Pink lotus leads vote for national flower

The pink lotus received the most votes at a national flower contest held in HCM City's 23/9 park yesterday, June 12.

According to the official website, quochoavietnam.com.vn, the pink lotus lead the contest with 69.6 per cent of votes while cherry and apricot blossoms received 13.02 and 7.42 per cent of total votes each.

Photo: VOV

The pink lotus, symbolising cultural character, national spirit and Vietnamese will, has long been the inspiration for countless festivals, poems, songs as well as typical architecture throughout Viet Nam.

Competition begins for Song of the Year

The seventh annual Vietnamese Song Competition has kicked off with the first live show being held at the Ho Chi Minh City-based Military Theatre Sunday.

It featured nine songs: “Tro Ve” (Coming Back) by Nguyen Dan, “Phai Mo” (Fade Away) by Nguyen Vinh Tien, “Nhu Loi Me Ru (As Mom’s Lullaby) by Anh Khang, “Ngay That (Real Day)” by Toan Thang, “Blues Nho ( Missed Blues)” by Duong Cam, “Ngay Em Xuong Pho (The Day You Go Downtown)” by Hoang Anh Tuan, “1019 Chia Khoa Bac va Phin Café (1019 Silver Keys and A Coffee Filter)” by the band KOP, “Nhung O Cua Sac Mau (The Colorful Windows)” by Dinh Manh Ninh, and “Da Qua (It’s Over)” by Tina Tinh.

Dinh Manh Ninh won both Best Singer and Song of the Month awards.

“Ngay That” won in the Impressive Song category, while “Phai Mo” won for Best Mixing Music.

The annual competition held by Vietnam Television for young amateurs and professionals will see one concert every month for the rest of the year.

The monthly winners will be nominated for the Song of the Year at the finale at the end of the year.

Live music for free on the Mekong

For half a year, people in My Tho City in Tien Giang Province have been offered a new form of entertainment: free live music on Friday nights on the Mekong River.
Located on Yersin Street, Live to River café is a small place with most of the space being set aside for a band and a mini stage, leaving only 20 seats for customers.
But for those who love to listen to Vietnamese love song classics on a Friday along the Mekong, sitting outdoors on the sidewalk or in Gieng the Nuoc Park opposite the café isn’t a problem, if not to say a plus.

The café’s audiences are numerous, ranging from peanut and lottery vendors to foreign tourists and business managers and they don’t have to buy a drink in order to have an outdoor seat.
“Not everyone has enough money to spend on coffee so we organize the sidewalk space to attract more audiences,” said musician Do Hai, who organizes the Friday live show.
The artists participating in the show also come from different backgrounds, including Ngoc Suong, who was popular in the 1950s and now lives a secluded life in the countryside and only performs in evening shows.
Then there are local singers like Quoc Dinh, Kieu My and several artists from the Tien Giang Art Troupe.
“But anyone with a good voice can come to the stage to sing,” Do Hai said.
Duy Thien, an amateur singer, once captivated audiences with his rendition of Trinh Cong Son’s classic Phoi Pha.
“How can you sing so well? Who are you?” an audience had to exclaim.
In fact, Thien is an average working-man who helps his wife run a noodle shop. He loves singing and only asks the café for a hot cup of coffee as his salary.
Another guest singer, Duy Lam, doesn’t just sing for local people but also his wife, who often sits behind the stage listening in happiness.
Not many people can guess Lam is a busy manager of a construction company.
“When I am free on Friday night, I come here with my wife and perform,” he said. “I want to make everyone and ourselves happy.”
As a music lover, the owner of Live to River café Dang Thanh Cuong uses his own money to pay for the lighting and sound system as well as the modest salaries for the artists. Although sometimes losing money, Cuong said he is happy to offer live music for everyone to enjoy.
“I hold this live show for fun, not for business,” Cuong said, as another Trinh Cong Son song was being performed in the background. “The prices for drinks in my café at night remain the same.”

Exhibition asserts national sovereignty

An exhibition asserting Viet Nam's sovereignty over the seas and islands in the southern and central regions opened last Friday at the provincial library in central Khanh Hoa Province.

The exhibition also aims to highlight the economic potentials and strengths of the seas and islands.

The exhibition displays more than 300 books, documents and photographs that provide evidence of the country's sovereignty of the seas and islands, especially the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes.

It also showcases songs about the seas and islands composed by many artists nation-wide.

The songs have been published by the Khanh Hoa-UNESCO Association.

The exhibition will be held annually on a rotating basis in every province in the southern and central region of Viet Nam.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre