Vivian Hsu

Vivian Hsu (born March 19, 1975) is a Taiwanese actress, model, and singer.

Hsu's career in entertainment industry started after winning first place in a "Talented Beautiful Girl" contest held by Taiwan's CTS in 1990.

At that point, she was working by delivering food on her bicycle, and her customers began to recognise her from her television appearances.

The same year she joined a musical trio named "Girls' Team" (少女隊).

They released two albums, in 1991 and 1992, then broke up.

Following this, Hsu started modeling.

As a model, she posed in two photobooks titled Angel (天使心) and Venus.

Her debut film was Shaolin Popey (1994), a comedy film which became a box office hit in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

She also has some experience as a voice actress, having voiced Aisha in Gundam SEED for three episodes.

Hsu also starred in three Hong Kong Category III motion pictures, Hunting List, Devil Angel and Angel Heart.

Hsu rose to fame in Japan, where she made her first appearance in 1995 and has become a highly recognized celebrity with her countless appearances in media during the late 1990s.

She was also the main vocalist for Black Biscuits, a Japanese dance band which released four singles, Stamina, Timing, Relax, Bye-Bye, and one album, Life.

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

Hsu released her first solo single in 1995.

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

Hsu's success in modeling achieved its zenith in July 1996 when she was featured on the cover of two biography (the Japanese edition, and the comparatively low-distribution Hong Kong edition).

Like the photobooks, both these items have become very sought after by collectors and fans.

She released her first full-length album, Tianshi Xiang (天使想) in 1996.

Shortly thereafter, she took a speed course in Korean, and released a Korean version of the album titled Cheonsa Misonyeo (天使美少女).

Unusually, neither of Hsu'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 was included in a musical act known as the Black Biscuits.

The group 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 four hit singles and a full-length album, Life.

Timing is one of the most successful songs of 1998.

The second of three children, Hsu was born to a Hakka father and Tayal Taiwanese mother as Hsu Su-chuan, and used this name until she began her modeling career.

Her parents divorced when she was a young child.

She attended Taichung Jianxing Elementary School and Taipei Shulinguo Junior High School.

Their single CD Timing recorded 1.5 million sales in 1998.

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.

Hsu 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.

Hsu has appeared in a number of films and television programs both in China and Japan.

She appeared in the 2001 film The Accidental Spy, with Jackie Chan.

She played the role of Chao Jiale in Love Storm (2003), alongside Vic Chou and Ken Chu.

She also composed and sang the opening theme for this series, Decide to Love You (決定愛你), 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.

She appeared in the ambitious 2006 mainland China-Taiwan-Hong Kong collaboration The Knot, a romance film that takes place between the CCP's takeover of mainland China and the present.

In 2006, Hsu played a role in the film The Shoe Fairy of Do Do, a modern fairy tale.

Since 2010 she has appeared in television commercials for the aesthetic salon Slim Beauty House, and Kao's Essential hair care brand line as one of its three newfaces along with Yuriko Yoshitaka and Nozomi Sasaki.