Thien Phu Sets Record Straight for Colleague

Ever since I started singing, I've been asked repeatedly about one particular colleague of mine on whether or not she is Vietnamese.  I'm talking about Dalena, of course.

I'm sure many of you out there had similar reactions the first time you heard Dalena sing in Vietnamese.  For me, it was actually during her first live performance here in Orange County at the Ritz in Anaheim.  I was actually in the audience that night.  I was about 19 at the time.  Somehow I was able to sneak into the Ritz nightclub that night.  When the emcee introduced her name on stage along with a brief description of her being this Anglo-American gal who could sing in Vietnamese, I was a bit skeptical at first.  Prior to that I had already seen the likes of Rick Murphy whose performances were pretty much parodies of a White man trying to sing in butchered Vietnamese. There had been one other act known as Cong Thanh & Lynn, the Vietnamese-Australian married couple.  Lynn was this beautiful blonde Australian who was able to sing in Vietnamese, and although she had rightfully earned the respect from Vietnamese audiences as a serious singer, one could easily tell when listening to her sing in Vietnamese that she was not a native speaker.  Dalena, on the other hand, really took me by surprise that night.  Her performance of Nguoi Yeu Co Don was nothing short of flawless.  She sounded completely like a native Vietnamese speaker when she sang that song.  I couldn't get over it.  I even had doubts that she was not Vietnamese, despite how she had blonde hair, looked all-American and sounded every bit like a native when she spoke in English.  Well, of course, she should.  Why shouldn't she?

The following week, Dalena's performance at the Ritz which had blown everyone in the audience away, aired on Vietnam Performing Arts Television on channel 18.  For everyone who hadn't been in the audience that night at the Ritz, they would be in for quite a shock once they saw the live coverage aired on television the following week.  It wouldn't be long from the television airing date of that performance of Dalena at the Ritz before she would become a major star among Vietnamese communities worldwide.  The more famous she got, it seemed the more her Vietnamese fans would be buzzing about raising quite a bit of controversy which had everyone asking a certain question about Dalena:  Is she or isn't she really Vietnamese?  Even after an interview she had done on Little Saigon Television where Quynh Trang flat out asked her the question, "Dalena, are you Amerasian?" and she answered with a no explaining how both her parents are Anglo-American, the general public was still not satisfied.  Some people went as far as to the extremes of claiming that Dalena looked Amerasian, and even had more Vietnamese features than Thanh Ha, who is Amerasian and for a number of years, also had blonde hair.  I never saw that in Dalena.  To me, she looked all-American. But as these rumors persisted, it even got me to wonder if there was any truth behind them at all.

Sometime in the late 1990s, I finally got a chance to meet Dalena through a couple of shows where we worked together.  I must say, I found her to be quite delightful as a co-worker.  She was always very polite and always smiled at everyone.  During an engagement on New Year's Eve back in 2000 at the San Pablo Casino right outside of San Jose, California, I had the pleasure of working once again with Dalena along with Henry Chuc, Thanh Tuyen, Ha Vy, Thanh Truc and Margaret Yang of the Tranz band.  During this booking, I got the chance to spend some time with Dalena.  We talked about our lives, shared information about our upbringings and a mutual friendship we had both had with makeup artist/ fellow performer, the late Perry Zeild.  During the midst of our conversation, I couldn't help but ask her what she thought about the rumors from some of her fans about her actually being Amerasian.  She laughed, and so did I.  Dalena even told me of how her mother who had managed her career for many years had also been the target of rumors, as some fans had believed her to be Dalena's lover rather than mother.  Rumors, at times, can be quite ridiculous and even downright vicious.  Although I had never doubted that Dalena was all-American, something happened during that San Pablo Casino engagement clearly proved to me that Dalena was indeed who she said she was and not in any way a phony.  During the middle of the show, an audience member had come up to me and requested that I do a song called Paroles, Paroles which had originally been recorded by the late Dalida as a duet with Alain Delon.  Since no other singer booked on that show had the capability of singing in French, I turned to Dalena to see if she could help.  I was aware of Dalena's extraordinary talent of singing verbatim in foreign languages, as she had done so quite well in the Vietnamese language.  Therefor, I decided to take a gamble and asked if she would be willing to try singing this song with me as a duet in the French language.  To my delight, she readily agreed.  As I wrote out the French lyrics, Dalena asked me to sing them aloud so that she could watch carefully the movements of my mouth and hear how each word would be pronounced. After just a few minutes, she sang back the French lyrics to me perfectly.  I was beyond amazed just how accurate her pronunciation of each word in French was.  I was so impressed, I had to ask her if she did indeed speak French.  Unfortunately, the band informed us later on in the show that there simply hadn't been enough time for us to add that duet number onto the program.  I was rather bummed, since I'm sure that Dalena and I would have knocked them dead with our duet performance of Paroles, Paroles that night if there was enough time.  Dalena's ability to catch on so quickly singing the lyrics of Paroles, Paroles in French just goes to show that she indeed has this unique talent of listening, and copying verbatim perfectly in foreign languages.  If she could do that in French, why is it so hard for Vietnamese audiences to accept the fact that that was how she had become able to sing in Vietnamese so well?  One other event took place from this particular show gave further proof that Dalena really is who she says she is and that she is not Vietnamese, like how certain rumors had claimed her to be.  And that was when I got to briefly meet her mother when we arrived at John Wayne Airport in Orange County flying back from San Jose.  Based on what I saw, Dalena's mother is definitely Anglo-American.  So there you have it, folks.  I can certainly vouch that Dalena is not Vietnamese.

Does Anyone Know Where Singer Ngoc Hue Is?

Back in the 1990s, among Vietnamese female singers who sing in the particular genre of music known as, "Nhac Tre", popular music for the younger generation, the three hottest new rising stars were Thanh Ha, Tu Quyen and a singer that had left her home in Australia in 1991 to take up permanent residence in Southern California named Ngoc Hue.

