Paris By Night

Paris By Night (abbreviated: PBN) is a series of Vietnamese-language musical variety shows produced by Thuy Nga Productions. It is originated in Paris, France in 1983, consisting of musical performances by modern pop stars, traditional folk songs, one-act plays, and sketch comedy, hosted mainly by MCs Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên. The program is created by To Van Lai, co-founder of Thuy Nga Productions in 1972 along with his former wife, Nguyen Ngoc Thuy.

Background

All Paris By Night programs, including harmony, lighting, choreography, and stages, are planned, designed, and organized by the heads of Thuy Nga Productions. The name "Paris By Night" derives from the meaning of the night in Paris, where To Van Lai lived. His purpose is to "fill the cultural void" felt by Vietnamese refugees living in France. Shortly afterwards, the show's production company transferred to Orange County, California, which has a larger Vietnamese community.

The show is set up with "melodramatic performances, catchy pop tunes, Vaudeville-esque comedy, and elaborate set designs", with a large emphasis of production focusing on expressing Vietnamese culture. In recent years, the rising popularity of K-pop and J-pop has applied creative pressure to Thúy Nga CEO Marie Tô, who responded by insisting on keeping with the Vietnamese style, commenting "Of course, K-pop is very big now…but we kind of want to create our own image. The singer[s] we produce, we want to create their image—not imitating K-pop or anything." The show has since been noted as not only a form of entertainment, but a "way to connect to a larger identity".

Components

Core

Each Paris By Night program includes the following essential components:

• Around 20 or under 35 songs and medleys incorporated in the following musical genres: pop, Vietnamese blues and country music (also known as "bolero"). Sometimes, after the VHS or DVD (and Blu-ray) release of these programs, soundtracks from each program are recorded on CDs (categorized by song type) and released simultaneously.
• One or two comedies are primarily written by writer and MC Nguyen Ngoc Ngan (or by artists from an organization known as "Nhóm kịch Thúy Nga (Thuy Nga Drama Crew)" for some plays of older PBN programs) or no comedy at all for certain reasons.
• Starting from PBN 98, most PBN programs include quizzes for the audiences with rewards of a certain amount (500 or 1,000 USD and even higher in the case of later programs) or some free services and discounts provided by sponsors.
• After the final performance, there is a "Finale" moment, where MCs will come out on stage to announce the end of the program and inviting the artists, choreographers, make-up artists, designers, and every staff participating in the program to come out on stage and bid farewell to the audience. This part is often dubbed with background pop music instruments. In DVD and Blu-ray version, it also includes a credit list of individuals/groups who participated in the production of the program.

Optional

• Video clips of off-stage scenes: video clips of off-stage scenes most often appear in PBN program from No. 52 and earlier.
• Fashion Show: Some programs (especially large-scale programs) will feature fashion shows (all of which are áo dài fashion shows). Background music is usually songs that are later featured on CDs of recorded songs from PBN shows.
• Interview with sponsors who are present in a number of PBN programs with large investments from major sponsors.
• Interview of certain singers, artists or special individuals.
• "In Memoriam": these video clips pay homage and tribute to late musicians, singers and artists that once collaborated with Thuy Nga Productions. Memorial videos are only available in some commemorative PBNs, including PBN 100 and 126.
• Bonus:
  • Behind the scenes: The video clips of some scenes during the preparation process for the show. Appears in most PBN programs recorded in DVD and Blu-ray formats.
  • Music videos recorded and released by singers, either directly or indirectly collaborating with Thuy Nga Productions.
  • A comedy or tragedy filmed off-stage.
  • Documentaries of major sponsors of PBN.

Ticketing and Showtime

Paris By Night shows usually have their first poster published at most 60 to less than 100 days before the official show date, and shows are always aired on Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 1:30 pm. There are some PBN shows recording on special holidays like US Independence Day (July 4th) or on a holiday close to the recording date (specifically Mother's Day).

Up to 90 days before the air date and some time after the show's first announcement, the audience can fully book tickets through booking tickets through direct agencies and booking tickets using the Thuy Nga PBN application. Customers are not able to book tickets when Thuy Nga Productions announces that the tickets are sold out.

