Organizers of the scandalous concert “Vu Dieu Duong Cong” (The Dance of Curves) decided to cancel their show, which was planned to take place on September 9 in Hai Phong, due to low ticket sales after the show was fined for its unusual ad content.

>> Music show closed to children and …virtuous women

>> Company fined $863 over ‘non-virtuous’ show

According to the show’s organizers, after the penalty, only 40 general tickets and 25 discounted ones were sold. The company later had to propose to cancel the show, apologizing for the cancellation and returning money to the audience.

On September 3, the show’s organizers, Công ty cổ phần truyền thông và sự kiện hiệp hội ca sĩ Việt Nam (Joint-stock Communication and Vietnam Singers’ Association Company) was fined VND18million (US$863) by Hai Phong authorities for “changing the ad content which had already been approved by local government” and “hanging ads sooner than allowed.”

The sanctioned ads were a series of panels saying that only those above 18 and non-virtuous women were allowed to the show. These ads also received more criticism for their description of local artists, using provocative language like “Nu Hoang Noi Y” (Queen of lingerie) and “Yeu Nu Hang Hieu” (Devil wears luxury brands).

According to the Hai Phong Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism, the show had been approved by the Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism of Thanh Hoa, where the show’s organizers are based. However, according to Pham Duc Quang, an official from the Hai Phong cultural department, the content on the panels hung on Hai Phong’s streets are very different from that which was approved by Thanh Hoa’s cultural department.

Quang also added that the Hai Phong department only allowed the show’s organizers to hang their panels from September 3, but they violated this order and released them before the date.