Thuy Nga Paris By Night 99 – Toi La Nguoi Viet Nam

I am very proud to be Vietnamese. In fact, I am so damn proud that I forced myself to sit through the five-hour Paris By Night 99: Toi La Nguoi Viet Nam on a Sunday afternoon and bored out of my mind. By the second lineup, Y Lan took on Tuan Khanh’s “Nhat Nhoa,” the show turned insipid.

Musically, there were a bunch of uninspiring, refurbishing fillers including Vu Tuan Duc’s medley (performed by Ky Phuong Uyen and Luu Bich), Duc Huy’s medley (performed by Luong Tung Quang and Mai Tien Dung), Khanh Ly’s yet another version of Trinh Cong Son’s “Uot Mi” and Thanh An’s wimpiest rendition of Ngoc Son’s “Tinh Cha” yet.

Duong Trieu Vu couldn’t bring life to Pham Duy’s “Ky Niem” even though the production had done its best to beef up the imageries from the lyrics. He lacked the experience to make the tune believable. In contrast, Ngoc Ha managed to give a nostalgic performance of Tu Huy’s “Que Huong Tuoi Tho Toi,” the only track that stood out from the show. Dieu Huong’s new tune, “Xin Dung Quay Lai,” was predictable. Mr. Trizzy Phuong Trinh made it even more obvious how the chords were structured. The ballad started off soft but progressed into a Celine Dion’s belting-out climax.

Even the theme of the show was not inspiring. Asia had been highlighting successful Vietnamese-Americans for years. It’s about time Thuy Nga gave props to the “King of Nail” for all the ads he bought from the production. Not only Thuy Nga ripped off the concept, but it also used Trinh Hoi to do the same damn things he did when he was at Asia. The different is that his role at Thuy Nga is more like an assistant MC.