
MojaveDan
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Vietnam is more developed than most give that country credit for. Their cable TV contains lots of American channels (CNN, Discovery Channel, MTV, HBO, etc.). Satellite TV is common, which opens more access to American and International TV. All that in mind, American stars are also big stars in Vietnam. Two American stars shine brighter than anyone else in Vietnam.
Angela Jolie and Brad Pitt are extremely popular for perhaps obvious reasons. In fact, Angela Jolie is becoming more popular than Ho Chi Minh. John Wayne is very popular with the older Vietnamese, and what they envision Americans to be.
VTV has Vietnamese variants of popular American game shows, such as The Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune, etc. Their version of The Price is Right has the big prize as a new motorbike instead of a new car. Their local and national news has the same flavor as American newscasts. By the way.. I dated the weather newscaster on VTV 6.
Their regular programming varies as like American TV, but perhaps not as wide of a selection. There is probably more drama and soap opera style shows in Vietnam. As Ong Jon mentioned, Chinese soap operas are very popular in Vietnam as well as the rest of Southeast Asia. Chinese soap operas are too campy for my taste, but the Vietnamese seem to like watching them. Someone is always dieing in those shows, which makes them tragic and sad.
Although there is a lot of access to American music, Vietnamese music dominates in Vietnam for obvious and not so obvious reasons. Most Vietnamese music tells stories within them. What fascinates me about Vietnamese music is how it's played. The instruments they use has history that dates back hundreds of years and require rather difficult skill sets to play them well.
I'm not sure which Vietnamese star is the most popular. I was introduced to a husband and wife who was supposed two of the most popular singers there, but I didn't realize it at the time. I do know that Nguyen Cao Ky's daughter, Duyen, is very popular there. She MC's many shows in Vietnam and has become very popular in her own right. |