Pole-dancing, skin- revealing actress faces penalty

The Hanoi Department of Culture and Tourism said that they will request its Ho Chi Minh City counterpart to look into and penalize singer/actress Angela Phuong Trinh for donning scanty outfit and performing erotic dances at a recent performance.

Several photos of Trinh’s performance, which took place at a Hanoi bar on Aug 22, instantly spread online, sparking widespread public reactions.

At the performance, Trinh was wearing an extremely tight, short ‘transparent’ jumpsuit which revealed her underwear. Many online comments wrote that Trinh strongly reminds them of Chinese showbiz ‘sex bomb’ Gan Lulu, who started as an obscure actress and only became a sensation after her mother posted a video showing her naked in the shower, followed by a host of her erotic, nearly-nude photos.

That night, Trinh performed some local pop songs accompanied by erotic dances, including ones with a pole, and titillating lying postures.

According to To Van Dong, head of the Hanoi culture department, the Inspectorate is working with the bar, where Trinh performed that night, for holding the performance without notifying the culture department, and allowing sexually obscene acts to take place.

Dong added that as Trinh lives in HCMC, the HCMC culture department will work with her on her violations.

Soon after the images from Trinh’s performance went viral on the Internet, many expressed strong disapproval. Her show at another bar two days later was also canceled because of that.

Trinh later expressed regret on her personal page, claiming she hadn’t imagined that outfit could have looked so bad under the stage lights. However, many think that this was one of the singer’s ploys to grab attention.

Trinh, who played innocent, naughty teen girls in such television dramas as “Linh Lan Trang” (The white orchids) and hit “Ba me nhi” (The little mother) several years ago, has usually performed songs accompanied by sexually arousing dances in revealing costumes at local bars in recent years.

Some local singers and models, particularly female ones, including Thu Minh, Thai Ha and Minh Hang, were each fined some VND3.5 million (US$166), a penalty which many consider perfunctory only, for donning revealing costumes and performing erotic dances onstage. Repeat or serious offenders may not be issued new performing permits.

The Performing Arts Department recently instructed all cities and provinces to temporarily ban 22-year-old Le Thi Huyen Anh, or “Ba Tung” (Mrs. Tung), from performing nationwide, even in bars, due to her breast-flaunting acts and shocking statements on Facebook.