Asia 54 Review

Credit poster to trungtamasia.com

01. KINH KHỔ & VIỆT NAM NIỀM NHỚ - Hợp Ca
02. ĐƯA EM VÀO HẠ & BÀI HƯƠNG CA VÔ TẬN - Bảo Yến, Thanh Tuyền
03. DÒNG SÔNG KỶ NIỆM & MỘT NỮA ĐỜI EM - Thiên Kim, Quốc Khanh
04. TRỘM NHÌN NHAU & AI BIỂU EM LÀM THINH - Mỹ Huyền, Tuấn Vũ, Đặng Thế Luân
05. TRÁI TIM MÙA ĐÔNG - Don Hồ
06. CHUYỆN CHIẾC CẦU ĐÃ GÃY - Thanh Thúy, Băng Tâm
07. HÒA BÌNH ƠI, VIỆT NAM ƠI - Trung Chỉnh, Phương Dung, Doanh Doanh
08. CƠN MƯA HẠ & ĐÃ QUA THỜI MONG CHỜ - Y Phương, Ngọc Hương
09. 7000 ĐÊM GÓP LẠI - Ngọc Huyền
10. LIÊN KHÚC: TRÚC HỒ - Minh Thông, Khải Tuấn, Bảo Yến
11. Tình Đầu Một Thời Áo Trắng - Diễm Liên, Y Phương, Y Phụng, Ngọc Huyền, Băng Tâm, Thùy Hương, Doanh Doanh, Tường Nguyên, Tường Khuê
12. ĐỈNH GIÓ HÚ - Lê Nguyên, Đoàn Phi
13. MỘNG SẦU & HỐI TIẾC - Anh Khoa, Thanh Lan
14. Đò Dọc - Y Phụng, Kim Tiểu Long
15. DAYS & NIGHTS OF MISSING YOU - Thùy Hương, Evan
16. HÀI KỊCH: Giải Óc Cá - Quang Minh, Hồng Đào
17. 10 NĂM YÊU EM - Vũ Khanh, Diễm Liên
18. Con Rồng Cháu Tiên - Ngọc Hạ, Lâm Nhật Tiến
19. Mẹ Yêu - Lâm Thúy Vân
20. Làm Thơ Tình Em Đọc - Dalena, Phương Thảo, Ngọc Lể
21. ĐIỀU GÌ ĐÓ & MÃI YÊU NGƯỜI THÔI - Trish, Cardin
22. TỘI NGHIỆP THÂN ANH - Lâm Nhật Tiến
23. Tưởng Niệm - Nguyên Khang
24. MỘT NGÀY VIỆT NAM & BƯỚC CHÂN VIỆT NAM - Hợp Ca


Yeah, took me a long time to come out with a review for Asia 54 because it was boring to watch and I watched bits and pieces and never actually got through it. But I want to do a review on it anyway. First off I really dislike how Asia pairs up singers and have group performances. They are doing this more and more everyday that in Asia 54 there were few solo performances. Overall Asia was annoying to watch because the MCs along with singers who came up to talk were really corny to watch. At first it was cool but then it gets lame and all of these were scripted to the point that it was obvious and not funny. Also I don’t like the many MCs that Asia has, they are so blah. I cannot find connections with them because of the things they talked about were corny and predictable. The kind of sentences they used, as transitions into the next song are so lame. I miss Trinh Hoi as MC. Sighs. We all know that Nam Loc and Viet Dung are no good MCs, and I especially dislike their dirty and sexual jokes. However Leyna Nguyen who has a background as a news anchor and a journalist should be a much better as MC, but she was a disappointment. Leyna kept pointing out that it is important to speak Vietnamese but she herself drop numerous English talk here and there. When she was interviewing the singers she suddenly spoke English. And I don’t see that as a translation thing especially when the person knows Vietnamese very well. I cannot recall specifically who exactly but I remembered seeing Trish Thuy Trang. Trish to me spoke perfect Vietnamese when she greeted the audiences. Then Leyna came out in English and Trish ended up responding in English. I felt that Leyna should have stuck with Vietnamese and allow Trish to practice her Vietnamese by speaking in Viet. I didn’t like to watch Leyna as MC she was very unnatural and “ vo duyen” at times. Since I’m at the topic of Trish I must say that she looked like a freak show up there, no offense but come on do you need all that make up? And when she said she wanted to become a great composer like Truc Ho, I laughed so hard. Are you serious? Trish Thuy Trang is not a good singer, nor can she dance well and she definitely cannot compose a song. I’m sorry, Trish’s fans, but this is the harsh truth.

Let’s sum up the performances. Asia 54 had very good songs but they had horrible singers to sing them. They bought back some of the most talented and well know singers of the old days who sounded great but they had to mix them up with these talentless young singers who ruined classics. Example number one was letting Y Phuong sing Con Mua Ha. She totally killed it. I love Con Mua Ha when Lam Thuy Van sang it with a soft passionate voice unlike Y Phuong dry and scratchy voice. Second allowing Thai Doanh Doanh to sing with Trung Chinh and Phuong Dung and ruined the whole performance as well as the song. Third, bringing on SBTN & ASIA Talent Show winners who sucked! The winner, Quoc Khanh butchered Dong Song Ky Niem because he sounded dead. And how could I forget the two youngsters Le Nguyen and Doan Phi who looked like… I cannot put my finger on but they sounded so bland. I hate to say this but PBN Talent Show contestants are so much better in term of voice.

I know Asia is trying to promote Y Phung, but please let her take more original piece or let her do more young songs that suited her more. Secondly, Ngoc Huyen, she scares me every time I see her. Every time she sings, even a sad song she looks like she is trying to smile and her voice cracks into “cai luong” mode. Along the line of scary performances, what did Ngoc Ha do to Lam Nhat Tien? They looked like people from Hung Vuong’s era. It was odd seeing Lam Nhat Tien singing the genre that Ngoc Ha does. And speaking of Lam Nhat Tien, his speech on how he screwed up was not inspiring at all because he could not even convinced himself. I bet you, Asia forced him to come up because he looked and sounded so uncomfortable up there while Viet Dung was having a blast! Evil. Also I must say that Asia audiences must be under the influence or totally nuts because they were so hype! I mean they were screaming and some people stood up and clapped like crazy. It was all too dramatic and a set up. The other performances included Thuy Huong and Cardin that sucked as usual. The better performances were from Don Ho, all the elder singers, and Phuong Thao, Ngoc Le, and Delena. However I must say that I like Phuong Thao and Ngoc Le better when they were in Vietnam because they carried a very natural carefree feel to their performances that they lacked on Asia show due to the makeup and clothing. Lam Nhat Tien’s performance was also good. He looked like he gained some weigh though.

Lastly, there was one comedy act by Quang Minh and Hong Dao that wasn’t good but I still like them. Also it was nice to see My Huyen again after so long. She looked the same as she did years ago on Thuy Nga. Also Tuan Vu, I feel that his voice changed and that he didn’t sound as good anymore. Maybe it would help if he gotten skinner. The ending performance, like any in Asia shows are group songs, which all the singers showed up in the similar outfits and sing sad songs. It was nothing new. And Leyna Nguyen broke out in English again. So I give Asia 54 three stars because of many factors. My father however loved it and watches it as often as he could.