Dai Trang

Dai Trang (....-    ) is a beautiful Eurasian singer of Vietnamese, Chinese and French descent.

Born to a French-Vietnamese father and Vietnamese-Chinese mother on July 5, 19.. in Saigon, South Vietnam, Dai Trang grew up as the eldest in a family of two children.  She began her professional singing career at an early age and in 1989 won the national talent contest, Lien Hoan Ca Mua Nhac Nhe Toan Quoc, held in Ho Chi Minh City.  Taken under the wings of singer Chung Tu Luu, Dai Trang performed nightly at the most prestigious cabarets and venues in Ho Chi Minh City including the outdoor venue known as 126 Amphitheater.  In a short period of less than two years, she would become one of the hottest new young singers in Vietnam.  In 1990, Dai Trang was selected to perform with singer Ngoc Son on a highly successful concert tour of cities in the Mekong Delta.

In 1991, Dai Trang and her family moved to the United States.  The following year she was offered with a contract by Ngoc Chanh, the owner of the Ritz in Anaheim, California, to become an exclusive weekly performer at his nightclub alongside the lineup of singers that included Y Lan, Carol Kim, My Huyen, Henry Chuc and Lilian.  Shortly thereafter, she would captivate the Vietnamese-American audience with her beauty and unique style of singing on a larger scale when she appeared on Vietnam Performing Arts Television performing Tinh Khuc Mua Xuan, a song written by legendary composer Ngo Thuy Mien.  Dai Trang's next venture, which was her lengthy collaboration with May Productions as a regular performer on the Hollywood Night music video series, would turn her into a star.

With each of Dai Trang's performances on Hollywood Night of such songs like Dancing All Night, Jump in My Car, Tokyo By Night and Venus, she would leave a lasting impression with viewer audiences.  Dai Trang's European features and statuesque physique clearly made her stand out from other Vietnamese performers featured on the Hollywood Night video series.  Right around this time, Dai Trang had also formed her own music production label and released a trilogy of well-received solo studio albums:  Dai Trang Voi Nhung Tinh Khuc Tuyet Voi (1992), Tinh Chi La Giac Mo (1993) and Dai Trang Voi Nhung Tinh Khuc Que Huong (2000).  Her popularity with overseas Vietnamese audiences enabled Dai Trang to travel the world, performing at live shows throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.  She became one of the busiest overseas Vietnamese singers during the 1990s with a non-stop work schedule of bookings for one night engagements in various cities with concentrations of Vietnamese populations across the globe.
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Toward the end of the 1990s, Dai Trang began to set her focus on starting a family.  In 1998, she married Chau Ta, a well-respected herbalist and entrepreneur in the Vietnamese-American community.  The following year, the couple were blessed with the birth of their son.  In 2002, Dai Trang earned her MBA from the University of California, Irvine.  For the past 15 years, Dai Trang has hosted many television infomercials and radio programs to promote and market Bach Lien Tra, an herbal tea product created and patented by her husband.  Together, she and her husband also run an herbal retail store, Phuc An Duong, located in the Little Saigon community of Westminster, California.

Dai Trang has consistently remained active in her singing career through the years.  She continues to perform at live shows for overseas Vietnamese audiences worldwide and has been a regular performer on the live show music video series produced by Blue Ocean Music.  

Link(s):

10 Viet Celebs Who Don't Look Vietnamese
50 Most Beautiful Vietnamese Women of All Time


External Link(s):  

DaiTrangSinger.BlogSpot.com
BachLienTra.com

Viet Dzung

Viet Dzung (1958-2013) was a famous Vietnamese-American singer, songwriter, political activist, radio announcer, columnist and host of the popular Asia Entertainment music video live show series.

Born as Nguyen Ngoc Hung Dung on September 8, 1958 in Saigon, South Vietnam, he was the third child in a family of four children.  His father was a doctor.  Prior to leaving Vietnam, Viet Dzung had attended the prestigious Lasan Taberd High School in Saigon.  After the Fall of Saigon, Viet Dzung fled by boat to Singapore and then spent nearly a year at a refugee camp in Subic, Philippines before resettling to the United States in 1976.