Ngoc Hue

In the Vietnamese community of Australia, Ngoc Hue had already established a name for herself as a singer.  Like Cong Thanh & Lynn, the popular  Australian/ Vietnamese married couple and singing duo prior to resettling here in the United States, Ngoc Hue had dreams of furthering her career as an overseas Vietnamese singer in the United States and was well aware of how much of a gamble that was at stake upon making the decision to leave the comforts of Australia's smaller, close-knit Vietnamese community and the challenges of having to start all over in a land faraway.  With a total population that barely exceeds 150,000, the Vietnamese community of Australia is one of the most affluent and thriving communities of overseas Vietnamese in the entire world.  The largest concentration of Vietnamese-Australians lies within the metropolitan area of Sydney also known as Little Saigon.  It is in this community that houses a small yet vibrant Vietnamese entertainment industry where for many years, Ngoc Hue had enjoyed a singing career that consisted of steady work and a status of being one of its key players.  An integral part of the Vietnamese community of Australia's performance arts industry included concert events that featured headlining overseas Vietnamese performers from other regions of the world, primarily the United States and France.  At these shows, Ngoc Hue would share the stage with these headliners who had traveled to Australia from faraway.  She would often spark the attention of some of the biggest names among Vietnamese entertainers that would tour in Australia.  It was only a matter of time that Ngoc Hue would eventually make her way across the Pacific Ocean to Southern California, the region with the world's largest overseas Vietnamese population and considered as the unofficial capital of the Vietnamese entertainment industry.  In 1991, Ngoc Hue's acceptance of an invitation to tour the United States which would ultimately lead to her decision of relocating here permanently came as of no accident, but as part of a long, anticipated dream of hers that was about to come true.

When she first arrived in the United States, Ngoc Hue was already prepped and poised for stardom.  I remember then as a fan of Vietnamese entertainment how she had been welcomed in a manner quite similar to that of a proper Hollywood welcome, complete with the rolling out of the red carpet upon her arrival.  Ngoc Hue was blessed with physical beauty, a trademark that is often regarded with equal if not greater weight than one's singing ability in the Vietnamese entertainment industry. Therefor, her pictures were soon enough blasted everywhere from magazine covers to flyers to even calendars.  Almost immediately after her arrival, she could be seen doing interviews on television to promote her debut studio album.  This would be followed with appearances on video, as she would grace the Paris By Night stage along with making other appearances for Nhat Ha Productions.  It was evident that Ngoc Hue was definitely on her way.  How big of a star she would become could only be determined by the audience along with the choices she would make for her future.

In a business as fickle as show business, no one can predict what lies ahead for the careers of each and every individual artist.  Having been in the business, myself, I have learned that what can transform a performer into a star really all depends on a combination of three key factors.  All 100% of these three key factors, in my opinion, are essential in turning a singer into a star.  Anything short of that just won't do.  Of course, one has to have talent.  That is a given.  And so, I'd say that talent would account for 50% of that formula. The next factor has to do with knowing the right people and having the right connections in order to acquire the proper exposure needed to promote one's self.  Out of the two key factors left, I'd say that would account for 30%.  Promotion is one very crucial aspect in turning a performer into a star.  Think about it, a singer could have the best voice, but if the general audience was never able to hear his or her voice, how could that artist ever get anywhere?   But even with the right amount of exposure and promotion needed, still there are no guarantees that an artist would become a star without the third key factor.  And that would be luck, which would account for 20% to round out the completion of this equation.  I've often wondered what was it that had stood in the way of Ngoc Hue becoming a big star in the ranks of Luu Bich, Y Lan, or even her two peers, Thanh Ha and Tu Quyen.  Ngoc Hue had gotten a head start years before the other two when she first came onto the scene back in 1991.  Surely, she has the talent, as well as the stage presence, and as I had pointed out from the time when she first arrived here from Australia, she also had the connections with the right people to give her the initial exposure and promotion needed in order to boost her career, .  If compared to Thanh Ha, it can be said that Ngoc Hue at first seemed like she had the upper hand given how she is full-blooded Vietnamese versus how Thanh Ha is not only racially mixed but also doesn't look at all Vietnamese, which can definitely be a disadvantage considering how conservative and homogeneous the Vietnamese culture is.  I personally haven't experienced that myself, but it is an undeniable fact that many Eurasians and Amerasians have been targets of unjust discrimination in Vietnamese society.  But I guess in Thanh Ha's case, the fact that she happens to be so beautiful, her being racially mixed with European blood seemed to have worked to her advantage and perhaps proven to be instrumental through her journey to stardom.  In comparison to Tu Quyen, Ngoc Hue also has greater stage presence.  Ngoc Hue's features are much more defined and striking whereas Tu Quyen has more of a passive, wholesome girl-next-door look. Yet by 1994, the year in which both Thanh Ha and Tu Quyen would be formally introduced onto the Vietnamese pop music scene, Thanh Ha first with her debut solo studio album recorded for Diem Xua Productions entitled, Mot Doi Xin Nho Mai (The Power of Love), then Tu Quyen before the end of the year with her debut album backed by Eagle Productions, Nu Cuoi Xa Vang, Ngoc Hue would be outshined by both of these new rising stars.

