Taiwan pop diva Elva Hsiao was first discovered through a singing competition while she was studying in Vancouver, Canada. Initially part of the female trio Phenomenon, she started a solo career when the other two members dropped out. She has since shot to the top of the music world with her strong voice and catchy R&B tunes.
After signing a contract with Warner Music, she was with full expectations, planning to release her new album soon. Unfortunately, a disaster happened! Her album was postponed ever since the person-in-charge had left. She had recorded 30 songs in the last two years, but none of them was released. Fans were thinking where the hell she went and some even believed that she was retired!
Rumors suggested she had split with her record company as she complained about the company trying to make her into another Coco Lee, though she did sing Coco's "Love Me A While Longer" while entering the New Talent Singing Awards Vancouver Audition 1998. Interestingly enough, as Coco is back into the music industry, Elva came back too (showing that she can be more herself again?)
I really fancy her songs and have been waiting for her to be back. I feel like she is the Christina Aguilera of Taiwan, in the sense that they have range and that deep tone in their voice, but they sing more hip-hop than pop. Elva is a good singer and I was wondering why Warner decided not to release any of her music over the past two years.
In February 2006, however, a Warner representative promised in an interview that the album would be released around late March or early April. It was only a few weeks later that magazine articles reported another change of staff members and the possibilities of the album being delayed into late April or early May. The protests fans launched spammed the forums of Warner Music Taiwan, causing the entire website to be out of service for a week. The fans, though angered, were too tired to do anything more as all they could do is simply to wait. In June 2006, Elva released a new single, entitled "The World I Want".
What is the real story behind the scene? It was said that Warner Music Taiwan faced some serious issues during this time, including executives resigning and a change of staff members. Many other Warner artists (including Stefanie Sun, Machi, A-Mei and F.I.R.) were affected and did not see much promotion. However, none faced as much trouble as Elva, whose album was delayed time and again. Elva never released any albums because Warner said they did not have sufficient funds after releasing Stefanie's "A Perfect Say". It is so sad that Elva was back because Warner lost Stefanie, Sammi Cheng and Aaron Kwok in one year. However, Elva has shown her determination and endurance to pursue her dream and career. She did not sit up there waiting for her chance. She upgraded herself by training hard on dancing.
Finally, Elva is back! Elva released her new promotional single "Elva Is Back" on October 19 to give her a good and memorable comeback. The new song was only released online for paid downloads without any recorded copies. The single is a fast catchy song featuring electro beats and raps. I even found a video clip of 38 seconds on the site of YouTube. And it was confirmed that Elva continued her contract with Warner after a two-year silence on the pop scene.
Her latest album that fans have been waiting a long time for but was continuously delayed due to internal changes within her record company is finally here (expected to release on December 28) to please her fans. The title of the album is "1087", as Elva is "out" of the music industry for exactly 1087 days! Entirely recorded in Los Angeles, the album comes with a touch of retro electro-pop via the passionate tune "Account" and also features "Afterwards", an R&B ballad infused with Indian-inspired sounds.
from:http://sevencastles.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!7C5A2F3DB6C97D9A!7598.entry