Vietnam Idol

Vietnam Idol brings up a contemporary question: does modern equate to western? For a lot of developing countries, it seems so. I think that developing countries should modernize in a way that does not compromise their cultural identity. There has been much influence of American culture through globalization, and I think that is not what globalization should be about. I think that globalization should be about communication and sharing cultures, not the dominance of one. Western globalization has profound effects, changing the landscape of cultures. This trend has affected music in East and Southeast Asia, especially with the rise of Korean Pop Music, or K-Pop. K-Pop is heavily based on American pop music, with sung in Korean and with a Korean flair. This success in K-Pop has attributed to similar styles in neighboring countries in East and Southeast Asia. The pop music in those countries are very similar in style: they're western. This only main difference is that they are in different languages. Although it is not necessarily a malicious thing, as these countries are adding their own flair and creating a new identity for themselves on the world stage. The bad part of it is cultural homogenization through globalization, which is the opposite of diversity of cultures that globalization should be.