Perhaps it was the career choices that Ngoc Hue had made that had prevented her from becoming a superstar.  Take for example, when Ngoc Hue had first started out she performed regularly at a nightclub in Orange County called the Can Club, which was also where Thanh Ha and myself had gotten our start.  As Thanh Ha's popularity grew, she moved up to become a regular performer at the Diamond Club in Fullerton, then the Ritz and finally the Majestic Club until her busy touring schedule with out of town gigs became so full that she could no longer commit to any local nightclub as a regular weekly performer.  When I first saw Tu Quyen perform in Orange County was on a night sponsored by Eagle Productions for her held at the Queen Bee nightclub sometime in the fall season of 1994.  A little over a year after that, Tu Quyen would become a contracted regular performer at the Ritz nightclub in the summer of 1996.  After a series of video appearances, just like Thanh Ha, Tu Quyen would also venture off to only touring at out of town gigs, which is far more lucrative than performing regularly at any local Orange County Vietnamese nightclub.  This is often the case with a lot of Vietnamese singers once they become famous.  Ngoc Hue, on the other hand, after releasing album after album and making video appearances on the Paris By Night stage, was still seen performing regularly at the Can Club by 1996.  Although she was able to get bookings to perform for live shows across the United States, as well as abroad in Europe and back in her former residence, Australia, her touring schedule was not anywhere near as booked as some of the other popular Vietnamese singers in demand.  Thanh Ha's rise to fame was as fast as a speeding bullet.  From the moment her solo studio album was released by Diem Xua Productions, she became a hot commodity instantaneously with other Vietnamese music video production companies.  Shortly thereafter, she could be seen on music videos produced by Diem Xua, Truong Thanh, and then ultimately as a contracted exclusive performer of Paris By Night produced by Thuy Nga Productions.  Tu Quyen had become the driving force behind Eagle Productions as her impressive record sales permitted the label to release a series of studio albums for the popular singer, while on video she would finally make her way to Paris By Night after several video appearances for Van Son Entertainment and Tinh Productions.  The fact that she was able to win the hearts of Vietnamese audiences with her signature rendition of a song called, Nu Hong Mong Manh, didn't hurt her career, either.  Long before either Thanh Ha or Tu Quyen had made their way onto the Paris By Night stage, Ngoc Hue had already made her Paris By Night video debut on volume 16 with a solo rendition of Alan Nguyen's Prisoner and in a duet with Don Ho, Hanh Phuc Trong Tim, back in 1992.  After several more times appearing on Paris By Night, Ngoc Hue faded into obscurity.  Her career seemed to have hit the ceiling instantaneously and had allowed her to form her own label, Fame Productions.  But after a series of mediocre albums and various recordings for other labels, it seemed as if Ngoc Hue's career could only at best remain stagnant from then on, and her production label would come to a close before it had even ever gotten itself off the ground.

I had worked alongside Ngoc Hue on several occasions, but never really got to talk that much with her.  Unlike a lot of singers, she seemed a bit more reserved.  During the course of several years since I first met Ngoc Hue, our total interactions were limited to just a casual hello and goodbye each time we were in the same room together.  Although she was always pleasant, I can't say I knew much about her other than our brief greetings we would give to one another.  When it came time for me to produce my album, Ngay Em Di, I had been given the suggestion by others in the singing business that I should feature a song or two recorded by a singer whose name was more established to go along with my recordings in order for to make the album more marketable.  Of course, Ngoc Hue's name had been mentioned as a possible suggestion.  I was quite hesitant to ask her for the simple fact that I really didn't know her all that well.  One of my biggest fears in life has always been rejection.  I'd hate to think of how I would have handled it if Ngoc Hue had turned down my invitation to record a song for my album.  And so, I waited and waited, which ultimately delayed the release of Ngay Em Di.  

The moment would finally come when I would muster up the courage to ask Ngoc Hue.  We were about to perform together at an engagement at the Crystal Palace Casino in Gardena, California. During rehearsals with the band before the show, Ngoc Hue turned to look at me and gave me a compliment on how I sang Crazy, a famous tune written by Willie Nelson and originally recorded by Patsy Cline .  That was the first time we actually had a conversation that lasted longer than "Hello, how are you?" after five years that I had known her.  I thought to myself, I better ask her now since I really don't have another five years to wait to release my next album.  So I did.  Luckily, she accepted.

While I was at the recording studio with Ngoc Hue, that was when she really earned my respect as an artist.  I must say she is definitely a perfectionist.  The recording session for Ngoc Hue with just one song, Pho Xa, took a total of eight hours and countless takes and retakes.  It wasn't because she couldn't get into the song.  As a matter of fact, I felt that she had already nailed it the first time through.  But being the perfectionist that she is, Ngoc Hue had to do it over and over again until her biggest critic, which happens to be none other than herself, was finally satisfied.  And that was just with the primary vocals track which took up a good five hours.  After that came the two tracks for background vocals that she would handle all by herself that took up the remaining three hours.  Now that's impressive.  I remember how Tung Giang who was the recording engineer had grown really tired and sleepy after so many hours of this recording session.  Both Ngoc Hue and I had noticed how his eyes had become so droopy, we suggested that he should take a break.  I was about to fall asleep myself.  But Ngoc Hue really amazed me as she got right back into the sound proof room with the remote control recording device in hand and proceecded to complete the recording of Pho Xa all by herself.  Now that's a trouper.

I couldn't have been happier when I heard the finished product of Ngoc Hue's recording of Pho Xa, written by Le Quoc Thang,  There wasn't a single flaw I could point out with Ngoc Hue's performance of that song.  That was why I had chosen it to be the first song on the Ngay Em Di album.  Ngoc Hue was gracious enough to attend and perform at the CD release event I had put together held at the Majestic during November of 1999.  After that, we worked with each other on a couple of occasions, but never really got as close to where I can say we were actually friends.  I liked her.  But to this day, I can't say I know much about Ngoc Hue.

It has been at least six years since I've heard anything about Ngoc Hue, and even longer since the last time I spoke to her.  I've asked around and nobody seems to know her whereabouts.  Recently I found her on Facebook, but the last time there had been any activity on her account was back in 2010.  I came up with the same result searching her name on Youtube.com where the latest posting of Ngoc Hue was of a live performance she had done back in her old hometown of Sydney, Australia in 2010. From what I saw, she looked pretty much the same.  Perhaps a little older, but still beautiful as ever.  I hope everything is okay in her life.  Too often, I've had reason to worry whenever any of my colleagues in the singing business had faded into obscurity.  I certainly hope this is not the case with Ngoc Hue.  If anyone out there knows, please notify me with either a comment or private message.  I'm sure that many of her fans are equally concerned of her whereabouts and hope that she's doing okay.

Link(s):

Ngoc Hue - Pho Xa on YouTube

Update:  Ngoc Hue has been found!  Sometime in the afternoon yesterday while surfing the net, I stumbled across a thread on the MauTam.net forum which featured Ngoc Hue's latest interview.  She's back in town.  For a more detailed synopsis of the interview, click on the following link to read my article I had posted here on ThienPhu-VietSinger.BlogSpot.com.
(April 2, 2015)

Link(s):
                                                                                       
Update on Ngoc Hue:  She's Been Found!

