The incident has divided the Internet community into two groups with opposite opinions. The first group argues that by posing for the sexy photos, Mai Phuong Thuy has damaged the Ao Dai, a symbol of the gentle and pure beauty of Vietnamese women. The second group feels the photos are tasteful and artistic.

On February 7, Mai Phuong Thuy sent an email to the web site which posted the photos. She apologized, explaining that the photo shoot took place when she was only 19 or 20 years old, unaware of the issues at stake and that she erred in her judgment.

source from: thanhniennews

That year, Rock joked that producers who couldn’t getRussell Crowe shouldn’t settle for Colin Farrell, and ones who couldn’t get Tom Cruise shouldn’t settle for Law. “Who is Jude Law?” he asked. “Why was he in every movie I’ve seen for the last four years?”

The line, which prompted Penn’s retort when the actor took the stage to present the Best Actress award late in the show, was part of a wide-ranging, biting and, if truth be told, pretty funny monologue in which the comic insisted that Hollywood only really had a handful of true movie stars. “The rest,” he said, “are just popular people.”

“Clint Eastwood is a star,” he said. “Tobey Maguire’s just a boy in tights.”

Rock joins an Oscar show list of stars and popular people that in recent days has also come to include Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone and Penelope Cruz.

The full lineup of presenters announced so far: Rock, Cooper, Stone, Cruz, Halle Berry, Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie, Milla Jovovich, Jennifer Lopez and “Bridesmaids” stars Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Wendy McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig.

When the Oscars ended in 2005, by the way, Rock left the stage and immediately spotted Sean Penn, who was standing just outside the nearby green room. “Sean!” he shouted. “It was just a joke, man!” Penn laughed, and the two men embraced.

The 84th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 26 at the Kodak Theater.

source from: yahoo

Vietnamese movie “Ngoc Vien Dong” (Pearls Of The Far East) won two titles at the 14th California Independent Film Festival in San Francisco city in California, USA last week.

Directed by Cuong Ngo and starred by famous local actors who agreed to work without pay, like People’s Artist Nhu Quynh, Truong Ngoc Anh, Hong Anh and Ngo Thanh Van, the movie was awarded “Best Music” and “Best Cinematography” prizes at the festival.

“Ngoc Vien Dong” is a series of seven short films about seven Vietnamese women of different generations and was adapted from Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc’s stories, including “Trang huyet” (Bloody Moon),”Sac” (Beauty), “Ky su nguoi dan ba bi chong bo” (Memoir of a woman abandoned by her husband), “Goi Cam Le” (Cam Le package), “Hai ben nui anh” (The two sides of the photo mountain).

The movie was shot in beautiful landscapes around Vietnam such as the mountainous town of Sapa, the coastal city of Phan Thiet, the ancient town of Hoi An and the crowded Ho Chi Minh City.

It will be screened at the 7th annual Women’s Film & Art Festival in Miami, Florida, from March 25 to April 1 and will be introduced to Vietnamese audiences on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, March 8.

source from: tuoitrenews

Vietnamese young models Hoang Thuy and Tuyet Lan have landed more photo shoot offers after their first show at this year’s New York Fashion Week.

Last Monday, the pair had their first international debut walking in the Autumn–Winter collection by African-born designer Korto Momolu, highlighted as one of the “Top 5 Designers to Watch” by New York Magazine for the Fall 2010 collection at New York fashion week.

At 176 centimeters in height, Thuy and Lan are new names in the domestic fashion industry, which has quickly embraced the two promising faces coming out of the show Vietnam’s Next Top Model.

Lan was the popular runner-up of its first season while architecture student Hoang Thuy topped season two in 2011.

Le Thi Quynh Trang, executive producer of the model search program said after the Korto Momolu show that the young models were fully booked for photo shoot sessions with New York-based fashion stylists and photographers until they leave the city on February 20.

Accompanying the two on their first trip to New York, Trang said they did a good job in their first show and made an impression on fashion experts there.

Dan Tri Newswire said spotted in the front row at Korto Momolu’s were J. Alexander, a judge on the well-known America’s Next Top Model, and Adrew Leon Talley, a contributing editor of America Vogue and also a judge on America’s Next Top Model.

Also walking for the Korto Momolu show were four finalists from Germany’s Next Top Model 2012.

“We came here with just 2 invitations for two shows; therefore, we thought it would be more like a learning experience for the girls. But things have changed beyond our expectation now, they have received more offers and I believe they can make the best of these opportunities,” Trang said.

According to a spokesperson for BeU Model, the managing agency of the two models, New York’s fashion experts said Hoang Thuy was very promising and could be a representative face of Asian models in the future.

Thuy and Lan’s next show will be the LaureLuxe Autumn-Winter jewelry collection by native New Yorker designer Laurel Mae DeWitt on Sunday, February 19, 2012.

After the New York trip, BeU Models plans to send Thuy to Paris to seek opportunity to launch her international career.

Young model Hoang Thuy

source from: tuoitrenews

From the left: Minh Vuong and Minh Tu.

The competition is part of the 7th Asian Model Festival, which draws models from nearly 20 Asian countries.

“I’m very lucky to be nominated for this event. I will take this chance to market the image of Vietnamese models to the world,” said Minh Tu, who won the Impressive Supermodel prize at the Vietnam Supermodel 2011. She was born in 1992, 1.78m tall, 85-59-92 in body measurement.

Model Hong Phuc.

Minh Vuong is a male model who was born in 1990. He is 1.84m tall. Vuong took the Best Shape prize at the Vietnam Supermodel 2009.

Another Vietnamese model – Hong Phuc – is invited to join the event as an advertising model.

Minh Tu.

The Young Faces of Asia is held to seek young, outstanding faces who can build up their modeling career in South Korea and Asian countries.

