Thôn Trăng & T́nh Hoài Hương (PBN111)
Mong Sau (Tram Tu Thieng) – Tran Thai Hoa and Huong Giang. First thing regarding this performance is this couple was meant to be. I truly love this pairing. I adored them in PBN 92 and here they are again in Mong Sau. I’m not usually fond of this music but the new arrangement is fitting with my taste. For those of you who don’t know this song like myself when hearing the title, it’s the song Khanh Ha sang in PBN 89 in Korea. The first time I heard this song was in PBN 89 and at the time it was a song I did not value but from now on I will treasure this song cos it’s won me over. The song starts with the screen showing London (Big Ben) upside down, cloudy stage and Tran Thai Hoa begins in his warm low voice. He is wearing a glittery textured black suit with orange undershirt, Huong Giang then enters in a delicate dress of a grey to mauve tone very similar to the one Tu Quyen wore in 96 but across her tummy area is two gold leaves sewn on. I’m awesome liking Huong Giang’s Rhianna Good girl gone bad hair.
Ky Duyen has now changed into Lace ao dai elbow arm length in pinkish lavender. There’s 3 spiral flower piece attached to the upper lining of the boat neck (also called co thuyen).
Chuyen Vuon Sau Rieng (Vinh Su)- Tuan Quynh va Mai Thien Van. Que huong music or nhac tru tinh is my favourite category second to young music (nhac tre). This is of course a first time pairing and I truly love that they are together and I must say a warm welcome to a very humble Tuan Quynh. Their voices are both “sac ben” (high and sharp) almost a resemblance of the dan tranh played by PBN veteran co Bich Thuan. Tuan Quynh appears in a dark navy suit with royal blue lining edges and a white undershirt with black rectangular patterns while Mai Thien Van is in a open boat neck white ao dai with black floral imprints and hot pink pants. I love the short puffy sleeve that is also used for Toc Tien’s ao dai in the opening number. I hope ThuyNga will further create opportunities for these two to collaborate. You may call me strict but Truong Vu fits with Nhu Quynh and Quang Le in my mind fits with Ngoc Ha.
Side note: as explained by Ky Duyen, the song is very straightforward, the sort of expression by nguoi Nam (Southern Vietnamese) where you think the song is about something romantic and a tragic death but it’s because the girl slipped on the durian and died.
San Khau Cuoc Doi (Vo Hoai Phuc)- Trinh Lam va Nhu Loan. Another first time pairing and whilst I love each person individually I’m not sure if this pairing works for me. I’ve now listened to the song twice but I’m not liking it quite yet…maybe it will grow on me but it’s almost a soft rock style. They both sing with a microphone similar to a rock concert atmosphere. One thing I like about this song is the lighting- it’s set to look like light rays. The couple dresses in black and white casual rock style but Nhu Loan may be a tad too pretty in facial feature and dress to suit the song. Nhu Loan appears in a black lace bra upheld by a white shirt and black miniskirt with a leather fan piece attached. Trinh Lam is wearing a white undershirt, black coat with golden embellishments to make it look “tough” and black leather pants. The song as indicated by the title is about life on stage and the acting behind an artist where a mask is put on to hide ones feelings. Me and my observant eye- I dislike Trinh Lam when performing he often wriggles his heels.
Sidenote: A shot of Nhu Loan’s mum and sister appears before the performance and I must say Nhu Loan and her sister could pull off as twins…well almost
Hai Kich: Xam Xi – Chi Tai, Hoai Linh, Viet Huong va Thuy Nga. The last good laugh I had was 108, 109 was horrible and 110 was average. This comedy is a great come back. I love love love it. I won’t spoil the funniness of it nor the hilarious punch lines but I love the banana reference and the body position Viet Huong is in when she crosses the fence. I’m also delighted that Hoai Linh is back again and these four comedians meshed well. 10/10 and am genuinely satisfied with this performance.
Ky Duyen changes to a tight fitted dress that follows all her curves. It has no back and the fabric has a snake skin texture in a dusty brown colour.
Sexy Sexy (Chau Dang Khoa) – Anh Tu. Oh my goodness, sexy sexy indeed and with a talent and fine appearance of Anh Tu it couldn’t have been better. Anh Tu’s manly character pulls of this catchy song and I know it’s gonna be one of his hits. He is wearing a black boots and a modern suit so I can’t really describe it- I’ll let you watch it for yourself regarding this one. I almost feel like I’m in a blues bar because of the saxophone, trumpet, double bass and piano arrangement but it’s got a beat to it. He is surrounded by 8 lovely dancers in golden sequined bare back dress. The stage for this item shows black dancing shadows and the key “S” piece is in centre stage. The performance then transitions to- Say Tinh (Phuc Truong) – Ky Phuong Uyen. Since her arrival to the production I’ve only loved her in 102, 104, 107, 108 and now add this one to the list. It starts off quite similar to a Spanish ballroom. I wouldn’t call it chachacha but one of those style especially that it starts with the Mexican guitar strumming. She looks hot in the orange two piece dress. She is accompanied by 4 female dancers and 6 male dancers.
Sao Long Con Thuong va Nguoi Thuong Ke Nho (Han Chau) - Bao Khanh va Duy Truong. Bao Khanh is a singer I’ve loved whilst following Vstar. I’m truly impressed by his talents and believe he was deserving of the Vstar title. There’s not much to say besides that he delivers solidly once again. I must say I’m noticing that coloured suits is “back in” again as he is wearing a violet-indigo suit and a earthen brown under shirt. The song then transitions to Duy Truong and to date there is no one as good looking as Duy Truong in the que huong category. His voice whilst some may say is not special, to me is sweet and just right to cater for these songs. He is wearing a black satin undershirt, black pants and chocolate brown coat. I’m saddened that he won’t be in 112’s taping To sum up, if you like these two and que huong then you will love their performance.
Sao Anh No Danh Quen (To Thanh Tung) – Quang Le va Lam Anh. Quang Le is expected to do well so I’ll give special attention to Lam Anh. This is of course her first time attempting to sing Bolero music and I’m in love with her beautiful voice. I actually knew she was capable and talented to pull off this kind of music or any kind for that matter. If you add this performance to all her previous you will see that she is definitely talented and diverse in the music she’s portrayed. She’s in a sky blue ao dai with a pearl necklace and white pants, straight hair pinned up on the two sides, rose pink lipstick. I do miss Quang Le’s outer appearance but putting this aside ^^ he is wearing a floral printed thin tie and dark grey suit. They are later interviewed whereby NNN reminds of QL’s success after his portrayal of Suong Trang Mien Que Ngoai in 69 (he first appeared in 66) and congratulates Lam Anh in the recent favours she’s received. NNN then makes a joke about Quang Le’s overweight issue and QL responds to say being chubby is cute. They will be releasing an upcoming project together with this song as the title. The tragic accident is briefly mentioned also.
Soi Nho (Luong Bang Quang)- Mai Tien Dung va Toc Tien. A young hip song but not an outstanding song for me. Nonetheless, I love this couple. Toc Tien is maintaining her pixie haircut whilst Mai Tien Dung has his hair top blond and black at roots. He is wearing a black vest coat, bare chest, white pants, while Toc Tien is a one piece black see through swimsuit style “dress” wrapped with a white cloth. MTD and TT strip off their outer garment pieces so then MTD ends in a modern vest and TT remains just with the swimsuit. They are accompanied by four couples. At the beginning, the wooden stair frames reminded me of Bao Han and Tu Quyen’s Thinking of you in PBN 94 but they used this as a prop where the male dancers stood at the top with wires controlling the female dancers resembling puppets.