“We hope that the audience that comes tonight will have a good time and be reminded that music has boundless power to fuel the energy of the youth on the journey to touch their dreams,” the famous R&B singer said at a press conference in Hanoi yesterday.
Monica will join Vietnamese crooner Phuong Vy and Japanese rock band Okamoto’s at the annual concert to entertain Vietnamese audiences with a lively blend of pop, rock, and R&B music.
“This is the first time I have been to Vietnam, and I feel more welcome than almost anywhere else I have visited. I feel very honoured to perform with Okamoto’s, a talented young Japanese rock band, and Phuong Vy, a beautiful Vietnamese singer with an amazing voice,” Monica said.
The artists promise to energise the public with a fantastic range of art and music, offering an experience that will evoke a variety of emotions.
“I applaud Hennessy organising such an amazing event, which has introduced many talented, internationally recognised artists from different corners of the world to Vietnam to satisfy the demands of young audiences, and also promotes Vietnamese artists and music to international friends,” said Vuong Duy Bien, Head of the Department of Performing Arts, the concert's co-organiser.
Born in 1980 in the US state of Georgia, Monica began performing as a child and joined a traveling gospel choir when she was 10. In 1998, her second album ‘The Boy Is Mine’ earned her major international chart success. The number-one title track, a duet with singer Brandy, also earned her Grammy Award in 1999, which then spawned two more chart-topping hits in US, ‘The First Night’ and ‘Angel of Mine’.
With a career lasting over 15 years, she was listed in the Top 50 R&B and Hip Hop Artists of the past 25 years by the US Billboard charts in 2010.
The four-member Japanese band Okamoto’s began in 2007 after a successful performance at a high school and is now considered one of Japan’s rising rock stars. This is the band's third tour in Vietnam, after their performances in May and November 2011. Vocalist Sho Okamoto said that they are all excited to return to Vietnam, which they think is a very friendly country, and they cannot wait to storm the stage tonight.
Twenty five year old singer Phuong Vy was the first runner-up of the Vietnam Idol singing competition in 2007. She has produced six albums of pop music, ballads, R&B, dance and jazz, and she has become very popular with enthusiastic young audiences for her sweet voice and fresh, youthful style.
“It is my great privilege to share the stage with Monica. I have been a big fan of hers since I was in sixth grade,” Vy said, adding that she could never have imagined that someday she would be so close to her idol and thanked Hennessy for making her dream come true.
The Hennessy Artistry concert has been held annually in Vietnam since 2008 by the Moet Hennessy Asia Pacific Company and the Department of Performing Arts under the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It has become one of the most eagerly anticipated annual musical shows, bringing leading international artists to the Vietnamese stage and breaking down barriers through the power of music.