Thien Phu on My Favorite Singers

Ever since I started singing, I've been constantly asked by many audience members about what I like, in terms of my taste in music.  I guess that's a natural curiosity for people to have about singers.  I remember way back before I started singing professionally, I had the same curiosity about my favorite singers.  I wanted to know who were their idols, what made them want to become singers, and what were their tastes like in music.  In terms of some of my favorite Vietnamese singers, I've been blessed with having had the opportunities to ask some of them personally such questions.  But when I had been asked that same question myself in the past, I often froze and really couldn't give an answer.  My reasons for posting this today had to do with a few e-mails I've received from fans wanting to know just that along with recently watching an old television interview I had done way back on Little Saigon Television.  I found it to be rather odd how I had shrugged when Quynh Trang had asked me about who were some of my favorite singers growing up.  It was rather embarrassing now that I think about it.  How could such a simple question be so difficult to answer?

This posting might seem like an extremely delayed response to that television interview I did 16 years ago.  But like the saying goes, better late than never.  I guess one of the reasons why I had hesitated to reveal who were my favorite Vietnamese singers was because by then I had become a Vietnamese singer myself and therefore, some of the singers I had idolized for so long all of a sudden had become my colleagues.  I was worried about having to deal with the aftermath if I did reveal which singers I had preferred over the other.  I could just imagine how I'd have to apologize to this person and that person why I chose him or her as my favorite singer.  Believe me, that's very typical behavior in show business.  And especially in the Vietnamese entertainment industry where ego definitely is in full existence.  I've reached a point in my life now where I really don't care anymore, simply because I've realized there is absolutely nothing wrong with honesty.

There have been quite a few Vietnamese singers I consider as idols ever since I started listening to Vietnamese music.  Among the female vocalists, it's no secret that Ngoc Lan has been a singer I've idolized.  When I was a little kid, I remember listening repeatedly to a cassette of the great Thanh Lan singing popular French songs in both languages, French and Vietnamese. When I became a teenager, I was then living in the United States and Thanh Lan was still back in Vietnam.  Like many other Vietnamese-Americans during that time, Ngoc Lan's voice initially served as a comforting and nostalgic reminder of the iconic Thanh Lan.  There was a similarity in their voices.  But the more I listened to Ngoc Lan, the more I became immersed with her voice.  When I became friends with Ngoc Lan, she was everything I imagined she would be and more.  I guess you can say, Ngoc Lan was one of those idols that upon meeting her exceeded my expectations.  I do remember asking Ngoc Lan who was the singer she had idolized the most.  She told me that it was a toss up between either Olivia Newton-John and Diana Ross.  I can understand why she would say Olivia Newton-John. After all, she does sound a lot like her.  Like in the case of many singers, they often end up with a similar singing style to that of their idol.  That was the case with Ngoc Lan.

Ngoc Lan and Kieu Nga were two of my favorite
 singers growing up during my teen years.

On the contrary, another female Vietnamese vocalist I had idolized alongside Ngoc Lan was Kieu Nga.  I tremendously enjoyed the numerous duets that these two ladies had recorded and listened to them quite often during my teen years growing up.  But when I got to know Kieu Nga personally, she was quite the opposite of what I had imagined her to be.  I guess one of the things that we tend to do as fans of singers and other types of performance artists is that since we idolize them so much, before actually meeting anyone of them in person we already have this preconceived image of what they should be in our minds.  And at times, that can only set ourselves up for disappointment.  I did grow fond of Kieu Nga as a person.  However, her gentle singing voice that I had gotten so used to listening to had given me this preconceived image of her being this meek, mild-mannered and soft-spoken person.  Anyone who has ever met or gotten to know Kieu Nga on a personal basis will agree with me that she is anything but soft-spoken or mild mannered.  I say that with the utmost affection for her.  Although Kieu Nga might come off to be rather coarse when first meeting her as I had done so myself, after a short period time I would find her demeanor and straight-forwardness to be rather endearing.  However, to this day I've yet to overcome the contrast between Kieu Nga's singing voice and her actual persona.

Khanh Ha

Several other Vietnamese female vocalists are certainly on my list of favorites.  Bach Yen was a singer whose music I hadn't been introduced to until much later on and have since grown to deeply admire.  I've been very privileged to have met Bach Yen on several occasions. And from what I've gathered based upon our few encounters, she truly exemplifies what really is a true artist and a classy lady.  Of course, I can't forget to mention Khanh Ha.  She is an incredible talent and definitely is one of my idols.  Like the similarities in Ngoc Lan and Thanh Lan's voices, I have also felt that way with Khanh Ha and Thanh Ha's voices, which is why I started to like listening to Thanh Ha when she first came onto the scene.  By the way, it isn't much of any surprise that Thanh Ha has said that Khanh Ha is her idol.  When I became a singer, I was introduced to Ngoc Huong's music by another fellow
singer by the name of Anh Tu.  From the first time I heard one of her CDs, I was just floored with her tremendous voice.  I idolized her so much that I had to personally invite her to be a guest vocalist on my album, Ngay Em Di.

Luu Hong is one Vietnamese female vocalist with a rather peculiar voice.  Growing up I was always

Luu Hong, My "Mother"

surrounded by her music during the 1980s here in the United States.  To be honest, I never paid much attention to her voice back then.  It wasn't until after I entered the singing profession and had gotten to know her that I started to really listen to her music.  How we became acquainted was rather odd.  There had been a rumor floating around when I first started singing that Luu Hong was actually my mother.  I think it was singer Cong Thanh that had introduced me to Luu Hong the first time we met at the old Majestic Nightclub in Huntington Beach, California. Since then, I've turned into an avid fan of her music.  Well, what can I say except why shouldn't I idolize my own mother?

