Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên (; born 30 June 1965) is a

Vietnamese-American Vietnamese Americans ( vi, Người Mỹ gốc Việt, lit=Viet-origin American people) are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chinese ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, and master of ceremonies, notably co-hosting the '' Paris by Night'' series.

Early life

Kỳ Duyên was born on June 30, 1965, in Saigon, South Vietnam as the only daughter to

Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Nguyễn Cao Kỳ (; 8 September 1930 – 23 July 2011) was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who served as the chief of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South V ...

, a former South Vietnamese

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

, and Air-Force General. Her mother is Đặng Tuyết Mai who was from Bắc Ninh and spent most of her childhood in Hanoi. In 1953, she and her family moved to Da Lat, South Vienam, where Đặng Tuyết Mai studied at Yersin High School, acquiring fluency in English and French. Before getting married, she was one of four air hostesses for Air Vietnam. Đặng Tuyết Mai met Nguyễn Cao Kỳ on a trip from Manila to Vietnam. At around the age of ten during the

Fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, t ...

on April 30, 1975, Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên moved to the United States. When first moving to America, Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên lived in Fairfax, Virginia, then later moved to Huntington Beach, California in which she studied at Marina High School. She enrolled for a law major at

Western State College of Law at Argosy University Western State College of Law at Westcliff University is a private, for-profit law school in Irvine, California. It offers full and part-time programs and is approved by the American Bar Association. Western State pays a fee to receive servi ...

and graduated with honors. She learned piano since age 5. During the time when she was 13 to 19 years old, she learned music theory and vocal training. Her debut appearance was to host at Miss Ao Dai Competition in Long Beach, California. In 1984, she recorded her first music CD at Tung Giang Studio. In 1985, she debuted as a singer in Seattle, Washington, but her first recording was in 1993 for Hollywood Night Center. She often performs at Las Vegas, California and Paris. Kỳ Duyên is currently a master of ceremonies for

Thúy Nga Productions Thúy Nga Inc. () ( dba Thúy Nga Productions, variously referred to as Thúy Nga Incorporated, Thúy Nga Paris, and Trung Tâm Thúy Nga) is an American entertainment company founded in 1984 in Paris, and currently based in Westminster, Californ ...

's '' Paris by Night'' series alongside

Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn (born 9 March 1945 in Sơn Tây in Hanoi) is a Vietnamese-Canadian writer, essayist and television personality. Ngạn was born in Sơn Tây, Vietnam, but his family moved to South Vietnam when the Geneva Accords divi ...

. Kỳ Duyên has shared that when she first began her career as an MC, she did not read and write in Vietnamese, so her mother helped her memorize her lines.

Education

Kỳ Duyên went to school in

Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...

during her childhood, moving to Huntington Beach, California in her high school years, and graduating from Westminster High School in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in northern Orange County, California, known for its many Vietnamese refugees who immigrated to the city during the 1980s. They settled largely in Little Saigon, and the city is known as the "capital" of overseas Vietnam ...

. She received her Bachelor of Undergraduate Education degree at

California State Polytechnic University California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the ''name'' section of this article for more infor ...

, and later obtained her Graduate Law master's degree with Honors from

Western State University College of Law Western State College of Law at Westcliff University is a private, for-profit law school in Irvine, California. It offers full and part-time programs and is approved by the American Bar Association. Western State pays a fee to receive servi ...

Personal life

Her first marriage was to Nguyễn Quang Li, a surgeon, then Trịnh Hội, a lawyer (whom she divorced in 2008). Following two marriages and two divorces, she fell in love with David Duy Han, a financial analyst and writer. She currently resides in Huntington Beach, California with her two daughters from her first marriage.

References

External links

Official website
* *
Interview with Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', 2004
Interview with Nguyễn Cao Kỳ DuyênVagifirm product by Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Cao Ky Duyen 1965 births Living people Vietnamese emigrants to the United States American women pop singers American women singer-songwriters Western State University College of Law alumni California State Polytechnic University, Pomona alumni People from Ho Chi Minh City American women record producers Thuy Nga Productions Vietnamese Buddhists American Buddhists