Show Director | Viet Tu
Bong ai qua them is a special music program produced by Dream Studio for Hanoi1, Hanoi Radio and Television, between late 2008 and 2009. Taking its name from the renowned pre-war song by composer Van Chung, the program evoked a deeply nostalgic musical atmosphere, yet reframed through the contemporary perspectives and sensibilities of a new generation of artists.
A defining highlight of the show was the convergence of distinct musical personalities: Ha Tran returning to perform in Vietnam after her time in the US, sharing the stage with Ho Ngoc Ha, Nguyen Thao, and various other artists to create a highly diverse musical tapestry. Rather than presenting a conventional sequence of performances, Dream Studio meticulously curated how each voice inhabited the program's atmosphere, from the song selection to the visual aesthetic and the precise stage entrance of each artist.
The title Bong ai qua them (A Shadow Across the Porch) also served as crucial conceptual material for Dream Studio to develop the project's visual language. The imagery of a fleeting silhouette, intertwined with old memories and the melancholy of an unfulfilled encounter, established the night's distinctive mood. Consequently, the pre-war musical elements became the starting point to connect with the voices and expressive styles of a new era.
For Dream Studio, this period marked an era of heightened experimentation in broadcast music programs, exploring new visual, theatrical, and musical storytelling techniques. Familiar songs were contextualized within a fresh spatial environment, allowing the artists to do more than simply perform a piece; they brought forth their own personalities, narratives, and emotional worlds. Bong ai qua them therefore stands as a quintessential project illustrating Dream Studio’s approach to televised music programs in the late 2000s: engineering compelling intersections between musical heritage and contemporary artists, and between memory and the present, thereby crafting a uniquely signature experience rather than just an ordinary concert night.
