VietNamNet Bridge – Large live shows by singers Cam Ly and Dan Truong will mark the start of this year’s season of live shows.

Dan Truong’s upcoming liveshow is cost nearly VND2 billion.

“It is unwise to organise live shows now,” stated an experienced show organiser. But many artists still love live shows and they have been and will continue to organise big live shows.

Pop star My Tam’s recent trans-nation tour was among the most costly in 2008. It was held in four big cities of Vietnam.

Why does My Tam wants to put on live shows? She said: “To let my juniors see how hard they have to strive and work to be a professional singer.”

The total expenses of this tour were around VND3 billion ($187,000), and the singer had to pay herself, she had no sponsor.

$187,000 is a huge amount of money but actually, My Tam had four shows in four cities so the investment in each show was not too great. However, as a result, staging and lighting were minimal.

Two other pop stars, Dan Truong and Cam Ly, will have live shows this month in HCM City. Dan Truong and Cam Ly share the same fan base but the two shows follow very closely on one another. However, the shows cannot be rescheduled now. Cam Ly can’t reschedule because Lan Anh Stage is fully booked in November while Dan Truong’s birthday is in November and he always organises his live shows this month.

Singers who organise live shows are facing the same difficulty: Making their shows different from their previous ones and from the live shows of others.

After several live shows organised in sports houses of 4,000-5,000 seats, Dan Truong has chosen the 10,000-seat Military Zone Stadium for his upcoming show.

“This may be the largest and the last live show held by Dan Truong and HT Production Company,” said Dan Truong’s manager Hoang Tuan.

The previous shows cost around VND1 billion and the upcoming show will cost around VND2 billion.

Cam Ly’s live show is very meaningful for her because it marks the singer’s 15^th year in show business. These will also be her first solo live shows, to take place in HCM City and Can Tho city.

The live show’s director Huu Minh didn’t reveal the capital invested in the show but he said at least VND800 million ($50,000) is needed for a show. Around 10 trucks will be used to carry equipment from HCM City to Can Tho Stadium. Minh said several tens of million dong will be invested in carpets for the stadium. Electricity expesnses will also be very costly.

Young singer Tra My, after a series of shows between HCM City and Da Lat, is said will put on four live shows in four cities in the US.

Many singers have boasted on the media that they will have big live shows coming up, including pop star Ho Ngoc Ha, Nini Khanh, Uyen Trang, Duy Manh, Quach An An, and Kiwi Ngo Mai Trang.

While fans are waiting for these big events, a lot of mini live shows are going on at night clubs.

However, with the deluge of live shows expected this live-show season, it remains to be seen whether fans will grow tired of them.

Thanh Chung