Pop star Hung tops awards list

Patriotic pop: Singer Dam Vinh Hung (left) has been nominated Favourite Singer at the annual HTV Awards. Voting for the awards begins this month. — File Photo

HCM CITY — Pop star Dam Vinh Hung is among the 46 nominees in nine categories of music, theatre performance arts, and TV series for this year's HCM City Television (HTV) Awards.

He has been nominated for Favourite Singer for the awards given to performers making contributions to HTV and to social activities.

Hung rose to fame in 2001 when he won the award for best singer from the Ben Thanh Theatre Music Club.

He has since become very popular, especially among young and middle-aged fans, for his renditions of pop and patriotic songs.

Earlier, at last month's Mai Vang (Golden Ochna) Awards given away by Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer) newspaper, he won in three categories – Favourite Pop Singer, Favourite for Patriotic Songs Singer, and Favourite Song.

HTV will conduct a public poll beginning later this month and closing on March 14 to choose winners of this year's awards.

Of the five or six people nominated in each category by HTV and a panel of journalists, audiences will vote for three.

Five-minute video clips of the nominees and a 60-minute film on former winners and audiences will be shown on HTV 7 every day and on HTV9 every Friday until April 4 to help viewers choose their favourites.

An Binh Bank, the event's sponsor, will also give away one award for the performer making the biggest contribution to social activities.

The winner of each category will receive the HTV Cup and VND20 million (US$1,000) in prize money.

The awards ceremony will be held at the HTV Theatre on April 4 and broadcast live on HTV9. — VNS

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Culture Vulture

The Ha Noi-based composer Tran Manh Hung has been presented with annual awards from the Viet Nam Musicians Association for the past two years. The 38-year-old won prestigious prizes for his poetic symphony Hao Khi Thang Long (Thang Long's Spirit) and the romantic piece The Gioi Khong Chien Tranh (A World Without War), which were honoured in the best symphony and romance categories, respectively. He talks with Culture Vulture about his works.

How did you feel when you won the award?

No words can describe my feelings when it was announced. I was extremely happy because if any composer wins an award it brings them happiness, and then I received a award the following year.

Besides those awards, the Viet Nam Musicians Association also presented you with other awards?

Yes, that is right. I started receiving awards from the Viet Nam Musicians Association in 2007 for the four-movement symphony Mot Nua Coi Tram (Half a Life), and the choral song Gio Long Bon Phuong (Rising Wind on All Sides). In 2008, I bagged the first prize for the composition, String Quartet No 2.

My poetic symphony Le Chi Vien (Le Chi Garden), and the romantic piece Giac Mo Mua La (Dream of Falling Leaves) won the best symphony and romance categories in 2009.

Last year, I sent three pieces to be considered for the awards. Besides two first prizes for the symphony Thang Long's Spirit and the romantic piece A World Without War, a second place prize was given to my composition Dat Me (Motherland).

The symphony Thang Long's Spirit was presented at a gala concert to celebrate the capital's millennium anniversary, while A World Without War was performed at the Buddha's birthday celebration last year.

Do you have any secrets? Why do you win so many prizes?

I would be a turkey-cock if I said my talent was responsible for the prizes.

I truly believe that all the cultural and historical values produced by humanity in general, and of Viet Nam in particular, have moulded the true, good and beautiful arts.

It can be said that all my teachers helped contribute to my success. They not only taught me but were role models. I always will have deep gratitude for them.

The awards provide encouragement for composers, which helps us continuously contribute to the country's glorious musical traditions.

Some other musicians compose quite a lot of work, but are unable to present their compositions to the public. How about you?

Like assiduous bees, my colleagues and I work endlessly. However, we don't publish every piece that we write.

To vie for a Musicians Association award, composers have to submit their recorded pieces. It is not difficult or costly to record the songs, unless you are working with large symphonies or operas. That's why some talented composers, who write substantial compositions but do not have the chance to record their work, were not able to popularise their musical pieces.

Do you have any plans to release a CD containing your award-winning music?

I have a plan to release such a CD, but I don't want to talk about until it is completed. However, I'm sure that a CD with a collection of my choral songs will be aired this year.

For many Vietnamese popular singers, you are their favourite musical mixing master. You were invited to join their music projects. However, you seem prefer a to keep "hidden" life, is that true?

In order to nurture our big musical dreams and make ends meet, several other composers and I have are looking into marketing our skills. By working with such musical projects, we, the people who specialise in chamber and symphony music, have a chance to understand more and practise performing popular music. — VNS

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8th century coins discovered in Vinh Phuc

VINH PHUC — A local man recently found a pot containing 8kg of coins dating from the 8th to the 12th century while building a house in Van Hoi Commune in the northern province of Vinh Phuc's Tam Duong District, according to experts from the provincial museum asked to identify the discovery.

Each coin was 2.4cm in diameter, had a square central hole and Chinese characters on each side.

Zing Music Awards honour pop singers

HCM CITY — Singer Dam Vinh Hung bagged two major awards at the Zing Music Awards 2010 ceremony in HCM City on Wednesday, including nods for Impressive Performing Style and Artist of the Year. In addition, his songs Qua Con Me (After Dream) and Khoang Cach (Distance) were listed in the awards' Top 10. Singer and model Ho Ngoc Ha shared the Impressive Performing Style award with Hung.

The band V.Music received the award for Favourite Band, while the Most Promising Singer awards were given to Duong Trieu Vu and Vinh Thuyen Kim. Veterans Dan Truong and Thanh Thao were honoured as Favourite Male and Female Singer, respectively.

The awards were organised by the music-sharing website mp3.zing.vn.

Museums eye preservation methods

HCM CITY — A discussion on how to better preserve items on display in HCM City museums was co-hosted here on Wednesday by the City's departments of heritage and culture.

The discussion aimed at building budget estimates to improve humidity and dust control systems, storage, and the overall quality of the museums in the city.

Firefighter portrait wins national contest

HA NOI — The photo of a fire-fighter at work, Silence, taken by Diep Duc Minh won a gold medal at the national artistic photo contest.

Launched in September, the contest, Portraits of Today's Vietnamese People, received 4,112 photos from 767 professional and amateur photographers nationwide.

The organising board, the Viet Nam Photographic Artists' Association, selected the 119 best photos for an exhibition, of which, 12 have received awards.

The awards ceremony and opening of the exhibition will take place on January 24 at Gallery 45 on Trang Tien Street in Ha Noi.

Artist shows love for Mong people

HA NOI — Nguyen Quang Huy's exhibition Love opens today at the Art Viet Nam Gallery, Nguyen Khac Nhu Street, Ha Noi.

He showcases 25 portraits, landscapes, video and light sculptures of the Mong people in the mountainous province of Ha Giang, the result of his trips over the last 15 years.

"For me their life is with love, a special way of loving," Huy says. "The emotion is very direct, very unlike my ideas and what I know about love. Their love is more basic, natural, and difficult to quantify".

The exhibition will run until February 12.

Show pays tribute to late songstress

HA NOI — A concert of ca tru (ceremonial singing) to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of People's Artist Quach Thi Ho will be organised this Sunday at Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology, Nguyen Van Huyen Street, Ha Noi.

Artists from the UNESCO Ca Tru Centre will perform at the concert.

Ho (1913-2000) was one of the few Vietnamese traditional artists recognised internationally. In 1978, she was awarded an honourary diploma by UNESCO's International Music Council and the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies for her contribution in preserving "traditional music of great artistic and cultural value."

She was the first and only ca tru artist to have been granted the highest artistic title of People's Artist. — VNS

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