A life-long staunch opponent of communism, Viet Dzung's political beliefs had played a major role in his music career.  He became famous for having written and performed songs of protest to the social injustices with the communist regime that had taken over since the Fall of Saigon in his native Vietnam.  Among the most acclaimed songs he had written and performed include Loi Kinh Dem (Night Prayer), Mot Chut Qua Cho Que Huong (A Gift for My Homeland) and Moi Em Ve (To Invite You There).  His music had been recorded by many other famous Vietnamese singers such as Khanh Ly, Ngoc Lan, and Y Lan.  Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, Viet Dzung performed alongside singer/songwriter Nguyet Anh at numerous anti-communist political rallies and concert events for overseas Vietnamese communities throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe and Australia.  In 1999, Viet Dzung headed the largest political rally ever to take place in the Little Saigon community of Orange County, Southern California.  The gathering which had been sparked by the controversial actions of local businessman, Tran Truong, who had publicly displayed Vietnam's current communist flag at his shop located in Little Saigon drew a total of 15,000 people.  Viet Dzung addressed the crowd with his fervent protest of human rights violations from the communist dictatorship and performed several of his songs to a thunderous applause.

Viet Dzung embarked on his career as a radio announcer becoming one of the earliest voices to be heard on Vietnamese-language radio broadcasting with the inception of Little Saigon Radio on July 1, 1993.  He alongside Minh Phuong co-hosted a daily radio program that became wildly popular in the Vietnamese communities of Southern California, San Jose and Houston, particularly a segment called, Tam Tinh Voi Nghe Si, where he interviewed Vietnamese entertainers ranging from the legendary such as Thai Thanh, Bach Yen and Ha Thanh to the contemporary such as Don Ho and Lynda Trang Dai.  In 1997, Viet Dzung left Little Saigon Radio to form his own station, Radio Bolsa.

During the mid 1980s, Viet Dzung began his collaboration with Asia Entertainment as a recording artist where he recorded duets with artists such as Julie Quang and Kieu Nga released on audio cassettes.  In 1996, he appeared on video for Asia Entertainment's Volume 9 Tinh Ca Chon Loc as a singer.  From 1997 on Asia Entertainment's Volume 14 entitled Yeu until 2013 on Volume 73 entitled Mua He Ruc Ro 2013, Viet Dzung was the master of ceremonies in one of the longest tenures of any performer on the popular live show music video series.  Among his co-hosts for Asia Entertainment's live show series have included Leyna Nguyen, Nam Loc, Trinh Hoi, Dang Tuyet Mai, Thuy Trinh and Thien Kim.

Most of his audio recordings were released on his own music production label, Viet Productions, formed during the early 1990s.  Viet Dzung also produced for other artists such as Nguyet Anh and Duc Phuong under his own music production label.

Stricken with polio since early childhood, Viet Dzung relied on crutches throughout his entire life.  He passed away on December 20, 2013 from heart disease leaving behind his wife, photographer Bebe Hoang Anh, and countless adoring fans from all over the world.  For his humanitarian efforts, Viet Dzung was posthumously honored by state senator Lou Correa with the unveiling of the Viet Dzung Human Rights Memorial Highway located on Talbert Avenue and Beach Boulevard in Fountain Valley, California on August 8, 2014.  

Loan Chau

Loan Chau (1973-    ) is a beautiful Vietnamese-American singer whose career had first reached prominence in 1996 through her audio recordings and music video appearances for the Asia Productions label.  She was then known to her fans as Ninh Cat Loan Chau.  She has since shortened her professional stage name to just Loan Chau.

Born as Ninh The Loan Chau on September 15, 1973 in Saigon, South Vietnam, she is youngest in a family of eight children.  Her father had served as a naval officer for the military of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.  After the Fall of Saigon, her family would experience many difficulties being separated from one another beginning with her father being sent away for a number of years to re-education camp by the new regime of the now unified Democratic Socialistic Republic of Vietnam.  Upon his release in 1979, her family planned to escape from the communist dictatorship in Vietnam and leave by boat in hopes of seeking refuge abroad.  On the day of their departure, her family somehow would be divided into two separate boats: her father and four of her older siblings on the first boat, Loan Chau and her three older sisters along with their mother on the second. Unfortunately, only the boat carrying her father and three older siblings made it to international waters, while the boat carrying Loan Chau, her three sisters and her mother was forced to turn back around by the Vietnamese authorities.  For the next twelve years, while her father and four of her older siblings were in the United States, her mother remained in Vietnam left alone to care for her four daughters.  Finally in 1991, the entire family was reunited and now live in Westminster, California.