My Constant Idol, Julie Quang

But there has always been one constant idol among Vietnamese female vocalists for me and that is Julie Quang.  I've been a major fan of hers for as long as I can remember.  Since I love singing in French, myself, one of the reasons why I idolize Julie so is because of  how beautifully she sounds when she sings in French.  I also love the way she sings in Vietnamese, in English, and even the few songs I've heard her record in Chinese.  For me, listening to Julie Quang sing is as relaxing and enjoyable comparable to the feeling of a gentle cool breeze on a hot summer day.  At times, I have to pinch myself for how fortunate I am to have Julie as a close friend in my life who also happens to be my idol.  But would you believe that Julie has told me that her music idol is Janis Joplin?  I found that a bit surprising since she doesn't sound anything like Janis Joplin at all.

As far as who my favorite American female vocalist is, that's easy.  Hands down, it has always been Diana Ross.  She's the only American diva in my book.  There were a number of years that I had also idolized Whitney Houston quite a bit.  But I've never been much into Mariah Carey or Celine Dion. I've never been a fan of singers who scream or wale.  I just like singers who simply sing.  That is why Francoise Hardy is my favorite French female vocalist.  Another European female vocalist I really like is Dutch singer, Laura Fygi.  In terms of Vietnamese female vocalists today, I've noticed how so many of them tend to sing as if they were screaming from the top of their lungs.  I find that so annoying whenever I hear the likes of Siu Black and Phuong Thanh.  It can be exhausting listening to these divas go overboard as they not only belt out but literally scream note after note.  The only two Vietnamese female singers of today that I enjoy listening to are Ho Ngoc Ha and Le Quyen.  I love Ho Ngoc Ha's interpretation of  Noi Long.  Her voice is extremely likable and pleasant.  The same could be said for Le Quyen.  But there are times I've found her to sound a bit too much like Luu Hong, which is not a bad thing.  I just prefer singers who have an original sound.

Are there any male vocalists that I idolize?  Of course, there are.  In our Vietnamese culture, despite how female vocalists have traditionally always outnumbered male vocalists with a ratio of two to

Tuan Ngoc

one, there definitely isn't a deficiency of talented male vocalists.  From when I first started listening to Vietnamese singers, the first two Vietnamese male vocalists whom I idolized were Elvis Phuong and Duy Quang.  I don't listen to any old compact discs recorded by either of these two gentlemen

Don Ho

today for whatever reason.  Perhaps it's because I've outgrown listening to them.  When I became an adult, my favorite Vietnamese male vocalist for many years was Don Ho.  There is something irresistibly charming about his voice.  I've never been able to place my finger on it, but I'm just in a complete daze each time I hear a song recorded by Don Ho.

Sometime in the late 1990s, I can't remember the exact year but, I had been given a CD of a new male artist in Vietnam by the name of Lam Truong.  I remembered how I had instantly taken a liking to his voice after hearing the CD for the first time.  That was probably around the same time that I started hearing comments from others that I sounded a lot like him with certain songs.  The first person that told me that was the late legendary music arranger, Tung Giang.  I was really taken aback when he said that to me during one of my recording sessions at his studio because I had never thought that I had sounded like anyone else before.  Now that I think about it, I should be flattered to be compared to someone of Lam Truong's caliber.  However, my fascination with Lam Truong would only be a short-lived one after I had gone to Vietnam and attended one of his live performances.  It was not that he sounded bad at his live show, because in fact he does have a very nice voice.  I even found him to be rather cordial with a pleasant personality when we spoke briefly after we were introduced by a mutual friend on the night of his performance.  I just couldn't get into his performance wholeheartedly since, for whatever reason, he had decided that night to perform a great deal in his set of songs in a language he apparently did not have even the slightest grip on.  I'm referring to the English language, of course.  Throughout the concert, I had to sit there and listen to this talented vocalist butcher the English language in one American song after another.  I have no idea why so many Vietnamese singers in Vietnam have this voracious obsession to sing in English, yet apparently don't make the conscious effort to practice enough so that they will sound at least coherent.  From that night at his live show on, it all just ruined it for me with Lam Truong.

Nguyen Khang

Among Vietnamese male vocalists of today, my favorite would be my good friend and former colleague, Nguyen Khang.  I really do like his voice.  It's rare that I would idolize someone who is among my peers, but in Nguyen Khang's case I'd have to make an exception.  Nguyen Khang and I have known each other for many years long before either one of us had gotten established as
Vietnamese singers.  Although they say that fame changes people, I haven't seen that with Nguyen Khang.  Despite how we don't keep in touch much these days, every time he and I do run into each other we still address one another as "may" and "tao", which is how Vietnamese close friends informally address one another in conversation.  To me, he is still the same old guy I've known from way back.  I've just never told him how much I now idolize him as an artist.  By the way, who do you think Nguyen Khang's idol is?  Tuan Ngoc.  I know. What a shocker! Surprise!  Surprise!

Just like in the case of my favorite Vietnamese female vocalists, there has also been one constant idol for me with Vietnamese male vocalists.  That would have to be none other than the one and only, Mr. Tuan Ngoc.  There is no other Vietnamese male singer like him.  His voice, in my opinion, is the most soothing and warmest I've ever heard.  I do believe that he is probably the only Vietnamese male vocalist out there who is qualified to take on the genre of jazz music.  This was probably the main reason why I had chosen not to reveal who my favorite Vietnamese male vocalist was when I was interviewed on Little Saigon Television back in 1998 since at the time I was very close to his brother, Anh Tu.  I could only imagine the sibling rivalry I would cause if I had disclosed on television how his older brother was my idol.

Anh Tu and I had one thing in common which was we both idolized Elton John deeply.  I've loved Elton John's music ever since I was a kid.  In recent years, I've found myself listening to several other American male singers such as Marc Anthony, Jason Mraz, and most recently, a new artist by the name of Spencer Day.  I can't deny it, but I'll admit that I do sound a lot like Spencer Day.  Many people have told me so and I'm not even bothered by that the least bit.  If I had to choose who my favorite French male singer is, I'd say that it would either be Herve Vilarde or Enrico Macias.  Even though I do cover a lot of Christophe's famous songs, I've never really been much of a fan of his singing voice.  Perhaps that is why I don't even remotely sound like him.

