Vivian Chow is a Hong Kong based Cantopop singer and actress. She is well known for her ladylike stage image as well as her charity works for animal rights.
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. She retired from the Chinese entertainment scene in the late 1990s when Vivian and her long time partner, Joe Ngai, emigrated to Vancouver, Canada. Though she still makes frequent trips to Hong Kong to visit her family and to support animal-rights charities.
Vivian was born in Hong Kong and brought up by her mother. Her father died the same year she was born due to heart problems. As a child, Vivian studied at St. Stephen's Church College, passing A-levels (seventh grade) in high school. Her dream was to become a singer and an artist, both of which she has accomplished.
After high school, Chow entered the Fourth Annual New Talent Singing Awards in 1985 with Yoshie Kashiwabara's (柏原芳恵) song Saiai (最愛). The same contest also saw the rise of William So (蘇永康) and Hacken Lee. Although Vivian did not receive any prizes in the contest, this failure did not diminish her hopes of becoming a singer, instead, Chow entered the entertainment business by becoming a DJ in Radio Television Hong Kong in 1987.
As a DJ for RTHK, Chow was the main character in three of the 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 1988, Chow made her movie debut in the smash-hit comedy "Heart to Hearts" (三人世界). She played the role of the daughter of Carol Cheng, a single mother who is quite protective of Vivian. They then meet a man played by George Lam. For her role in the series, Chow won the 'Best New Performer' award of 1989.
In the same year that Vivian won the 'Best New Performer' award, she also 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 the rising star. 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). Limited by her good look and genteel demeanor, her performances usually received moderate reviews by critics but she nonetheless attracted a huge and loyal fan-base. During the peak of her career, her popularity had a dominating presence among high school students and many of them have remained loyal throughout her retirement. In view of her unfaltering beauty, elegance and kindred spirit, the media dubbed her "玉女掌門人", a colloquial term that can be loosely translated as the eternal maiden queen.