Price and Budget

The DVD version of each Paris By Night show usually has a fixed price of $24.95 and $29.95 for the Blu-ray version. However, some DVDs of older Paris By Night shows often cost less than (or equal to) that number. Tickets to the show typically cost between $300 and $1,500 depending on the seats in the theater's VIP seats near the stage range from $900 or more. According to MC Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên, a Paris By Night program in the 2010s and 2020s filmed in the United States has a budget of between 1 and 2 million USD.

Format and Duration

Before PBN 67, all PBN programs were recorded on VHS tapes. From PBN 67 onwards, Thuy Nga Productions gradually switched to releasing DVD format (specifically, DVD-9) instead of VHS because of the decline in global sales of VHS tapes and DVDs allowing high-quality images to be recorded. From PBN 104 onwards, programs are also recorded on Blu-ray discs (its capacity is very large, allowing recording with HD due to its much larger capacity than DVDs with 25 GB of available data can be recorded on one record side of the disc) - in particular, the entire contents of a program can be included within a single Blu-ray disc. The audio standards of these DVD/Blu-ray are Dolby Sound and Dolby Stereo. Currently, PBN programs doesn't exist in 4K quality due to its excessive logical size (one hour of a 4K video can occupy around 45 GB of storage space), which renders Blu-ray discs unaffordable to store an entire PBN program in a single disc.

Depending on the size and support of the sponsors, such program typically lasts for about 3 to 6 hours (special programs such as old PBNs or Gloria series could take around 3 hours or less). Corresponding to 2 or 3 DVDs or 1 Blu-ray disc, they can be packaged together in a single cover. Paris By Night 83 was the first program to put three DVDs in a cover, with the first and second recording the entire program, and the third including MTVs, videos of interviewing the composers and backstage footages. PBN 114 is the first program to exceed 6 hours.

Starting from Paris by Night 133, the program was released in digital form on the Thuy Nga PBN application, and users have to pay $10 to $20 to watch the full program on the application in a similar manner to Netflix subscription.

List of Programs

1980s

All 9 first Paris By Night programs are filmed in Paris, released in VHS format and directed by John Pierre Barry (1947 - 2018).

PBN no.	Thuy Nga Video no.	Year of filming
1	2	1983
2	9	1986
3	12
4	15	1987
5	17
6	18	1988
7	19	1989
8	20
9	21

1990 - 1994

PBN 29 and 37 were the first to record with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

PBN no.	Title	Literal meaning	Location	Thuy Nga Video no.	Year of filming
10	N/A		Paris, France	22	1990
11				23
12				27	1991
Special				28
14				29
15				31
16				33	1992
17				34
18	Merry Christmas			35
19	Tác Phẩm Và Con Người Phạm Duy	Phạm Duy - Works and Humanity		36	1993
20	Tuyệt Phẩm	Masterpiece		37
21	Tình Ca Ngô Thụy Miên	Love Songs of Ngô Thụy Miên		38
22	40 Năm Âm Nhạc Lam Phương	40 Years of Lam Phương Music		39
23	Thé Giới Muôn Màu	Colorful World		40
24	10th Anniversary		Cerritos, California, U.S.	41
25	N/A		Paris, France	42	1994
26	Đêm Hoa Đăng - Sacrée Soirée 1	Night of the Flower Lanterns - Sacred Night 1		43
27	Tiếng Hát Với Cung Đàn Văn Phụng - Sacrée Soirée 2	Singing with the Melodies of Văn Phụng - Sacred Night 2		44
28	Lam Phương 2 - Dòng Nhạc Tiếp Nối - Sacrée Soirée 3	Lam Phương 2 - Sacred Night 3		45
29	In Las Vegas		Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	46

