Entertainment Viet: November 2013

Monday, November 4, 2013

Miss Universe Vietnam’s ao dai among Missosology’s Top 5 national costumes Tuoitrenews

Miss Universe Vietnam’s ao dai among Missosology’s Top 5 national costumes

Tuoitrenews

The richly embroidered “ao dai” (traditional long gown) worn by Miss Universe Vietnam Truong Thi May is among the top 5 national costumes which Missosology, the #1 online magazine for beauty pageants, believes will wow the public.
“It is richly embroidered with the fabric so classy and elegant and so royal. A real head turning costume,” Missosology wrote about May’s “ao dai”, which it selected as one of the five national costumes to watch out for at this year’s pageant. The pageant will be held in Moscow, Russia.
The other four National Costumes are the tsarist Russian costume, the extremely ornate yet controversial Chinese dragon costume, the stylish medieval Swedish costume, and the sparkling Venezuelan costume.
Designed by celebrated designer Thuan Viet, May’s “ao dai” features intricate brocade patterns, ancient lotuses, and ornate hand-embroidered details. It has two principal colors, bronzy yellow and dark red, and is sprinkled with Swarovski crystals.
Viet said he chose to feature the lotus as its beauty represents the grace of Vietnamese women. It is also associated with Buddhism and sublimity, and will bring good luck to May, a devout Buddhist and strict, long-time vegetarian.
The only ethnic minority model in Ho Chi Minh City, 25-year-old May was the first runner-up at the 2006 Miss Photogenic contest and the 2007 Miss Ethnic Vietnam pageant sponsored by Gioi Phu Nu (World of Women) magazine.
She was born in Phnom Penh in Cambodia and grew up in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang. Her younger sister, brother, and cousins are all Buddhist monks and nuns. May once said that if it’s her destiny, she will also become a nun in the future.
Votes can be cast for May to help her earn a ticket to the 2013 Miss Universe semifinal at http://www.missuniverse.com/members/contestants/year:2013 or http://www.missuniverse.com/members/profile/657675/year:2013
The final is set to take place at 8am ICT on Nov 9.

tuoitrenews

Local film to be screened in Asia, Europe and North America Tuoi Tre

Local film to be screened in Asia, Europe and North America

Tuoi Tre

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Lua Phat is to be screened in many countries/territories including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, South Korea, India, Pakistan, and Taiwan, said the movie’s representative Vietnam Media Corporation.
Earlier, in May, the movie under the English name Once upon a time in Vietnam was also showcased at the 2013 Cannes.
“With the official release of Lua Phat in Asia, Europe and North America, I have achieved my expectation to bring this Vietnamese movie to the world,” Dustin Nguyen, director of the film expressed.
In Vietnam, Lua Phat has been screened nationwide since August 22. Three days after the premiere, the movie sold out 65,000 tickets and earned VND4.3 billion (US$204,411).
Besides compliments on its action scenes and the cast consisting of famous names in the industry, the film has also received negative responses for the confusing plot and its alleged advertising for a brandy brand.

tuoitrenews

Vietnam’s Asia Next Top Model entrant falls foul of stringent rules

Thuy Trang, fourth-place finisher in Vietnam's Next Top Model 2011, may be punished for attending Asia's Next Top Model in Singapore without getting approval.

Thuy Trang may be punished for her sex photo scandal and model rule violations

She has triggered public controversy after explicit photos of her with her South Korean ex-boyfriend were leaked on October 25.
After the scandal, Trang apologised.
Unfortunately controversy has followed Trang, as she was criticised for entering Asia's Next Top Model in Singapore without getting approval from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Art Performing Department.
“Thuy Trang should be criticised for her sex photo scandal as it was considered as an ‘accident” and it belongs to her private life. However, she would be punished for violating occupational regulations,” Nguyen Thanh Nhan, from the department told Dantri/DTiNews on November 23.
Nhan reiterated that Vietnam currently insists that all Vietnamese nationals are required to seek approval from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism before competing in beauty pageants and model contests abroad.
After being informed about the incident, the department has requested the BeU Model Company that signed the contract with Thuy Trang to explain their actions.
According to Nhan, the company pledged to meet the department’s officials to discuss a solution but they had yet to arrange a meeting to date.
The department will continue to ask for the company’s co-operation, he added.
An undisclosed source said that the first episode of Asia’s Next Top Model would nevertheless be broadcast on Star World channel on December 25 with the participation of Thuy Trang.
Another source said Thuy Trang would be shortlisted in the TV show’s top 14 at the contest in Singapore.

