Northern crooners dominate singing contest

Sixteen singers have made it to the first final of the Sao Mai-Diem Hen
2010 (Morning Star-Rendezvous 2010), Vietnam Television's biennial
contest to discover future pop stars.

It has been dominated by northern performers this time, with only three from the south making the cut.

They outlasted the rest of the 700 hopefuls, many from rural areas, who
sang and danced before a 10-member jury made up of famous artists,
including pop star My Tam and musicians Tuan Khanh and Ho Hoai Anh.

The 16 will perform pop, R&B, dance, hip-hop and rock music, with
eight qualifying for the next round in HCM City next month.

The show takes place in Tuy Hoa town, Phu Yen province, and is shown live on VTV3.

The organisers have invited musicians to train the participants.

"I will sing and dance to the best of my ability," Pha Le of Hai Phong, said.

One of Le's competitors, HCM City 's Nguyen Vo Lan Trinh, was a contestant at the 2008 Vietnam Idol.

Though she failed to make a mark in that event, it did help launch her
career as a professional singer, and she is now popular with the younger
lot.

Hoai Thu (Quang Ninh province), Viet Quang ( HCM
City ), and My Nhu (Phu Yen province) charmed most people, including
the jury, with their creativity, natural voice, and simple style which
left an impression of freshness.

Following a grand final
in Hanoi in early January featuring four contestants, two winners
will be chosen for the Sao Mai Award – one by the jury and the other by
VTV viewers.

"Sao Mai Award winners will have many
opportunities to be successful in their future careers," organising
board member Huyen Thanh said, pointing out most contestants are in
their mid-20s.

Pop star Phuong Linh won the event in 2006 and saw many doors opening for her.

Thanh said organisers will help winners and finalists perform live in Hanoi and HCM City and cut discs.

A million fans around the country are expected to watch the contest and vote online or by telephone./.

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Real win aristocratic duel, slick Arsenal cruise

Arsenal's Marouane Chamakh (L) scores a goal past Shakhtar Donetsk's goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov during their Champions League soccer match at the Emirates Stadium in London October 19, 2010

Photo: Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo delivered the knockout blow for Real Madrid in their aristocratic battle with AC Milan on Tuesday, as Arsenal, Chelsea and Bayern Munich maintained their own perfect Champions League starts.

While Arsenal provided a breathtaking collective display in a 5-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk, nine-times European champions Real had the individual brilliance of the world's most expensive player to thank for their 2-0 win at the Bernabeu.

Ronaldo poked a free-kick straight through the wall and set up Mesut Ozil to score a heavily deflected second less than a minute later as Real saw off the seven-times winners with a devastating one-two combination.

Real and Milan make the record of Bayern Munich, the four-times winners, look relatively modest and there was a lot less style about their 3-2 home win over CFR Cluj in group E, which saw them come from behind to take the lead with two own-goals before Mario Gomez gave them breathing space.

Arsenal, who beat Braga 6-0 in their opening fixture in group H, rarely struggle for panache at their own stadium and they were altogether too much for Shakhtar in London.

Alex Song, Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas, Jack Wilshere and Marouane Chamakh picked off the goals, with former Arsenal player Eduardo da Silva getting a late consolation for the visitors and a heartwarming ovation for himself.

There was another goal-scoring return of a sort as Chelsea won 2-0 at Spartak Moscow in group F.

Yuri Zhirkov, who spent five seasons with Spartak's bitter Moscow rivals CSKA, set Chelsea on their way with his first goal for the club before Nicolas Anelka doubled the lead.

Beneath the perfect quartet, Ajax Amsterdam maintained their hopes in Real Madrid's group by winning 2-1 at home to Auxerre, a result that took them level with Milan on four points.

Goals from Brazilian strikers Lima and Matheus gave Braga their first points with a 2-0 win over Partizan Belgrade that leaves the Serbs bottom of group H.

Basel sprang a surprise in group E by winning 3-1 away to AS Roma after two defeats, while Olympique Marseille kept their group F hopes alive as they labored to a 1-0 home win against Slovakians Zilina.

Problem solved

The only question mark over Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid early in the season was a struggle to turn their dominance into goals but that problem is now well behind them.