The event will take place before the final night of the Asian Model Festival, which has the participation of two Vietnamese representatives: Nhu Thao and Doan Tuan.

source form: vietnamnet

Well-known French electronic artist Alex Millan is set to perform at the French cultural centre l’Espace in Hanoi next month, after great success in the capital in 2010 and 2011.

The 30 year-old producer and DJ took part in Hanoi Sound Stuff, an international electronic music festival in 2010, and was highly acclaimed by the Vietnamese public. The same year, he released his first album The Collection: Triple. His tracks are also featured on records by Depeche Mode, Daft Punk, Paul Kalkbrenner, Trentemoller and James Zabiela.

After 15 years in the industry, Millan’s music wavers between rhythm, melody, and melancholy. With a style marked by his experiences and inspirations, he seduces wide audiences in search of electronic stars.

Tickets for the concert will go on sale at l’Espace, 24 Trang Tien from January 19.

source form: tuoitrenews

“I have invested all of my energy and passion in my new album for the Tet season,” said pop star Dam Vinh Hung.

To finish his DVD, Chuc Xuan – Ben Em Mua Xuan (Happy Tet – Enjoy Spring Together), Hung worked with a group of professionals in the field.

“Singing lyrical tunes by veteran musicians such as Nguyen Ngoc Thien and Quoc Dung is not an easy task,” said Hung, winner of the Mai Vang (Golden Ochna) award for the most favourite male singer of 2011.

Hung spent several months in a studio to perfect his recording. “I sang with my heart and soul,” he said.

Hung’s DVD features 14 songs in pop and dance music, including La Hoi’s Xuan va Tuoi Tre (Spring and Youth) and Dung’s Diep Khuc Mua Xuan (Spring’s Melodies).

The album’s guest singers, Duong Trieu Vu and Hong Ngoc, performed confidently with their idol Hung.

Singer Ho Ngoc Ha is also confident that her latest album, Ngay Tet Que Em (Tet in My Native Land) – a CD of 20 popular songs in praise of spring written by famous composers like Duong Thu, Minh Ky and Hoai An, will do well.

The highlight of her album is Ngay Tet Que Em by Tu Huy, which has been sung many times by other artistes, young and old.

Ha recorded the song with her younger colleagues Minh Hang, Nhu Quynh, Ai Phuong and V.Music – one of the country’s most favourite pop bands.

“Ha’s album is an unusual CD for her fans,” said music critic Pham Hoang Nam, noting that the singer and her producer spent a lot of efforts to make the CD a high quality product in both appearance and content.

Young singers Hang, Quynh and Phuong also worked on other albums for release during the Tet festival.

Veteran singers Ho Quynh Huong, Quang Dung and My Le have worked with HCM City Television to produce DVD Dat Nuoc Mua Xuan (Spring-Country).

The album has nine songs and a track, including Chao Mua Xuan (Hello Spring) and Mua Xuan (Spring Rain), popular songs on online music forums.

Meanwhile, Ha Noi-based Trang Nhung finished recording her latest album, Trang Nhung Xuan (Trang Nhung and Spring), featuring romantic songs about the capital city and spring that she promises “will have new and strange things to surprise my fans”.

The CD will be released this Sunday.

source form: tuoitrenews

The programme’s photographer, DOM, took pictures of the quartet in Ao Dai (Vietnamese traditional long dress) designed by Vo Viet Chung and colorful dresses from the Valenciani collection.

From the left: Le Thi Thuy, Hoang Thi Thuy, Thuy Trang and Tra My.

The third and the fourth contestants of Vietnam’s Next Top Model 2011
Le Thi Thuy and Thuy Trang.

The first and the second contestants, Hoang Thi Thuy and Tra My.

Le Thi Thuy and Hoang Thi Thuy.

Thuy Trang and Tra My.

Tra My.

Tra My.

Thuy Trang.

source form: vietnamnet

This is one of the three flower festivals in the city, which opened on the evening of January 16,
entitled “Country Flowers”. The festival will last for one week. In photo: The symbol of the Year
of the Dragon, which is 46m long, 3m high. This work is made by waste and placed at the gate.

Entitled “Country Flowers,” the festival features familiar landscapes of the countryside.

Green rice-fields with white storks and puppets are the most impressive.

A gourd trellis laden with fruits.

A blossom maize field.

Papaya trees with yellow fruits on the riverside.

Kids play around a stack of straw…

… or cross a bamboo bridge.

Fishing net.

Ox carts, the major mean of transport in the past of farmers.

The country wharf in the sundown.

source form: vietnamnet

New York-based designer Vera Wang, best known for her bridal collections, has announced she’s launching a tuxedo collectioncalled Black by Vera Wang.

A report in WWD December 15 revealed Wang’s formalwear line for men will reach all Men’s Wearhouse stores in the US late Spring 2012, as well as being available at the company’s Moores Clothing for Men units in Canada.

The debut collection will be available for rental in two fits and two colors (black and gray). Prices begin at $219.99 for a complete rental outfit.

Wang, who also announced the August launch of a children’s apparel and jewelry line called Princess Vera Wang at US departments store Kohl’s earlier this week, is the latest creator to branch into menswear, highlighting the rising interest in male fashion.

American creator Isaac Mizrahi also announced December 15 that he will launch a collection of dress shirts and neck attire at American department and specialty stores for Fall 2012.

The designer signed a licensing agreement with clothing company Burma Bibas, but prices have not yet been determined.

Meanwhile, Parisian-based luxury men’s footwear brand Berluti will reveal its first menswear line at Paris menswear fashion week in January. The collection has been designed by Alessandro Sartori, the man behind leading Italian menswear specialists Ermenegildo Zegna’s Z Zegna line.

source form: yahoo