When
she was a child, Cao Thi Doan Trang practiced diligently and won her audiences’
hearts with her sweet voice.

Hot chocolate: Singer Doan Trang holds an irreplaceable position in audiences’ hearts. — File Photo

Today, although she is
not as popular as other top singers, she holds an irreplaceable position in
audiences’ hearts. It’s all thanks to her creativity and hard work.

From her early years
in singing, during her 20s, Vietnamese pop and Latin-influenced singer Doan
Trang won listeners’ acclaim with the song Khi Toi 20 (My 20s). Now in her 30s,
Trang has sung the song again, but in English.

Trang is marking her
decade of professional singing by creating something new and surprising for her
audience. All of her hit songs have now been transcribed into English and
performed with a Latin style.

Everyone says that
Trang, the girl who loves to wear an ao dai (traditional long dress) with jeans
and was given the name “Chocolate” because of the colour of her skin, wants to
try her luck beyond the country’s borders.

But Trang says that
what she has done in her latest album, the Unmakeup, is a gift for local
audiences.

When she participated
in the Hattori Memorial Music Festival in Osaka in 2006, Trang won approval from
foreign audiences there.

After the recent
scandal in the media about Trang’s miniskirt that she wore during a social
outing, she wants more than ever to prove her real talent to the public.

Though there have been
other singers with a Latin style, Trang, who graduated from the English
Department of HCM City University of Foreign Languages and Technologies and the
city’s Music Conservatory, believes the new album and her renditions of songs
will fire up audiences.

Several songs that
have made her a well-known quantity composed by musicians Vo Thien Thanh, Quoc
Bao and Luu Thien Huong are part of the album.

The slender singer
started the project more than three years ago when she recorded her first
English album in Germany with her team.

“It was the first time
I had the pleasure to work with the all-German Band and with a talented sound
engineer Sebastian in the famous city of Weimar,” Trang recalled.

During the time in
Germany, Trang had to get up at seven in the morning and work until 10pm every
night.

Trang’s manager, Cao
Trung Hieu, her youngest brother, the person who always offers new ideas and
consults on her singing style, named the album the Unmakeup.

“Don’t misunderstand.
This doesn’t mean that I don’t have my face made up or I am not well dressed
while singing. What my youngest brother means is that we can find simplicity in
each work of the album,” she explained.

The entire album was
made unplugged: no wires, strings, no electrical connections. It is simple and
plain yet pleasurable and intricate once its core structure is dissected and
explored.

Trang wrote one of the
10 songs, Cinderella, and performed with foreign musicians Roland Buettgen,
Rainer Peter, Thomas Lieven and Vincent Nguyen. Though Trang sings of a fairy
tale in her song, she gives it fire with a Latino music and singing style.

“I feel that my music
and foreign language is mature when I work with a team of professional
musicians,” she said.

The fan of pop singers
Shakira and Jennifer Lopez has released several albums, including Bon Mua Tinh
Yeu (All Season Love), Chocolate, Socodance, Am Ban (The Negative) and Da Khuc
(Serenade)

Trang is currently
recording an album with songs combining modern and traditional styles, which
will be issued in a few months.

Chocolate was born
during a time when she was taking part in several musical competitions as a
girl, which gave her more confidence to perform on the stage.

During her time in
primary, secondary and high school as well as university, she was a key amateur
singer at the schools.

At the age of 23, in
2001, she began her professional career after getting a second prize from HCM
City Television’s singing contest.

Friends say it’s
Trang’s creativity and character that have brought her success and a stable
position in Vietnamese show business.

Trang says she’s happy
with what she has achieved. Though she has never been listed among the top
singers of the country, she is distinguished from others by her unique style.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News