1995 - 1999

PBN no.	Title	Literal meaning	Location	Thuy Nga Video no.	Year of filming
30	Phạm Duy 2 - Người Tình	Phạm Duy 2 - The Lovers	Paris, France	47	1995
31	N/A			48
32	20 Năm Nhìn Lại	Looking Back at 20 Years	Los Angeles, California, U.S.	49
33	Nhạc Tình Đức Huy	Love Songs of Đức Huy	Paris, France	50
34	Made In Paris			51
35	N/A			52	1996
36	In Houston		Houston, Texas, U.S.	53
37	In Las Vegas 2		Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	54
38	In Toronto		Toronto, Ontario, Canada	55
39	Ánh Đèn Màu	Colored Lights		56	1997
40	Mẹ	Mother	Paris, France	57
41	Hoàng Thi Thơ - Một Đời Cho Âm Nhạc	Hoàng Thi Thơ - A Life For Music	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	58
42	Dòng Nhạc Kỷ Niệm	Music of Memories		59
43	Đàn Bà	Women		60	1998
44	Tiền	Money		61
45	Vào Hạ	Into the Summer		62
46	15th Anniversary Celebration		Long Beach, California, U.S.	63
47	Hoàng Thi Thơ 2		Toronto, Ontario, Canada	64	1999
48	Hình Ảnh Cuộc Đời	Picture of Life	Paris, France	65
49	Chúng Ta Đi Mang Theo Quê Hương	We Carry Our Homeland	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	66
50	N/A			67
51	We Like To Party		Paris, France	68
52	Giã Từ Thế Kỷ	Farewell to the Century	Long Beach, California, U.S.	69

2000 - 2003

PBN no.	Title	Literal meaning	Location	Format	Thuy Nga Video no.	Year of filming
53	Thiên Đường Là Đây	This is Paradise	Paris, France	VHS, DVD (remake)	70	2000
54	In Concert			VHS	71
55	Dưới Ánh Nắng Mặt Trời	Under the Sunlight	Unknown		72
56	Những Dòng Nhạc Hôm Nay	Music of Today	Toronto, Ontario, Canada		73
57	Thời Trang và Âm Nhạc	Fashion and Music			74
58	Những Sắc Màu Trong Kỷ Niệm	Colors in Memories			75	2001
59	Cây Đa Bến Cũ	The Banyan Tree At The Old Harbor		VHS, DVD (remake)	76
60	Thất Tình	Lovesick	Paris, France	VHS	77
61	Sân Khấu Cuộc Đời	The Stage of Life			78
62	Âm Nhạc Không Biên Giới	Music is Borderless			79
63	Dòng Thời Gian	Timeline	Buena Park, California, U.S.		80	2002
64	Đêm Văn Nghệ Thính Phòng	Performance Night at the Auditorium		VHS, DVD (remake)	81
65	Yêu	Love	Paris, France	VHS, DVD	82
66	Người Tình Và Quê Hương	Lovers and (Our) Homeland			83
67	In San Jose		San Jose, California, U.S.		84
68	Nửa Vầng Trăng	Half Moon			85	2003
69	Nợ Tình	Debts of Love	Paris, France		86
70	Thu Ca	Music of Fall			87
71	20th Anniversary		San Jose, California, U.S.	DVD	N/A
72	Tiếng Hát Từ Nhịp Tim	Voices From Our Heartbeats

2004 - 2006

From this stage onwards, Thuy Nga Productions no longer records Paris By Night programs in France. Also since 2004, PBN programs have always been released in DVD format.

PBN no.	Title	Literal meaning	Location	Year of filming
73	Song Ca Đặc Biệt	The Best of Duets	Long Beach, California, U.S.	2004
74	Hoa Bướm Ngày Xưa	Pansies of the Old Days	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
75	Về Miền Viễn Đông	Journey to the Far East	San Jose, California, U.S.
76	Xuân Tha Hương	Spring in Exile	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
77	30 Năm Viễn Xứ	30 Years Far Away From Our Homeland	Long Beach, California, U.S.	2005
78	Đường Xưa	The Old Paths	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
79	Dreams		San Jose, California, U.S.
80	Tết Khắp Mọi Nhà	Tết is Among Every Family	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
81	Âm Nhạc Không Biên Giới 2	Music Is Borderless 2	Long Beach, California, U.S.	2006
82	Tiếu Vương Hội	Comedy Festival	Toronto, Canada
83	Những Khúc Hát Ân Tình	Lyrics of Love	Long Beach, California, U.S.
84	In Atlanta - Passport to Music & Fashion		Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
85	Xuân Trong Kỷ Niệm	Spring in Our Memories	Toronto, Ontario, Canada