Thuy Trang competing in Asia's Next Top Model in Singapore

Huong Giang joins 'Top 20 Sexiest Women on the Planet'

Miss Vietnam at the Miss World 2009 Contest has just won “Sexiest by Popular Demand!”, the first special award of the Globalbeauties organization thanks to receiving 26% of votes from nearly 12,000 people who voted.

With this victory, Huong Giang can easily put her name on the list of Top Twenty Sexiest Women Alive on the Planet – the annual list of Globalbeauties with famous beauties like Rachael Finch, Kaiane Aldorino and Perla Beltran. Huong Giang attended Miss World in 2009 and was in the top 15 finalists for Beach Beauty, the first runner-up for Top Model and ranked finished 16th in the finale of Miss World.

Huong Giang ranked finished 16th in the finale of Miss World.

Nominees of Top Ten Sexiest Women Alive are contestants of the five biggest beauty pageants in the world: Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss Earth, Miss International and Miss Tourism Queen International. Of 440 participants in 2009, Global Beauties has chosen its top 20 beauties.

Other beauties on the Top Ten Sexiest Women on the Planet are: Miss Philippines - Miss Atmosphere of Miss Earth 2009 Sandra Seifert; Miss Gibraltar – Miss World 2009 Kaiane Aldorino; Miss Panama – Top Five Miss World 2009 Nadege Herrera; Miss Mexico – Miss Second Best of Miss World 2009 Perla Beltran, Miss Australia – Top Five of Miss World 2009 Rachael Finch, Miss Brazil - Miss Earth 2009 Larissa Ramos, Miss Barbados – Miss Caribbean of Miss World 2009 Leah Marville, Miss Bahamas - Joanna Brown, Miss Altai – Top Ten of the International Tourism Queen 2009 Natalia Chirkova.

Miss Philippines

Miss Gibraltar

Miss Panama

Miss Mexico

Miss Australia

Miss Brazil

Miss Barbados

Miss Bahamas

By dtinews

Close celebrity relationships slit on live television

Several Vietnamese artists have lost their good relationship with their colleagues as a result of arguments on game shows.

Duc Thinh offends his friend Cat Phuong to defend his wife Thanh Thuy

Even though the argument between director Duc Thinh and his former close friend, artist Cat Phuong, was over, echoes of their disagreement were evident in newspaper interviews printed after the fact.
The argument started after Cat Phuong, singer Phan Dinh Tung's partner on Just the Two of Us 2013, answered a question newspaper interview, and seemed to imply that she was a bad teammate for the competition.
“I believe that I would have been the winner if the judge panel had been fair,” she commented.
In response, Duc Thinh, in attempt to defense his wife, actress Thanh Thuy, who won the first prize together with her partner singer Duong Trieu Vu, made offensive comments about Cat Phuong on Facebook.
“Phuong is just out for herself, but I'm not bothered by that because she has always been superficial," Thinh commented.
Phuong told newspapers afterwards that the comment made her cry and almost collapse. She recounted their former close friendship.
Even though Duc Thinh and Cat Phuong have met to renew their friendship and Thinh has removed his Facebook comments, it's been reported that their friendship has never fully recovered.
The argument between singer My Le and musician Luu Thien Huong also seems to have left permanent damage on a celebrity relationship.

Luu Thien Huong (left) and My Le have a battle of words

After judge Luu Thien Huong commented on the performance of the couple My Le and Khuong Ngoc, also on Just the Two of Us 2013, My Le directly responded onstage that she thought the decision unfair. The disagreement went beyond the show and spilled into the print media.
Many thought it was the pressure to defend their reputations in front of the audience compelled them to make a public reconciliation during the next show.
Actor Hoa Hiep gave an icy farewell to the judge panel after comments by director and judge, Le Hoang, at the Dancing with the Stars 2013, saying, "Thanks so much to the judges for giving us such a low score. It allows us to stop here. I think I should end my part in the competition, as I am not satisfied with the way the judges treat us. It's very stressful," Hiep said.
The actor went on to make comments to newspapers, saying that Le Hoang was an idiot and he did not admire any of the judges, including Khanh Thi, Le Hoang and Tran Ly Ly.
The relationship between singer Dam Vinh Hung and singer Thanh Lam was also put under extreme stress after Thanh Lam cast doubt about her role performance with Dam Vinh Hung and Ho Ngoc Ha in the programme Voice Vietnam.

