VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese French Alain Vu is a rare singer in the world who is both a bass and a sopranist.

 
In a recent talk with a local newspaper, Vu talked about his private live openly. He said he was very glad to sing in Vietnam. Some young girls called him to invite him to cafes because of his special voice.

 

During his return to Vietnam five years ago, Vu met a girl in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and they got married. However, they divorced later. Vu now lives with his friend, a French government employee.

 

Asking him “People often think that a man who can sing soprano is homosexual. How about you?” Vu was not angry. He said: “Perhaps this is the first time I open my heart to the local media. When I sing, many people think that I’m homosexual. Even overseas Vietnamese show their discrimination. In France, homosexuals are respected because they are often talented people. I’ve worked and made friends with many”.

 

The world currently has only seven male singers who are sopranists. when Vu registered at singing contests as a sopranists, organizers often noted him as mezzo-sopranist because they thought that no male singer can sing soprano. His voice has helped Vu win many international awards in Europe and Australia.

 

Some music schools in Vietnam have invited Alain Vu to be guest teacher. He said there is a student from an art school in Hanoi who can sing as a sopranist but he is too young and not trained. If the young singer is not trained, he may lose his special voice at the age of 23-24.

 

Alain Vu is willing to help the young man to go to France to learn the singing techniques.

 

Alain Vu’s real name is Vu Hoang Mi. He was born in New Caledonia, a French colony. At the age of four, his family returned to Vietnam. Vu displayed his singing and dancing talent when he was a boy. He then became a dancer of the Viet Bac Art Troupe.

 

A teacher of the Viet Bac Singing School discovered his ability to sing as a basso and a sopranist. However, he was sent to Hanoi to learn how to play wind instruments. While studying in Hanoi, he went to France to reunite with his family.

 

When he had just come to France, he worked for a company where he developed a singing movement. The firm sent him to Australia to study singing. Vu has become a professional singer since then.

 

Apart from singing, Alain Vu is also a choreographer and a show director. He has been the member of the jury of the Miss New Caledonia for ten consecutive years and the director of a special show for overseas Vietnamese organized by the Vietnam Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs 2010.

 

PV