As an
overseas Vietnamese production and classified as a "
reactionary cultural product" by the Vietnamese government,
Paris by Night has not been authorised to be legally purchased in Vietnam, although unauthorised copies can be easily obtained on the black market. It sometimes features performances that are related to historical events, critical of the ruling
Vietnamese Communist Party. Even though Thúy Nga has never held any events in Vietnam, many artists from the company have returned to
Vietnam to perform and participate in
concerts and
television shows, as the Vietnamese music industry develops. In 2004, in
Paris by Night 74, Hoang Oanh sang a song about
Operation Passage to Freedom and a video montage was shown depicting beleaguered-looking northern Vietnamese fleeing to the anti-communist south during the
partition of Vietnam, where they were met by
Ngô Đình Diệm and his government's officials. This performance coincided with the 50th anniversary of the migration. In 2005,
Paris by Night 77 was devoted to the 30th anniversary of the
Fall of Saigon, and included songs explicitly critical of communist rule, lack of human rights, accompanied by montages of the closing stages of the
Ho Chi Minh Campaign, the flight of distressed anti-communist refugees, and interpretative dancing critical of VCP rule, such as throat-slitting gestures. It also included documentary segments on the progress of Vietnamese immigrant communities since 1975, including one segment praising American support for South Vietnam and
Operation Babylift—the communist government views the babylift of orphans as "abduction"—and gave awards to Vietnamese humanitarians and American political officials who helped Vietnamese refugees, as well as the
Republic of Vietnam Air Force fighter pilot
Nguyễn Qúy An. In
Paris by Night 91, for the 40th anniversary of the
Tet Offensive, one medley involved
Quang Lê singing about the beauty of the former
Huế, backed by female dancers, before an explosion knocks them and the bridge over the
Perfume River to the ground, something perpetrated by the communists during the
Battle of Huế during the Tet Offensive.
Khánh Ly then proceeded to sing
Trịnh Công Sơn's "Song for dead bodies" about the communist
massacre at Huế, which killed thousands. A video montage of the massacre, inconsolable relatives and the subsequent exhumation and religious reburial was shown in the background during Khanh Ly's performance. The
Vietnamese government and
media outlets have criticised these programs for including content that is
anti-communism and sensitive to Vietnam's history. Furthermore, all DVD copies of PBN 77 and 91 were ordered to be destroyed and forbidden from sales and distribution. It is also the subject of some controversies among the overseas Vietnamese population due to what some perceive as its support of the current government of Vietnam.
Paris by Night 40, with the topic of motherhood, featured a song by the composer
Trịnh Công Sơn titled "Ca Dao Mẹ", which was performed by
Don Hồ. The song included a reenactment of a bombing during the Vietnam War and showed a mother grieving over the death of her child and her husband. Some were offended by the song's antiwar message while others see this as an indictment against American and South Vietnamese troops even though the scene did not make it clear which side was doing the bombing. After a boycott,
Thúy Nga reissued
Paris by Night 40 with the bombing scenes removed.
Paris by Night 40 is the most commercially successful production. The director of the segment,
Lưu Huỳnh, later went on to direct
The White Silk Dress in Vietnam, a film with similar themes. In 2015,
Vietnam Television was criticized for including a scene where Vietnamese singer
Thu Phương performed in
Paris by Night to introduce her as a judge and mentor in
The Voice of Vietnam 2015 as the program was never authorized to be aired in Vietnam. In 2018, a protest occurred in
Little Saigon,
Westminster,
California, U.S., organized by anti-communist Vietnamese community against Thuy Nga and
Paris by Night program for cooperating with television and media companies in
Vietnam. == Performers ==