Broken relationship between Dam Vinh Hung (left) and Thanh Lam

Dam Vinh Hung was so angered as to say that Thanh Lam, who had been his close friend, was like a “toxic ant” and that he would not even look at Thanh Lam anymore.
Ho Ngoc Ha aimed insulting words at her son on Facebook in order to target Thanh Lam.
Several members of the public assessed that such incidents have helped them understand more about Vietnamese showbiz.
Singer Phuong Thanh said, “People should not exchange friendship for fame on reality TV.”

Halloween gets ready to spook Hanoi

Halloween hovers in Vietnam
Hanoians will celebrate Halloween’s Day with at least two major events that kick off at 7 pm on Oct 31.
For rock lovers, the next chapter on the Keep Your Passion Series: ghostly rock showcase ZOMBIE NIGHT will take place at M-day Café, with performances by four bands: Thuy Trieu Do, Re-Cylce, Project 4.20 and Megacombo.
M-day Café, the show’s organizer, is encouraging everyone to arrive in costumes for a “complete scary, spooky night.”
Other event attractions include free face-painting until 9.00 p.m., mini games and many interesting prizes including one for the best costume of the night.
Tickets cost VND 40,000 in advance and VND 60,000 at the door. They are available at Rock Passion Office No 66, Alley 40, Ta Quang Buu Street and M-day Café, 110 Cau Giay Street (Inside Cau Giay Hotel).
Fun-filled fear
Sofitel Plaza Hanoi has prepared a night of spooky thrills mixed with a dash of fun-filled fear at its Summit Lounge with a one of a kind cocktail – a special Halloween party to celebrate the ghoulish spirit of the night of October 31.
The “creepy cocktail” is expected to “indulge your inner demon”. Other refreshing beverages will be served with devilish decorations. Participants are advised to get ready for “mind-blowing scary movies and manic music mixes from the ghoulish guest DJ from 8.30pm to 11.30pm.”
For all enquiries and table bookings, call:
Arnaud (016 3926 4754), or Trung (091 468 0406), email: bars@sofitelplazahn.com.vn
Sofitel Plaza Hanoi is located on 1 Thanh Nien Road, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi.

Thanh Nien News

Art and the sands of time

Master at work: Dang Tri Duc. Photo by Do Tuan
They could not afford nannies back then, so Dang Tri Duc followed his father to work from when he was just three to when he was all of 12 years old.
That was when his father, late artist Dang Loi, was setting up the foundation for puppetry in Ho Chi Minh City after the Vietnam War, following a job he had done in Hanoi since 1959.
“My father was my first teacher, the one who gave me the love for art, setting the bar for how an artist should work.
“It’s all about focus – how you can get better,” he said.
The 42-year-old kept to this simple theme and tone during the interview. He laughed more than he talked, as if he had little to say about being one of the first sand animation artists in Vietnam and achieving national fame within a couple of years.
“I don’t know what chances have come my way,” he said, laughing.
Duc said he learnt sand animation indirectly from the world famous Hungarian Frecenc Cakó.
Duc was a stage designer, his main job after graduating from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts. Once, when his team watched YouTube videos during a break, Cakó’s work caught his interest.
“They were beautiful, so I came back home and tried to do it.”
Sand animation is a modern art where performers use a lightbox, applying sand to the surface and drawing lines and figures in the sand with their hands to create a series of images, the silhouettes of which are shown on a projected surface. A sand animation performance often goes along with music.
Duc does not remember how much time it took him to be able to animate a sand painting, but his debut happened soon after his introduction to the art. In 2008, he was called by a company for a promotion event.

His first big work was in late 2009, on the stage of the 21st edition of Charming Vietnam, an annual music gala organized by Thanh Nien Newspaper.
He painted a portrait of its late music director Huynh Phuc Dien (1970-2009), also a friend, as the background for a duet.
A similar performance in 2012 gave him nationwide fame, when he illustrated the song “Nhat ky cua me” (Mother’s diary) live on stage for a monthly musical gala on Ho Chi Minh City Television. As the singer sang, sandy pictures emerged one after another, from that of the days a mother expects her baby until the day she welcomes the child back into her lap after all life’s tortures.
Other sandy illustrations of the song were made later by several people, including one version by the song’s writer Nguyen Van Chung, all with Duc’s guidance.
Later last year, he won a gold medal for an individual artist at the national Professional Stage Festival, for his role in “Am binh,” a drama about a love story between a woman and two soldiers from opposite sides during the Vietnam War. The woman saves both of them during the war.
Duc said his part was just a tree that spoke one line. The medal was for his sand animation work in the background, which, according to many artists, saved the drama.
His fame reached London in July 2012 during the celebrations held for the 59th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation.
A Vietnamese company in England that he used to work for invited him over for the event.
The story he painted was about the queen staying with her husband King George VI in Buckingham Palace throughout the Battle of Britain in 1940, instead of fleeing to Canada as had been suggested.
“As I was telling it, many British people cried, and that made me happy that at least I was doing something meaningful.”
Duc said the thing he liked most about the event was that a Vietnamese company was selected as an organizer.

