Mai Phuong Thuy likely to win fifth HTV Award

HCMC Television Station (HTV) will open the fifth HTV Awards next month to honor local artists with outstanding achievements during the last year.

Awards will be presented to artists in music, cinematography and drama who appear on HTV and who have greatly contributed to HTV programs in particular and to the community in general.

HTV reporters and journalists from prestigious newspapers are among the judges to pick five winners for each of the six categories (male acting, female acting, music band, drama, comedy, and cai luong).

Miss Vietnam 2006 Mai Phuong Thuy has secured the first place in the top 5 favorite actresses voted by HTV’s audience for starring as an HIV/AID victim suffering social stigma in the movie “Negative” directed by Phuong Dien in 2007.

Miss Mai Phuong Thuy

The movie has aroused much attention from the audience in recent times.

Actresses Minh Hang, Le Be La, Van Trang, Thuy Trang, and Thanh Van will also compete in this category.

Top 5 favorite actors are Huynh Dong, Truong Minh Quoc Thai, Khuong Ngoc, Hoa Hiep, and Hoang Son.

Actor Huynh Dong

In the female singer category, pop stars My Tam, Ho Quynh Huong, and Ho Ngoc Ha surprisingly were absent from the top 5 list while singer Thu Minh has for the first time ranked first in the top 5.

Singer Thu Minh

Singer Hien Thuc

The award ceremony is scheduled to take place at 20:30 pm on April 4 and will be broadcast live on HTV9 channel.

1. Music: - Male singers: Dam Vinh Hung, Duc Tuan, Ha Anh Tuan, Quang Dung, and Kasim Hoang Vu. - Female singers: Thu Minh, Hien Thuc, Cam Ly, Doan Trang, and Thanh Thuy. 2. Stage: - Drama, Comedian: Thanh Thuy, My Uyen, Hanh Thuy, Duc Thinh Idecaf, and Tuyet Thu. - Cai luong male artist: Kim Tu Long, Vu Luan, Tan Giao, Le Tu, and Trong Phuc. - Cai luong female artist: Que Tran, Phuong Hang, Tu Suong, Trinh Trinh, and Bach Tuyet. 3. Television series: - Main actors: Huynh Dong, Quoc Thai, Khuong Ngoc, Hoa Hiep, and Hoang Son. - Supporting actors: Vo Thanh Tam, Le Binh, Huy Khanh, Thach Kim Long, and Hoang Anh. - Main actresses: Mai Phuong Thuy, Minh Hang, Le Be La, Van Trang, Thuy Trang, and Thanh Van. - Supporting actresses: Hanh Thuy, Ngoc Lan, Hoai An, Thanh Thuy, and Le Phuong.

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We are one family, Jet Li tells Vietnam students

"Try your best to help needy people when you are a child because we are a big family,” Jet Li told students during a visit to Hanoi-based Chu Van An High School today as a goodwill ambassador for the International Red Cross.

The Chinese movie star and kung fu master made a speech at the “Xuan Hong” (pink spring) blood donation at Tuoi Tre (Youth) Park this morning and presented gifts to 40 active volunteers of the Vietnamese Red Cross.

After that, Jet Li warmly talked with blood donors.

He left the Park for Chu Van An High School and made a short speech about the charity.
He will have a question-answer session during a press conference in Hanoi on January 24 before returning home.

At his hometown, he is chairman of the Chinese Red Cross Foundation.

Jet Li, 47, is a real martial art master that makes international fame as an action star. Jet Li is arguably one of the most famous Chinese in the world.

He began practicing Wushu at the age of 8 and after years of training he represented Beijing Wushu team in various performances and competitions.

Jet Li already started acting when he was still an active martial artist. His debut movie is Shaolin Temple in 1982, followed by 2 sequels which made him a national action star.

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Vietnam Festival obtains UNESCO certificate today

The ceremony of Saint Giong Festival is held in the first lunar month in 2010 at Soc Temple in Soc Son District in honor of the mythical hero Giong who ascended to heaven from there

Hanoi is holding a reception ceremony today for UNESCO certificate recognizing the Saint Giong Festival as humankind’s intangible cultural heritage, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

Giong Festival, which is located at Soc Temple in Soc Son District, is the Hanoi’s third such heritage honored by the UN agency in 2010, after the 82 stone steles at the Temple of Literature (commemorating doctorates handed out to doctor laureats during the feudal era) and the Thang Long-Hanoi Citadel.

