The chaotic New Year's Eve party onboard fTV's F-Diamond cruise ship was the last straw for disappointed Vietnamese fans.

Thanh Nien has carried out a review of fTV's activities for 2007 and the results are not pretty.

In September 2007, an fTV delegation arrived in Vietnam to shoot a collection of ao dai (traditional Vietnamese tunics) designed by Vo Viet Chung.

In addition to this, the program was also supposed to feature other major developments in the domestic fashion industry.

The program went on-air in October.

But it turned out that fTV had only sent one cameraman – Totti, equipped with one small camera, and only one model – Laury Prudent.

Two months later, fTV's F-Diamond cruise ship berthed in Ho Chi Minh City to organize a fashion show featuring both inter-national and Vietnamese models.

The domestic organizer and an event firm said they worked flat-out to get the license for the show.

But what was anticipated to be the year's most dazzling fashion extravaganza turned out to be located around a small onboard swimming pool with the 700-strong crowd elbowing one another to catch a glimpse of the 20 models on stage.

The last straw

The fFV image again suffered a blow as the long-anticipated New Year’s Eve party organized onboard the F-Diamond cruise ship turned out to be a complete debacle.

Thanh Nien discovered that only four Vietnamese models participated in the show, instead of the 10 announced at the press briefing.

Speaking with our correspondent, some of the six models that did not participate explained their rationale.

They declined to take part in the show as fTV refused to pay them explaining that “being shown on-air internationally was already a privilege enough.”

In the absence of the majority of the Vietnamese models, the Miss fTV pageant turned into a farce.

The situation got worse when the show began and people stampeded onto the main stage.

The stage was just 100 square meters and too small for the crowd.

Many people had to stand on chairs or climb on handrails to see the models.

The women did not have a private backstage area and had to stand among the audience while waiting for their turn on the cat-walk.

The crush of people and sloppy organization meant the long-anticipated bash quickly descended into chaos.

The organizers had sold nearly 1,000 tickets at US$120 each.

With the vessel clearly designed for fewer passengers, many guests could hardly move in the crowd.

The paying guests waited in a long line for the buffet only to find there weren't enough seats in the banquet area.

Many complained loudly and left the party well before seeing in the New Year.

Female guests grumbled since they had to wait in a long queue to use the unisex restrooms.

Some men, by then sloshed on beer or cocktails or both, began to bicker in the confined space.

The guards had their work cut out for them trying to keep order and clear room for the contestants.

Some caved under the pressure, rudely shouting and pushing the audience.

“Hopeless! Totally hopeless!” a foreigner said, shaking his head and leaving the ship with his girlfriend.

But he was not the only one to make a quick exit that night.

Though fTV's goodwill to pro-mote Vietnam globally via its channel cannot be refuted, such unprofessional and messy events will never be endured again in this country.

Reported by Do Tuan