The First Amerasian Singer in the US

Tuan Kiet

Ever since the Vietnamese music industry has been established here in the United States, Amerasian and Eurasian singers have definitely played a viable part.  Among the Eurasian singers worth mentioning, of course, are Luu Hong, Julie Quang, Marie Louise, Quoc Anh, Christiane Le, Dung Thanh Lam, Pauline Ngoc, Jeannie Mai and others.  Among Amerasian singers, we have Thanh Ha, Phi Nhung, Randy, Lilian, Dai Trang, Jenny Trang, Phuong Thao, Danny Tuan and Thien Phu, myself even, and countless others.  But there had to be someone that was the very first, or the true pioneer Amerasian singer that really started it all for us in the Vietnamese music industry here in the United States.  That person happens to be a good friend of mine, an Amerasian singer based out of Minnesota by the name of Tuan Kiet. 

I first met this lad about a couple of years ago when he traveled to Southern California to perform for a show put together by my friend, Thanh Le, to benefit the disabled.  But we had become friends years before that.  It was kind of unusual how we became friends.  Sometime back in 2009, both he and I had been invited to perform for some show in Memphis, Tennessee.  Somehow the show never came to fruition.  That happens in this line of business.  Every once in a while we run into show promoters that can be rather flaky.  They'll call up a bunch of singers, print up the posters and then cancel on us right before the day of the show.  Like I said, it happens.  That's just the way it goes. 

Another singer that was supposed to perform on that particular that never happened in Memphis, Tennessee was my good friend, Jenny Trang.  It was through Jenny that I got to know Tuan Kiet.  We were on the phone one day and she put Tuan Kiet on and the three of us were talking on three-way calling.  Soon after, Tuan Kiet and I became friends as we would contact one another often.  I later found out that his aunt is the legendary Vietnamese singer, My Hang, whom I adore and have met quite a few times through Julie Quang.  Actually, I even worked with My Hang once at some show put together by Linda Go-Go and her husband down in San Diego.  I also would learn through the course of our friendship about Tuan Kiet's impressive long resumé as a Vietnamese singer.  Since he had first arrived to the United States in 1979, one of the first Amerasians to come over under the Amerasian Homecoming Act, he became the first Amerasian singer for the Vietnamese community here in the United States when he started his singing career way back in the early 1980s during his years in college.  That's another accomplishment of his, Tuan Kiet is also a college graduate with a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota.  As a Vietnamese singer, Tuan Kiet has worked with an impressive long list of some of the best among overseas Vietnamese singers including Huong Lan, Khanh Ly, Ngoc Lan and Cong Thanh and Lynn, just to name a few.  I just couldn't wait to meet this guy.

Tuan Kiet and I had developed a strong friendship through our telephone conversations through the years but had yet to meet.  We both had tried on several occasions to meet up.  It was either I would have to meet up with him over in Minnesota or he would have to travel over here to California and meet up with me.  Of course, we could also meet up during a show if we were to be both booked to perform together.  Tuan Kiet was sweet enough to try to get me booked on a few shows in Minnesota, but through no fault of his own those bookings didn't end up happening.  I also did the same for him, vice versa, on shows that I had been booked on for Gia Dinh My Viet to benefit Amerasians in Vietnam.  We also had no such luck through my attempts. 

It got to the point that we both realized just how awkward it was how we both had considered ourselves to be such good friends, yet we hadn't even met in person.  Finally at the beginning of 2013 after all those unsuccessful attempts we had each made to meet up by trying get the both of us booked to perform on the same shows, we both decided that no matter what we would meet up in the summer of that year.  Tuan Kiet agreed that he would come to California during the summer to see me.  I was really excited.  But then as luck would have it, sometime in the spring that year Tuan Kiet called me up one day to let me know he had just been invited to perform out in Southern California at the Saigon Performing Arts Theater on a show put together by Thanh Le to benefit disabled people.  That's when I found out that he, himself, was also disabled.  It had never occurred to me to ask before.  But in fact, my friend, Tuan Kiet, had been stricken with polio at an early age and resorts to the usage of crutches in order to walk.  Just by talking to him, nobody would ever even think that he had any physical handicaps.  He's just so positive.  And when he sings, he just puts everyone into a trance with his magnificent voice, I would later discover. 

The day that Tuan Kiet arrived here at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, I had promised to pick him up.  When I got to the airport, despite how we each had seen photographs of one another, we still had trouble spotting each other out among the crowd of airport travelers.  From what Tuan Kiet said, he saw me pass by him several times but at first glance thought I was some Caucasian guy.  According to Tuan Kiet, I don't even look one bit Vietnamese at all in person.  Finally, I had to use my cell phone to call him up to see just where he was at the airport.  After I dialed the number, I could hear the phone ring somewhere nearby, which means Tuan Kiet was standing within my proximex.  When I heard him say hello, I turned to look over and there he was.  That's when he told me how he had seen me all this time, but didn't approach me because he thought I was some White dude.  Now, even I thought that was funny. 

At Thanh Le's show at the Saigon Performing Arts Theater, out of all the singers there such as Thanh Lan, Quoc Anh, Lilian and Phuong Thao, it was Tuan Kiet's performance that really stood out for me.  He really impressed me.  He performed a medley of French songs together with Thanh Lan and Quoc Anh.  Of course, Thanh Lan and Quoc Anh both did a fine job.  Afterall, they are veteran performers who have reached legendary status.  But when Tuan Kiet started to chime in with the first few lines of Viens M'embrasser in his duet with Thanh Lan, I was completely in awe.  This guy's voice is just beyond breathtaking.  And his pronunciation in French, well, uh, coming from such a critic as myself, it is quite a compliment for me to say that I was truly impressed.  Like Khanh Ly had said once about Tuan Kiet, "When you listen to him sing, his voice just makes you forget that he is disabled.  I'll have to agree with her. 