The Saint Giong Festival is held annually in the first lunar month at Soc Temple in Soc Son District in honor of the mythical hero Giong who ascended to heaven from there.

At the age of three, Saint Giong could not talk or walk but miraculously grew into a giant after hearing the King’s appeal to gifted individuals to enter public service and save the country and people from foreign invaders from the north.

After defeating the invading army, the hero went to the top of Soc Mountain and from there to heaven. He has been revered as the most powerful god in local folk belief for thousands of years and is considered the tutelary god for harvest, peace, and prosperity.

The organizers will also officially launch a national action program on protecting and promoting the festival’s values from 2011 to 2015 at the ceremony.

Rituals of Hoi Giong ceremony include:

 

Ceremony usually begins with a young boy waving the head flag to signal the start at the front yard of the Hanoi-based Soc Temple

Following the appeal, the elderly and the dignitaries are escorted to join a parade under parasols to the temple to attend the ceremony

Paper-made statue of elephant is also carried to the temple

The crowd and dignitaries are taken to the Soc Temple where performance shows are going on to welcome their arrival

Dignitaries stand in front of the queue to hold the ceremony and offer gifts to Saint Giong

At the end of the ceremony, people burn a paper-made horse as offering to Saint Giong

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Agent Orange story wins award

Helping hand: A photo by Truong Ngoc Minh, from the southern province of Binh Thuan, features soldiers helping rescue people in a flooded area. The picture won an A-grade prize from the Viet Nam Association of Photographic Artists.

HA NOI — A story told through photos by Pham Vu Dung won the Gold Cup of the Viet Nam Association of Photographic Artists (VAPA) at a ceremony for the best pix of 2010 yesterday.

Entitled Prime Example, the photos tell the story of Pham The Minh from the northern port city of Hai Phong, an Agent Orange victim. He has overcome many troubles to study and teach English to more than 1,500 students, especially disabled children.

The VAPA selected the photos from 358 entries by 210 photographers. A-grade prizes were awarded to Nguyen Huong Vuong from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, Lam Thanh Liem from the southern province of Bac Lieu, Truong Ngoc Minh from the southern province of Binh Thuan, Bui Tien Phong from the southern province of Tra Vinh and Pham Thi Thu from HCM City.

The VAPA also grants prizes for pictorial books. The top prizes went to photos of Agent Orange victims depicted in That's the Way They Live by Nguyen A from HCM City, and photos of north Viet Nam during the American War in Memories of the War by Chu Chi Thanh from Ha Noi.

The photos were not only aesthetic, but also depicted humanity and current issues of life, said Vu Quoc Khanh, VAPA president.

VAPA also awarded a gold medal to a photo of a fire-fighter at work in a competition titled Portraits of Today's Vietnamese People. The photo, Silence, was taken by Diep Duc Minh.

The organising board selected 119 of the best photos for a show at Exhibition House at 45 Trang Tien Street, Ha Noi until the end of this month.

The photos will be exhibited in HCM City in March. — VNS

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UNESCO recognition of Giong festival celebrated

HA NOI — Festivities celebrating UNESCO's recognition of Giong festival are expected to attract up to 8,000 revellers today in Soc Son District, on the northern outskirts of Ha Noi.

At the event, UNESCO Viet Nam representative Katherine Morin Muller will present the certificate recognising the Giong festival as Intangible Heritage of Humanity to the authorities of Gia Lam and Soc Son villages.

Up to 700 locals from Soc Son District and Phu Dong village will also recreate some of the most impressive elements of the celebrated festival in front of the Giong Temple in Ha Noi's Gia Lam District, where the historic Gia Ngu stone platform resides.

Young artists to compete at international festival

HA NOI — Eight paintings by Vietnamese children 6-10 years old were selected on Wednesday out of nearly 20,000 entries to compete in the Mitsubishi-Enikki Asian Children's Art Festival in Japan.

The judges also selected 10 runners-up and the 10 best group works.

HCM City Ao dai show raises funds for charity

HCM CITY — The Viet Nam Ao Dai Association, dedicated to the traditional Vietnamese ao dai, or long dress, held a charity fashion show in HCM City last night to raise funds for poor households in the nation's central region.

The event was attended by representatives from the consulate generals of the US, France, Russia, Germany, Cuba, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia and Laos as well as foreign organisations and businesses.