Prior to her arrival in the United States, Loan Chau had actively participated in many student music programs while attending Marie Curie High School in Ho Chi Minh City.  During her years in college at Cal State Long Beach, Loan Chau sang for the choir of the Vietnamese Catholic Church in Westminster, California and along with several friends formed a local band where she sang lead and played keyboard at parties and weddings in the Vietnamese-American community.  In 1995, she won a karaoke contest held at the Ritz Nightclub in Anaheim, California.  The following year Loan Chau graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a bachelor's of arts degree in management information systems.


Toward the end of 1996, Loan Chau signed with Asia Productions as an exclusive artist.  Her audio recording and video appearance for the song, Ben Em La Bien Rong, under the Asia Productions label would turn her into a star.  Audiences quickly took notice of her sweet, angelic voice and striking physical beauty.  Loan Chau became one of the most popular performers of Asia Productions during her brief tenure with the label joining the ranks of others such as Lam Nhat Tien, Lam Thuy Van, Shayla and Nhu Quynh.

In 2000, Loan Chau left Asia Productions and signed with Thuy Nga Paris.  That same year she had also formed her own music production label, Loan Chau Music.  She has recorded duets with many other artists including Nguyen Hung, Don Ho, The Son and Tran Thai Hoa.  Loan Chau continues to perform at live shows all over the world dazzling Vietnamese audiences with her beauty and talents.

Link(s):

50 Most Beautiful Vietnamese Women of All Time
Loan Chau Facebook Page

Thuy Tien

Thuy Tien (1972-    ) is a beautiful overseas Vietnamese singer who had initially gained prominence in Ho Chi Minh City back in the early 1990s.

Born as Huyen Ton Nu Thuy Tien on January 12, 1972 in Saigon, South Vietnam, she began her career as a professional Vietnamese singer while still a teenager.  By the end of the 1980s decade, Thuy Tien along with singer/musician Sy Dan, Ly Duoc and Tung Chau formed the pop music group, Hy Vong.  In 1991, she became a part of a successful singing duo with singer The Son.  Together, they would perform at all the major nightclubs and music venues in Ho Chi Minh City and continue being one of the most successful new young pop music acts in Vietnam until 1994 when The Son left for the United States.  Thuy Tien then went on to pursue a solo career and became famous with her performances of such songs like Nguyet Ca written by Trinh Cong Son, Pho Bien written by Thanh Tung, Nu Hon written by Ton That Lap and Tuoi 18 written by Tu Huy.  She had also become a successful businesswoman while in Vietnam after she had opened a small chain of Thuy Tien boutiques selling to Saigon's elite shoppers merchandise of brand name couture, accessories and cosmetics.

Upon relocating to the United States in 2001, Thuy Tien immediately signed a contract with Thuy Nga Paris.  For ten years, she appeared on numerous volumes of the popular Paris By Night live show music video series as a solo act and on several duets with other artists such as Luu Bich, Nguyen Hung, Bang Kieu, Luong Tung Quang, Bao Han and Tran Thai Hoa.  She was reunited with her old singing partner, The Son, on volume 65 of Paris By Night in 2004 with a duet performance of songwriter Nguyen Quang's Xin Hay Quen Di, that had been filmed in Paris, France.

After she finished her contract with Thuy Nga Paris, Thuy Tien began collaborations with Asia Productions in 2012.  She has since become one of the most popular performers on the Asia Productions live show music video series.  Among her most memorable appearances on Asia Productions have included her solo renditions of songs such as Loan Mat Nhung written by Huynh Anh along with Nang Ha written by Nguyen Trung Cang.  In 2012, Thuy Tien had appeared on Asia Productions Volume 69 as part of a trio with Diem Lien and Philip Huy in a medley of songs written and composed by Quoc Hung and Bao Chan.  And in 2014, she appeared on Asia Productions Volume 75 with singer/composer Trinh Nam Son performing a duet of Nuoi Tiec, a song that had he had written and originally recorded back in the early 1990s with singer Ai Van.

Link(s): 

50 Most Beautiful Vietnamese Women of All Time
Thuy Tien's Official Website
Thuy Tien Facebook Page

Truong Vu

Truong Vu (1963-    ) is one of the most successful overseas Vietnamese singers of traditional Vietnamese pop music.  He had first gained prominence back in the 1990s after being discovered by singer/music producer Chung Tu Luu.  His earliest professional audio recordings for smaller labels such as Chung Tu Luu's Ca Dao and Phuong Hoang has led him to collaborations with numerous other overseas music production companies such as Tinh Productions, Asia Productions, Van Son Entertainment and Thuy Nga Paris.  Truong Vu has enjoyed a successful career as one of the bestselling overseas Vietnamese male recording artists for almost two decades.

