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| Songwriter: Le Cat Trong Ly won the best composer of the year prize at the Devotion Music Award last year. — File Photo |
HA NOI — Emerging singer-composer Le Cat Trong Ly leads the pack in the Cong Hien (Devotion) Music Awards according to the Vietnam News Agency's The Thao va Van Hoa (Culture&Sport) daily.
In this year's crop, Ly is nominated Composer of the Year and Album of the Year. Her tour across Viet Nam, titled Le Cat Trong Ly – Happy, is also a strong contender for the Show of the Year Award.
The three-city tour, which received a positive response from audiences, was first abbreviated due to a cash crunch. Ly and her group did not let the budget tightening stop them, however, travelling to the cities that had been removed from the itinerary – Hoi An, Hue and Ha Noi on their own money.
Ly's self-titled debut album took three years to complete and includes her favourite songs.
This is Ly's second consecutive nomination for Composer of the Year Award, which she won last year. This year Ly competes with four others, including established composers Quoc Trung and Anh Quan.
Veteran Trung has produced an electronic album Vong Tron (Circle) for pop singer Hong Nhung and sold-out two concerts at Ha Noi Opera House.
Trung is known as a composer, music arranger, and producer for virtually all of Viet Nam's biggest names like Thanh Lam and Hong Nhung.
With his ability to fuse Vietnamese traditional music with modern influences without losing their original identity, Trung performed with well-known Scandinavian artist Niels Lan Doky in last year's 40th anniversary celebration between Viet Nam and Denmark relationships.
For Album of the Year, the two pop singers Hong Nhung and My Linh will compete with three other nominees including dance music album Body Language of Thu Minh and rock albums Duong Ve (Return Road) of Quai Vat Ti Hon (Tiny Monster) and Le Cat Trong Ly.
The two albums Vong Tron by Hong Nhung and Toc Ngan (Short Hair) Acoustic by My Linh have brought back fans after a long break.
The electronic album Vong Tron is a worthy competitor. Produced in three years, it is a good-quality album for music lovers. The album was an experiment of Hong Nhung, known as a pop diva in Viet Nam.
On the contrary, My Linh's Toc Ngan Acoustic was produced by her husband – composer Anh Quan. Quan also was nominated for the Composer of the Year Award.
"It has taken five years for this new production which is well-received by listeners. It's an honour for me to be nominated. I trust the award organisation and wait for the results," My Linh said at the nominees announcement in Ha Noi.
Last year Tung Duong won two out of three awards for which he was nominated, swooping the Devotion Awards 2010 with his album Li Ti (Tiny) and the Singer of the Year.
Having no album in 2011, the singer performed many concerts including Nhung Chuyen Di (The Journeys). The show reviewed his eight-year career and was hailed by both critics and audiences.
"Four times I've been listed for the award and I'm still as eager as if I'd never won an award before," Duong said.
Luala Concert was a series of free shows in the capital city's streets held by the community-based Luala group, including string musicians from the Viet Nam National Symphony Orchestra, Viet Nam National Academy of Music and Viet Nam National Opera Ballet.
The concert was nominated for the Show of the Year Award for it's significant work taking classical music to community.
The Devotion Awards was initiated in 2005 by The Thao va Van Hoa. The seventh award ceremony will be held in HCM City Television's Theatre on April 22. It will be broadcast live at 8pm in Viet Nam Television's Channel 1. — VNS