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On December 30, 2005, Zhou made an announcement through a video clip she posted online that she officially broke her contractual obligations with Shanghai E.E. Media. She thanked graciously the organizer of the Super Girl's Voice Contest for giving her the opportunity to sing in front of millions. She did not go into the specifics about the breakup. As a result of the breakup, she was said to be held liable for a penalty of RMB 5 million (approximately USD 714K). Speculations ran high afterwards regarding the disagreements between Zhou and Shanghai E.E. Media and the recording companies in pursuit of her. |
On December 30, 2005, Zhou made an announcement through a video clip she posted online that she officially broke her contractual obligations with Shanghai E.E. Media. She thanked graciously the organizer of the Super Girl's Voice Contest for giving her the opportunity to sing in front of millions. She did not go into the specifics about the breakup. As a result of the breakup, she was said to be held liable for a penalty of RMB 5 million (approximately USD 714K). Speculations ran high afterwards regarding the disagreements between Zhou and Shanghai E.E. Media and the recording companies in pursuit of her. |
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==Music Career== |
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===Yuelin Music and 1st Single=== |
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==Discography== |
==Discography== |
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Revision as of 04:58, 17 April 2008
Template:Chinese name Template:Infobox Chinese actor and singer Zhou Bichang (simplified Chinese: 周笔畅; traditional Chinese: 周筆暢; pinyin: Zhōu Bǐchàng; also known as Bibi Chow), is a Chinese singer and songwriter. She was the first runner-up in the 2005 Super Girl Competition, which is a Chinese version of Pop Idol for female contestants only. Her voice has been appropriated as a female version of David Tao and Lee-Hom Wang, as she covered some of their songs during the contest.
On March 18, 2006, Zhou signed a recording contract with Yuelin Music. Since then, she has released several singles, an EP, and three albums. Her debut album, "Who Touched My String", was released in August 2006. In Spring 2007, Zhou attended the Encore Program at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California, with a concentration in R&B vocal performance. On December 18, 2007, the singer released her twin albums, named "Now" and "Wow", each containing ten songs. "Now" features Zhou's iconic R&B style, and "Wow" showcases her versatility in music genre as she forays into rock, ballad, britpop, dance, etc..
Zhou also started her acting career in 2006 as she starred in the films McDull, the Alumni and The 601st Phone Call.
Early Years
Zhou Bichang was born on July 26, 2005 in Changsha, Hunan Province, to Zhou Zhongzhan, a government employee at the time, and Lu Yuanyuan, a teacher in Chinese folk music. When she was six, her family moved to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, a special economic development zone on the southeast coast of China in close vicinity of Hong Kong. In Shenzhen she attended Yuanling Elementary School, followed by a period at Gangxia Elementary School, before eventually transferring to Fuhua Elementary School where her mother held a teaching position. Then she spent six years attending Futian High School in Shenzhen.
Zhou has been brought up in a family where music permeates everyday life. Her mother, being a music teacher and singer herself, is an avid fan of Chinese folk music. When Zhou was a child, her grandmother taught her to play the piano.
While Zhou was in junior high school, pop music from the adjacent Hong Kong and Taiwan was ubiquitous in Shenzhen, which is a far cry from the music her mother's generation was accustomed and attracted to. Zhou started collecting music CDs and listening to them non-stop. Soon in her high school, she started to become known for her vocal talent and her ability to imitate the style of several popular R&B and Pop singers.
In her late senior high school years, as her interest in music escalated she was determined to pursue a career in music later in her life. In 2002, with an enviably high score of 681 on the College Entrance Exam she was admitted into the four-year undergraduate program in non-classical music at the prestigious Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, named after the late famous musician Xian Xinghai.
In March 2002, Zhou released a single named "How I Miss You" on the web, which received moderate popularity. During the period of 2001 to 2003, she had entered herself into a variety of youth singing contests and had won a few awards. But before long she grew tired of competing in singing contests and despondent about her prospects in the music industry as she came to realize that her musical style as well as her look – hip hop and town-boyish - was too unconventional for the industry where bubble-gum sweet-faced girl pop idols were prevalent. She then retreated to college life until an accidental entry on her part into the 2005 Super Girl's Voice Contest that later in year swept the whole nation.
2005 Super Girl's Voice Contest
In the spring of 2005, one of Zhou's friends at Xinghai entered Zhou without her knowledge into the 2005 Super Girls' Voice auditions held in Guangzhou, the only city picked in south China for audition purposes by the contest organizer. Zhou showed up the day of the audition in her father's old oversize jacket without a trace of makeup. In her own words, she just rolled out of bed before going to the audition and did not even get a chance to wash her face. Her boyish appearance almost made the security guard stop her at the entrance because the contest was supposed for girls only. But her talent had no problem shining despite her slightly unkempt exterior at the audition as she impressed the judges by singing segments from "Ordinary Friend” by David Tao and "Forever Love" by Leehom Wang. In the following weeks, she coasted through the subsequent elimination rounds and soon found herself among the top 10 finalists for the Guangzhou Audition Region (*only the top 3 from each region qualify for the national finals which were scheduled to start months later in July). Her fan base also grew exponentially as she proceeded through the contest.
