It was late night at a popular night club in Vung Tau.
Gaile, the club’s Filipino singer, was charming clubbers with her nifty dance steps and melodious voice as usual.
She was singing English songs before suddenly switching to popular Vietnamese ballads to the pleasant surprise of the audience.
At weekends Gaile makes the one-hour hydrofoil trip to Ho Chi Minh City to perform at its myriad clubs so that she can earn some extra money to send home, she says.
Paid US$30-40 per night, Filipino singers like Gaile can be seen performing at many upscale bars, clubs, and restaurants in Vietnam’s urban centers and popular vacation spots.
They please a wide range of audience by singing Latin rhythms, catchy romantic ballads, jazzy melodies, and many more.
With their well-known gift for music and English, Filipino singers like Gaile travel and perform virtually around the world, says Hoang Thuan, manager of the Filipino-Latino band Gipsy Nation.
Gaile, after living in Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia, has decided to settle down in Vietnam.
She explains: “Competition in the Philippines is fierce and chances are limited. So we singers travel to wherever we can make a better living. We look just like Vietnamese and it is easy to adjust to the food, weather, and people here.”
.jpg)
Singer Mariedel
Life is not easy
However, there are downsides too.
Not all of them can secure long-term contracts with bands or clubs; most have to make do with unstable incomes, waiting for offers and calls from managers.
Tet, the biggest holiday in Vietnam, is the busiest and probably most awaited time of the year for the Filipino singers.
The massive demand means they can easily earn then what they otherwise earn in three months of work hard, a manager says.
Short-term deals see these singers wander from place to place.
One 40-year-old, who preferred to be known as just R., has moved more than a dozen of times during her 10 years in Vietnam with her husband and three-year-old daughter.
To manage in expensive HCMC, Cyndy and Alex, a couple who have moved several times, share a US$200 apartment with others.
Since they send money to their families back home, the singers are not extravagant in their shopping either.
“We usually shop for clothes and accessories in markets like An Dong or Tan Binh for they sell a cheap and wide range of goods,” a singer who calls herself Red on stage said.
Now, after a full schedule during Tet in HCMC, Gaile has returned to Vung Tau to continue her nightly shows at the club.
She is one of the fortunate ones. Joan and Kay, her friends, have no plans and are waiting for contracts with bands in HCMC.
However, one said: “we are born to sing and we are proud of it. Filipino singers are everywhere in the world, from first class restaurants to some street corners. No matter where we are, when we sing, we sing our hearts out.”
Nothing can apparently douse their passion for music.
.jpg)
