Gracie Rivera

Gracie Rivera
Rivera, in a red dress, seated on a stage and singing into a handheld microphone
Rivera performing in Los Angeles in 2012
Background information
Also known as
  • Grace Anne Rivera
  • Grace Rivera
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • actress
InstrumentVocals
Years active1977–1991
LabelEMI (Hong Kong)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese利慧詩
Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpinglei6 wai6 si1

Gracie Rivera, also credited as Grace Anne Rivera (Chinese: 利慧詩), is a Filipina singer and actress based in Hong Kong. She recorded five albums for EMI (Hong Kong) between 1977 and 1979. Her self-titled second album received a local Gold Disc sales certification from the IFPI (Hong Kong Group) in 1978.[1] It had reached number one on the Hong Kong album chart published in the South China Morning Post in September 1977, and her recording of "The Bird and the Child" topped the newspaper's Hong Kong chart in October 1977.[2][3]

Rivera continued to perform across the region into the 1980s, singing in English, Cantonese and Tagalog in concert theatres and supper clubs, and appeared as a guest performer at the fifth Hong Kong Gold Disc Award Presentation in 1981.[4][5] She also worked as an actress, taking the lead role in the stage play Bingo at the 1986 Hong Kong Fringe Festival and in an episode of the RTHK drama series City Life broadcast in 1991.[6][7]

Career

Background and 1976 Talent Quest

Rivera is of Filipino descent and was based in Hong Kong during her performing career.[4][8] She won the 1976 Hong Kong Talent Quest, and went on to sign recording contracts and tour overseas.[9]

The Talent Quest was an amateur music competition organised by The Star, Hong Kong's first English-language tabloid newspaper, held at Hong Kong City Hall. Entrants performed in English, and the competition was open to bands and solo performers.[10][11] The grand final of the 1976 competition was broadcast live from the City Hall Concert Theatre by Rediffusion Television on 6 September 1976.[12]

Recording career, 1977–1979

Rivera's debut album, Gracie, was released by EMI (Hong Kong) in 1977.[13] Her second album, the self-titled Gracie Rivera, followed the same year and included her recording of "The Bird and the Child", an English-language version of "L'oiseau et l'enfant", the French song that had won the Eurovision Song Contest 1977.[14]

Gracie Rivera reached number one on the Hong Kong album chart published in the South China Morning Post on 25 September 1977, placing above Abba's Greatest Hits in the same week.[2] "The Bird and the Child" reached number one on the newspaper's Hong Kong chart on 9 October 1977, having entered the top ten the previous month.[3][15]

The album Gracie Rivera was certified a local Gold Disc at the second Hong Kong Gold Disc Award Presentation, organised by the IFPI (Hong Kong Group) in 1978.[1][16] The scheme certifies local albums first released in Hong Kong separately from international repertoire.[17] Other recipients that year included Teresa Carpio, Roman Tam and Frances Yip.[1] In April 1978 Rivera performed "You Light Up My Life" at the Hong Kong premiere of the film of the same name.[16]

Rivera released three further albums for EMI (Hong Kong): Grace Anne Rivera and Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying in 1978, and We're Home Again in 1979.[18][19][20] Grace Anne Rivera was produced by Anders Nelsson, then EMI (Hong Kong)'s artist and repertoire manager, and arranged and conducted by Chris Babida.[18] A 1979 EMI supplement published in Billboard described Rivera as among the label's "steady sellers" in Hong Kong.[21]

The Philippine pressing of Grace Anne Rivera, manufactured under licence by Dyna Products of Manila, included two Tagalog-language tracks that did not appear on the Singapore, Malaysian and Hong Kong pressing.[18][22] Rivera wrote one song on Gracie Rivera, "Just a Dream".[14]

Later performing career

In 1980 the Hong Kong newsmagazine Asiaweek described Rivera as a "Filipina singer-musician, who renders her Cantonese and Tagalog love songs in concert theatres and supper clubs throughout the region"; the article was reprinted by Billboard that May.[4]

