Asia 43 – Voice of the Heart (Tieng Hat Trai Tim)

Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen seems to have a competitor. Leyna Nguyen, who co-hosted Asia 43’s Voice of the Heart, has those outgoing and talkative characteristics similar to Ky Duyen. Although Leyna’s Vietnamese is not as fluent as Ky Duyen, she is capable of capturing the younger crowds with her half English and half Vietnamese dialogues. It’s quite cute actually. Obviously her English is perfect and I have to give her tons of credits for trying her best to spit out Vietnamese. Unlike Trish, who doesn’t even try at all and I am not going to bring up Trish’s issue again.

With the previous two videos, Asia has raised the bar for themselves in term of creative and innovative. Unfortunately, Voice of the Heart could not live up to the previous two. The biggest mistake Asia always make is repetition. Once they have created something great and unique, they make a follow up and the sequel has never been as good as the first one. For instance, the first Da Vu Quoc Te was fantastic but the second one failed miserably. Voice of the Heart is a repetition of Mua He Ruc Ro. Not only that, they will reiterate Mua He Ruc Ro once again this summer. The theme is way over exposed. In fact, I am positively sure, there will be a revisit of Music Around the World. Asia needs to find new inspirations.

I didn’t feel much from the performances. Most are not bad but they aren’t outstanding either. In fact, Da Nhat Yen is the only performer who pushes the envelope. You might not agree with me but she has done a creative job of giving a Broadway style to “Dem Buon Nhu Thanh Ca.” I am sure the music producer has invented the music but Da Nhat Yen has carried it out with her mesmerizing vocals and sexy steps. Beside her, I have to give it to Cardin for his dance. That kid can jam even though the song is not that great. I am still wondering if he wrote the Vietnamese lyrics for “Trai Tim Dai Kho.” I am also diggin’ Nguyen Khang. His voice is exceptional and his singing on “Bien Vang Em Chieu Nay” is beautiful. This guy has high potential and I am sure he will succeed soon. Asia has definitely cut out a whole lot from this video. Where are Lam Thuy Van, Tuan Ngoc, Diep Thanh Thanh, and Kenny Thai? I am not going to name the ones should be cut but you know who they are.

In term of set design, Asia did a lazy-ass job on this video. Most of the backgrounds are simply full screen of boring sceneries that add nothing to the video. Noticeably, the background in Truong Vu’s “Doi Thong Hai Mo,” the photo is not even high quality. You can see the pixels clearly. They can get away with the ordinary eyes but they can’t fool the Visualgui. With fast beat performances, all you see is looping stock motion graphics or flashing lights in the background. They are way too sloppy.

Asia 43’s Voice of the Heart is a disappointment. I am sure you can bypass this one without missing much. Hopefully Asia will break out their repetition and come up with innovative and creative ideas. It’s a challenge but take the time to do it right. They don’t have to come out with 4 or 5 videos a year. Think through carefully to produce delicious products instead of these “instant noodles” junks. Speaking of taking time, Tinh productions have definitely taking their time. It is almost a year ever since the fantastic Tinh 11 released. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for Tinh 12 since they are taking this long to produce.