A nostalgic look at the past and the hearty welcome to the future will mark the 15 th anniversary of “Duyen Dang Vietnam” (Charming Vietnam) music gala this year, organisers said on December 10.

The 21 st edition of the four-day music gala on New Year’s Eve will open to the strains of the international hit “Bonjour Vietnam” by Vietnamese-Belgian singer Pham Quynh Anh, composed by French singer and composer Marc Lavoine.

Nguyen Cong Khe, chairman of the Thanh Nien Media Corporation which initiated the event, said “The song made her famous among the Vietnamese people, and it will be the theme of Duyen Dang Vietnam 21– Chao Vietnam (Hello Vietnam ).”

Addressing a press conference held to announce the event on December 10, Khe said that the event had been the launching pad for many famous Vietnamese singers like My Linh, Thanh Lam, Dang Vinh Hung, Quang Dung and Duc Tuan.

“In return, all of them gather together at the end of every year in this annual programme, which can be considered one of the largest music and fashion shows of the year.”

Popular overseas Vietnamese singers – Elvis Phuong and Duy Quang will perform the song “Tro ve mai nha xua” (Vietnamese version of Come Back to Soriento) with lyrics by composer Pham Duy.

“Singer Dam Vinh Hung asked me to compose a song to reciprocate Pham Quynh Anh’s “Bonjour Vietnam ”. I hope that the song “Chao Vietnam mot ngay moi” (Hello Vietnam on a New Day) written by Hung and music composed by myself will be a special highlight of this programme,” musician Le Quang said.

Also making a comeback marking participation in earlier editions of the event will be Vietnamese models and specials guests like Miss Universe Thailand 2007, Farung Juthithum, and former Miss Vietnam pageant winners Ha Kieu Anh, Truong Ngoc Anh, Giang My and Jennifer Pham.

They will present the three latest collections of designers Sifa Fashion, Son Collection and Quynh Paris.

Aside from music and fashion, this year will so see the return of a comedy scripted by famous director The Ngu, performed by comedians Hoai Linh, Chi Tai, and Cat Phuong, Le Quang said.

The music gala is a fund raising event for two charities founded by Thanh Nien – Talents of Vietnam and Nguyen Thai Binh Scholarship Funds. Tickets to the event have been priced at between 200,000 VND (11 USD) and 2 million VND (108 USD).

It will run every night from December 31 to January 3, 2010 at HCM City ’s Hoa Binh Theatre./.