Dalena

Dalena
Origin Muncie, Indiana
Genres Vietnamese Pop
Instruments Vocals
Website http://www.dalenanet.com/

Dalena Morton better known as simply Dalena, is a Caucasian American recording artist known for singing songs in Vietnamese, a language she does not understand.[1]

Dalena grew up in Orlando, Florida and worked as a ticket seller at Disney World. She originally learned Cantonese from rented Chinese martial arts movies. She memorized a song in Cantonese, and, at the suggestion of an acquaintance, then learned a song in Vietnamese.[1] She first picked up Vietnamese music while working at a restaurant in Orlando and learned the songs from the jukebox.[2]

She began performing at Vietnamese weddings and parties. In 1991, she regularly performed at a nightclub in Little Saigon and received her first recording contract from a small Vietnamese studio. Since then, she has released multiple albums and have sung in Vietnamese communities around the world.[1]

During the 1990s, she performed on Paris By Night.

Dalena was featured in Nguyen Tan Hoang's documentary, Cover Girl: A Gift from God (2000).[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Seth Mydans (1993-09-19). "Miss Saigon, U.S.A.". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/19/style/miss-saigon-usa.html. Retrieved 2 December 2009. 
  2. ^ George Lipsitz (2007). Footsteps in the dark: the hidden histories of popular music. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 185–186. ISBN 0816650209, 9780816650200. 
  3. ^ Alexandra Juhasz; Jesse Lerner (2006). F is for phony: fake documentary and truth's undoing. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 219. ISBN 0816642516, 9780816642519.