Trinh Lam: Thuy Nga’s Bargain

The judges had done Thuy Nga a huge favor by selecting Trinh Lam as the winner of 2007 PBN Talent Show. With a reminiscent of Duy Manh, Dam Vinh Hung, and Tung Duong rolled into one, he kills three birds with one stone. His self-produced album, Tai Sao, demonstrates his amateur skills at best.

With word choice such as why, weak, sorry, foolish heart, promise, love and break up, his writing on the title track is no less banal than anything Duy Manh has penned. His delivery on “Men Say Nong” is dead-on Dam Vinh Hung. He belts out his voice every chance he gets. When he reaches the high register, the volume becomes distorted because of the bad mix down. Worse is when he attempts to give his flow an intoxicating vibe like Tung Duong in “Hay Uong Voi Ta,” an awful blues-turn-swing arrangement. Again, the rambunctious mixing on top of the bottle-breaking screech of his voice is too painful to the tympanums.

Thuy Nga folks still get the best bargain (three for one) with Trinh Lam, even though they would aim for a better appearance. If they had a choice, they rather picked Quynh Vi (who came in second, but without a contract) than Trinh Lam. At least she has something to look at. As for David Meng as the people’s choice, enough bombs had been dropped.