Saturday, January 31, 2015

Hoang Dung: One of the Most Recognizable Vietnamese Voices

Growing up without any brothers or sisters, I was fortunate to have found an adoptive family when I became a Vietnamese singer.  This family consisted of brothers and sisters who were also singers and, of course, Amerasian as well.  Jenny Trang was the first to welcome me into this family and to this day I still consider her as my sister.  Others included Dai Trang, Luu Quoc Viet, Ngoc AnhRandy, Thanh Ha, Lam Minh, Lilian, Cathy Dung, Y Linh and Hoang Dung, who actually could pass as a biological brother to me.

The setting where we first met would be at a wedding of my stepfather's cousin in 1996.  The band that was playing that night was named Lucky Star.  I'd have to say this was one of the better bands at weddings.  The lineup of singers for the band included Marilyn Nhung, Chieu Phuong, Long Ho (Don Ho's younger brother) and Hoang Dung.  The singer that caught my attention the most was Hoang Dung.  He looked just like James Dean.

When we were introduced, I was a bit nervous.  I had recognized him on the covers of compact discs produced by Nguoi Dep Binh Duong.  When Jenny Trang introduced me to him, his reply to me was, "I'm your brother, Thien Phu."  Now how can anyone not like a cool guy like that?

In the months to come, my relationship with Hoang Dung would be like that of actual brothers. During the Thanksgiving weekend of that year, Hoang Dung and Jenny Trang performed in Atlanta. They both tried to get me to go on that trip with them, but I had a prior engagement in San Jose.  A few months later when it was my turn to perform in Atlanta, I remember from that trip was how everyone I had come across while in Atlanta kept raving about this handsome Amerasian singer named Hoang Dung that had brought the house down each time he came to Atlanta to perform.   The same folks would aslo ask me if I knew him personally and how they could go about to contact him so that he could return to Atlanta for another performance soon.  That made me feel really proud of this brother of mine.  During this time I would also learn that Hoang Dung's primary job was doing voice overs for Chinese dramas translated in Vietnamese.  In a sense, that would make his voice one of the most recognizable among Vietnamese voices.

Years later, when I was invited by Randy to perform with fellow Amerasian singer Ngoc Anh in Orlando, Florida for a show put together by Gia Dinh My Viet, I got Hoang Dung to come along.  Unfortunately, a series of events would take place that caused a misunderstanding between us.  Let's just say that alcohol had been involved.  That's a real shame, because Hoang Dung is really a great guy.  It's been a while since I've been in contact with him.  I just hope he's doing alright.


Saturday, January 24, 2015

Betty Nguyen: Amerasian Role Model

Betty Nguyen is definitely a role model for Amerasians.  I remember when I first watched her on CNN.  I saw this beautiful girl who didn't really look totally Vietnamese, yet she went by the surname, Nguyen.  I kept wondering to myself, she's got to be mixed.  And then one day, she came out on an interview about her Amerasian heritage.  That made me feel really proud.  Seeing Leyna Nguyen reading the news on television already made me proud of being Vietnamese.  But now with Betty Nguyen, an Amerasian, on television took me to a higher level of being proud.

Recently, I've written a biography and tribute about Betty Nguyen on VietCeleb.BlogSpot.com. Check it out.  She's definitely one role model I really look up to.

Link(s):

Betty Nguyen Bio on VietCeleb.BlogSpot.com
Betty Nguyen's Official Website
Help-the-Hungry.org

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

She's Simply Known as Julie

Julie Quang was perhaps the most recognizable "Eurasian" in Vietnam prior to 1975. Before Julie's arrival onto the spotlight as a Vietnamese entertainer, no other mixed performer had made quite an impact.  When we think of Julie Quang, one particular song comes to mind.  And that is a Pham Duy composed song based on L'Adieu, a French poem written by  Guillaume Apollinaire, entitled Mua Thu Chet.  Her heartfelt interpretation of this song is undoubtedly a significant contributing factor for it becoming one of the most prolific Vietnamese love songs in the history of modern Vietnamese pop music.  To an entire generation of Vietnamese music lovers in Saigon prior to 1975, she is known as Julie Quang.  Since resettling overseas and upon her divorce from Duy Quang, to Vietnamese audiences worldwide, she is simply known as Julie.