Now that I think about it, perhaps it was rather wise on my part not to have answered this question when I was being interviewed by Quynh Trang on Little Saigon Television back then.   It was only a half-hour program.  There just wasn't enough time for me since I would give such a long and detailed answer. I'm sure if Quynh Trang was reading this post now she would be relieved that I didn't go ahead with giving her an answer during the interview.  As you can see, I always have a lot to say.

Thien Phu

  

My Friendship With Thanh Ha

Here is a beautiful story I had recently written and published on ClubLai.BlogSpot.com about my special friend, Thanh Ha.  At times, I've felt as if Thanh Ha was the sister I had never had.  Many people have even told us that we do look like brother and sister.  I am truly honored whenever I hear anyone say that.


Amerasians/ Eurasians Forum: Thanh Ha: My Friendship with Thanh Ha Thanh Ha is perhaps the most successful Amerasian singer out there.  I remember the first time I met this be...

Looking All-American and Singing for All-Vietnamese

Anyone who is either old enough to have lived through the Vietnam War or is from Vietnam would be familiar with the term, Amerasian.  Of course, I'm referring to Vietnam War babies of racially mixed parentage.  In Vietnamese, the given term is con lai, which literally means "half breed child".  There are about 60,000 Amerasians from the Vietnam War.  I'm an Amerasian, myself. 

Whenever the subject of Amerasians is touched upon, automatically a sad image of abandoned, mistreated children of American GIs that were left behind in Vietnam comes about and how they had to face the hardships of growing up fatherless, in some cases even motherless, as well, in a homogeneous oppressive society where they were often the targeted victims of racism and social injustice.  We've all heard the countless horror stories told by the Amerasians and their experiences in Vietnam.  The American mainstream mass media has also done its fair share to bring light to these atrocities.  From the American mainstream's standpoint, some were deeply affected when they first became aware of the difficult circumstances that these children of American servicemen had to face in Vietnam when, as a matter of fact, they are Americans by law.  I doubt that the intentions behind the media covering this issue were to seek pity for Amerasians, but in the end the outcome was just that. The responses from viewers and/or readers of such articles and features on Amerasians varied from "I am so sorry for what they've been through" to "Shame on those racist Vietnamese!  Why should them yellow folks be racist to Amerasians, yet come to America expecting equality?" and of course,  "I just saw my daughter for the first time on that television program."  These were the letters I had read, forwarded, and replied to when I was a volunteer worker at Amerasian Services Organization.  Occasionally, we even received hate mail from both mainstream America, as well as the Vietnamese-American community.  A few mainstream American viewers found these mass media features as ammunition to further their hatred toward the Vietnamese race for being racist toward Amerasians.  And several Vietnamese-Americans even responded with their disapproval of how the Vietnamese race had been portrayed unfairly and erroneously for being racists.  As one Vietnamese-American viewer had put it, "Vietnamese people are not racist.  That is not in our culture.  We just don't like how all these children had mothers that were prostitutes who had babies with American GIs, especially with Black American men."  Some letters were just downright vicious and written in extreme poor taste. While others I had to just laugh off,  and consider them as humorous. 

Was the purpose of these Amerasians coming forward and sharing their stories to seek pity?  Absolutely not.  I do know about the racism that Amerasians faced in Vietnamese society.  I have seen the struggles some of my fellow Amerasians have had to go through, and I've listened to many of them share with me their own personal stories.  Luckily, I hadn't experienced the same hardships that many of my fellow Amerasian friends had to endure in Vietnam, since I was fortunate enough to have been able to leave Vietnam shortly after the Fall of Saigon and my mother and I had resettled abroad while I was still at a very young age.  But because I am also Amerasian, I certainly can empathize when I hear other Amerasians share their stories.   I am easily moved by them.  With each Amerasian's story that has been told to me, I can't help but think to myself, "That could have been me."  It's a reminder for me of how blessed I have been for having had the opportunity to come live in America at a young enough age so that it was still possible for me to acquire my command of the English language and speak English like a native.  For some unexplained reason, whenever I come across another fellow Amerasian, I sense a connection as if they were all my siblings.  I can't explain it.  But it's like we are kindred spirits, I suppose.  But I've noticed this with others, as well, and not just myself.  For some umysterious reason, Amerasians upon meeting one another for the first time instantaneously will develop a bond, as if we had known each other our entire lives.  Why is there this innate bond among us Amerasians?  

Lilian - Pioneer Amerasian Singer
 of the Overseas Music Industry

When I entered the singing profession in the Vietnamese community, a slew of other Amerasian singers also started to appear onto the scene.  Growing up, there was one Amerasian singer who had made her mark by the name of Lilian.  I remember the first time I saw Lilian perform was at a club in Orange County called Club Rex along with another Amerasian singer named Kathy Dung.  I was then just seventeen years old.  The way that these two girls looked on stage made them stand out from the rest of the Vietnamese singers that night.  Lilian's explosive voice and high energy performance brought the house down.  When I came by to say hi to the both of them, a simple hello led to a warm hug which only further supports my theory of this mysterious bond we Amerasians have for one another.  Years later, I would become close friends with both of these Amerasian singers.  As far as Amerasian singers go, Lilian and Kathy Dung should be given credit as the pioneers of Amerasian singers in the overseas Vietnamese music industry.  I had heard of two other Amerasian singers that had made their mark back in Vietnam.  The first being a singer named Kim Anh who had achieved national fame in the 1980s but was shot to death by her jealous husband at the peak of her career.  The other was Phuong Thao who continued to live in Vietnam for many years passing up the chance to come live in the United States under the Amerasian Homecoming Act.  In recent years, she would change her mind and relocated to the United States, but has since hardly participated much in her music career. 

Jenny Trang and Thien Phu

This slew of Amerasian singers I was talking about who first came onto the scene in the overseas Vietnamese music industry during the 1990s included Randy, Phi Nhung, Thanh Ha, Luu Quoc Viet, Hoang Dung, Ngoc Anh, Dai Trang, Danny Tuan, Lam Minh, Thuy Hang, Y Linh, Jenny Trang, and myself, Thien Phu.  Having worked with, thus becoming friends with this group of talented Amerasian singers was like gaining a whole new family of brothers and sisters.  Through these fellow Amerasian singers, I've learned more about the hardships they each faced having grown up in Vietnam being racially mixed.

