My Tam wins Best Asian Artist at MAMA 2012

Singer My Tam has become the first and only Vietnamese artist to receive the Best Asian Artist title at the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) 2012.

Singer My Tam.

The award ceremony was held in Hong Kong on November 30.

My Tam could not attend the award ceremony in person because of her Vietnam Idol 2012 responsibilities.

In a video message shown at the event, Tam said it was her great honour to be awarded such wonderful spiritual gift this year. She hoped Vietnam will soon host a MAMA ceremony where she can perform for foreign audiences.

Other artists who also claimed MAMA awards include Japan’s AKB48, the Philippines’ Sarah Geronimo, Thailand’s Nathew, and China’s Leehom Wang and Chris Lee.

The Best Solo Dance Performance and the Best Music Video awards were presented to Psy, who also received the International Favourite Artist award for  his history-making hit Gangnam Style.

Best Male Group went to Big Bang and its group leader, G-dragon, was also named Best Male Artist.

MAMA, which was first held in 1999, is one of the Republic of Korea’s (RoK) three most prestigious music awards. It attracts many Asian celebrities.

Singer My Tam is scheduled to arrive in the RoK to perform at the Busan Culture Festival. The event is part of a series of activities marking the 20th anniversary of  Vietnamese-RoK diplomatic ties.

Little Mermaid becomes belly dance

Thuy Trang of Saigon Belly Dance will choreograph The Little Mermaid, a fairytale by Denmark's Hans Christian Andersen, using belly dance.

The show, to be performed by her club at the HCM City Opera House on Saturday, will also feature other genres like sexy dance, K-pop, Bollywood, zumba, and Latin dance, and be a part of an event called The Body Talks.

Saigon Belly Dance invited dancers for casting for The Body Talks in July, offering youngsters looking to become professional dancers the opportunity to train properly to learn skills and techniques.

There will be two more auditions through next year. Selected applicants will be offered free training for two years and a possible four-year contract after the training.

Canadian food-fest opens Thursday

The Canadian Food Festival, which opens on Thursday will offer HCM City residents a wide range of choice selections from the north American nation.

These include premium beef, ambrosia apples as well many seafood items such as lobster, oysters, scallops, snow crabs, black cod and mussels.

Audri Mukhopadhyay, consul general of Canada in HCM City, said that the month-long festival would be launched at the Lion City Exclusive Restaurant in District 1.

Canadian chef Cameron Stauch will be the guest chef for the food festival.

After the opening event, a Canadian food menu and speciality dishes will be offered at a number of restaurants including Vicki's Teppanyaki&BBQ, Lion City Exclusive, Lion City Cafe&Restaurant, Lion City Transit and Chill Sky Bar&Restaurant, as well as the Park Hyatt, from December 7 to 31.

Korea-VN host Ha Noi gala

The Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA) organised a gala in Ha Noi on Friday to honour the friendship between the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Viet Nam.

Attending the event were around 200 members from the KOICA Club and representatives from Vietnamese agencies that receive RoK volunteers to work on development co-operation projects with KOICA.

The event, the 13th of its kind held in Ha Noi, offered Vietnamese officials who had taken part in KOICA courses in the RoK, to meet each other, strengthening the friendship between the two nations.

The agency's programmes and projects for 2012 were introduced and a photographic display showed KOICA members at work in the RoK. Gala guests enjoyed a Viet Nam-RoK themed artistic performance by students from Dinh Bo Linh Primary School, one of the 40 schools in central Viet Nam built with funding from KOICA.

Speaking at the gala, KOICA Chief Representative in Viet Nam Kim In talked about the co-operation between the two countries in the last 20 years. He declared that KOICA would continue to support Viet Nam to fulfil its goal of becoming an industrialised country by 2020.

Stone sculptures make their mark

Stone sculptures by Vietnamese and Lao artists at a joint art workshop entitled Viet Nam-Laos Friendship in Vientiane were officially unveiled last Friday.

Ten famous Vietnamese sculptors and five from Laos attended the three-month camp from September to November, which was organised by the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Lao Ministry of Culture and Information to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the countries, and 35 years since the signing of the Viet Nam-Laos Friendship and Co-operation Treaty.

As many as 15 sculptures were created, vividly reflecting the special solidarity and friendship between the two nations in their struggles for national liberation and their subsequent national construction and development.

All the works will be presented as special gifts to Laos and displayed at the Lao National School of Fine Arts in Vientiane.

“Jazz-Viet” night to enthrall Hanoians

Popular Vietnamese musicians will perform around 16 jazz pieces at “Jazz-Viet 2012”, a concert night held at the Hanoi Opera House on December 2.

The famous Vietnamese artists include saxophonists Phan Anh Dung, Hoang Long, Phan Kien, Vu Duc Tan, and Duc Thuy. Jazz quartet Thang Long will also perform.

The artists will perform classics like Chiec la cuoi cung (the Last Leaf) composed by Tuan Khanh, Thanh pho tre (Young City) by Tran Tien, and Cao Bang by Nguyen Vinh Tien.

Dung’s arrangements are sure to be highlights of the night, having already earned praise at several international jazz festivals. They include favourites like Nho ban (Missing a friend), Giai dieu vung cao (Melody of Highlands), and Nho rung (Missing Forest), as well as some debuting pieces like Thoi gian (Time), a collaboration with Phan Kien called Chieu (Afternoon) and Pho (Street).

VNN/VOV/VNS