2007 - 2009

PBN no.	Title	Literal meaning	Location	Year of filming
86	PBN Talent Show - Semi-finals		Buena Park, California, U.S.	2007
87	PBN Talent Show - Finals
88	Đường Về Quê Hương	Return to Our Homeland
89	In Korea		Seoul, South Korea
90	Chân Dung Người Phụ Nữ Việt Nam	The Portrait of Vietnamese Women	Long Beach, California, U.S.
91	Huế, Sài Gòn, Hà Nội	Hue, Saigon, Hanoi		2008
92	Nhạc Yêu Cầu	Music on Request
93	Khiêu Vũ Của Các Ngôi Sao	Celebrity Dancing
94	25th Anniversary
95	25th Anniversary - Phần 2: Cảm Ơn Cuộc Đời	25th Anniversary - Part 2: Thanks To Life
96	Nhạc Yêu Cầu 2	Music on Requests 2		2009
97	Khiêu Vũ Của Các Ngôi Sao 2	Celebrity Dancing 2
98	Fly With Us To Las Vegas		Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.

2010 - 2013

#	PBN no.	Title	Literal meaning	Location	Year of filming
99	99	Tôi Là Người Việt Nam	I Am Vietnamese	Buena Park, California, U.S.	2010
100	Special	Paris By Night Special Edition - Divas
101	100	Ghi Nhớ Một Chặng Đường	Remembering A Journey	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
102	100 VIP	Paris By Night 100 VIP Party		California, U.S.
103	101	Hạnh Phúc Đầu Năm	Happy New Year	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	2011
104	102	Nhạc Yêu Cầu: Tình Ca Lam Phương	Music On Requests: Love Songs of Lam Phương	Buena Park, California, U.S.
105	103	Tình Sử Trong Âm Nhạc Việt Nam	Love Stories in Vietnamese Music
106	104	Beginnings		Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
107	104 VIP	Paris By Night 104 VIP Party
108	105	Người Tình	The Lovers	Ledyard, Connecticut, U.S.	2012
109	106	Lụa	Silk	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
110	106 VIP	Paris By Night 106 VIP Party
111	107	Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn - 20 Năm Sân Khấu	Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn - 20 Years On Stage	Temecula, California, U.S.
112	108	Thời Gian	Time		2013
113	109	30th Anniversary		Ledyard, Connecticut, U.S.
114	109 VIP	Paris By Night 109 VIP Party		Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
115	110	Phát Lộc Đầu Năm	Good Fortune of New Year	Temecula, California, U.S.
116	Special	Paris By Night Gloria - Cao Cung Lên	Paris By Night Gloria - Raise the Bow

2014 - 2019

#	PBN no.	Title	Literal meaning	Location	Year of filming
117	111	S		Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	2014
118	112	Đông	Winter	Temecula, California, U.S.
119	Special	Paris By Night Gloria 2 - Để Chúa Đến	Paris By Night Gloria 2 - Let Christ Come
120	113	Mừng Tuổi Mẹ	Happy New Year, Mother		2015
121	114	Tôi Là Người Việt Nam 2 (1975 - 2015)	We Are Vietnamese 2 (1975 - 2015)
122	115	Nét Đẹp Á Đông	Asian Beauty	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
123	116	Nụ Cười Đầu Năm	Smiles of New Year	Temecula, California, U.S.
124	117	Vườn Hoa Âm Nhạc	Garden of Music
125	118	50 Năm Âm Nhạc Đức Huy	50 Year of Đức Huy Music		2016
126	119	Nhạc Vàng Muôn Thuở	Timeless Yellow Music
127	120	Còn Chút Gì Để Nhớ	Something Remains To Remember	Durant, Oklahoma, U.S.
128	121	Song Ca Nhạc Vàng	Yellow Music Duets	Temecula, California, U.S.
129	122	Duyên Phận	Fortune & Fate		2017
130	123	Ảo Ảnh	Illusions	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
131	Special	Paris By Night Gloria 3 - Hoan Ca Maria	Paris By Night Gloria 3 - A Triumph Song For Mother Maria	Fountain Valley, California, U.S.
132	124	Anh Cho Em Mùa Xuân	You Gave Me Spring
133	125	Chiều Mưa Biên Giới	A Rainy Afternoon at the Border		2018
134	126	Hành Trình 35 Năm (Phần 1)	A 35-year Journey (Part 1)	Prior Lake, Minnesota, U.S.
135	127	Hành Trình 35 Năm (Phần 2)	A 35-year Journey (Part 2)	Temecula, California, U.S.
136	128	Hành Trình 35 Năm (Phần 3) - Feel The Lights	A 35-Year Journey (Part 3) - Feel The Lights	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
137	128 VIP	Paris By Night 35th Anniversary VIP Party			2019
138	129	Dynasty
139	130	In Singapore - "Glamour"		Sentosa Island, Singapore