The Spanish league leaders followed up a 4-1 win over Malaga at the weekend with another performance of energy and guile, capped by goals in the 13th and 14th minutes.

"We needed to impose a strong rhythm from the start, playing with the concentration this type of game deserves, and we were able to do that," Ronaldo told reporters.

While Real have scored five goals in their three wins in Europe, Arsenal have knocked in a whopping 14 and they were irresistible in taking Shakhtar apart on Tuesday.

"We were sharp and played technically at a good level," said manager Arsene Wenger, whose side have Manchester United's group stage record 20 goals in their sights. "I think our goals were down to them becoming fatigued from running after the ball."

Chelsea, who like Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are dreaming of a place in a "home" final in London's Wembley Stadium, were efficient rather than brilliant at the Luzhniki Stadium, scene of their painful defeat by Manchester United in the 2008 final.

"I don't think the players talked about the last defeat at this stadium,” coach Carlo Ancelotti told a news conference. "It was not an easy game for us. We scored two great goals."

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Viet Nam welcome Asian aerobic athletes for championships

Viet Nam will host the Asian Aerobic Championship, to be held at HCM City's Phan Dinh Phung Gymnasium from December 16-18.

Almost all the sport's continental powerhouses, including China, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, have promised to take part in the competition.

Athletes will compete in men's and women's individual and doubles events as well as events for teams of three and six for three different age groups.

Viet Nam's mixed couple Nguyen Thu Ha and Tran Ba Dong, who won a Southeast Asian Games gold medal last December, are favourites to win the championship title.

Badminton player Minh trains with cream of the crop in Indonesia

Badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh is training in Indonesia in preparation for the 16th Asian Games in November.

One of Viet Nam's top athletes, Minh ranks ninth in the world. He will have the chance to practise with Indonesia's top players, including world No 7 Simon Santoro and No 11 seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro.

Minh, who won a title at the Australia Open this year, is the only Vietnamese badminton player at the Guangzhou tournament.

Minh will compete in the China and Hong Kong Super Series after ASIAD.

Viet Nam to play football friendlies ahead of Asian Games in China

Viet Nam's Olympic football team will play friendlies against the Thai and Qatari Olympic teams in Bangkok next week in preparation for the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China next month.

The Thailand match will be on the 27th and the one against Qatar four days later.

The latter will be an invaluable chance for the team to get used to the West Asian style. Of the three other teams in Viet Nam's group, two are from this region.

At the Games to be held in Guangzhou, Viet Nam will take on Bahrain on November 8, Turkmenistan two days later, and finally powerhouse Iran on the 13th.

At the Olympics and ASIAD, teams have to field an under-23 team with a maximum of three players aged more than 23 allowed.

LG Electronics sponsors Tennis Open Tournament

Duo Do Thang Hai and Cao Quoc Hung from the Ministry of Industry and Trade team won the first prizes at the Tennis Open Tournament, which wrapped up in Ha Noi yesterday.

The tournament's second, third and consolation prizes were awarded to players from the National Defence Institute, Mecanimex and Van Xuan Petrochemicals JS Company.

The tournament drew 42 athletes divided into 18 men's pairs in a knock out competition.

The tournament was co-organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Mecanimex and sponsored by LG Electronics. — VNS

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Draw pits Vietnam against big rivals at Asiad

The draw in Guangzhou, China on Thursday put the Vietnamese U23 male footballers in Group B against big rivals Iran, Bahrain and Turkmenistan at the 16th Asian Games next month.

Vietnam’s U23s beat their Iranian opponents 2-0 to take the championship of the Thang Long Cup in Ho Chi Minh City last Saturday (Oct 2). Yet the coming clash in Guangzhou may be very different.

The other two rivals Bahrain and Turkmenistan will prove difficult rivals because they are physically bigger and stronger than the Vietnamese players.

Southeast Asian powerhouse Thailand will clash with Oman, Pakistan and Maldives in Group F while Malaysia will face Japan, Kyrgyzstan and hosts China in Group A and Singapore will compete with Qatar, Kuwait and India in Group D.

