Vivian Chow

Vivian Chow Wai-man (Chinese: 周慧敏 , born 10 November 1967) is a Hong Kong-based Cantopop singer-songwriter and actress.

Vivian Chow is the only child in her family. Her father died before her birth due to heart disease. She was brought up by her mother and grandmother. Chow graduated from St. Stephen's Church College and gained 6th grade in piano.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Chow entered the New Talent Singing Awards which held by TVB and Capital Artists in 1985. She began her singing and acting career by becoming the first runner-up at a freelance DJ competition held by RTHK in 1986.

In 1988, Chow was invited by TVB to hosted the TV music program Jade Solid Gold. Chow starred in her first movie Heart to Heart and was nominated for "Best New Performer" of Hong Kong Film Awards for her role in this movie. Chow also joined Sancity Record in the same year and released her debut platinum single, "Vivian", which got a platinum award.

Chow won "Best New Prospect Exceptional Award" of Top 10 Gold Songs Award in 1989. Later, she hosted the young-oriented current-affairs program "Modern Era" of RTHK Television with Joe Nieh.

In 1990, Chow acted in her first TV drama The Hunter's Prey and released her first and second solo album Vivian and "情迷".

Chow resigned from RTHK and started to focus on her career as a singer and actress in 1991. Chow joined Polygram and released her third Cantonese album "A Long and Lasting Love" in November.

In 1992, Chow was named as one of "Ten Artists with Healthy Image" by Commercial Radio Hong Kong. Her fourth and fifth Cantonese album Endless Dream and Winter Romance were released in the same year.

Chow joined Linfair Record Taiwan and broke into the Taiwan market with releasing her song "Rumor" successfully in 1992. Her first Mandarin debut album "Rumor" was released in November and sold a total of more than 300,000 copies.

In 1993, Chow won 3rd place in the "Next Magazine TV Awards for Most Popular Artists" (first place of female artists) for her role on the TV drama The Greed of Man. Her second Mandarin album was released in May and got 6 platinum awards. Chow was chosen as the "Most Popular Female Artist" by Taiwan media. Later, Chow released her sixth Cantonese album "Most Love" which got double platinum award. The Cantonese featured album and the third Mandarin album Vivian & Her Mind were released in the end of year. Chow won Metro Hit Radio's "Best Female Singer-Bronze Award" and Japan NHK's "Most Popular Foreign Female Singer Award". Chow released her Japanese debut album Love Legend to broke into the Japanese market in April 1994. At the same month, Chow released her seventh Cantonese album Growing up. The fourth Mandarin album Leaving the habit of depression, eighth Cantonese album The time of red leaves drifting and Mandarin compilation album Know yourself and your enemies were also released in this year. Chow got a breakthrough in her singer career for the total selling of these Cantonese and Mandarin albums got 8 platinum awards. She was also awarded the "Most Popular Hong Kong Female Singer Award" by Japanese media.

Chow's Taiwan concert tour started at ChangHua Stadium on 11 June 1994, and continued at KaoHsiung Stadium on June 18, 1994, and Taipei Stadium on 25 June 1994. Chow returned to Hong Kong in the second half of the year, she holds 4 shows in Hong Kong Coliseum at Oct 7–8 and 14–15.

In 1995, Chow won the award of "TVB JSG Top Ten 94 New Generation Performance (Silver)". She released her ninth Cantonese debut album A little more love in May. Her first Japanese EP was released in June. The Japanese duet "今を抱きしめて", sung with Japanese singer Asaku Yoshida, was also included in the Japanese EP and the Fifth Mandarin debut album "處處留情" which was released in July. Chow was named as one of "Asian Pop Divas" by Japanese music critics along with Faye Wong, Sandy Lam and Sally Yip and one of the "Top 10 Most Popular Performers" in China.

In 1996, Chow released her last Cantonese debut album "熱敏" in May, last Mandarin debut album Time in October and the first Mandarin featured album "周慧敏的敏感地帶" in December before her semi-retirement. She has also been elected as one of the "Top 10 worldwide celebrities on the Internet" by internet users.