The first close friendship I was able to form with another Amerasian singer was with Jenny Trang.  Most people might recognize Jenny Trang for her portrayal of Amerasians in her song, Kiep Con Lai, for May Productions.  Though Jenny's father was an African-American servicemen, I never really saw much of a difference between us.  We spent so much time travelling around the United States together, performing at shows, sharing hotel rooms, we were very much like brother and sister.  Jenny was blessed with an incredible, electrifying voice.  On every show that we had performed together, Jenny would have the ability to mesmerize the audience with her powerful stage presence

Thien Phu and the Late Luu Quoc Viet

and husky singing voice.  I really thought she was on her way to superstardom.  But in the middle of it all, Jenny, sometime in the late 1990s after releasing her first solo album, decided to settle down and get married to an Anglo-American fellow by the name of John.  Today, she is still happily married to John, who speaks Vietnamese just as well as any native speaker, and is the mother of three beautiful young daughters. 

Through Jenny Trang, I became good friends with another Amerasian singer, Dai Trang.  It's rather hard to believe, but Dai Trang and I have maintained our friendship for more than twenty years now.  Not only am I close with Dai Trang, but I also consider her husband, Chau, as an adoptive older brother.  Out of all my Amerasian friends, I must say that Dai Trang is the most driven.  Throughout the course of our friendship, Dai Trang has managed to have a successful singing career, become a wife and mother, earn an MBA degree at UC Irvine, and also become a successful businesswoman running several different businesses with her husband.  As I've always said, it's hard to keep up with Dai Trang.  She's always running, while the rest of us are walking.

Thanh Ha

Dai Trang

Randy

There are two Amerasian singers that I must give credit to for helping me regain interest in singing.  Because of some personal matters, I had purposely put my career on hold and went on a seven years long hiatus from 2001-2008.  When I attended the funeral of a good friend, fellow Amerasian singer, Luu Quoc Viet, in 2008, I ran into Randy.  During this brief reunion for the two of us, Randy invited me to perform on a show in Oklahoma City, some benefit for Amerasians.  This would be the first time I would walk on stage in seven years.  Thanks to Randy, I was again bitten by the singing bug.  Right around this time, I would also be reunited with another Amerasian singer friend, Thanh Ha.  One thing I've always liked about my friend, Thanh Ha, is that she always tells it like it is.  While everyone else wouldn't have the heart to tell me I had gained too much weight, Thanh Ha sat me down once and said, "Listen to me, Thien Phu, if you really want to go back into singing, since you still can sing, the first thing you must do is lose weight."  When Thanh Ha and I first were reunited after so many years, I weighed at 236 pounds.  I know I had put on weight.  But I didn't realize the severity of it, until someone had to tell me.  Thanh Ha helped push me with the determination I needed to lose all that weight.  We became even closer than before.  But after a period of a couple years, our lives caused a distance in our friendship.  No matter what, I still consider her a good friend to this day.  The image I have of Thanh Ha will always remain as a beautiful Amerasian girl who at one point was like a sister to me. 

I can honestly say I've been fortunate not to have faced such discrimination being an Amerasian singer for Vietnamese audiences.  The singing profession has allowed to meet many incredible people, in particular other Amerasians.  While I'm aware that discrimination toward Amerasians from both Vietnamese, as well as from mainstream Americans do exist, I'm a bit puzzled as to why there is such discrimination especially from Vietnamese.  After all, before there were us Amerasians, there were Eurasians from the French colonial era.  I've met and worked with quite a few during all my years as a Vietnamese singer.  Among these Eurasians from the French colonial era, there have been Luu Hong, Dung Thanh Lam, the late Cai Luong performer and film actor, Jeannie Mai, my late aunt, Pauline Ngoc, Marie Louise, Christiane Le and Julie Quang, whose father was a French national of Indian origin.  So when you think about it, Vietnamese people are not that homogenous as a race.  There have been interracial Vietnamese people for centuries.  What's so new and shocking with Amerasians?  We clearly are in existence.  Get used to it, because we're not going anywhere anytime soon. 

Thien Phu Biography Part Two by Anonymous Contributing Author and Myself

With the encouragement from several Vietnamese singers he had befriended, particularly Julie (Julie Quang) and the late Anh Tu, Thien Phu decided to record his first CD sometime in the mid 1990s. What would take a total of almost 2 years to produce in which Thien Phu had collaborated with some of the biggest names among Vietnamese musicians including the late legendary, Tung Giang, Alan Nguyen and Sy Dan would finally be released under the label, Bien Tinh Productions, in the spring of 1998, entitled Tiec Nho (Missing). This album would also feature tracks recorded by 3 other contributing fellow artists:  Julie, Anh Tu, and Thai Thao. This debut album for Thien Phu sold quite well within the overseas Vietnamese communities worldwide. Part of its success had to do with the heavy rotation of airplay that had been given to several of the tracks Thien Phu had recorded on the album, in particular a cover of a Jacques Brel penned, timeless classic, Ne Me Quitte Pas.  Pham Long, a well known radio personality for Little Saigon Radio Broadcasting Network, had taken an instant liking to Thien Phu's version of the song, in which Thien Phu had recorded in both the original lyrics in French, as well as the translated Vietnamese lyrics written by the late legendary Vietnamese composer, Pham Duy. Soon after, other Vietnamese language radio programs would also began giving airplay for Thien Phu's recorded songs from this debut album. The airplay would reach Vietnamese audiences in the 3 major regions with the highest Vietnamese populations of the United States; Orange County in Southern California, San Jose in Northern California, and Houston, Texas, giving Thien Phu a much wider exposure to the Vietnamese music scene. That along with a series of radio interviews and several appearances on Vietnamese language produced television shows to further promote the album greatly enhanced Thien Phu's popularity as a singer. Among other tracks on the album included covers of French popular songs such as Aline, Magic Boulevard, both of which were recorded by Thien Phu and the Edith Piaf signature classic, La Vie En Rose, recorded by Julie (formerly known as Julie Quang) in an upbeat, modified new up-tempo arrangement by Sy Dan.