Proceeds will go to families in difficulty in Phong Dien District in the province of Thua Thien-Hue, and to buy boats to ferry students in Quang Trach District in the central province of Quang Binh, who must cross a river to attend school.

Paradise Park to serve up Tet entertainment

HA NOI — Ha Noi's Bao Son Paradise Park will host festivities during the Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays on February 4-7.

Activities includes folk games, puppetry, circus perfomers, and artists from Bao Son Theatre.

VTV begins series on Khmer culture, lifestyle

HCMCITY — Viet Nam Television has begun to show a series on the culture and lifestyle of the Khmer people living in Viet Nam's south-western region on its VTV1 channel.

The 30-episode series, titled Hay Cung Em Dieu Sarikakeo (Join me in the Sarikakeo Dance), is about the life and love of Sophia, a former Khmer Sarikakeo dancer who lived in a small village in Soc Trang Province in the early 1980s.

The film recounts Sophia's life as a dancer before she moved to An Giang Province and learned weaving.

"We wanted to spotlight the Khmer people and their culture, lifestyle, and dance," said Hue.

There are nearly 1.3 million Khmers in the Delta, living mostly in Soc Trang and Tra Vinh. — VNS

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Youthful stars in concert

Violinist Bui Cong Duy - Photo: Courtesy of HBSO

A shock began last Wednesday’s HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra (HBSO) concert in the Saigon Opera House – a ten-year old boy, Nguyen The Vinh, sitting at the keyboard waiting to begin the opening movement of Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D. It was the start of an evening mostly devoted to star students from Hanoi’s National Academy of Music, though set to conclude with the appearance of the tutor of many of them, celebrated violinist Bui Cong Duy.

Vinh, both formal and breath-takingly nonchalant, was warmly received. A harder task confronted violinist Nguyen Linh Uyen (16) with the second and third movements of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Romantic works demand an expressive emotional commitment many believe even 16-year-olds can’t come up with. But her high notes proved sweet, and her technique allowed her to get away nicely with the difficult third movement.

Bui Cam Ly (18) followed with two short crowd-pleasers, Massenet’s Meditation and Elgar’s Salut d’amour, the second taken at a surprisingly brisk pace. But the best of the youthful violinists was saved until last. Nguyen Thien Minh (17) immediately established his pre-eminence by his confidence and assured stage presence, and gave Pablo de Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with great brilliance. A mature interpretative disposition and a strong sense of style together brought the first half of the evening to a close with an ovation, and rightly.

But the second half began with an equally stellar performance – Do Hoang Linh Chi (13) playing the opening movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C, K.467. Here was another indubitable stylist, lovingly playful, and showing in her phrasing and emphases a mastery that would have graced a pianist of any age. The orchestra, too, recognized her star quality and dutifully rose to the occasion.

Finally Bui Cong Duy appeared, playing the solo violin part in Nguyen Manh Duy Linh’s Concerto Grosso for violin, piano, percussion and string orchestra. It proved a difficult work to come to terms with for the audience, but, with the composer himself present, this was clearly an important occasion. And if what we shall remember are first and foremost Hanoi’s young instrumentalists, this nevertheless proved a successful and happy event all round.

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Jet Li arrives in Vietnam

Chinese movie star and kung fu master Jet Li landed in Hanoi Thursday afternoon and will stay in the capital for five days to attend charity activities as a goodwill ambassador for the International Red Cross.

The Hollywood actor is scheduled to appear at the Youth Park in Hanoi from 8:30 – 9:00 am January 22 to attend a blood donation, expected to attract 2,000 and is aimed at storing blood for patients during Tet.

At 11:00 am, Jan Li will visit a mangrove forest in Nghe An province in the central region and engage in Red Cross activities in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An.

He will be back in Hanoi the following day and present gifts to 40 enthusiastic volunteers of the Vietnamese Red Cross and will reply to questions about volunteer activities from youths in the capital.

He will have a question-answer session during a press conference in Hanoi on January 24 before returning home.

At his hometown, he is chairman of the Chinese Red Cross Foundation.

Bio

Jet Li, 47, is a real martial art master that makes international fame as an action star. Jet Li is arguably one of the most famous Chinese in the world.

He began practicing Wushu at the age of 8 and after years of training he represented Beijing Wushu team in various performances and competitions.

Jet Li already started acting when he was still an active martial artist. His debut movie was Shaolin Temple in 1982, followed by 2 sequels which made him a national action star.

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