Star-studded fund raising concert to hit Singapore

16:45' 18/07/2007 (GMT+7)

Singaporean singer Cai Chun Jia will perform in the 18th Charming Vietnam VietNamNet Bridge – For the first time, Duyen Dang Viet Nam (Charming Vietnam), an annual fund-raising music and fashion event organised by Thanh Nien newspaper, will be held in Singapore in August. At the press conference held yesterday, July 17, musician Duc Tri, Charming Vietnam’s programme editor, said the upcoming Singaporean bash would be a musical, dancing and fashion buffet with the participation of many famous domestic and overseas Vietnamese and Singaporean singers, beauty queens and artists including My Linh, Phuong Thanh, My Tam, Dam Vinh Hung, Miss Vietnam Mai Phuong Thuy and pop star Cai Chun Jia. The show will take place at 5 pm on August 18-19 at the Concert Hall inside the Esplanade Theatre. Around 40% of the audience members will be Singaporean, and the rest will be Vietnamese students, overseas Vietnamese and international tourists. The show will be accompanied by a fireworks display. About 10 ministers from Singapore and Vietnam will also attend the programme. Musician Duc Tri said this would be a very high-quality show with a special traditional music “dish”. "All music must be real, and there will be no play back. This can be considered a musical cocktail in which only the most delicious dishes will be served. Thus, traditional music will be essential and along with jazz, folk and classical music performances, it will help to reveal a pretty good picture of Vietnamese music,” said he. Director Tat My Loan, who will return for this 18th Charming Vietnam for the first time after many years of absence, said, “For years, the image of Vietnam in foreigners’ eyes has been closely related to wars. “In these peaceful times, Vietnam doesn’t have many opportunities to introduce her new image to the world in a concentrated and vivid manner. It isn’t too difficult to introduce Vietnamese beauty. But this is Charming Vietnam, that is, the charming image of a Vietnam which is peaceful and full of cultural and economic colours,” said she. The show is also attracting lots of attention from foreign media. News agencies such as Channel News Asia TV, the Straits Times, BBC, the Nation, the World Association of Newspapers, and several popular websites will cover the event. Started in 1994 to fund the Nguyen Thai Binh Scholarship Fund for economically disadvantaged students, Charming Vietnam has provided more than 7 billion dong worth of scholarships and was held abroad for the first time in 2005 in Australia. (Source: TT, NLD, LD, Viet Nam Net)