Cap Anh Tai has rocked the online community with a 20-minute medley that traces the past half-century of the football championship – and Vietnam.

Released Tuesday and titled “Euro History 2012,” the song rewrites and strings together lyrics from musical hits out of Russia, France, and the United Kingdom. The lines recall landmark events of the European Championship since 1960, when it started in France with four teams as the European Nations Cup.

Tai, a former leader of the music and performance team at Da Nang University of Technology, also uses the tune to link Euro events with historical and football-related milestones that happened in Vietnam at that time.

For instance, he begins by singing about Vietnam’s 1960 division into north and south, using Russia’s well-known wartime song Katyusha as a soundtrack.

When Tai arrives at Euro 1988 in Italy, the lyrics explain that Vietnamese football lovers could only enjoy the tournament by listening to the radio and reading newspapers, as television remained out of reach for most.

‘Favorite’ medley

Tai is no stranger to viral videos. Last year, when Indonesia hosted the 26th Southeast Asian Games, two of his lyric-altered clips spread across the Internet. One rooted for players on the Vietnamese team before the championship; the other raised them up after their failure.

“After the songs written for the SEA Games, I wanted to do something bigger,” Tai said. “That was when the idea of writing about the history of the Euro occurred to me.”

He said he researched online for hours and consulted older people who had watched the tournament in the 1990s.

“I also had to link the Euro with historical events in Vietnam, and chose songs that are well-known to most listeners,” Tai said.

Hundreds of thousands have flocked to his musical tribute, even forgiving a minor mistake when he sings that Poland and Croatia, rather than Ukraine, are hosting Euro 2012. One viewer commented on Youtube that the slip “does not have any big impact on such a must-see video clip of this year’s Euro.”

The hardest part, Tai said, was to alter the original songs’ lyrics, which he did for up to 16 hours a day, 12 days in a row. But it seemed to be worth it.

“The Euro medley is my favorite ever,” he said.

Aurora trio to perform free in Ha Noi

Three members of the Aurora trio, each former students at the Viet Nam National Academy of Music, will be staging a free classic concert at the Goethe Institute in Ha Noi on Wednesday.

In 2011, Nguyen My Huong (violin), Nguyen Hong Anh (cello) and Tran Thai Linh (piano) also performed free in Ha Noi and Hai Phong.

The trio will play works by Schumann, Johan Halvorsen, Beethoven and Astor Piazzolla.

Domestic violence victims take to the theater

Women who have endured abuse at home will join actors onstage to tell their stories in Hanoi on June 15.

The drama, “Toi Oi Dung Tuyet Vong” (Inviting Me to Hope), draws on the women’s mental and physical suffering, as well as their dreams of a better life.

The performance also will include contemporary dance and audience interaction.

Tuoi Tre Theater is co-hosting the event with the Center for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender, Family, Women, and Adolescents. Organizers said they hope the play contributes to domestic violence prevention as one aspect of World Population Day.

“Toi Oi Dung Tuyet Vong” will take place at 8 p.m. at 11 Ngo Thi Nham Street.

Brazilian guitar master to perform in Ha Noi

Brazilian guitar virtuoso Fabricio Mattos will perform here on Monday, leading his group called Worldwide Guitar Connections in a programme of original compositions.

As part of Worldwide Guitar Connections, Mattos has toured the world and been a featured artists at festivals as well as a visiting teacher and lecturer at a number of institutions.

Born in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba, he began his musical studies at the age of six, studying musical theory with his father. At the age of 14, he was introduced to the guitar. In 2009, he toured in Brazil as part of the SESC-Sonora Brazil project, performing 83 concerts.

Mattos has received honours in a number of national and international competitions, including the Armando Prazeres Prize for Young Soloists of Petrobras (Rio de Janeiro, 2003), the Ivor Mairants Guitar Award (Worshipful Company of Musicians, London), the Picker Trust Award (Royal Academy of Music, London) and the Julian Bream Award.

Mattos is expected to arrive in Ha Noi on Sunday, and his Ha Noi concert is part of a Southeast Asian kicking off in Bangkok today. Free tickets can be picked up at the Brazilian embassy at 14 Thuy Khe Street. Mattos will travel on to Myanmar, where he will perform on June 22.

French fashion firm opens showroom

Sophie Paris Viet Nam, the local affiliate of Asia's largest online fashion company, opened an office and fashion showroom in Da Nang yesterday, June 14.

The fashion company, which is 100 per cent foreign direct invested, was launched in 2010. It says it is targeting young customers in the city of 800,000.

The company plans to open a showroom in Ha Noi next week.

VNN/VNS/Tuoi Tre