Ca Mau man grabs ‘Leader' title in new reality show

A young man from the southernmost province of Ca Mau Province won "The Leader" title in the reality television game show Toi La Nguoi Dan Dau (I Am the Pacesetter) which was broadcast on HCM Television (HTV).

After two months of competition, Quach Van Den, 25, beat 15 contestants as they met several challenges of endurance, strength, agility, problem solving, teamwork and dexterity.

He received 43 per cent of eliminated contestants' votes and 66.7 percent of audiences' votes to take the prize money of VND100 million (US$5,000).

"The show taught me about having strong spirit, iron will, life skills and faith in victory," Den said at the awards ceremony held at the HTV Studio on Saturday.

The show, produced by HTV and Dong Tay Promotion Co, took place on Phu Quoc Island in Kien Giang Province.

During the show, the contestants themselves voted off weaker counterparts. After the last episode, the eliminated contestants and the audience voted for the winner.

Photo exhibition on Vietnam opens in Uruguay

An exhibition of photographs on Vietnam, its countryside and people, shot by Argentinean photographer Amanda Perez, is underway in Montevideo City in Uruguay.

On display are 16 photos taken during her three week trans-Vietnam trip last year.

Perez said she was impressed with the country’s beautiful scenery and the friendliness and hospitality of the Vietnamese people.
According to the photographer, she used both black and white and colour photos to create a contrast between the past and the present.

The black and white photos feature Vietnam’s past heroic wartime, fighting off invaders, while the colour photos depict Vietnam today, with its imposing natural beauty and people’s daily lives.

Perez said she hopes that Uruguayan people will understand more about Vietnam both in the past and at present through her exhibition.

Beats Band wins ‘Summer Sessions' music contest

Teenagers from the Beats Band representing the Phan Chu Trinh High School won the first prize at a music competition, titled Summer Sessions, in the central city on Sunday.

The band overcame 30 rivals on the final night to take the prize with their rock performance at Li Do Bar on My Khe Beach.
The AMT band from the Tran Phu High School came in second, while Vo Trang Dai and Le Minh Son from the Economics College came third.

The music competition, which was hosted for the first time in Da Nang, drew more than 100 young amateur singers and bands from the city contesting for total cash prizes of VND40 million (US$2,000).

New publication portrays local, foreign authors

A book recently launched by Literature Publisher features Vietnamese and foreign writers including the great To Hoai.

Entitled Chuyen Lang Van (Stories about Literature Circles), the work comprises interviews and writings by author Di Li, whose real name is Nguyen Dieu Linh, a free-lance columnist for several periodicals.

The piece on To Hoai, recorded when he was 82, focuses on literature for children and his views about the young writer generation.

"The interview gave me an excuse to meet one of the writers I admire the most. Unlike his humorous writing style, in real life he appears calm, serious and a little unfriendly," Di Li said.

Although elderly, his mind is very sharp, lending his features a constantly surprised look.

"He keeps on top of current issues, which explains his profound understanding of modern life."

To Hoai, real name Nguyen Sen, was born in 1920. Regarded as "a great, ancient tree" of the Vietnamese literarure circle, he is known for works such as De Men Phieu Luu Ky (The Adventure of a Cricket, 1941), Truyen Tay Bac (Story of the Northwest, 1953) and Phuong Tay (The West, 1967). In addition, he is one of the few famous writers from the pre-revolutionary period still alive.

The Adventure of a Cricket is very popular in Viet Nam where every child knows the story of the little animal that left his home to travel, growing up and learning about life amongst different "people".

The story was To Hoai's first published work, written when he was 17 and including many aspects of his own time spent as a child.

It has been printed by about 40 publishers around the world in a score of languages such as Russian, French, German and Swedish.

At the age of 86, To Hoai published the novel Ba Nguoi Khac (The Three Others) in 2010, more than a decade after scooping up the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts in 1996.

Other portraits included in Stories about Literature Circles centre on veterans Kim Lan, Phan Thi Thanh Nhan and Tran Dang Khoa as well as developing writers Vi Thuy Linh and Do Hoang Dieu alongside foreign authors from the US, Germany, Italy, Australia, France, Denmark, Japan, and South Korea.

Di Li is a member of the Viet Nam Writers Association. She has published 11 books and is especially known for Trai Hoa Do (Red Flower Farm), which is the first mystery horror, produced in the country.

VNN/VOV/VNS