VietNamNet Bridge – Five composers continued lodging complaints to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism about the list of nominees for the State Awards on literature and art.

Ministry voices, artists still quarrel about the state awards

Artists disagree with nominees for the State Awards

They are Tran Viet Binh, Trieu Dang, Truong Tuyet Mai, Phan Long and Van Thanh Nho, whose songs are very famous in Vietnam for decades.

They questioned why they were rejected from the list of final nominees and why senior musician Hoang Ha, whose songs are very popular in Vietnam and who is a great personality, was also not selected to the final list.

“I do not understand why such a person like musician Hoang Ha was rejected from the list. At the age of 83, he still had to write the application and make the documentations to send to the judging council. If he is not granted the State Award this year, he may not have a chance the next time, five years later!” said musician Phan Long.

The five senior composers shared difficulties in preparing the documentations: they had to visit radio or television stations to ask for records of many years ago, making notarized copies of their works and research works, certificates of merit, etc. Each nominee had to submit four sets of documentation to the judging council.

“We are still alive so we can make it (documentation), but who will prepare documentation and applications for the dead? For example late musician Tran Quang Huy, the author of many famous songs, who will help him to prepare the file?” said musician Van Thanh Nho.

They worried that many outstanding musicians were also rejected like the case of composer Hoang Ha because the list of 40 composers who were rejected from the final list is not published.

Musicians Tran Viet Binh, 77 and Trieu Dang, 78, proposed that the judging council makes public the list of failed nominees and minutes with failed nominees’ signatures to avoid mistakes.

All five composers said they lodged complaints, not to have their names in the final lists, but for justice and transparency in order to protect the prestige and the value of the State Awards.

“We are discontented with the judging council’s irresponsibility. We do not accuse them but we have the right to point out problems of the council when many nominees are undeserved to the award,” said songwriter Truong Tuyet Mai.

The five composers are waiting for the answer from the judging council, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and they hoped that the judging council to correct the fault by rejected undeserved and adding worthy nominees to the list.

Previously, some senior musicians and two scriptwriters lodged their complaints against the final list of nominees for the State Awards on literature, art and movies.

PV