Born as Huynh Van Ngoanh on February 25, 1963 in Bac Lieu, South Vietnam to a family of Hoa descent, he grew up speaking primarily Chinese in the dialects of Teochew and Cantonese.  At the age of 20, he fled from Vietnam and spent a year living in a refugee camp in Pulau Bidong, Malaysia before resettling in Los Angeles, California.  Unlike most other performing artists, Truong Vu began his professional singing career until much later during his thirties.  Due to his limited command of the Vietnamese language, he often found difficulty recording Vietnamese music.  According to Truong Vu, he had relied heavily on his girlfriend named Anh Thi who had helped him understand the meaning behind the songs' lyrics.  For five years, he studied under legendary Vietnamese singer/songwriter Duy Khanh who had coached him with proper pronunciation in Vietnamese and singing techniques.  Che Linh had also taken Truong Vu under his wings as his protégé.


Truong Vu has performed on stages for Vietnamese audiences in all four corners of the world.  In 2006, he performed for the very first time in a concert held in Vietnam.  In 2010, he returned to Vietnam to perform on two well-received live shows in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.  Truong Vu has recorded many duets with other artists such as Nhu Quynh, Phi Nhung, Tam Doan and Ngoc Huyen.  Among his most popular hit songs include Dam Cuoi Ngheo, Than Phan Ngheo, Ngheo Ma Co Tinh, Ba Thang Quan Truong, Hanh Trang Gia Tu and Thu Cho Vo Hien.  

Trish Thuy Trang

Trish Thuy Trang (1980-    ) is a Vietnamese-American singer and songwriter who had first gained prominence in the late 1990s with her video appearances and audio recordings for Asia Productions.

Born on December 15, 1980 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Trish Thuy Trang left Vietnam with her family to live in the United States while at a very young age.  The family first resettled in Sugarland, Texas before finally relocating to Southern California.  At the age of 17, Trish Thuy Trang sent in a demo tape to Asia Productions.  The following year, she was signed with a contract as an exclusive artist for Asia Productions and released her first solo studio album, Don't Know Why.  From her debut appearance on video for Asia Productions, viewer audiences were drawn to her unique style of singing and performing, a combination of both Eastern and Western flair, a reflection of her own upbringing being from Vietnam and having been raised in the United States.  In a short period of time, Trish Thuy Trang would join the ranks of Lam Nhat Tien, Lam Thuy Van and Shayla as one of Asia Productions' hottest new discoveries in the overseas Vietnamese music industry of the 1990s.  After the success of her first album in 1998, Trish Thuy Trang would follow up with solo studio albums, I'll Dream of You (1999) and Siren (2002), for the Asia Productions label.

In 2005, Trish Thuy Trang formed her own music production label, Triple T Productions.  That same year, she made a memorable appearance on Asia Productions in a duet of Y Van's May Lang Thang with legendary singer Kieu Nga.  She has since released three more solo studio albums:  Trish (2005). Shades of Blue (2008) and Whispers (2010).  She also writes most of the songs that she has recorded.  Among her most well received singles include Crossing Over, Stay a While, Paper Lantern, Without a Trace, Ice Queen and In the Middle of Nowhere.  

With a fan base that includes overseas Vietnamese audiences in Europe, Australia, North America and Asia, Trish Thuy Trang continues to perform at live shows all over the world.  She has been married since 2010 and is now a mother of two children, a son and a daughter.  Trish Thuy Trang sings, speaks and writes in both English and Vietnamese fluently.

Link(s):

Trish Thuy Trang's Official Website
Trish Thuy Trang on Facebook
Trish Thuy Trang on Twitter

Second Ten in a Row

In the following ten days, we will be featuring ten overseas Vietnamese celebrities for their contributions to Vietnamese culture abroad since 1975.  This is the second of our Ten in a Row series.

Overseas Viet Celebs Since 1975:

Trish Thuy Trang:  Singer

Truong Vu:  Singer

Thuy Tien:  Singer 

Viet Dzung:  Singer, Songwriter, Political Activist,
 Radio Talk Show Host, Columnist & Master of Ceremonies
for Asia Productions Live Show Music Video Series

Jennifer Pham:  Overseas Vietnamese Celebrity Personality,
 Former Beauty Queen and Model

Dai Trang:  Eurasian Singer of French and Vietnamese Descent

Nguyen Ngoc Ngan:  Host of Paris by Night Series

Thu Phuong:  Singer

Tran Thu Ha:  Singer 

Loan Chau:  Singer