VietNamNet Bridge - In the north, entertainment shows will be held chiefly inside elegant and cozy auditoriums. In the south, youthful and effervescent performances will take place outdoors

The first New Year celebration performance in Hanoi is Welcome Spring 2007 sponsored by VTV. It is the 7th time Welcome Spring will have been broadcast live on VTV. And for the first time, the programme will be held as a live musical show. "Large-scale with many special performances” is what organisers have promised viewers.

Singer My Linh, who held “My Linh Tour 2006”, is one of 20 people nominated for VTV’s person of the year competition.

To make Welcome Spring 2007 more meaningful, VTV entertainment editors have organised a competition called “Write and Vote for the Person of the year 2006”. VTV reporters nominated 20 people, one of which will be chosen by TV audiences to be the outstanding person of the year. The winner will receive a TV award on January 13, 2007, the night when Welcome Spring will take place. An audience member who has voted for the winner as well as written the best essay in support of the winner will receive the top prize: 25 million dong.

Youth Theatre will also contribute toward spring 2007 celebration activities with a programme called Welcome New Year, which includes comedies, music and songs. After two performance nights

(Dec. 30-31) at 11 Ngo Thi Nham, Welcome New Year will be held at the Hanoi Opera House on January 1, 2007. Famous singers such as Duc Khue, Anh Tu, Ngoc Huyen and many others will perform on the night at the Opera House. Right after this show, on January 1, 2007, another musical show called A Little of Seasonal Wind sponsored by the Theatre of Music and Dancing will also take place at the Opera House. Participating singers include Luu Thien Huong, Anh Tu, and Trong Tan. Audience members will have the chance to listen to youthful and happy songs about spring like Lang nghe mua xuan ve (hear spring coming) or Khuc dao mua xuan (spring melody).

Singer Dam Vinh Hung will perform in the spring celebration show “A New Sunny Day" at Lan Anh Musical Centre.

In order to prove its determination to overcome difficulties in recent years, The Vietnamese Circus League has decided to show audiences its best performances. In 2007, besides international/national award-winning performances, Circus League members will perform new, interesting and lively items. The Circus to Celebrate New Year will be held at the National Circus Theatre, promising audiences exciting and happy holiday moments.

Thang Long Puppetry Theatre will attract audiences with Puppetry Spring Celebration. The theatre will increase the number of shows held in daytime, and from 4pm to 9:15pm everyday from now until the end of January 2.

In HCM City, performance companies will organise a series of musical shows with the theme Celebrating New Year 2007. Shows will be held from 8pm to 10pm every night until the first day of 2007 at 23/09 Park. Many top pop singers of HCM City will gather on these nights, which will be free to the public.

On the nights of December 30 and January 1, Lan Anh Musical Centre will organise a musical programme called A New Sunny Day. The show will include spring celebration songs as well as 50 gifts for lucky audience members. Participants include singers Ai Van, Dam Vinh Hung, Thanh Thao, Ly Hai, Doan Trang, Hien Thuc, and the comedy group, Minh Nhi - Viet Huong.

Singer Dam Vinh Hung will perform in the spring celebration show “A New Sunny Day" at Lan Anh Musical Centre.

The Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Music will hold Meeting II. Following the successful Meeting I, the show Meeting II will take place on December 30 at the stately and cozy auditorium of the Institute. Classical music lovers from all walks of life will gather and give special performances. Tickets are being distributed free at 112 Nguyen Du, District 1, HCM City.

The streets around 30/4 Park and Chi Lang Park are witnessing many large-scale photo exhibitions to celebrate New Year with the theme HCM City on the road of development, Saigon Beauty, and Events in HCM City in 2006. Tourists and local residents can share in the happy atmosphere of the Childhood Festival, and at the same time, contemplate photos capturing the beauty of old and new Saigon as well as important economic, political and cultural events of 2006. Street galleries will be held until the end of January 1.

(Source: VNE)