My Tam to have a live
show to mark ten-year singing career

Vietnamese diva, My Tam, will organise a live performance,
“Memories of a ten-year singing career”, at the Queen Plaza
in HCMC on January 14th next.

My Tam’s live show, with music by musician Le Quang and
images by director Nguyen Tranh, aims to mark her ten year career.

As planned, the talented singer will perform 30 songs, all
closely attached to her name over the past ten years, including Mai yeu, Toc
nau moi tram, Uoc gi and so on.

Actress Ngo Thanh Van
named among the most seductive ladies

The leading actress in “The Rebel”, Ngo Thanh Van, has been
selected as one of the most seductive women alive by Inside Esquire Magazine.

The magazine has published an atlas of 195 most seductive
beauties in the world including Ngo Thanh Van from Vietnam.

In Asia, besides Vietnamese
beauty Ngo Thanh Van, Chinese top model Liu Wen and Indian actress-Miss World
1994 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are also included in the list.

These selected women have different backgrounds; some are
singers, actresses, models, politicians and first ladies and Peace Nobel
laureates.

Beauty Ngo Thanh Van was the runner-up in the contest, Miss
Photo Vietnam,
launched by the Women’s World Magazine in 2000. A model, she started her career
as a singer in 2002 and was successful. During that time, she also tested her
talent in cinematography and won the Best Leading Actress for her role in “The
Rebel” at the 15th Vietnam Film Festival in November 2007.

Flamenco performance
welcomes New Year

Vietnamese leading musicians and guitarists, including Luong
Xuan Dinh, Le Duc Son, and pianist Nguyen Tuan Nam, will perform at the Flamenco
show on January 24, 2011 at the Hanoi Opera House.

The event was the Vietnam National Academy of Music’s gift
to the music fans on the occasion of the New Year.

The audience will enjoy the young and exciting night with
world-famous Flamenco by musicians Armik and Rosenberg.

Highland’s Gong
preservation project

The Vietnam Institute of Culture and Arts was assigned to
planning the highland Gong culture preservation project by the Ministry of
Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Director of the Vietnam Institute of Culture and Arts,
Nguyen Chi Ben, said the project should be completed by March, 31, 2011.

The Gong culture is the property of ethnic minorities such
as Ba Na, Xe Dang, M’nong, Ko Ho, RoMam, Ede,
and Gia Rai in five central highland provinces of Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak,
Dac Nong and Lam Dong.

This heritage features the local people’s spirit and mind
and expresses their daily lives, however, it has been losing prevalence amongst
the people.

According to 2010 statistics, the number of Gong in Kon Tum
province decreased by 30 percent and in Gia Lai by 50 percent over 2005.

Free Circus for needy
children in HCMC

Ho Chi Minh City’s
Circus will hold eight free general circus programs for over 25,000
disadvantaged and poor children from the public orphanage houses in the City
from December 26th 2010 to January 2nd 2011.

The programs includes several performances which have won
gold prizes at the national and international circus festivals and performances of animals that had performed in
various countries in the region.

TV industry urged to
change with trends

The domestic television industry has no choice but to keep
pace with the latest trends if it is to keep its audience because digital
technology and the internet have opened up myriad options for the public,
experts have said.

Dr Tran Dung Trinh, director of the Viet Nam Television’s
Television Technologytechnology revolution and the boom in smart digital
equipment and internet had pushed television into a fierce competition.
Research & Application Centre, said at a conference held last Thursday that
the digital

Trinh said that if television did not keep up with common
development trends, the industry would lose its position because it no longer
had monopoly over any content.

In fact, the television industry itself was actively
applying modern technologies to better serve customers, he noted.

Along with providing high-quality image and sound services
though high-definition, super high-definition and 3D television, the industry
is trying to bring their services into mobile appliances that allow customers
to enjoy their programmes anytime, anywhere.

Industry observers said Vietnamese television – both at
central and local levels – had tried to face the new trends in different ways.

While all television stations in the country had digitalised
their content, the domestic industry had found it difficult to strike a balance
between investment and income, and to make their investment in updating
technology more effective, they said. “We should avoid the situation that
on finishing the project, the equipment is already outdated because of
ineffective implementation,” Trinh said.

Viet Nam Television has sent a 2015 target of ensuring that
80 per cent of households can access DTH (direct-to-home service through
satellite) services and 60 per cent can receive DVB-T (digital video
broadcasting – terrestrial with better definition) services.

Representatives from Turkey-based TRT and South Korea-based
KSB television stations shared their experiences in developing 3D programming
and file-based workflow, and spoke of global technology trends in the industry.

Choral festival to
welcome the 11th National Party Congress

A choral festival to welcome the 11th National Party
Congress will be held on January 7th, 2011 in Hanoi
and on January 10th, 2011 in Ho Chi
Minh City.

This is one of the practical activities to promote the
premier event of the Communist Party of Vietnam, according to the information
released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The program will have the participation of 1,600 actors and
actresses from 23 troupes across the country.

The choral festival is expected to perform specific artistic
routines in harmony with national identity, and present honour, gratitude and
confidence in the leadership of the Party and Uncle Ho, while praising
patriotism.

Songs performed at this festival will be typical works of
the Vietnamese choral orchestra and composed by famous musicians. These songs
have been imprinted in the minds of countless Vietnamese generations.

Hanoi decorated to welcome 11th National Party
Congress

The Hanoitimes - According to Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi
People’s Committee, Nguyen Van Khoi, Hanoi
will be decorated to welcome the 11th National Party Congress, the New Year and
the celebration of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The
decoration will be carried out impressively but economically.

From January 6 to February 8, 2011, the whole lighting
system that was set up during the celebration for 1,000 years of Thang Long – Hanoi will be illuminated
again from 6pm daily.

The lighting system will be increased in some areas such as Pham Hung Street,
Thang Long Boulevard, Tran Duy Hung – Nguyen Chi Thanh Streets, Pham Van Dong Street,
around the National
Convention Center where
the Congress will be held at.

In addition, streets, flowers, the symbol for the National
Party Congress and Party flags will be decorated in main streets.

To prevent traffic jams, truck access to the centre of the
city will be restricted during the National Party Congress and lunar New Year.

The Hanoi Department of Construction will direct relevant
sectors to have an adequate water supply and clean environment to serve these
major events.

PV