Radio revival
In a breathy, confiding voice, radio disc-jockey Huyen
Thanh introduces the latest Vietnamese pop hit----a
paean to motherhood. "Songs about mothers always
move people's hearts, and that theme never grows old,"
she assures her audience.
That's about as daring as it gets on Green Wave, an
hour-long weekly radio show widely credited with
setting the pace for Vietnamese musical tastes. Aired on
the state-run Voice of Ho Chi Minh City People, the
show is targeted at 15-25-year-olds. But while youth
radio elsewhere in Asia thrives on banter, this show
plays it straight. Songs promoting family values and
nationalist loyalties mingle with lush ballads.
Since its launch in 1997, Green Wave has already
accomplished its first mission: Weaning tender young
ears from the melancholy pop churned out by overseas
ethnic-Vietnamese singers. With their tremulous
warbling to a plodding drumbeat and mournful guitar
riffs, such singers were all the rage when Vietnam
started to thaw in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
There was nothing particularly subversive about the
lyrics, but the downbeat mood and cultural dominance
from overseas made officials twitchy.
To steer listeners towards local pop, Green Wave
found a hook: In a nation that dishes out culture from on
high, it became the first radio station to invite audience
participation. These days the show gets about 1,500
requests a week, and music-industry heavies credit the
show with fuelling a boom in locally produced CDs and
cassettes.
Now Green Wave has a new mission: Overcoming the
stagnancy of the local pop scene. While Thanh, 32,
tries to introduce new singers to the airwaves, her
listeners keep requesting their favourites of four years
ago. "Emotionally speaking, it takes time for listeners to
change their idols," she says.
By Margot Cohen - The Far Eastern Economic Review - December 20, 2001.
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