This past Saturday was Julie's birthday.  I've had the pleasure of having befriended her many years ago.  Our unique friendship has lasted to this day.  Julie has become more like a family member to me, than just a friend.  At times, she's like an adoptive mother.  At other times, she's like an adoptive older sister I never had.  No matter what, Julie has always been like a best friend to me since I've known her.  I say this without any hesitation what so ever, and that is, I really wouldn't know where I would be if Julie wasn't in my life.  I really mean that.



Some might argue that Julie is not Eurasian, since her father is Indian and her mother is Vietnamese.  The truth is Julie's father was a French national of East Indian origin.  The fact that she looked Eurasian did a lot for the movement of Eurasians within Vietnamese society towards acceptance and awareness.  Like my mother has said, when she first saw Julie Quang on national television back in Saigon over 40 years ago, this beautiful metiste girl singing Ngay Xua Hoang Thi, it changed her life.  I'm sure many others of my mother's generation share her viewpoint.

I've documented my special friendship with Julie on a post I had uploaded on my blogsite, ThienPhu-VietSinger.BlogSpot.com, entitled as Julie and Me.  I'm forever grateful for knowing her.  She has been one of the most significant people in my life who has reminded me to always keep my chin up and never forget to be proud of being racially mixed.  Julie represents all that for being racially mixed.  She's beautiful, talented and unapologetic about who she is.  That is why she is Julie.

Link(s):

Julie and Me on ThienPhu-VietSinger.BlogSpot.com


Saturday, January 17, 2015

The Late Eurasian Beauty of Vietnamese Pop Music, Jeannie Mai

Sometime in the summer of 1990, I was devastated by the news that Jeannie Mai, a beautiful Eurasian French-Vietnamese singer, had just died.  I really couldn't believe it.  She was so young and so beautiful.  Only 33 years of age, yet she was taken from us just like that.

Jeannie Mai (1957-1990)

Many people don't know this, but the fact is Jeannie Mai for a time was actually my aunt.  She was once my uncle Louie's wife.  While in Vietnam, when she was still teenager, Jeannie Mai sang at my grandmother's nightclub, Au Ma Cabane.  Supposedly, this was when Jeannie Mai and my Uncle Louie first met and developed a puppy love relationship between one another.  I remember as a little kid I would constantly hear my mother and the rest of my aunts raving about what a beautiful and sweet girl Jeannie Mai was and how she would just light up the stage each night she sang at my grandmother's nightclub.  I was just too young then to remember much.  My mother would every now and then ask me if I remember how Jeannie Mai would always carry me around and people would ask if I was in fact her son.  Perhaps that was because of the fact that both Jeannie Mai and myself had naturally curly hair and European facial features, Vietnamese people felt that we looked alike. But how could I remember her from back then?  I must have been just two years old when all of that was happening.  She left Vietnam in 1974 while she was just 17 years old for France.  I remained in Vietnam until 1978.

It wasn't until 1982 that I would be reunited with Jeannie Mai again.  It was at my grandmother's house in Westminster, California during a Christmas party.  By this time, Jeannie Mai had resettled in the United States from France and she and my uncle Louie were then living together as a couple. Although they never had gotten officially married, they referred to each other as husband and wife and Auntie Mai, which was what I called her, addressed my grandmother as mom.  It seemed as if everyone had already welcomed her into the family since they had known her for so long and that the day of their wedding inevitably would take place in only a matter of time.  But that day never did come, as a few year later these two beautiful people whom I thought had made the most beautiful couple would break up.  At that family Christmas party, when my mother and I first arrived Jeannie Mai was already there with my uncle. It was obvious she was really anxious to see what I looked like after all those years.  I thought that was really sweet.  When we were introduced, she threw her arms around me and said, "You've gotten really big.  Pretty soon, you're going to be taller than me."  It took me a few seconds to realize what she was saying because I kept staring at her.  I just couldn't get over just how beautiful she was and how French she looked, yet Vietnamese was coming out of her mouth.  I remember Jeannie Mai telling my mother just how I had gotten to look more and more like my father and that I didn't look at all Vietnamese.  I thought to myself, "You're telling me."

Through the years that followed, I would see Auntie Mai every once in a while at one of our family's parties.  Even though she and my uncle were no longer together, she still kept in touch with my family.  On one particular occasion, Auntie Mai entertained the family playing the piano and singing to everyone.  That would mark the first time I ever sang in front of an audience.  She encouraged me to get up and sing with her while she played the piano to one of her signature songs, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?  I guess you can say that it was my Auntie Mai that was the first person who really put the thoughts into my head about one day becoming a singer.