2020 - present

The complicated situation of the COVID-19 epidemic has resulted in Thuy Nga not recording any Paris By Night programs in 2020. The production briefly resumed in early 2021, however, it took around 10 months for Thuy Nga to organize and air the 141st and 142nd program (PBN 132 and PBN Special, respectively). Also in the next year, Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn announces his official retirement as an exclusive MC for Thuy Nga Productions.

#	PBN no.	Title	Literal meaning	Location	Year of filming
140	131	Xuân Hy Vọng	A Spring of Hope	Fountain Valley, California, U.S.	2021
141	132	Xuân Với Đời Sống Mới	Spring with New Life
142	Special	Paris By Night Special - Tiếu Vương Hội	Paris By Night Special - Comedy King Guild
143	133	Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn - The Farewell		Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	2022
144	134	Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn - Lời Cảm Ơn	Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn - A Word of Gratitude	Bangkok, Thailand
145	135	Từ Công Phụng - Trên Ngọn Tình Sầu	Từ Công Phụng - On The Top of A Sorrowful Love	Temecula, California, U.S.	2023
146	136	40 Năm Hành Trình	A 40-Year Journey	Bangkok, Thailand
147	137	40 Năm Hành Trình (Phần 2): Tác Giả & Tác Phẩm	A Journey of 40 Years (Part 2): Authors & Works	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
148	138	Hoài Linh - 30 Năm Sân Khấu	Hoai Linh - 30 Years on Stage	Temecula, California, U.S.	2025

Reception

Paris By Night has been widely acclaimed by overseas Vietnamese communities for its work and contributions to strengthening the cultural impact of Vietnamese music among Vietnamese people, both in Vietnam and overseas.

Regarded as a "reactionary cultural product", Paris by Night has not been authorized to be purchased legally or hold any events in Vietnam. However, the products of Thuy Nga Productions were initially received mainly through smuggling routes or hand luggage of their relatives from abroad when they returned to their homeland during the 2000s. PBN 77 and 91 contain content that the Vietnamese government considers inappropriate and sensitive, which eventually leads to criticism and national ban. In the later half of the 2010s, Thuy Nga Productions has been uploading its content on YouTube and reached out to a wider range of audiences through this platform.

Thuy Nga has never had any plans to organize Paris By Night in Vietnam despite its widespread reception in its homeland. However, a few artists have expressed their desire for a Paris By Night show to be held in Vietnam. The potential reasons, although not disclosed by Thuy Nga Productions themselves, are:

• The lack of quality venues in Vietnam, as well as materials and equipment suitable for a Hollywood standard stage like Paris by Night.
• The censorship regulation of the Vietnamese government is strict, as Thuy Nga Productions mainly introduces and promotes South Vietnamese cultural products that existed pre-1975, which is what the current government opposes because of its history.
• To carry out any large-scale musical events in Vietnam, an agreement must be met with the authorities of the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, Under the conditions, there may be some things that will have an adverse impact on the implementation of Paris by Night, which is highly likely to affect the honor and interests of the producers and organizers, such as changing the program's content, distributing the profits to authorized organizations or individuals, or performing performances that may oppose the interests of overseas audiences. Without adhering to these conditions, Thuy Nga Productions may not be able to work and host any projects in Vietnam, or they can still be authorized by the government, but may face media or technical risks in the process of implementation and hosting the events.

Trivia

• Paris By Night is also the title of a thriller film produced in the UK in 1988, and also the title of a detective film produced in France in 2012.