2011 was the year in which Vietnamese fans welcomed more international celebrities to the country than ever before. Tuoitrenews has compiled a list of 10 celebrity sensations that stormed their way into the hearts of Vietnamese fans this year.
6. David Archuleta:
While Hanoi was hit by the winner of American Idol 2008, HCMC was heated up by the contest’s runner-up, David Archuleta, the next month.
The famous 21-year-old singer arrived on July 7th at Tan Son Nhat Airport, where hundreds of fans welcomed him with flowers and banners.
The next day, Archuleta shared the stage at Military Zone 7′s Stadium with top Vietnamese singers like Ho Ngoc Ha, Dam Vinh Hung, Dong Nhi, 2010 Vietnam Idol winner Uyen Linh and runner-up Van Mai Huong, in the “Idol Music Event 2011” concert.
Accompanied by his own 5-member band from America, David dressed simply and sang more than 10 songs, all of which were either his greatest hits including “Touch My Hand,” “A Little Too Not Over You,” “Elevator,” and “Crush,” or selected from his recently released album “The Other Side of Down,” such as “Something About Love,” “The Other Side of Down,” “Everybody Want to Rule the World,” and “My Kind of Perfect”.
After the show in the city, the young singer flew to Hanoi to give his fans there a concert on July 24th.
7. Kim Hyun Joong:
In early August, teenagers in HCMC were swept up by the news that one of their idols, well-known South Korean actor and singer Kim Hyun Joong, would visit Vietnam in a tour to be held by the Korean cosmetic brand THEFACESHOP, of which he is the exclusive ambassador, for two days from August 11th.
When he arrived at Tan Son Nhat Airport on August 10th, the Korean star drew hundreds of fans who were in tears upon seeing him.
On August 12th, as pat of his trip named “Asia Tour with Kim Hyun Joong” in the city, the artist raised VND207 million (US$ 9,950) by auctioning three of his life-size photos and a sport T-shirt at a fund raising event which attracted as many as 3,000 of Kim’s fans.
After causing several traffic jams at the places he visited thanks to his huge amount of fans, Kim pleased his supporters by saying that he might come back to Vietnam for a concert in an interview with Tuoi Tre Newspaper.
8. Westlife:
October came to Hanoi this year with four members of the Irish boy band Westlife, who hit the capital city with their concert on the first day of the month.
Thousands of their fans, including many foreigners, packed My Dinh Stadium on October 1st to chant the names of the men and sing along with them.
Despite the bad weather, Mark Feehily, Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, and Kian Egan brought their fans a night to remember with popular songs including “My Love”, “Seasons In The Sun”, “You Raise Me Up,” “World of Our Own,” “What About Now” and “Uptown Girl,” and the surprising cover of five songs – Viva La Vida (Coldplay), Only Girl (Rihanna), The Time (Black Eyed Peas), Bad Romance (Lady Gaga), and I Predict A Riot (Kaiser Chiefs).
In the 100-minute show, which included over 20 songs, the four well-dressed men, though all over the age of 30, still made many young fans burst into tears with their music and friendliness.
After the show ended, Nicky immediately logged onto Twitter to share the 32-second clip he filmed of the moment thousands of Vietnamese fans cheered and sang along with the hit “My Love”.
9. 2NE1:
In November, Hanoi was once again hit by the Hallyu (Korean wave) caused by the popular South Korean girl band 2NE1.
At the beginning of the month, hundreds of members of the Black Jack, the official name of the band’s fan club, had put on an impressive flashmob performance to the back ground music of 2NE1’s hits like “Fire,” “Go away” and “Cant’ Nobody” at Thong Nhat Park to welcome the four beautiful girls from South Korea.
On November 19th, more than 3,000 fans flocked to Hanoi’s National Convention Center to attend their idol’s concert titled “Idols’ night – Going together Concert in Vietnam with 2NE1.”
At the show, the four-piece band, including CL, Dara, Bom and Minzy, sang their hits including “Fire”, “I don’t care”, “Can’t nobody”, “In the club”, “Go away”, “Hate you,” and “Ugly”.
Additionally, Vietnam Idol 2007 Phuong Vy wowed audiences with her cover of 2NE1’s hit “Lonely”, while Vietnam Idol 2008 runner-up Thanh Duy amazed with his performance of the song “Fate”, from the sound track of the famous Korean movie “Full House”.
At the end of the concert, the organizers handed over VND300million (US$15,000) for Vietnamese students with good academic results.
10. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt:
Hollywood star couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and their six kids enjoyed a six-day vacation in Vietnam in the middle of November, causing a stir among local fans and media.
The family visited Tokyo to promote Pitt’s latest movie, “Moneyball,” and decided to bring Pax Thien, their adopted Vietnamese child, home as they had promised earlier.
The couple landed at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport on November 10th and then took a flight to Con Dao Island to spend their holiday at the five-star Six Senses Resort.
All information about their visit to Vietnam was kept secret. The family’s itinerary was a closely-guarded secret and often changed to elude the media and fans.
The couple had secret contracts with service providers, who had to pay them compensation if they leaked any information about their visit.
During the stay, they made a visit to the “tiger cages” at the Con Dao War Prison.
After the family left Vietnam, the American celebrity news outlet Us Magazine reported in its issue on November 21st that the couple’s adopted Vietnamese son, Pax Thien, was reunited with his biological grandmother, named Nhan, during the family’s trip.
However, local newswire Vnexpress reported Tuesday that Nhan said she did not make a trip to Con Dao to see her grandson. She also confirmed that Pax did not see any of his biological family members.
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