After the release of Tiec Nho, Thien Phu embarked on a busy touring schedule performing at live shows for Vietnamese audiences throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Europe and Australia. The success of this debut album was what prompted Bien Tinh Productions to put together a sold-out show held at the Majestic Nightclub in Orange County to formally introduce Thien Phu to the Vietnamese audience of the Little Saigon community. It was during the night of that performance when Thien Phu first accepted the invitation from New York Night Productions to make his debut appearance on music video.

As a follow up after his debut album, Bien Tinh Productions had planned a duet album with Thanh Ha for Thien Phu. For a recording artist recently introduced onto the Vietnamese pop music scene such as Thien Phu, to be paired up with another artist of Thanh Ha's caliber at the time would be a highly anticipated opportunity. However, due to scheduling conflicts, the project was ultimately cancelled. This was a major setback for Thien Phu. On an interview for VOV Radio on 96.7FM, Thien Phu said, "I was really looking forward to working with Thanh Ha. Think about it, a duet album featuring two Amerasian singers together. But I understand that she was under contract with Thuy Nga at the time and couldn't commit to another production label. It would have been a great experience since not only was [Thanh Ha] one of my favorite singers, she was also my friend."

Several offers from various Vietnamese labels would pour in for Thien Phu to make his next album toward the end of 1998. But Thien Phu had turned each one of them down because he had wanted complete artistic control. During this time, Thien Phu was mourning the loss of one of his closest friends, singer and owner of Empire Nightclub in Dallas, Texas, Michelle Diem My, who had died mysteriously in a fire during the summer of 1998.

"Losing Michelle [Diem My] was like losing a sister. We were so close, like brother and sister. Everywhere she and I travelled to together to do our live shows, because we were so close, we often shared the same bed. It was shocking to lose such a good friend that unexpectedly.

"I remember the day I received the chilling news that she had just died. I was in Vietnam on a trip with singer Julie Quang and Bébé Hoang Anh, Viet Dzung's wife. Michelle had originally planned to go with us on this trip. But just three days before we were all supposed to meet up in Los Angeles to board the plane together, she called me on the telephone to say she wouldn't be able to make the trip. And then the next thing I knew, early one morning while in Vietnam we receive a telegram from Viet Dzung saying Michelle had just been killed in a fire", said Thien Phu.

"I couldn't believe it. I thought, this must have been some joke. But when Bebe looked at me and said that since Michelle was Viet Dzung's cousin, he of all people would know and that this was no joke, I just started to cry helplessly."

In mourning over the untimely death of one of his closest friends, Thien Phu managed to turn the devastation into inspiration for his next studio album, Ngay Em Di, literally translated to "The Day You Left". Thien Phu's second album would be released in the fall of the following year to round out the decade. Like his debut album, the release of Ngay Em Di would also be followed by a sold out show held at the Majestic, hosted by Viet Dzung.

Unlike the previous album with all the backings from Bien Tinh Productions, Thien Phu's sophomore effort was a project he decided to produce and release himself. Sales of Thien Phu's second album failed to match the success of the previous debut album. Nevertheless, he would continue to tour extensively for the next couple of years.

The beginning of the new millennium for Thien Phu was met with a series of tragedies in his personal life. In 2000, Thien Phu experienced the death of his grandmother, Marie Nguyen, to whom he was rather close to.

"My grandmother was very influential in my life. She was very strong. When I think about it, it was probably she who had given me the encouragement and mental support that I needed to become an entertainer," he said.

Marie Nguyen, Thien Phu's grandmother, had been a well respected businesswoman from Saigon, South Vietnam. She had been owner of the famous Au Ma Cabane Cabaret Nightclub in Saigon that featured nightly live entertainment from some of the biggest names among Vietnamese singers. Among the list of regular performers at Au Ma Cabane were Thai Thanh, Thanh Lan, Jo Marcel, Duy Quang, Giao Linh and the late Jeannie Mai, who was also Thien Phu's aunt at one point by marriage. In a sense, it can be said that Thien Phu had come from a showbiz family.

Following the death of his grandmother, Thien Phu was met with yet another blow the following year with the passing of one of his idols, singer Ngoc Lan. But another tragedy would be in store for Thien Phu, less than 2 years after when singer Anh Tu suddenly passed away on December of 2003. Anh Tu had been one of the most influential people in Thien Phu's life, as well as in his career. It was all too much for Thien Phu to take, and consequentially prompted his decision to leave the singing business.

"I really don't deal well with death, I've noticed. Some people can do it. But for me, I can't just pick up the pieces after the loss of someone dear to me and just move on like nothing has ever happened. When Anh Tu passed, I felt as if I was all alone in the world. For so long, I had relied heavily on his guidance with my singing career. Since his passing, I felt like nobody was there to critique me each time I got on stage. It was if I no longer had a purpose to sing," said Thien Phu.

Thien Phu then decided to leave his singing career and focused into returning to college. He found work as a bartender at a high end sushi restaurant in Newport Beach while he successfully completed his studies earning a degree in English at Cal State Lon Beach. Although he was content with his life away from the spotlight as a singer, momentarily Thien Phu would find himself reminiscing of his past in the field of entertainment. There was definitely something missing in his life.

After a 7 years hiatus, Thien Phu would make his return to the stage. This came about after meeting up with a former colleague, singer Randy, while Thien Phu attended the funeral of another colleague and old friend, singer Luu Quoc Viet, in the spring of 2008. After an exchange of phone numbers, Randy telephoned Thien Phu with an invitation to perform at a sold out show for Amerasians in Oklahoma City. A series of other live performances would quickly follow including a successful engagement in Paris, France during the summer of 2009. And Thien Phu, once again, had been caught with the singing buzz.

Recently, Thien Phu has completed shooting a pair of music videos for Viet Star Productions. He is currently also working on a new solo album that should be out later in 2014.

"It's great to be back after so many years away from the spotlight. I've realized one thing, and that is... I really love to sing. It's such a rush how I get to wear beautiful clothes and perform on stage for people everywhere. I just love it. Come to think of it, there's nothing else I'd rather do than sing. Without it, I'd probably be dead."