Andrea Markey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 10/05) - Lyndon Duong has performed in front of many live audiences, but there is something about a national TV broadcast that still makes him nervous.

Lyndon Duong has played in front of many live audiences, including the 24th Folk on the Rocks, but his performance next week on national TV will really test his nerves. - NNSL file photo

On Monday morning, 12-year-old Duong will be taped for CTV's Canada AM. It will air later in the week. By Monday morning, he will have practised the song he will be playing over and over enough times that he will be calm, he said.

"I don't know what song it will be yet, but my dad and I will decide when we get to Toronto," he said.

Lyndon was "discovered" in February when CTV's Jeff Hutchison was in Yellowknife for the Arctic Tourism dinner.

Lyndon is a "glowing" member of the Recording Arts Association of the NWT (RAANT), said board member Steve Smith. "When Lyndon plays, people are so quiet you can hear a pin drop in the room," he said. "He's going to blow them away in that smelly city."

The trip to Toronto is also a family reunion, said Lyndon's mother, Huong Le.

Lyndon's sister is graduating from law school in Windsor, Ontario, this week. His brother is flying to Toronto from Calgary where he is studying engineering. And Lyndon's grandparents are flying in from the U.S. to see their grandson on TV.

Lyndon's mother asked him if he wanted to go to Toronto for the show, leaving it up to him.

"If he thinks it is too much pressure, he can say no," Le said. "He said he wanted to go, but 'I hope they don't make me speak French'," she said.

In addition to his musical abilities, Lyndon is a straight-A French immersion student.

Lyndon's CD release, originally scheduled for June, has been pushed back to September due to production problems.

Profits from the CD will go towards the Canadian Cancer Society, Lyndon said.