The very last time I saw Auntie Mai was sometime in the summer of 1987.  By then she was living in San Jose, married to an engineer with a baby boy.  She had just gotten back from a successful tour in Australia with Le Thu and Huong Lan and had stopped by my grandmother's house to visit before catching a flight back to San Jose the next day.  That was where she bumped into me and invited me to go to the mall with her.  We spent the entire day at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California.  We talked about a lot of things.  I really enjoyed being around her.  She was hip, very in touch with American culture, and spoke both English and French without an accent.  I adored her.  In fact, I'd have to say she was my favorite aunt.  And then the next thing I knew, in 1990 she was dead.

Her premature death came as quite a shock to the Vietnamese community and her adoring fans.  I had loved and known her on a personal level.  Needless to say, her passing was a huge blow to me.  There had been all kinds of vicious rumors about her death that ranged from her being murdered by her husband with the intentions of inheriting some enormous amount of life insurance money to her dying on the operating table during a liposuction procedure, when the truth was she had died after complications from some simple cosmetic surgery procedures she had done while she was in Hawaii. All it was was that she had gone in to get some minor work done on her eyes and nose and somehow the anesthesia was just too much for her to handle, therefor she died.  I don't know why she would ever even think about getting cosmetic surgery because she was already naturally gorgeous.  But for whatever reason, she did make that decision which unfortunately costed her her life.  I can't help but to think, what if she hadn't, from time to time. I still miss her very much to this day.

Friday, January 9, 2015

Lance Krall Bio on VietCeleb

I have yet to meet this talented comedian, actor and screenwriter, Lance Krall. He is definitely a role model for us Amerasians.  I've watched many of his performances on YouTube, as well as on Spike TV.  I must say, he's a tremendous talent.  This guy is just simply brilliant.

Sometime last year I had found him on Facebook.  I added him as a friend and the next day he accepted.  That made me think he's one down to earth sort of guy.  Watch out for him, folks!  This guy is headed for superstardom in the near future.  I can just tell by watching him work his magic through the comedy sketches available on YouTube.


Link(s):

Lance Krall Viet Celeb Bio
LanceKrall.com

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Review of Thanh Ha's One Night Engagement Live Show Performance in OC

It is quite rare among Vietnamese singers to ever do either a live show or concert where he or she would be the sole performer of the event.  It has happened before, but only by a select few.  I've had the pleasure of watching Bach Yen, Khanh Ly, Khanh Ha, and Julie Quang perform in such shows in the past.  This time it was none other than Thanh Ha.  And I couldn't have been more delighted.

Thanh Ha has been an icon and one of the top performers among overseas Vietnamese singers for the past 20 years.  Almost overnight, she had become a singing sensation in 1994 with the release of her first solo studio album, Mot Doi Xin Nho Mai (Remembering for a Lifetime), released by Diem Xua Productions.  Since then, she has recorded many more albums, appeared on numerous videos for Thuy Nga Paris and Asia Productions, and has performed all over the world.  It is of no surprise she would have a large following of fans today.

The setting for Thanh Ha's one woman show was at a small, intimate club called Lac Cam in Westminster, California, right in the heart of Little Saigon on this past January 1st.  When she first got on stage, her speaking voice was a bit hoarse.  She had confessed that she had been touring quite extensively during this holiday season and had caught a cold.  But when she began to sing, her voice was as powerful and clear as ever.  One song right after another from Hoi Nguoi Tinh (Oh Lover), The Power of Love, Nao Biet Nao Hay (Qui Sais), Tinh Khuc Thu Nhat (The First Composition), Mua Tren Bien Vang (Je Ne Pourrais Jamais T'oublier) to Nua Hon Thuong Dau (Half a Lifetime of Heartbreak), she mesmerized the audience with her soulful, rich singing voice.  Thanh Ha looked as gorgeous as ever.  It seems as if time has stood still for this veteran performer.

The packed audience at this small venue all stayed, as no one left until Thanh Ha sang her very last note of the night.  That just goes to show how amazing she is as an entertainer.  The next time she performs in town again, I'll be sure to be there to watch her again.  Although she had performed a total of 15 songs that night at least, I still didn't get enough of Thanh Ha.  And neither did the rest of the audience.  They along with myself will all come back to see her perform again, I'm sure.

Thanh Ha, Thien Phu and the rest of our friends on January 1, 2015 at Lac Cam.