VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese musician Nguyen Thi Kim Anh has won the hearts of judges during a round of popular Russian TV talent show Minute of Glory.

Glorious: Nguyen Kim Anh with her Russian supporters (left photo) and guiding Russian People’s Artist Philipp Kirkorov to play the Vietnamese monochord (right photo).

Her performance met thunderous applause from both the audience and the panel.

“Dan bau belongs to Viet Nam so I performed a Russian song to show people here how good their music sounds through it,” Anh says. Her pieces were a big hit with the judges. “Wonderful! I voted for this performance to go to the next round,” says People’s Artist Philipp Kirkorov, a member of the jury. After the performance, Kirkorov even came up to the stage to have a closer look at the monochord.

“It’s amazing that a mono-stringed instrument can create so many tones and rhythms,” he says. “Russia has many traditional instruments but none of them only have one string.” Fellow jury member, writer Tachiana Tolstaia was also impressed. “Anh succeeded in playing a Russian folksong using the traditional Vietnamese musical instrument, her performance conquered my heart.” Third judge Alexander Peskov agrees. “Her show was amazing. I agreed to vote for her.”

Anh’s music also plucked the heart strings of Vietnamese viewers.”It was so moving to hear the sound of the dan bau played so well,” says Tuan Khanh, who was sitting in the audience.

“It makes me feel very proud to hear Viet Nam’s distinctive cultural identity performed to a Russian audience. I believe that her performance will receive strong support from Russians as well as the Vietnamese community in Russia.”

She may have been a hit for the judges, but Anh will have to wait for the results of the public vote before her place in the final round this month is confirmed.

“If I get through, I’ll choose a song which shows off the versatility of my instrument and my own skills,” she says.

Dan bau is not the only string to Ann’s bow. She is also an expert in playing the ty ba (pear-shaped guitar with four strings made of braided silk), t’rung (bamboo xylophone of Viet Nam’s Central Highland’s) and klong-put (bamboo tubes of Viet Nam’s Central Highlands).

Minute of Glory is a talent show broadcast on Russian Television’s Channel 1. Performers can take the stage with a variety of genres, including music, dancing, circus, magic shows and rhythmic gymnastics. The programme is built based on the US TV hit America’s Got Talent.

This is the first time the organising board have invited a foreign artist to perform.

“A director at the channel heard someone playing dan bau at the Viet Nam promotion event Ha Noi Days in Moscow. He persuaded the contest’s organising board to invite someone to play it,” says Anh.

“When I played at the contest, I didn’t think about the money. I just wanted the Russian people to hear my music. It makes me feel proud to be Vietnamese,” Anh says. The final winner will receive a US$40,000 prize.

(Source: Viet Nam News)