Chow joined Taurus Records in 1997 and released the second EP "逢いにゆきたいの" in February. She was voted as one of "Top 10 celebrities on the internet" (The #1 Chinese celebrity on the poll results). After Chow announced she would not take any entertainment jobs when she held the concert in Atlantic City in November, Polygram Hong Kong released the featured album "回憶從今天開始" which included the new song "男女之間", Japanese song "逢いにゆきたいの" and 15 Chow's Hit Songs to summarize Chow's music.

At the beginning of 1998, Taurus Records released the Japanese version of the featured album "あの日から始まった", included 18 Chow's 18 best hits including "自動自覺" and "真愛在明天".

After leaving the entertainment scene, Chow moved to Vancouver with Joe Nieh and appeared in public places occasionally. She is obsessed with painting, writing and playing pool. Her painting "Old Man from San Geung" and "Looking Towards the Future" won many painting awards.

Chow and Nieh returned to Hong Kong with their cats in 2003 because the outbreak of SARS stopped them from returning to Canada. Chow revealed the reason she stopped her entertainment career in 1997 in TVB talk show "Queen's Feast". "My TV, movie, agency and record contracts all expired in 1997, so she tried to gain life experiences outside of the entertainment and music industries.

In 2004, Chow launched her first book My Cat Son Pal Chow which quickly sold more than 20,000 books and was also in the top 10 best-selling books for several months. Chow was also invited to be Shiseido spokesperson for the Asia region in the same year. After back to entertainment scene, Chow works as part-time and obsesses with community services. She worked with World Vision Hong Kong, Oxfam, Hong Kong Aid Foundation, Cancer Fund, Society for Abandoned Animals Limited (SAA) and Non-Profit Making Veterinary Service Society (NPV) to promote taking care of the social vulnerable group through her social influence.

Chow returned to the Hong Kong Coliseum to perform in her "Back for Love" concert on 25–27 May 2006 after she stepped on this stage twelve years ago. She donated all of the rewards she got for the 3 concerts to NPV to raise money for establishing a veterinary clinic which grand opened on Chow's birthday in the same year.

Chow held the concert "Deep V.25" on 19–20 March 2011 at Hong Kong Coliseum and released the anniversary EP "Potted Plants" to celebrate her 25th anniversary of debut. The appearance of Sean Lau in the concert surprised Chow and the audiences because it was the first reunion of this pair of main characters in famous TV drama The Greed of Man. It was a few days after Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, when Yoshie Kashiwabara came to Hong Kong as one of her special guests, Chow also decided to sell her CD's and the souvenirs designed by Leo Ku, with all proceeds given to charity for the Japanese Relief Funds. Chow's cat sons Pal Chow and Chu Jai were passed away a month before the concert.

After the concert in Hong Kong, Chow started the world tour "Vivian Chow Journey of Love".

In 2013, Chow started her own talent agency, V Vision Workshop Limited. Her agent is Lorraine Chan (Leo Ku's wife) a talent agent.

In 2014, Chow starred in Taiwanese movie Cafe. Waiting. Love which was released on 15 August 2014 in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The movie had a positive reception in both places. The box office reached 20 million in Hong Kong and 200 million in Taiwan. Chow was invited to sing the theme song "咖啡在等一個人" which was included in the movie soundtrack.

Chow's first gospel album HIM was released on 18 December 2014. The album was produced by Chow and issued by Emperor Group Music and Linfair Record Limited. The English song "A Love Like This" was composed by Chow is about how her faith changed her life. Chow started to participate in different forms of sermons to share Christian testimony after the album's release.

Chow's first love was her high school colleague. She started a relationship with the vocalist of Raidas, Chan Duk Cheung, when she worked in RTHK. This lasted for a few years. Later, Chow met Joe Nieh, the son of famous novelist Ni Kuang in a RTHK television programme in 1989 and they parted amicably in 1992. Chow met Ka Sen when she was in a Kao advertising shooting. After a two-year long-distance relationship, they broke up in 1995. Chow and Joe Nieh were back together in 1997 and married on 5 January 2009. They both become Christians in 2010 and joined an English-speaking local church in Hong Kong.

Based on the title name in Cantonese: