Top drawer: Vu Cat Tuong performs at Favourite Song on February 26 in Ha Noi. The young songstress and composer has been nominated for Best Composer at the 2015 Devotion Music Awards. — Photo vnexpress.net

HA NOI (VNS) — Nominations for the Devotion Music Awards have been announced by the Vietnam News Agency's Culture&Sport newspaper in Ha Noi.

The annual award will be handed out for categories including best song, best album, best singer, best composer, new artist, best live music show and best television music show.

Two songs, Noi Dao Xa (Far Away Islands) and To Quoc Goi Ten Minh (The Motherland Calls My Name), that are sung by singers, along with young people and naval soldiers on the islands displaying their patriotism, will compete for the title of best song of the year.

The song Noi Dao Xa was composed by The Song in 1979 and To Quoc Goi Ten Minh is a poem by Nguyen Phan Que Mai which was set to music by Dinh Trung Can in 2011.

"We decided to nominate the two songs because of their popularity last year," said reporter Huu Trinh, one of the organisers, at a press conference on Friday.

The two songs will compete for the best song of the year award with two others, Bon Chu Lam (Four Important Words) by Pham Toan Thang and Trot Yeu (Falling in Love) by Ai Phuong.

Composer Thang has also been nominated as best composer. He has been recognised along with three emerging composers, including Ta Quang Thang, Vu Cat Tuong, and Tran Lap .

Veteran rock-songwriter Lap has been nominated in the best composer category for the first time. In 2014, he was recorgnised for his album Dat Viet (Viet Nam Land). His band, Buc Tuong (The Wall), performed live at RockStorm 2014, Hue Festival, Rock Concert and others.

Young Vu Cat Tuong is a successful songstress-composer, scoring a hat-trick for her song on a television show that runs throughout the year to showcase new songs by Vietnamese writers. Last year, her song Vet Mua (Rainy Sign), was nominated in the best song category.

The best composer nomination is a recognition for rock country singer-songwriter Ta Quang Thang. In 2013 his album, Country Rock, competed in the best album category.

His creativity in the album Mot Toi Rat Moi (My Very New Self) also earned a nomination for best album this year, along with nominees Dai Lo Don Gio (Windy Boulevard), Khoi Hanh (Departure), Nghe (Listen) and Gap Toi Mua Rat Dong (See Me in the Winter).

The album Khoi Hanh was recorded in co-operation with singer Nguyen Tran Trung Quan and composer Huyen Sambi. Both artists are listed in the new artist category. They will vie for the title, along with singers Vu Thang Loi and OPlus Band.

The category of best television music series will see five contenders, including RockStorm, Young Hit, and Young Beat.

The best live show of the year will include four nominees, including the ones of My Tam, Ho Ngoc Ha, Tran Manh Tuan and the Monsoon Music Festival by Thanh Viet Company.

Of note, this is the fifth consecutive year for singer Tung Duong to be nominated at the Music Devotion Award. He holds a record for having received eight trophies.

Last year, he won the award for best singer of the year. His show, Doc Dao (Unique Path), along with composer Nguyen Le, was nominated as best show of the year.

Duong's contenders will be Ho Ngoc Ha, My Tam and Nguyen Dinh Thanh Tam.

This year, the 10th Devotion Music Award ceremony will be held on April 6 at HCM City Opera House and aired live on Viet Nam Television.

Since 2004, the Devotion Music Awards has been held by newspaper Sport&Culture. The awards are voted on by some 100 journalists in Ha Noi and HCM City.

The awards seek to promote Vietnamese music and honour artists who make significant contributions to the industry. — VNS