Reviewing the titles of Meritorious Artist and People's Artist: Many artists are disadvantaged and suffer injustice?

Awarding artist titles is an "eternal affair" but still causes controversy every time Meritorious Artist and People's Artist are reviewed because of many shortcomings in criteria and regulations.

Title review controversy: Never ending

For many years, the issue of considering and awarding the titles of Meritorious Artist (NSUT) and People's Artist (NSND) has always received the attention of experts and audiences.

This is the highest title that the State bestows on those who work in the performing arts. According to regulations, artists must have enough medals, enough years of work, and commitment to the profession to be eligible to apply for the title.

However, the controversy over criteria, application review procedures, or unfortunate cases of title failures each review period becomes a "known, painful, talked about forever" story that never comes to an end.

To be awarded the title of People's Artist, "king of reformed opera" Minh Vuong went through a difficult journey (Photo: character's Facebook).

The audience believes that many senior artists who have contributed a lot to the arts are not on the list. There are also opinions that some people have achieved the title of People's Artist but the public rarely knows their faces or names.

In the 2016 awarding round, Meritorious Artist Minh Vuong, Meritorious Artist Thanh Tuan, Meritorious Artist Giang Chau... were removed from the list of People's Artists, surprising the audience. Many people ranked behind in terms of seniority and artistic dedication compared to the above names were awarded the title of People's Artist.

Notably, that was the third time Minh Vuong was denied the title of People's Artist when he had reached the final levels. At that time, public opinion was so angry that the State cultural management agency had to intervene, consider, and vote again for artist Minh Vuong.

Meritorious Artist Do Ky (Photo: Toan Vu).

2022 is the 10th year that the titles of Meritorious Artist and People's Artist have been awarded to artists. As in previous years, public opinion continues to debate the issue of "omitting" artists.

It is worth mentioning that the 2022 awarding period has caused excitement among experts and audiences because of the long and incomprehensible time. The results should have been announced on the occasion of National Day, September 2nd last year. However, up to now, the list of candidates for the award has only had the first round of results, not the final results.

Recently, the story of Meritorious Artist Do Ky's title consideration has also become the focus of the audience's attention. The actor received a notice to stop considering the 10th People's Artist title for the reason that the People's Artist title consideration file "has a petition and opinion from the Ministry of Public Security".

Due to problems related to the awarding of the title, Meritorious Artist Do Ky sent a petition for "review" to the competent authorities. However, the response documents from the authorities still left the artist unsatisfied because they were "not specific and transparent".

Achieved Title: The Hard Journey

The title is meant to honor the artist's contributions, but the journey to the title is arduous and has many complicated regulations. Criteria on the number of awards, medals, seniority... are said to make it difficult for the artists themselves.

The "conversion" of medals in the criteria for considering titles causes many problems. There are artists who diligently compete and win medals, only with the purpose of being considered for titles and quickly becoming Meritorious Artists or People's Artists.

Many artists who have been active for many years but have no (or few) medals are automatically "disqualified". There are elderly artists who no longer have the opportunity to participate in performances and festivals, so they do not have many medals. If we consider the regulations on the number of medals, these artists will never be awarded titles, even if they are truly talented?

There are many artists with medals and seniority, but they were still eliminated from the review process simply because... they did not have 80% of the votes. Like the 2022 title review, the absence of famous artists of the Southern stage such as Meritorious Artist Le Thien, Meritorious Artist Thanh Nguyet, Meritorious Artist Thoai My... surprised the public.

Meritorious Artist Le Thien is one of the famous names in the field of reformed opera (Photo: Screenshot).

The audience believes that Meritorious Artist Le Thien and Meritorious Artist Thanh Nguyet may not have enough achievements according to regulations, but they have a long history of participating in the arts, from 30 to 50 years, leaving a deep impression. Being excluded from the application for consideration is unfair to artists who have contributed more than half of their lives to the stage.

At that time, Meritorious Artist Thoai My shared with Dan Tri reporter that she was quite sad when she was not on the list of 139 artists who qualified for the title of People's Artist. However, the female artist told herself that she had to try harder in her career.