He does not hide his pride for the country, saying he has created hundreds of sand animation videos and most of them are about Vietnam and its people, especially women. A lot of them are not available online for copyright reasons.
Not alone
Although the art is new in Vietnam, Duc is not walking a lone path.
He runs the Sand Animation Club in HCMC with Nguyen The Nhan and Phan Anh Vu.
Nhan and Vu praised Duc for his talent in building a storyline.
“He has great skills in graphic design and scriptwriting. He has managed to be both a painter and a director,” Vu said.
As an insider, Vu said he knows Duc deserves more compliments than a talented artist. “The brother’s a real hard worker.”
He said a sand animation performer has many tasks to do, from choosing the materials, making the lightbox and adjusting the light to proper level and combining the scenes with music. Moreover, they have to work in hot and dark conditions that can badly affect one’s heath.
“Most of all, being the first sand animation performer in Vietnam, Duc must have been very devoted and would have had to do a lot of research on his own.”
The 29-year-old also came to sand animation after watching foreign videos online, in 2009.
“I had just graduated (from an art school) and was looking for something interesting to pursue.”
He posted a video on YouTube and soon after, received a phone call from Duc, and they bonded over their love for sand.
Nhan said the three of them coming together might bring the art broader recognition.
“Sand animation has won widespread attention as it is strange, but it’s still unofficial.
“People give standing ovations anytime they see a performance, but it’s still not institutionalized.”
Since the Internet and the media has spread the word about the three artists, their club has received commercial invitations for launching events, anniversaries, weddings and birthdays.
Nhan said they used to joke that a funeral would complete the list, and in early October, they made sand animation videos as a tribute to General Vo Nguyen Giap (August 25, 1911 - October 4, 2013), 59 years after he led the Vietnamese army in the Dien Bien Phu battle to defeat French colonialists.
Bigger dream
But Nhan said he has a bigger dream than making a living out of sand.
Nhan said he is aware any kind of art has it time, and he would accept that sand animation in Vietnam can fade out someday, but it needs to flourish first.
He said only around 60 percent of people he met knew about sand animation, so there was still space for it to grow.
He wants sand animation to be part of mainstream pop culture, that there are official contests held, that it is included in national art and entertainment events, and the world to know Vietnam has sand animation, Nhan said.
Many young people, some from as far as Hanoi, have visited their club to know about the art, many to learn it, and they have been given free training.
Duc seemed to be more at ease with the art and the short-lived nature of things, being the son of a puppeteer whose art has all but disappeared in its original form.
“I used to watch serious shows back then. I cried a lot. But now I rarely get to see a real mature puppet show.”
Sand represents movement and mortality at the same time, Duc said.
“It reminds me that nothing lasts forever. Only love remains.”

By Thuy Vi, Thanh Nien News (The story can be found in the November 1 issue of our print edition, Vietweek)

