Ethnic singer Siu Black, an idol among Vietnamese youth, will perform her hard-driving highlands rock in HCM City on Sunday.

Siu Black is more popular than other pop stars but is not as fashionable.

The Dac Lac-based singer will appear in her first solo concert with minority singers Y Zak and Boneur Trinh, and her young sisters Siu Nam and Siu Loan, before an expected audience of 2,000.

"Ethnic minority music is like a river that runs in my soul forever," she says.

As is her custom, her concert stage will be simple, with no high-tech equipment. The concert will be broadcast live on VTV3 and on Voice of Vietnam's FM radio.

The simply dressed Siu Black isn't as fashionable as pop stars Thanh Lam and Hong Nhung, but she's more popular. Last year, she was one of several Vietnamese singers chosen to attend an international music and art festival in France.

"I've travelled to many places around the world," says the 37-year old. "But I just enjoy using my voice while singing in my homeland, especially my Central Highlands (Tay Nguyen)."

"My voice becomes stronger and more powerful when I breathe, eat and drink in my highlands."

At the ASEAN Golden Vocalists' Festival held in Vietnam in 1995, she drove her fans wild, competing with many participants from other countries to win first prize.

Siu Black studied at the Dac Lac Music School in 1985, and in 1996 won top prize at an Asian pop-rock festival held in Japan.

Preparing for her first show in HCM City, she says she's just bringing "a few ethnic instruments and clothes."

"I love my country. I love my compatriots and love trees, springs, mountains in the highlands. I don't care about money and glory. I sing by my soul, my blood and my passion," says Siu Black, a former official of the Kon Tum Electricity Department.

She now lives at her home in Buon Me Thuot. "When I was a girl, I liked to sing folk songs of our ethnic minority people."

Organised by Vietnam Television (VTV3), she hopes her show, Loi Ru Dai Ngan (Melody of the High Mountains), will bring to mind highland scenes of young girls and boys working in the fields among the area's mountains.

Her repertoire will include 12 pop and rock songs written by well-known musicians Nguyen Cuong, Tran Tien and E De minority composer Y Phon K'Sor, including Ly Ca Phe Ban Me (A Cup of Ban Me Coffee), Doi Mat Pleiku (Pleiku Eyes), Nhip Chieng Buon K'siar (K'siar Village's Gong Rhythm) and Di Tim Loi Ru Mat Troi (Seeking Sun's Lullaby).

Sponsored by Nescafe, the show will take place at 8pm on March 28 at the Lan Anh Club at 291 Cach Mang Thang Tam in District 10.

Tickets, ranging from VND50,000 (US$3) to VND200,000 ($12), are available at the Lan Anh Club and the Cat Tien Sa Advertising Company at 5B Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in District 1.

(Source: Viet Nam News)