Elva Hsiao

Elva Hsiao (, born 24 August 1979) is a Taiwanese singer.

Since being signed to a record deal in 1998 after competing in a singing competition, Hsiao had gone on to release fourteen studio albums and has achieved great commercial success within the Chinese pop music industry.

Hsiao was signed to EMI Virgin Records in 1998, as their first artist, after being scouted from the singing competition New Talent Singing Awards, affiliated with Hong Kong TV channel TVB.

She was one of twelve finalists.

Singers Jacky Chu and Ruby Lu also competed that year.

Hsiao was part of a girl group called Phenomenon initially, but pursued a solo career after her bandmates dropped out.

She was studying design in Vancouver, Canada, at John Casablancas Institute, at the time.

After signing, Hsiao was managed and groomed by songwriter Yao Chien, who was also the president of Virgin/EMI in Taiwan at the time.

Yao would also have a hand in writing for many of Hsiao's albums released under Virgin/EMI.

Hsiao's first album was self-titled and was of the pop and R&B genre.

Known for her R&B-influenced ballads, the artist's first album, Elva First Album (1999), was considered one of the first to incorporate R&B in the Chinese market.

The album was released in 1999 and was considered a pioneer for the R&B genre in Chinese-speaking markets.

The album was a commercial success, selling a total 800,000 copies in Asia the following year.

The success of the album paved the way for her first solo concert in Taipei later in 2000.

The single, "Cappuccino", became popular in Chinese karaoke settings.

Hsiao was also tapped to record the jingle for the re-branding effort by the Broadcasting Corporation of China in Taiwan.

For Hsiao's third album, Tomorrow, Virgin/EMI made a push for the mainland Chinese market, capitalizing on the singer's name recognition in the Taiwanese and Hong Kong music markets.

The album included hip hop influences and faster tempos than Hsiao's previous releases, as well as a song performed in Cantonese.

Despite a limited schedule of just four concerts and press conferences in China and Hong Kong, the album would still go on to sell 400,000 copies in the mainland in addition to 290,0000 records sold in Taiwan in 2001.

Hsiao's next album, 4U, released in 2002, featured a song that Hsiao wrote the lyrics for.

She collaborated with English boy band Blue that year on a remake of their song "U Make Me Wanna" for her album Theme Song of Love, Kissing.

That album featured two songs in which Hsiao contributed to production.

That same year, Hsiao made her feature film debut in the Hong Kong crime thriller, Infernal Affairs in a minor role as the ex-girlfriend of Tony Leung's character.

The film was remade in the US as The Departed, which went on to win an Academy Award.

Hsiao would also lend her voice to the animated film The Butterfly Lovers, based on the classic Chinese fairytale of the same name in 2004.

Two songs from Hsiao's next album, 5th Avenue, were also featured in soundtracks for a film and a television show.

The singer's contract with Virgin/EMI ended in 2004 with the release of her greatest hits record Beautiful Episode.

Despite a light marketing budget banking on Hsiao's public persona, the album sold well, with 400,000 copies moved in mainland China, becoming the biggest selling record for the label that year.

Hsiao signed with Warner Music Taiwan but was only able to release her next album, 1087, in December 2006.

The album was partly delayed because of an upheaval in staff at Warner and was named for the number of days between its release and Hsiao's previous studio album.

Promotions for the album also experienced delays as the singer had to take five months to recover from tearing a ligament in her left leg while shooting a music video.

Hsiao returned to EMI Music Taiwan in 2008 after releasing just one album with Warner, also reuniting her with former manager Yao Chien.

She released 3 Faced Elva that same year in June.

The artist's subsequent album, Diamond Candy, was released under the Gold Typhoon label after it was announced in August that the company had bought EMI Music Taiwan.

Hsiao was named one of Taiwan's top earning singers in 2014, with more than US$18 million earned.

Her entire catalog would later appear under the Warner Music label after the latter bought Gold Typhoon's music interests in 2014.

This album featured songs written by British songwriter Wayne Hector and one song, "Beautiful Encounter", from that album was later covered by Brazilian pop singer Wanessa.

Her most recent album, Naked Truth, was released in 2020.

Hsiao was recognized as one of four of the most popular female singers in the Chinese music scene among her contemporaries.

As a result, she has also been brand ambassadors to various brand names such as, Motorola, Sprite, De Beers, Avon, Pantene, and Ford.