Dalena Exclusive Interview

by Kim Blum and Hien Do

RealMedia video clip of Dalena singing
(Movie clip requires RealPlayer G2 - free download).

Singer Dalena was at the Riverside Baptist Church for a crusade Fri., June 18 and Sat., June 19. Though American, she sang in beautiful Vietnamese. This gifted performer can sing in four languages.

She granted asiaXpress.com an interview because she wanted to advise the younger generation that wants to get into the entertainment business.

Dalena said she doesn't buy into the entertainment industry; she does it for she loves to sing, not for fame. "You just can't take the first shot at it", she said. "Be realistic, follow your dreams, not the money."

Someday, she would like to visit Vietnam. She's sang about it so much that she would like to see the real heart of Vietnam.

In addition to having written over 300 songs, Dalena also is a poet. "I have two giant books of poetry that I have written", she said.

Being happy is her goal, whatever it takes. She wants to be as diverse as possible, doing a hundred things at once. Because she has been so busy trying to sing different languages (such as Chinese and Japanese), it's been a couple of years since her last solo album. She said she would like to "...get into the Chinese and Japanese markets, and of course the Vietnamese too." She cannot read Chinese, yet she can surely sing like the Chinese.

She wants to sing in French again as it has been a long time since she has. She even aspires to do movies and voice characterizations.

Dalena is not married (for those of you who want to know).

She is no longer with Thuy Nga Productions. Someday she would like to have her own production company. In the mean time, she is freelancing.

Dalena only sings songs that have meaning to her and her fans. Being a writer, she would like to sense the author's mindset and imagine where the author was when writing the song, especially the Vietnamese writers, who are so complex. "They would use the moon, the seas, to express the meaning of love. The meaning is there, you just have to look for it", Dalena explained.

Dalena has two Gospel CDs in stores already, with more to come. We found throughout the interview that Dalena is polite and sincere and has a sense of humor. She felt very blessed from God and she returns the blessing to the world through her gift of singing.

AsiaXpress.com would like to wish her the happiness, and success that she deserves.
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