Vivian Hsu

Vivian Hsu

Vivian Hsu (Chinese: 徐若瑄; pinyin: Xú Ruòxuān; Wade–Giles: Hsu Jo-hsuan; Japanese: ビビアン・スー Bibian Sū; born March 19 1975 in Taichung, Taiwan) is a famous singer, actress, and model who has gained remarkable popularity in several countries of South-East Asia, mainly in Taiwan and Japan.

Beginnings

The second of three children, Vivian was born 徐淑娟 (pinyin: Xú Shújuān), and used this name until she began modelling career. Her parents divorced when she was a child. She attended Taipei Jianxing Elementary School and Taipei Shulinguo Junior High School.

Vivian's career in entertainment industry started after winning first place in a "Talented Beautiful Girl" contest held by Taiwan CTS TV in 1990. At that point, she was working by delivering food on her bicycle, and her customers began to recongise her from her television appearances. The same year she joined a musical duo named 少女隊 (py. Shào nǔ Dùi, en. Girls Team). They released two albums, in 1991 and 1992, then broke up. Following this, Vivian got her start in modelling.

Modelling

As a model, she produced two photobooks: Angel (天使心, py. Tiānshǐ Xīn) and Venus.

Angel, published in 1995, was shot in Capri and Sicily.

Venus, published on July 7, 1996, was shot in Mexico and had separate runs in Taiwan and Japan.

Vivian's success in modelling achieved its zenith in July 1996 when she was featured on the cover of two Asian-edition Penthouse magazines (the Japanese edition, and the comparatively low-distribution Hong Kong edition). Like the photobooks, both these items have become very sought after by Vivian collectors and fans.

Vivian has continued to model for designers such as Hang Ten, Gucci and Mode Marie, and has modelled in all three of her brief, autobiographical books: Earth Onigiri (2001), Privacy (2001, ISBN 4-88745-060-5), and Wo Ai Taiwan (2002). In addition, most of her musical albums contain substantial inserts featuring new modelling work.

Music

Vivian released her first solo single in 1995. She released her first full-length album, 天使想 (py. Tiānshǐ Xiǎng, jp. Tenshi Sou, en. Angel Dreaming) in 1996. Shortly thereafter, she took a speed course in Korean, and released a Korean version of the album titled 天使美少女 (kr. Cheonsa Misonyeo, py. Tiānshǐ Měishàonǔ, jp. Tenshi Bishoujo, en. Angel Prettygirl). Unusually, neither of Vivian's first two albums was sung in her native language.

In 1997, with two Japanese comedians—Kyoya Nanami and Amazan—and later with a second female vocalist known as 'Keddy', she formed a band known as the Black Biscuits. The band was formed primarily as a "rival band" for the Japanese music group Pocket Biscuits, which was the creation of the Japanese variety show Utchan Nanchan no UriNari. Between 1997 and 1999, they released three hit singles and a full-length album, Life. Their single CD "Timing" recorded 1.5 million sales in 1998. And, they participated in Kōhaku Uta Gassen in 1998.

Towards the end of the group's run, they failed to accomplish one of the challenges set forth by the variety show and the resulting punishment was the disbanding of Black Biscuits.

During this period, Vivian also released two more solo albums: 大麻煩 (py. Dà Máfán, en. Big Trouble) in 1998, and 不敗の戀人 (py. Bùbài de Liànrén, en. Undefeatable Lover) in 1999. She followed Bubai de Lianren with a Japanese translation, Fuhai no Koibito, in 2000.

Later that same year she released another new album, 假扮的天使 (py. Jiǎbàn de Tiānshǐ, en. Pretend Angel).

In 2001, she formed The d.e.p with Masahide Sakuma, Gota Yashiki, Masami Tsuchiya and Mick Karn. The band was short-lived: by the end of the year they had released all the music they ever would. This amounted to two singles and a full-length album, 地球的病気 -We Are the d.e.p-.

Over the next two years, she released a few more singles, including, alongside Kazuma Endo, Moment, the second opening theme to Gundam SEED, followed in 2003 by her next solo album, 我愛你 x4 the secret to happiness is love. Her last album is 狠狠愛 (py. Hěn Hěn Ài), released in April 2005. Her most recent album is Vivi and..., released in September 2006. For this album, Vivian collaborated with many artists and people including Jay Chou, Wang Leehom, Gary Cao, Nicky Lee and even her little brother and uncle.

Vivian's music, especially in her later work, covers a great range of genres. Included are slow love songs, R&B, hard rock, and of course J-pop. She has even dabbled in rap. This, combined with the fact that she is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese makes her a very versatile artist.

Vivian is also an accomplished lyricist. Her lyric-writing talent first gained serious notice when she completed several songs for Taiwan's R&B singer/songwriter Jay Chou. By proving that she's not just another pretty idol, but a very capable artist, Vivian surprised both her critics and adorned fans. She continued to collaborate with Jay on his second and third albums after his triumphant self-titled debut, and co-wrote songs for other pop performers, such as Vanness Wu and Gigi Leung. Her lyric work is much praised for its clever and straightforward simplicity.

Some Jay Chou songs that she wrote lyrics for are as follows:

• Adorable Woman 可愛女人
• Can't Say 開不了口
• Istanbul 伊斯坦堡
• Love's Cliff 愛進懸崖
• Simple Love 簡單愛
• Tornado 龍捲風

Complete Discography

See also: Vivian Hsu discography

Acting

Vivian has appeared in a number of movies and television programs both in Taiwan and in Japan. Her debut films are 赤裸天使 (py. Chìluǒ Tiānshǐ, titled "Angel Heart" internationally) in 1994 and 魔鬼天使 (py. Móguǐ Tiānshǐ, en. Devil Angel) in 1995, both rated as Category III movies. Before breaking into the Taiwan acting scene, she starred in Hong Kong's L-O-V-E Love...

She also has some experience as a seiyu (voice actress), having voiced Aisha in Gundam SEED for three episodes, as well as Princess Morebucks in the Taiwanese The Powerpuff Girls. Perhaps her most recongisable role to Westerners was opposite Jackie Chan in The Accidental Spy.

She played the role of Chao Jia Le in Love Storm (2003), alongside Vic Chou and Ken Chu. She also composed and sang the opening theme for this series, 決定愛你 (py. Juédìng Ài Nǐ, en. Decide to Love You), which was released as a single in 2003.

As with many actors and actresses, she appears from time to time in commercials and as spokesperson for various causes. A complete list of these uncreditable roles (through 2002) can be found at this career timeline.

External links

• IMDb profile
• Vivian Hsu's Official website Template:Zh icon