In the women’s event, Vietnamese Under-23s will play against Jordan, South Korea and hosts China in Group A while Thailand will face Japan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in Group B.

The men’s football competition will start on November 7 and finish on November 25 while the women’s contest will begin on November 14 and end on November 23.

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VNA, Russia Today TV channel reach deal

VNA Deputy General Director and Director of the VNA Television Centre
Nguyen Hoai Duong and General Director of the Russia Today TV Channel
Aleksey Nikolov signed a cooperation document in Moscow on Oct. 19.

Under the newly-signed agreement, both sides
will provide each other with news, programmes, films and documentaries
depicting their important national and regional political, cultural,
economic development, scientific and technological events, to further
expand the traditional friendship, multi-faceted cooperation and
strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia.

Earlier, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)
Duong exchanged views with Senia Fedorova, head of the Russia Today TV
department for media projects development and promotion, including
concrete measures to further develop the cooperative relations between
the VNA Television Centre and the Russia Today TV Channel, such as the
exchange of experiences and the professional development of their staff./.

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Local industry attracts foreign film makers

Cinematography officials have offered an attractive environment,
including legal support, for international partners interested in
producing films in Vietnam.

The offers were
made at a workshop held in Hanoi on October 19, where organisers
emphasised simple licensing procedures, tax exemption and low production
costs as major incentives for foreign film producers.

Playwright Nguyen Thi Hong Ngat, Vice President of the Vietnam
Cinematography Association, made it clear that international film
producers were exempt from taxes for using local services while services
were cheaper than other countries, such as the hire of skilled workers
or professionals, enabling a large number of people to be employed at
relatively low cost overall.

Licensing procedures
were being simplified and Cinematography Law simply asks applicants to
submit a written request and film scripts in both English and
Vietnamese. The licences will be granted within 30 days, or the Ministry
of Culture, Sports and Tourism will have to explain in writing the
reasons for refusal to grant a licence.

The Head
of International Relations Section under the Cinematography Department,
Do Duy Anh, said with Vietnam’s open-door policy, an increasing number
of international award-winning foreign-made films have been shot in
Vietnam, such as “Indochina”, “The Quiet American”, “Cyclo” and “Buffalo
Boy”.

“In each of the past five years, Vietnam
welcomed between 15 and 20 foreign film-making delegations to shoot
footage,” said the film official in charge of international affairs.

Actor Phuoc Sang, who represented the private film studio of the same
name, described Vietnam as a virgin and promising land for the seventh
art industry and called for further investment and greater efforts by
film makers, both domestic and international, to roll out high quality
and attractive products.

Foreign delegates called
on Vietnam to build and upgrade their film studios as well as
establish truly professional film-making companies as basic conditions
to attract more foreign film producers./.

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Vietnam’s Olympic footballers to pay in Asiad group B

Vietnamese football fans during a celebration march on Ho Chi Minh City streets in December, 2009

Photo: Tuoi Tre

The national Olympic football team of Vietnam will face stiff competition in group B with upper tier teams Iran, Bahrain and Turkmenistan at the 2010 Asian Games, which will be held from November 12-27 in Guangzhou, China.

Vietnam, now at the 125th place on the FIFA ranking table released last month, will take on Bahrain -- the world’s number 75 -- on November 8, said the organizer Monday.

The side will face Turkmenistan (129th) on November 10 and the 2006 Asiad third-placed Iran (ranked 57th) three days later.

The Asian Games’ men’s football division will have 24 teams competing in six groups with the top two teams of each group and four best third-placed teams -- based on goals scored -- qualifying for the last 16 round.

The women’s football event will have seven teams separated in two groups and top two teams of each group qualifying to the semifinals.

Vietnam are in group A with hosts China, South Korea and Jordan while Thailand, Japan and defending champions North Korea are in group B.

China, Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan and Japan were drawn in group A. Group C has South Korea, Palestine, Jordan and North Korea. Defending champion Qatar, Kuwait, India and Singapore are in group D.

Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Bangladesh are in group E and Thailand, Oman, Pakistan and Maldives in group F.

The 16th Asian Games, which is held every four years, feature 476 events in 42 sports.

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