"I vow to pursue this career for the rest of my life, until I no longer stand on stage. No matter what the title is, I think being recognized by the audience is the greatest happiness for an artist," the female artist shared.

There are also artists who have affirmed their professional level, long-term dedication and received the love of a large audience, but still do not have a title because... they did not apply for a "title". Some typical cases of actors and theater in the South are Hong Anh, Thai Hoa...

Meritorious Artist Thanh Loc (Photo: Facebook character).

Some artists hold theater management positions and do not have time to participate in theater festivals and competitions, so they do not have enough medals to be considered for a title. For example, the case of Meritorious Artist Thanh Loc.

Meritorious Artist Thanh Loc stepped onto the stage at the age of 8, has devoted more than 50 years to art and is nicknamed "stage wizard". However, since the conferment of Meritorious Artist title in 2001, Thanh Loc has not been awarded the title of People's Artist.

Experts believe that Thanh Loc should have been awarded the title of People's Artist a long time ago, before many other People's Artists were awarded the title in recent years. Although the male artist himself once affirmed that the title is not important, the audience believes that the fact that he has not been approved as a People's Artist is still unfair to Thanh Loc.

In an interview, Thanh Loc once expressed his opinion on the mechanism of "asking - giving" titles: "I don't like having to apply to be a People's Artist. Why do I have to apply?

This noble title must be reviewed, recognized, and self-evaluated and awarded by the Council itself. Artists cannot ask for a title and call on everyone to evaluate their talent and dedication.

Should we let the people and the audience vote?

An industry expert believes that truly noble and meaningful titles should be recognized and voted for by the audience themselves, to avoid missing out on truly talented and dedicated artists.

The expert told Dan Tri reporter: "People's Artist is the highest title for an artist. But this title is only valuable when it is measured by the love and recognition of the audience.

Reviewing applications and awarding titles to artistic talents is something that must be done fairly and transparently by the cultural and artistic management sector. Leaving out talented people is a mistake to the audience."

Speaking to Dan Tri reporter, an anonymous Meritorious Artist with many years of experience in the profession said that many people in the profession cannot help but feel sad when receiving notice that their application for the People's Artist position has been rejected. However, they believe that they do their job because of passion, not because of "desire for titles".

This artist said: "It's not true to say I'm not sad. But being sad doesn't solve anything. I think if I continue to contribute through my work, the audience will naturally see it."

When asked about the inadequacies in the criteria for the award, the artist replied: "The issue of regulations for receiving the title has been debated for many years. I don't want to say more because saying too much is not good. There are issues that should be left for history to judge.

When my application for the People's Artist position was rejected, the government agency did not explain. Until now, I still do not know why. They just said there were not enough votes. I wonder why votes in the Council are so important?"

The anonymous artist said that after the failed review process, the artist realized that "if I'm not worthy, then I'm not accepted, no matter how you interpret it."

"I don't need to file a petition for help, submit it to the authorities like some people are doing. When studying acting ethics, we are taught that the audience is the most loyal and important teacher. The success of an artist has a great contribution from the support of the audience. That is an immutable principle.

I think it's best to let the audience judge. I work in this profession, and when the audience writes letters of encouragement, I'm very happy. When I go out on the street, the audience still recognizes me and greets me, that's a great source of motivation," said this artist.

Some opinions say that although the audience is the most impartial judge of an artist's dedication, it is "extremely difficult" to award artist titles based on public opinion.

Therefore, the State should still have special cases, or "softer" and more flexible criteria for awarding titles, to fairly recognize the efforts of artists.

Regarding this issue, the anonymous artist told Dan Tri reporter: "God gave me innate artistic ability, so my goal is to use all my strength and ability to work. I do my best to serve those who love me and love art. I don't think I do it to achieve a title. I don't need the title of People's Artist."

Hoang Ha (according to dantri.vn)

Source: https://baovinhphuc.com.vn/Multimedia/Images/Id/103280/Xet-duyet-danh-hieu-NSUT-NSND-Nhieu-nghe-si-thiet-thoi-chiu-bat-cong