Viet Nam News
HCM CITY — A 20-year-old woman from Soc Trang Province won the 2018 Chuong Vang (Golden Bell) Award on Sunday in the annual cai luong (reformed opera) contest organised by HCM City Television.
Lam Thi Kim Cuong captured the hearts of the judges and audiences by singing excerpts from Chuyen Tam Cam (The Tale of Tam and Cam), a traditional play based on a popular Vietnamese fairy tale, in the final round at the HCM City Television Theatre.
She also performed Tieng Nguyet Cam (Voice of Moon-Shaped Guitar), a famous vong co (nostalgic tunes) song, a genre of southern traditional music written by veteran composer Huynh Thanh Tuan.
She competed with eight other singers to bring home the Golden Prize, garnering 98.4 points by the jury and 52 per cent of the audience vote.
She received VND100 million (US$4,300) in cash.
“Cuong offered something new in her role in the two performances which have catapulted many artists to fame. She combined traditional and modern styles," said Meritorious Artist Minh Vuong, a member of the jury.
The contest’s final round was broadcast live on HTV9 and attracted more than 70,000 viewers in the city and southern provinces.
Twenty-eight-year-old Vo Thi Ngoc Quyen of HCM City was the runner-up, while her closest competitor, 30-year-old Pham Van Nguyen of Dong Thap Province, finished third.
“I learned many lessons in singing and performance skills from my teacher, Meritorious Artist Phuong Loan, who trained me during the contest and performed with me in Chuyen Tam Cam,” the 20-year-old Cuong said.
Cuong began learning singing when she was a child and performed in cai luong clubs in Soc Trang while at school.
She has worked with veteran artists such as Meritorious Artist Que Tran and Huu Quoc to improve her voice and dance skills.
“After winning the Chuong Vang prize, I will have opportunities to develop my career professionally. I also better understand why it is important for young artists to preserve and develop cai luong,” said Cuong.
The Chuong Vang contest, organised by HCM City Television, seeks to bring together new talents and fans of cai luong. The event began in 2006 and has attracted millions of attendees from around the country.
The participants perform vong co and cai luong, two of the region’s most popular forms of traditional music.
This year, the contest was held over a three-month period in HCM City, with 330 participants aged 16 to 35 from amateur and professional troupes around the country. — VNS