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Vivian Chow

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Vivian Chow

Vivian Chow held her Back for Love concert in 2006

Chinese name

周慧敏

Pinyin

Zhou1 Hui4 Min3 (Mandarin)

Jyutping

zau1 wai3 man5 (Cantonese)

Ancestry

Zhongshan, Guangdong

Origin

Hong Kong

Born

November 10 1967 (age 40)

Occupation

Years active

1989 - 1997

Awards
New Talent Singing Awards
1985 Semifinalist

Vivian Chow is a popular singer and actress from Hong Kong. Throughout Vivian's career, she has earned a reputation for being a kind and humble superstar. Her personality and attitude towards fans and colleagues have remained unchanged through the rising of her fame. She also has a love for animals, owning several dogs and cats. Unfortunately, along with fame always comes the paparazzi. Vivian could not handle the sudden invasion of her personal life, and once temporarily shut herself away from all types of media. After her concert in 1994, Vivian realized that her primary value is her personal life, not fame and glory. Therefore, she gradually ceased relationships with Hong Kong's entertainment circle, and retired from the entertainment scene in the late 1990s when Vivian and her long time partner, Joe Ngai, emigrated to Vancouver, Canada. Yet, she remained in the public eye through her many long visits back to Hong Kong to see her mother, and for the publication and announcement of her new book "Bengal Cat" (我的貓兒子周慧豹). Vivian recently returned to live in Hong Kong and became a spokeswoman for a cosmetics company, and has confirmed that she will return to the stage for concerts on May 25th, 2006, and May 26th, 2006 at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Due to the overwhelming response of fans, an additional concert on May 27th, 2006 has been scheduled. All earnings from this concert will be donated to Hong Kong's Non-Profit Veterinary Service Society. However, Vivian has declined all possibilities of a "comeback", but has confirmed that she will strongly consider future concerts for charity purposes.

1 Early life
2 Path to fame
3 Discography
4 Filmography
5 Written works
6 External links

Early life

Vivian was born in Hong Kong and brought up by her mother, her father died the same year that she was born due to heart problems. As a child, Vivian studied at St. Stephen's Girls' College. Her interests included playing the piano (she passed the level 7 test in high school), singing and drawing. Her dream was to become a singer and an artist, both of which she has accomplished. Other than that, not much is known about Vivian's childhood, though she has said in interviews that she was a playful but naughty girl who liked to play tricks on her grandmother.

Path to fame

Vivian did not become a superstar over night. She had to overcome early stumbles and many years of hard work in order to achieve her many accomplishments we recognize today.

First stage appearance

After high school, Vivian had a burning desire to work towards her dream of becoming a singer. She entered the Fourth Annual New Talent Singing Awards in 1985, with her song Zui Ai (最愛) sung in Japanese. That same contest also saw the rise of William So (蘇永康) and Hacken Lee. Although Vivian did not receive any prizes in that contest, this failure did not diminish her hopes of becoming a singer, instead, Vivian then decided to accomplish her goal one step at a time, the first step was becoming a DJ for Radio Television Hong Kong in 1987.

Her First Step

As a DJ for RTHK, the people of Hong Kong finally could hear Vivian's young, sweet, and energetic voice through her participation in many radio dramas. Vivian was the main character in three of those radio dramas, they are "Love in the Summer" (夏之戀) as 'Tung Tung' "The Teenage Period" (青蔥歲月) as 'Fong Ka Yiu', and "Life in Paris" (在巴黎的日子) as 'Joyce'. In the late 1980's, the radio was still one of the primary sources of entertainment. Hearing Vivian's voice day in and day out allowed her name to be spread all across Hong Kong, and she was an almost-instant success. The following year, Vivian took another major step towards her childhood dream, she took part as one of the main characters in the smash-hit comedy "Heart to Hearts" (三人世界). The actress in Vivian was awaken as she first went on the big screen.

Hearts to Hearts

This is the first movie that Vivian took a major role in. She played the role of the daughter of Carol Cheng, a single mother who is quite protective of Vivian. They then meet a man, (George Lam), whom Carol thinks has a liking for her daughter, and almost fights with him. Later on, Carol and George started to develop a relationship with each other, but George's ex-girlfriend comes back, and now he has to make a choice. Vivian's cheery smile, and natural acting skills in 'Hearts in Hearts' won her the 'Best New Performer' award of 1989, recognizing her potential in Hong Kong's entertainment industry. Slowly but surely, Vivian has taken another major step towards her dream.

Success

In the same year that Vivian won the 'Best New Performer' award, her dream finally came true. She released her first album, titled by her Chinese name, 周慧敏. This album contained only 4 songs, and its main purpose was to test the response of the people of Hong Kong for this new rising star. Its sales did not disappoint, and Vivian started to develop her own fan-base by releasing two new albums, 'Vivian' and 'Qing Mi' (情迷), in 1990; 5 new albums (see Discography) in 1991, and 6 new albums in 1992-1993. Vivian had to take Mandarin lessons in order to perfect her pronunciation prior to the release of the Mandarin album, Liu Yan (流言). And just like that, a new superstar was born. Vivian Chow became a commonly seen figure in magazine covers, and no person from Hong Kong has not heard of her name. However, this superstar did not forget her many great friends along her path to fame, nor does she become arrogant because of her popularity. Therefore, the media dubbed her as "玉女掌門人" (Jade Girl) for her beautiful, yet elegant appearance, and pure heart.