Nam Dan won first prize in the 2018 school folk song competition

This is the fourth time the Folk Song Competition in Schools has been organized from the grassroots to the provincial level. Under the direct guidance of the Provincial People's Committee and the coordination of relevant departments, branches and sectors, the competition was successful and highly appreciated for its quality.

"Lotus fragrance for Uncle Ho" - the A prize winning performance of Nam Dan district. Photo: My Ha

Accordingly, in terms of expertise, most of the teams followed the rules of the competition, ensuring the program duration (no more than 30 minutes), the ratio of original folk songs, adapted folk songs, new lyrics, folk songs for regions and ethnic groups in Nghe An province. The program structure was basically reasonable, rich in genres and had a serious, elaborate and quality investment in staging.

Some performances have new, interesting, practical ideas and themes, are highly educational, deeply humane, and bring emotions to the audience.

A performance of Thai ethnic folk songs. Photo: My Ha

In particular, this contest featured many young talented faces, possessing sweet voices, fluently performing folk songs and quite confident performing styles.

Speaking at the closing and award ceremony, the representative of the organizing committee also pointed out the shortcomings such as there are still some programs that have not been invested in expertise but only assembled performances from the grassroots, so the theme is not coherent and the structure is not tight.

Besides, most mountainous districts have not focused on exploiting the folk song identity of ethnic minorities in their localities; there is still a lack of original folk songs of ethnic groups such as Khmu, Mong, Tho, Thai...

People's Artist Hong Luu presented the promising prize and subsidiary prizes of the contest. Photo: My Ha

Awarding A prizes for individual prizes. Photo: My Ha

From the success of this contest, the organizing committee also launched a movement to teach and sing folk songs in schools for the period 2018 - 2020. At the same time, it proposed appropriate directions and measures to make the folk songs of Vi, Giam, and ethnic minorities in Nghe An province increasingly maintained and promoted in schools in particular, and among the people and community in general.

The College of Culture and Arts and the Center for Preservation and Promotion of Nghe An Folk Heritage presented decisions and awards to students admitted directly to the school. Photo: My Ha

Director of the Department of Education and Training and representative of the Propaganda Department presented the Certificate of Merit of the Provincial People's Committee to Nam Dan unit. Photo: My Ha

At the end of the contest, the organizing committee awarded 12 collective prizes. Of which, the first prize went to Nam Dan district; the second prize went to Yen Thanh and Thanh Chuong districts; and the third prize went to Nghia Dan, Con Cuong and Dien Chau districts. The following units: Nghi Loc, Vinh city, Anh Son, Do Luong, Tan Ky, Quy Hop received the encouragement prize.

At the ceremony, the organizing committee also awarded 40 A, B, and C prizes to outstanding performances. Two students, Ha Quynh Nhu (Yen Thanh district) and Nguyen Huu Dat (Nam Dan district) won the promising prize. Contestant Nguyen Thi Quynh Nhi (Nghia Dan district) and teacher Ngo Thi Van Anh (Dien Chau district) won the subsidiary prize for the youngest contestant and the best self-written author.