Ghen Cô Vy

"Ghen Cô Vy" (English: "Jealous [of] Coronavirus", a play on the Vietnamese pronunciation of "nCoV") is a song by Vietnamese singers Min and Erik, released on February 23, 2020. Written and composed by Khắc Hưng, the song supported a health communication campaign initiated by the Vietnamese National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health (NIOEH), part of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. The campaign, which also included an animated music video and a dance challenge choreographed by Quang Dang on YouTube, was created and managed by Hoang Diem Huyen from NIOEH.

"Ghen Cô Vy"
Promotional single by NIOEH, Khắc Hưng, Min and Erik
LanguageVietnamese
English title"Jealous [of] Coronavirus"
ReleasedFebruary 23, 2020 (2020-02-23)
GenreEDM, trap, tropical house[1]
Length3:09
Songwriter(s)Khắc Hưng
Producer(s)Hoàng Diễm Huyền - NIOEH-MOHVN
Min singles chronology
"Vì yêu cứ đâm đầu"
(2019)		 "Ghen Cô Vy"
(2020)		 "Trên tình bạn dưới tình yêu"
(2020)
Erik singles chronology
"Có tất cả nhưng thiếu anh"
(2019)		 "Ghen Cô Vy"
(2020)		 "Em không sai, chúng ta sai"
(2020)
Music video
Ghen Cô Vy on YouTube

Background and composition

"Ghen Cô Vy" is based on a V-pop song, "Ghen" (English: "Jealous"), originally released by Min and Erik on May 23, 2017. The updated song was produced and released in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam as a means to promote hygiene habits against COVID-19, including washing hands, not touching one's face and keeping their surroundings clean.[2]

Khắc Hưng was contacted by Hoàng Diễm Huyền from the NIOEH in early 2020 to compose a song as a means to propagate methods to prevent the virus. However, due to time constraints, the two chose a previously-existing song, "Ghen", and subsequently rewrote the lyrics.[3] An accompanying animated music video was produced by Yang Animation Artist and Hoang Diem Huyen.[4][5]

Music video

The music video for the song features animated versions of both Min and Erik along with depictions of bright green cartoon virus wearing a crown along with a figure resembling the grim reaper.[6][7] The video promotes the measures recommended by healthcare professionals, including cleanliness of surroundings, social distancing and hand washing.[8]

Release and reception

The song was released on Min's YouTube channel on February 23, 2020. An English-language version was released on April 9. It was produced by Khắc Hưng and Mew Amazing.[9][10] The original Vietnamese song has since seen the addition of subtitles in over 25 languages.[11]

Vietnamese dancer Quang Đăng created the "Ghen Cô Vy" dance challenge. In an interview with CBS News, he said that the representative and project lead of the NIOEH campaign asked him to create a dance that could go viral and cause the song to trend. He stated that he was able to choreograph the dance in 15 minutes.[12][13] The hashtag #GhenCoVyChallenge had since gained over 21.5 million views on the video-sharing app TikTok.[13] Quang Đăng's dance video was also promoted by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).[14] Various videos of people responding to the challenge had garnered over 2 million views on TikTok.[15]

Comedian and television host John Oliver, host of the American talk show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, called the song a "genuine club-banger".[16] German weekly Stern praised the song for its ability to spread information in an innovative fashion without underestimating the seriousness of the situation.[17] Huffington Post praised the song for the dance steps in the video.[18] It also received praise from South Korea's Seoul Broadcasting System, while France's BFM TV stated that the song might have helped avert a potential large-scale pandemic devastation in Vietnam.[19][20]

Following the success of "Ghen Cô Vy", other countries have taken to social media to release public service announcements. In Bangkok, Thailand, BTS Skytrain released a video titled "Dance Against The Virus" featuring staff cleaning handrails inside trains and disinfecting surfaces, while in the Philippines, health officials released a video on etiquette related to coughing and social distancing and called people to join the #covidance challenge. The Singaporean government released a video featuring comedian Gurmit Singh talking about hygiene and cleanliness.[21]

The Daily Bruin reported that the English-language department of the University of California, Los Angeles was offering a freshman seminar course on the cultural impact of COVID-19, in which "Ghen Cô Vy" and other TikTok dance challenges and viral memes centered around the pandemic were studied.[22]

Cover version

New York-based indie folk Americana band The Good Morning Nags released a cover version of "Ghen Cô Vy" on 11 March 2020. The song uses English-language translations of the original Vietnamese song, with some lyrical alterations to reflect the pandemic situation in the United States. The band said that it wanted to use the song to raise awareness after the virus started spreading in New York. Khắc Hưng commented on the cover version, calling it "really great".[10]

References
  1. Min và Erik lần đầu mang 'Ghen' lên sóng trực tiếp
  2. "Vietnam's hit coronavirus handwashing song". BBC News. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  3. "Khắc Hưng không nghĩ 'Ghen Cô Vy' thành công". vnexpress.net (in Vietnamese). 4 March 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  4. Nữ, Hoa (3 March 2020). "Phấn khích khi 'Ghen Cô Vy' và 'Vũ điệu rửa tay' được truyền hình Mỹ khen ngợi". Thanh Niên (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  5. "Bí mật cảm động đằng sau ca khúc "Ghen Cô Vy" gây "sốt" toàn cầu". 23 April 2020.
  6. Nguyen, Clara V (5 April 2020). "Music Video Breakdown: Vietnam Raises Coronavirus Awareness on 'Ghen Cô Vy' | Arts | The Harvard Crimson". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  7. Takriti, Danna (6 March 2020). "Silly songs, dances, and skits: The world is using humor to curb coronavirus's spread". Vox. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  8. Sunder, Gautam (4 March 2020). "Vietnamese song 'Jealous Coronavirus' created to spread awareness on COVID-19 goes viral". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  9. "Official English version of "Ghen Co Vy" released". Nhan Dan. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  10. Phan, Dat (15 March 2020). "Vietnam's 'coronavirus song' goes viral again with American cover version". VnExpress International. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  11. Linh, Do (17 April 2020). "Musicians engage fans online as pandemic takes center stage - VnExpress International". VnExpress International. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  12. "Catchy PSA about coronavirus turns into viral TikTok challenge about washing your hands". www.cbsnews.com. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  13. Wang, Kaitlyn (26 March 2020). "How a coronavirus safety-themed dance took the world by storm, according to the TikTok star who created it". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  14. "Catchy PSA About Coronavirus Turns Into Viral TikTok Challenge About Washing Your Hands". www.news9.com. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  15. "Take a break from coronavirus panic: Vietnam's handwash dance challenge goes viral". The Economic Times. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  16. "'Genuine club-banger': Coronavirus songs in Asia that have gone viral". South China Morning Post. 2020-03-07. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  17. "Vietnam veröffentlicht animiertes Video übers Händewaschen – es wird zum Hit im Internet". stern.de (in German). 3 March 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  18. Kaheji, Khalil (6 March 2020). "Au Vietnam, le #Ghencovychallenge fait fureur contre le coronavirus". Le Huffington Post (in French). Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  19. "Đài SBS Hàn Quốc khen ca khúc 'Ghen cô Vy' của Việt Nam". zingnews.vn. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  20. "Au Vietnam, une chanson aux accents pop pour prévenir du coronavirus" (in French). BFMTV. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  21. Benner, Tom (11 March 2020). "Going viral: Asia takes on the coronavirus with songs, dances". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  22. Untiveros, Aaron (16 April 2020). "English Fiat Lux classes center around understanding, studying COVID-19's impacts". Daily Bruin. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
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