Nominations for the 2015 Dedication Awards: Quite a few surprises.
The organizers of the 2015 Dedication Music Awards have announced the list of nominees for the 7 categories of this year's awards. Besides the nominees that were "predicted" beforehand, there were also quite a few surprises, both exciting and disappointing!
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| The band Oplus made a surprising and interesting nomination. |
Pleasant surprises
The nomination that surprised many journalists the most was the appearance of the band Oplus in the New Artist of the Year category. Having won the runner-up prize in the X Factor competition, Oplus made a strong impression with their professionalism and systematic approach to performing songs. The group covered many famous international songs as well as familiar Vietnamese songs, but with a fresh, youthful, and modern spirit that won over many audiences. Oplus was even considered the strongest contender for the X Factor winner title, only losing to Giang Hong Ngoc due to a microphone malfunction during the final night, which disrupted their performance and severely affected their morale in the subsequent act. Oplus's runner-up finish was disappointing for many viewers, even though Giang Hong Ngoc's performances in the final night were significantly better.
Compared to the general standard of the 2014 music market, Oplus wasn't exceptionally outstanding. However, given the declining number of music groups in the market, Oplus was a promising name. They weren't newly formed from the X Factor competition; they had been together for about six years, so they understood each other well and were determined to stay together and develop. With good, versatile vocals and a fairly modern musical vision, Oplus was truly a breath of fresh air for Vietnamese showbiz in 2014 and beyond.
Some other nominations were also surprising, even though they were truly deserving. For example, My Tam's Heart Beat show. This live show, held in both the North and South of Vietnam, attracted a huge audience and the quality of the music was quite good. However, many opinions suggest that it was more accurately a show organized by a phone company, and the free tickets made the organization quite easy. Because of these factors, My Tam's Heart Beat might not have been nominated, but it ultimately made it into the Program of the Year category and became one of the strong contenders.
In addition, some other nominations were quite surprising, such as the album "Dai Lo Don Gio" (Thao Trang), which has fairly good musical quality but hasn't received much media attention, or Tran Lap in the "Composer of the Year" category. Although his album "Dat Viet" was very impressive and enthusiastically received by rock fans, its release in mid-December 2014 seems relatively late in terms of timing… Nevertheless, from a professional standpoint, these are well-deserved nominations because of their contributions to music.
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| Vũ Cát Tường missed out on both the Song of the Year nomination (Yêu xa) and Album of the Year nominations (Giải mã), despite being highly regarded. |
Regrets...
Perhaps the most regrettable omissions were Vũ Cát Tường's song "Yêu xa" (Love from Afar) and Khắc Hưng's failure to be nominated for Song of the Year, and Khắc Hưng's failure to be nominated for New Artist of the Year. Prior to this, "Yêu xa" had won the press award (voted on by journalists from both North and South Vietnam) at the 2014 Vietnam Song Awards. "Yêu xa" truly dominated the market throughout the year. Khắc Hưng's contribution to Nguyễn Trần Trung Quân's debut CD, "Khởi hành," was immense. He also received the award for Effective Arrangement at the Vietnam Song Awards and was highly regarded by experts as a promising young talent with a bright future.
Another disappointment for Dinh Manh Ninh is that his CD "Run" was not nominated in the Album of the Year category. "Run" can be considered a truly high-quality musical product, leaving a strong mark on Dinh Manh Ninh's career as a songwriter. Composer Anh Quan once stated: "Dinh Manh Ninh doesn't compose according to trends or fads just to keep up with the Joneses; he truly has the ability to compose. Ninh's songs are quite good, and this is an advantage for him if he continues to pursue his passion for songwriting; he can sing his own songs without having to worry too much about songwriting."
Besides the pleasant surprises and regrets mentioned above, the remaining nominations are all very deserving, demonstrating the organizers' close attention to the showbiz industry over the past year. Another notable point is the inclusion of numerous young faces in the nominations, such as Nguyen Tran Trung Quan, Huyen Sambi, Thao Trang, the Oplus group, Vu Thang Loi, Pham Toan Thang, Ai Phuong, Vu Cat Tuong, etc., showing that youthful energy has truly spread widely and convinced professionals in the industry. This is perhaps a very encouraging sign for Vietnamese pop music in the coming years.
Nominated for the 2015 Dedication Award
Song of the Year
Four Words (composed by Pham Toan Thang; performed by Truc Nhan and Thao Nhi)
Falling in Love (composed by Ai Phuong; performed by Trung Quan Idol)
A Distant Island (author: The Song)
The Homeland Calls My Name (Music by Dinh Trung Can; Lyrics by Nguyen Phan Que Mai)
New Artist of the Year
Vu Thang Loi
OPlus Group
Nguyen Tran Trung Quan
Huyen Sambi
Album of the Year
A brand new me (Ta Quang Thang)
Wind-catching Boulevard (Thao Trang)
Meet me in the very winter (Nguyen Dinh Thanh Tam)
Departure (Nguyen Tran Trung Quan)
Listen (Pham Anh Khoa)
Program of the Year
HeartBeat (My Tam)
Ho Ngoc Ha Live Concert 2014 (Ho Ngoc Ha)
Monsoon Music Festival 2014 (Thanh Viet Company)
Tran Manh Tuan and the symphony orchestra (Tran Manh Tuan)
Program series of the year
Vietnamese Song (VTV - Cat Tien Sa)
Proud Melody (VTV - Motion Media)
In The Spotlight (My Thanh Company)
RockStorm (MobiFone)
Young hit, young beat (Viettel Television Company and Dieu Thanh Company)
Musician of the Year
Tran Lap
Ta Quang Thang
Pham Toan Thang
Vu Cat Tuong.
Singer of the Year
Ho Ngoc Ha
My Tam
Nguyen Dinh Thanh Tam
Tung Duong
According to VnMedia