The sincere emotions in her vocal and her interpretation of others' works was a breath of fresh air into the competition; on one particular occasion she brought one of the judges to tears during her singing and all five judges to a standing ovation when she finished the song ("Extricate"). Her voice is sultry yet extremely powerful, a rarity among Chinese female singers. She also possesses a special talent of turning everything she sings into undeniably her own signature style, known as "Bi Style Vocal" ("筆式唱腔“）. Without any suspense, she was voted by viewers all the way through to the top in Guangzhou Contest Region.
In July the national finals kicked off in Changsha, Hunan Province, where the top 3 contestants from each of the 5 regions got together and went through a series of eliminations. In these rounds, she went on delivering a wide spectrum of songs, mostly by male singers she has long admired such as David Tao, Eason Chan, Jay Chow and Leehom Wang. She successfully showcased her skills in mastering hip hop, R&B and pop songs. She was one of the judges' favorites; they never voted to put her in the bottom two up for elimination, a.k.a. PK (short for Penalty Kick, a term typically used in soccer) and she was the only one throughout the entire competition that had never been through a PK. When the finale was aired on August 26, 2005, some 400 million people tuned in to find out who garnered the most SMS votes from viewers. Zhou ended up in the second place, only a thin margin separating her from winning the competition. But she was content with the result and was grateful towards the millions who had supported and voted for her.
Post Super Girl Days through Early 2006
Soon after the finale ended, Zhou quietly withdrew herself from the frenzy of the contest and went back to college where she just turned a sophomore. Unlike many others who arose to fame overnight, she was not thrilled about her newly-gained stardom. At times she was even annoyed when media and fans followed her around on campus as she did not want to draw attention to herself and cause inconvenience to her fellow students.
In the meantime, Shanghai E.E. Media, the agent for the Super Girl's Voice Contest, was busy organizing a national tour as well as a slew of commercial appearances for the finalists of the contest. Zhou at the time was very adamant about continuing with her study at Xinghai and not letting commercial activities interfere with her school work. However, due to her contractual obligations, she agreed to join other Super Girl's Voice finalists on the nationwide tour and performed at concerts held in Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Fuzhou. Everywhere she went her loyal and fanatic fans turned up in droves and showed their support for her. In front of a full house at the Fuzhou concert she announced her retreat from the nationwide tour, which instantly drove many of her fans to tears fearing she might retire entirely from the showbiz. Zhou's father later explained to media that frequent performances and commercial events had taken a toll on the 20-year-old. "She wants to have time for study and her family," he said. Zhou also admitted that during that time she was immensely unhappy.
On December 30, 2005, Zhou made an announcement through a video clip she posted online that she officially broke her contractual obligations with Shanghai E.E. Media. She thanked graciously the organizer of the Super Girl's Voice Contest for giving her the opportunity to sing in front of millions. She did not go into the specifics about the breakup. As a result of the breakup, she was said to be held liable for a penalty of RMB 5 million (approximately USD 714K). Speculations ran high afterwards regarding the disagreements between Zhou and Shanghai E.E. Media and the recording companies in pursuit of her.
Music Career
Yuelin Music and 1st Single
p
Discography
Albums
| Album Information |
|---|
Bibi's 1st EP (周筆暢1st EP)
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Who Touched My Violin String (誰動了我的琴弦)
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NOW
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WOW
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Singles
| Year | Song Title |
|---|---|
| 2002 |
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| 2005 |
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| 2006 |
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| 2007 |
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Filmography
| Movie Information |
|---|
McDull, the Alumni《春田花花同學會》
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The 601st Phone Call《第601個電話》
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| Who Touched My Violin String (Music Movie) 《誰動了我的琴弦》（音樂電影）
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Select musical awards
| Year | Awards | |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 |
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| 2006 |
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| 2007 |
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| 2008 |
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Philanthropy
Since November 30, 2005, Zhou Bichang has been serving as the Young Ambassador for the “Land of Love, Water Cellars for Mothers” project, a charity fund started by the China Women Development Foundation that finances building water cellars and small-scale water supply systems in the arid northwestern region of China. Zhou herself contributed RMB 10,000, or 10 water cellars at RMB 1,000 each. Thousands of her fans, nationwide, have since followed her lead. To date, their donation is estimated to have exceeded RMB 550,000, a large portion of which has already been used to build water cellars in said region. As the Ambassador, Zhou took a trip to Dingbian County, Shaanxi Province, to personally promote the project. During her trip, she visited families in dire need of reliable, clean water supply.
On December 1, 2005, Zhou was named the ambassador of HIV/AIDS Prevention in Guangdong Province.
During the period of October to December 2006, Zhou participated in several events for the “I Want to Go to School” campaign, a two-month long initiative co-sponsored by the China Music Radio and the China Children Foundation. Zhou, along with other artists, showed her support for helping to raise awareness of children in extreme poverty. For the campaign, she also recorded one version of the theme song “ Kids” (“娃娃”), composed and written by the renowned Taiwanese musician Li Zongsheng.