Authorities urged to make Vietnam royal records more accessible

An exhibition of Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) royal records / FILE PHOTO
As Vietnam prepares to submit a set of 19th century royal records for UNESCO world heritage recognition, it is time local authorities made the documents more accessible, researchers argue.
The administrative records of Vietnam’s last ruling Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) are almost never accessed by the public or even serious researchers for that matte, mostly because they haven't been translated or digitized, experts said.
Dao Hai Yen with the Center for National Archives in Hanoi, where the records are being kept, said 453 people came to read the documents between 2005 and 2012, with the highest annual number of readers at 136 and the lowest 15.
This means 56-57 people read them every year on average, or one person per week, she said.
Most of them were historians and researchers of Han – Nom, an old script combining Han Chinese with Vietnamese ideography.
“The lack of people interested in the Nguyen Dynasty records should be considered abnormal,” Prof. Nguyen Quang Ngoc, former head of the Institute of Vietnamese Study and Development, told Thanh Nien.
It is also a “pity,” because many international researchers have expressed their interest in the records, he said.
Dr. Dao Thi Dien with the national archive center, said late French professor Philippe Langlet had intended to approach one of the original records on dykes and dyke maintenance when he came to Hanoi for an international conference on Vietnamese studies in 1998.
However, the professor, who was once honored for his significant contributions to making Vietnamese culture and history known to the world, was unable to fulfill his plan.
At that time the records were not allowed to be accessed for research activities due to their deteriorating physical condition, so Langlet ended up using an incomplete translation of the records, Dien said.
To read the records now, one must have permission from the Government Office, Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People’s Army) newspaper reported.
Dr. Tran Trong Duong, a Han – Nom researcher, said not all researchers can read the characters, and it is not easy to translate the records because the translator must have expertise in the fields mentioned in the documents.
According to Dien, authorities need to make the records more accessible by, for example, digitizing their contents, while having them translated and publishing the translations as well as related documents.
“It is time the records were socialized so that scientists in Vietnam as well as around the world no longer accepted the similar pity like Prof. Philippe Langlet did,” she said.
The Nguyen records once contain 735 sets of thousands of documents that were sealed by the ruling kings. But many of them were lost or damaged during war time, Prof. Phan Huy Le, chairman of the Vietnamese Association of Historical Sciences, said.
Last year a set of 3,050 woodblocks emblazoned with Buddhist sutras, also from the Nguyen Dynasty, were recognized as a World Documentary Heritage by UNESCO.

By Trinh Nguyen, Thanh Nien News

Vietnam dominates at World Taekwondo with three gold

(from left) Nguyễn Văn Sơn, Đinh Quang Đức, Nguyễn Quang Huy and Coach Nguyễn Văn Hùng of the male team. Photo by Xuan Thanh

Vietnam earned a total three gold, three silver and five bronze medals at the 8th edition of the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships that ended in Bali on Sunday.
On Sunday, Le Anh Minh, Nguyen Dinh Toan and Le Hieu Nghia won the gold medal in the male under-29 team event while Chau Tuyet Van, Nguyen Thi Le Kim, Nguyen Thi Xuan Linh, Le Thanh Trung and Nguyen Thien Phung won the gold medal in the creative team category.
Two days earlier, Vietnamese trio Nguyen Thu Ngan, Chau Tuyet Van and Nguyen Thi Le Kim snatched a gold medal in the female Under-29 category on the first day of the World event.

By Lan Phuong

Vietnam singer fails to qualify for MTV Europe Music Awards

Singer My Tam
My Tam will not represent the region in the final of MTV's Worldwide Act.
She lost to Chinese pop singer, songwriter, and actor Chris Lee, who will be the contestant representing mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.

She had earlier won the contest for the Southeast Asian region.
Lee will take on nine other competitors -- from Northern Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan-Korea, Australia-New Zealand, Latin America, North America, and Africa-India-Middle East, Chris Lee at the MTV Europe Music Awards which wraps up November 8.
The result will be announced at the 2013 MTV EMA to be held at Amsterdam, the Netherlands, November 10.
The Best Worldwide Act award was instituted in 2011 when it was a purely Asian contest, but has since gone global.
My Tam was the first Vietnamese singer to take part in the contest.

thanhniennews

Vietnam singer is S.East Asia’s nominee for MTV Europe Music Awards

Vietnamese singer My Tam
Vietnamese singer My Tam's music video “Nhu mot giac mo” (Like a dream) has been chosen to represent Southeast Asia as a nominee at the second round of the Asian region at the annual MTV Europe Music Awards (MTV EMA).
As winner of the “Best Southeast Asia Act”, Tam will continue to compete with other competitors from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan for the “Best Continental Act”.
The winners of the regional clusters, whom will be announced on November 1, will compete with representatives from nine other regions including Northern Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan-Korea, Australia-New Zealand, Latin America, North America and Africa-India-Middle East for the “Best Global Act”.
The ten artists will then compete at the final ground for the “Best Worldwide Act” award at the 2013 MTV EMA, which will take place in Amsterdam on November 10.
My Tam is the first Vietnamese singer to join in the MTV EMA, an annual awards show produced by the MTV channel. It was first established in 1994 by MTV Networks Europe to celebrate the most popular songs and singers in Europe.
Recently, she was also chosen by the World Music Awards to be nominee for the World’s Best Female Artist award, becoming one of 35 Asian representatives in the nominee list of 145 singers.
Last year, she won Best Asian Singer at the annual Mnet Asian Music Awards.

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