After his performance at the Saigon Performing Arts Theater, I took Tuan Kiet out and spent the night carousing around various hangouts around the Little Saigon community.  We had a blast.  Every bar we had hit that night, both he and I would get up and sing.  Audiences just loved his voice.  Together, we were a hit.  Yes, even I got a few compliments for my singing that night, as well. 

It has been almost two years since then.  We still keep in contact through our telephone conversations.  He's really an all-around great guy.  At times I feel as if I've known him all my life.  I really look forward to our next meeting together, which I'm hoping will be sometime in the very near future. 

A Tribute to Phuong Thao

We've all heard of the difficult challenges Amerasians had to face in Vietnam during the years after the Fall of Saigon.  Being a minority in a homogeneous society would certainly not be without its challenges, especially in a country such as Vietnam in the years after an unpopular and lengthy war. Many Amerasians were shunned by society in Vietnam, left as orphans abandoned by both parents. But one Amerasian in particular, Phuong Thao, had defied the odds and rose to fame with her God-given talents as a Vietnamese pop singer.

I remember meeting Phuong Thao during my first trip back to Vietnam in the winter of 1991.  I was 19 years old at the time, in college and a volunteer worker for an organization called Amerasian Services that was based out of St. Anselm's Refugee Center here in Orange County, California.  After a few months into my volunteer work, I was asked by the director of Amerasian Services, Mary Payne Nguyen, to accompany her on a trip to Vietnam to assist Amerasians who were in waiting for their applications to be approved in order to come live in the United States under the Amerasian Homecoming Act.  During the months that some of these Amerasians were in waiting, they would be temporarily stationed at the Amerasian Transit Center located in the Dam Sen district of Ho Chi Minh City.  While there, on one sunny afternoon Phuong Thao pulled up on a motorcycle with bags full of clothes and presents that she brought with her to give to those Amerasians and their families at the Amerasian Transit Center.  Dressed in jeans and a Polo T-shirt, the only thing that set her aside from everyone else was a pair of sunglasses that she wore.  I had no idea she was a famous singer.  As everyone at the center flocked to crowd around her, I was a bit hesitant to say hello.  But when we were introduced to one another, she took off her glasses and gave me the friendliest smile.  That would mark the first time I met Phuong Thao.

During our conversation together, I found her to be very warm and humble.  I addressed her as chi, since I found out she is 5 years older than me.  As we talked, I couldn't help but to ask her why she hadn't submitted her application with the Amerasian Homecoming Act to come live in the United States.  Her answer to me was that she felt her life was quite settled in Vietnam.  Her singing career had just taken off.  She had just recently gotten married to a fellow who was a film actor in Vietnam.  Phuong Thao was well aware that although her singing career had strong potential in the overseas Vietnamese community, the same could not be said for husband's career should they decide to relocate and live in the States.  She made a lot of sense.  After all, it isn't easy to make it in show business in any country.  Phuong Thao had done so in her native Vietnam.  During the early 1990s, Phuong Thao was one of the brightest young talents in the music industry of Vietnam.  I guess you could say that she had reached diva status back then in Vietnam, since her immense popularity had placed her in the ranks of such iconic superstars at the time like Cam Van and Bao Yen.  Given her level of success, I can understand why she wouldn't want to have to start all over again in a foreign country.

That night I went to go watch her sing at the Rex Hotel in Saigon.  I went backstage to say hi.  There just wasn't enough time for her to talk much with me then.  You see, singers in Vietnam have to perform at 5 or 6 different places nightly.  The Rex Hotel was only Phuong Thao's second stop with 4 more to go to on her nightly performing schedule.  Nevertheless, she was happy to see me.  And I was happy to be able to see how the singers of Vietnam worked on a daily basis.  It truly is a whole different world.

Ngoc Le and Phuong Thao

The next time I would see Phuong Thao was in 1998 when I traveled back again to Vietnam.  By this time, I had heard she had gotten remarried to a musician named Ngoc Le.  I went to watch her perform at the Lan Anh music venue where the crowd went wild as she sang her big hit written by her husband, Cafe Mot Minh.  I didn't get a chance to talk with her this time around.  But I was very happy to see that things seemed to be going alright for her.

Phuong Thao and Ngoc Le
together with their two children

In recent years, I had heard that she had been reunited with her American father and has since moved to the United States.  With the exception of an appearance on video for Asia Productions, Phuong Thao has not really participated much in the overseas Vietnamese entertainment industry.  I don't know why, since the last time I heard her sing live at a benefit show for the disabled put together by my friend, Thanh Le, in 2013, she sounded and looked great.  To me, it didn't seem as if she had lost her touch one bit/  That is why I'm puzzled as to why her career hasn't continued to flourish upon her resettling here in the States.

Despite how Phuong Thao's performances have been rather seldom in recent years, I'll always look onto her as a pioneer for Amerasian singers.  The fact that she, as an Amerasian, was able to defy the odds and make it in Vietnam to become one of the most popular singers there is astounding.  Phuong Thao has been a hero to all Amerasians, especially to Amerasian performers like myself.