Father, who are you? Mother, who are you? Why brought me into this world but don’t give me your love? Why am I on my own? I did not do anything wrong. As a child, I have no home. As a child, I can’t go to school. As a child, I am alone on the street begging for each and every left over piece of rice. Father, where are you? Mother, where are you?

The lyric above is a portion that is loosely translated from “Dau Cham Hoi” (The Question Mark) written by The Hien. As I was watching My Tam performed this song, I was deeply affected. It took me back to my trip in Viet Nam where I had witnessed the poverty the author described in this song. It’s simply heart wrecking. I could remember the exact scene that day, as I was finishing up my bowl of “hu tieu” noodle soup. Once I put the bowl down, three kids were fighting for the left over. I couldn’t believe what I just saw. I had no idea they were waiting for me to finish. I stopped them and treated each one of them. They thanked me repeatedly and offered to shine my sandal. Yeah! Like I really need my sandal to be shine. See, these kids would work but they had no opportunity. It’s such a shame. They made me realize how fortunate I am and how much shit I take for granted. Donny, stop bitching about your life and be happy with what you have. Stop being greedy and give to the needy.

About time Dam Vinh Hung comes out with a new album. I was so eager to get it and I was praying that he wouldn’t let me down. Well, he did it again with his fifth album Giot Nuoc Mat Cho Doi. This guy is quite an artist. Every time he comes out with album, it’s 95 percent good and this one is no exception. Here are my ratings for the songs:

1. Giot Nuoc Mat Cho Doi 5/5 (This track is truly his style)
2. Neu Co Yeu Toi 2/5 (He is experimenting with Jazz but doesn’t carry out too well)
3. Tinh Yeu Con Dau 4/5 (Nicely done)
4. Noi Dau Ngot Ngao 3/5 (Good but little bit too slow)
5. Co Don Minh Anh 4/5 (Well remixed with fast beat)
6. Khi Tinh Bay Xa 3/5 (An old track. Good but slow)
7. Tieng Gio Xon Xao 5/5 (Love it when he sings this kind of song. Very soothing)
8. Giay Phut Chia Tay 5/5 (This track fits his voice perfectly)
9. Vung Troi Binh Yen 3/5 (Although it is nicely remixed, I prefer the slow version which he sings beautifully with Hong Ngoc)
10. Mua Chieu Ky Niem 5/5 (Lovely melody, fantastic voice)
11. Nu Hon Xa Voi 4/5 (He wrote the Viet lyrics. He pulls it off well with Jazz on this one)
12. Dem Cuoi Cung 3/5 (Nicely done but little bit boring)
13. Ta Mai Ben Nhau 5/5 (It’s definitely his style)
14. I Need to Know 1/5 (He simply kills this song. I couldn’t understand a word he said. Hung, do me a favor, sing Vietnamese.)

How would this one compare to the previous albums? I wouldn’t say this one is better than the older one because each album has its own uniqueness. If you’re a fan of Dam Vinh Hung, this is another album to add to your collection.

Persuaded by Mikki’s review on Tinh 11, I spent three hours watched the entire program and yet impressed by the quality of it. Unlike other productions, Tinh targets mainly the young audiences, which is fantastic. The video kicks off with “Lien Khuc Top Hits” features many young and sexy artists includes My Tuyet, Thanh Truc, Tam Doan, La Suong Suong, Tu Quyen, Diem Liem, Huy Vu, Johny Dung and many more. It’s just a pleasure watching the hot chics doing their thangs.

Minh Tuyet’s performance on “Mai La Nguoi Den Sau” is beautiful. It’s kind of funny to see Manh Quynh pimping out. I actually enjoyed “Lien Khuc Dan Ca” with the new flavor. The beat is hot and Minh Tuyet is off the chain. Damn, she got a nice body and quite talented. In this video, she demonstrated her ability to performance various types of music. Her duet with Huy Vu on “Huong Ruou Tinh Nong” is mesmerizing. I usually don’t like Jimmi JC Nguyen but he is quite good and unique in “Nguoi Noi” music video.

The best performances have to be Phi Nhung, Tuong Nguyen and Khanh Hoang on “Ru Lai Cau Ho.” The storyline is very dramatic and each character does a wonderful job bringing it out. Khanh Hoang is fantastic in his role as a jackass. I just love watching music video with a storyline behind it and Tinh Production tries to do that in each and every video. That requires lots of of hard work but they did a great job overall.

Que Huong Tinh Yeu va Tuoi Tre 11 is a beautiful work of art and it is highly recommended. Tinh production is quite innovative in term of remixing the songs and provide storyline for each video. Of course, the video isn’t perfect. In fact, I haven’t seen a perfect video yet but here are a few suggestions to enhance the viewer’s experience. Make the video shorter by eliminate that MC Nguyen Duong. He just drags on and on and I don’t find his humor funny at all. Just because Thuy Nga, Asia and Van Son come out with 3 tapes, Tinh doesn’t have to go that route. Take out some of the sloppy videos. The skits need to be improved. Quanh Minh, Hong Dao, Nguyen Duong, Thu Tuyet and even Hoai Linh aren’t good anymore. They are just boring.

Just like previous videos, Thuy Nga’s No Tinh reused the same old songs over and over again. The performces are lousy except for Luu Bich. Damn! That girl got style. Love her performance with Nguyen Hung. Her outfit is mad sexy and the way she shakes that ass! hummmm. On the other hand, Nguyen Hung dances like a fag. I mean, he’s a great dancer when it comes to ballroom styles but he sucks with freestyle and club. Another good part of the video is the way Nguyen Ngoc Ngan hosted the show. Such an intelligent man. Learned so much about the Vietnamese history from him. Other then that, the whole video blows.