anh gave a heart-rending, goosbump version of Pham Duy’s “Mua Thu Chet.” This tune has been covered countless of time, but only Ngoc Anh could revive Julie’s classic version. Her gruff, throaty voice went beyond mourning (more like cremating) the death of autumn. Finally, MILF Y Lan gave an elegant version of “La Vie En Rose” and she looked like a true diva.

Speaking of true diva, people weren’t satisfied with the show that labeled “Divas,” but featuring many faces that haven’t reached that stature. I don’t disagree with that even though Nguyen Ngoc Ngan gave a disclaimer right in the beginning that the show represents divas of the past, present and future. Although I doubt that many of these female entertainers would reach that level, I could careless about the label. What disappointed me though is that the real diva didn’t show up. That’s right, my diva Bang Kieu didn’t make it on the program. Vocally, Bang Kieu could outdue any diva on that stage. He just needs to pull a Ly Tong stunt and no one would have noticed.

There have been speculations that Paris By Night 100 will be Thuy Nga’s last show. If that’s true then I wish the production best of luck with whatever comes next. If it is not true then I wouldn’t mind seeing a sequel of this show. I would love to see how Thuy Nga would top itself. If Asia could manage to push propagonada further and further with each release, Thuy Nga could push for more skins. After all, it’s a great way to save cost on customes. Blame it on the piracy. Thuy Nga could put out as many diva DVDs as the production desires, but please don’t ever ever ever put out a show for the divo. No offense to the fellows, but just the thought of seeing Duong Trieu Vu on stage is a bad idea.