Asia 47 – Mua He Ruc Ro 2005

Asia’s executives need to put their heads together to find a new subject because the returning of Mua He Ruc Ro 2005 is nothing but a huge hype. The core value of the presentation, which is showcasing of Vietnamese-American successful individuals, is weakening. What dominates the show is a whole bunch of fashion designers (do we need that many?) and Miss Vietnamese Americans that are only half-qualified. What even worse is the unentertaining musical part (with only a couple of performances stand out). Backed up by Asia’s ensemble, Nguyen Khang gives Truc Ho’s “Chang Khac Gi Nhau” a remarkable rendition.

Asia must be focusing strictly on the younger generation because, beside Thanh Tuyen and Tuan Vu, most of the singers are young, and half of the performances are filled with up-tempos and club joints. On the recovering of an ancient sugary pop “In My Fantasy,” Trish looks mad scary as a Japanese doll, and her rhythmless steps are scarier. Thai Doanh Doanh’s Chinese and English version of “Hoang Chau Cat Cat” drives me off the wall. Her performance is like an annoying filler of the show. They have nothing better to fill the space so they throw her in. What is up with the A boys? Dressing in hardcore army wears, and yet still appearing to be as soft as grapes, especially their feminine moves. They also recruited an MC who brags, “And now you want me cause I’m up in the charts.” Excuse me, what chart is he referring to? What the heck is Thien Kim doing in J-Lo-Versace dress? Her outfit is so loose that if she tries to dance, her clothes would drop. So she just stands there during the break trying to look cute, which appears more hoochie than cute to me.

Not only the performances are bad, the hosts are even worse. Viet Dzung steps out of lines a couple of times. When he tries to be funny about the “whipping,” he sounds extremely perverted for a man of his age to make such a sexual remark on a girl in her early twenties. I just could not believe it when he asks one of the girls to turn around and comments the scar on her back as “Vet Thu Tren Lung Ngua Hoang.” Doesn’t he deserve a smack for that? Trinh Hoi is not as bad as Viet Dzung, but his jokes are as tasteless as well. The way he introduces Bao Chau as “a new face with an expensive name.” Bao Chao doesn’t add anything exciting as a host either.

Asia 47 has to be one of Asia’s lamest videos ever. Please Asia, I beg you to discontinue making wasteful products. Be creative, find or write new music, and stop repeating yourself.