In July 1981 the Hong Kong newspaper Wah Kiu Yat Po announced that Rivera and Robert Lee (李振輝) would appear as performing guests at the fifth Hong Kong Gold Disc Award Presentation.[5] In November 1984 the South China Morning Post reported that she was expected to perform at the Hong Kong Press Club on 7 December.[9]

Stage and television

In 1986 Rivera took the lead role of Luz, a Filipina domestic helper, in Bingo, a comedy written and directed by Ricardo Saludo.[6][23] The play was the first production staged by Tanghalanatin ("Our Theatre"), a Filipino theatre company formed in Hong Kong in November 1985 to promote Philippine culture and language.[6][23] It was performed in English and Tagalog at the Space Museum Lecture Hall as part of the Hong Kong Fringe Festival.[6][23] Reviewing the production for the South China Morning Post, Michael Waugh wrote that Luz was a difficult role because she had few obvious character traits, and that the part called for "more than an ordinary sort of actress"; in his view the director had found one in Rivera.[6]

In December 1991 Rivera played the lead role of Lilia in "Lilia's Choice", an episode of the RTHK drama series City Life. Her character, a Filipina nurse, leaves the Philippines against her family's wishes to work as a domestic helper in Hong Kong.[7]

Discography

All albums released by EMI (Hong Kong) Ltd.

Studio albums
Year Title Catalogue number
1977Gracie[13]EMGS 6012
1977Gracie Rivera[14]EMGS 6022
1978Grace Anne Rivera[18]EMGS 6031
1978Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying[19]EMGS 6036
1979We're Home Again[20]EMGS 6050

Rivera also appeared on EMI (Hong Kong) various-artists compilations, including Hit Sounds volumes 7 and 8 and 16 Motion Picture Greats for You in 1977, and Star Hits volumes 2 and 3 in 1978.[24][25][26][27][28] Recordings by Rivera were reissued by Universal Music Hong Kong on the eight-disc compilation EMI Hit Sounds Collection in 2021.[29]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "1978年度金唱片頒獎典禮" [1978 Gold Disc Award Presentation] (in Traditional Chinese). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Hong Kong Group). Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 Hartley, Bill (25 September 1977). "Plugged into the top". South China Morning Post. p. 24.
  3. 1 2 Hartley, Bill (9 October 1977). "King Elvis reigns – even in death". South China Morning Post. p. 26.
  4. 1 2 3 "Sexy Songstresses Selling In Asia Marts". Billboard. 3 May 1980. pp. 45, 47. Filipina singer-musician Gracie Rivera, who renders her Cantonese and Tagalog love songs in concert theatres and supper clubs throughout the region Article reprinted from Asiaweek (Hong Kong).
  5. 1 2 "金唱片嘉賓今公佈　利慧詩李振輝獻歌" [Gold Disc guests announced today: Gracie Rivera and Robert Lee to sing]. 華僑日報 (in Traditional Chinese). 31 July 1981. p. 第八張第二頁. Retrieved 10 August 2026 – via Hong Kong Public Libraries Multimedia Information System.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Waugh, Michael (1 March 1986). "Off to winning start with Bingo". Arts. South China Morning Post. p. 7. Luz is quite a difficult part to play, because she has no obvious character traits to latch on to; she is, like most people, a fairly ordinary sort of person. It takes more than an ordinary sort of actress, though, to sustain such a characterisation. The director has found just such an actress in the delectable Gracie Rivera.
  7. 1 2 Hood, Esther-Margaret (12 December 1991). "Turning absurdly sentimental". Today's Pick. South China Morning Post. p. 38. "Lilia's Choice" starts promisingly enough with Lilia (Gracie Rivera) working as a nurse in the Philippines. Despite her family's objections, she decides to quit the work she loves to be a maid in Hongkong.
  8. ↑ 周博賢 (15 May 2014). "從街市的一曲出發" [Starting from a song in the market]. Hong Kong Economic Times (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Party for the high-fliers". Out on the Town. South China Morning Post. 25 November 1984. p. 23. Asian showbiz personality Grace Rivera has a date at the Hongkong Press Club on December 7 where she is expected to perform in her own inimitable style. Grace, a songbird from the Philippines, has quite a musical pedigree. She triumphed in the first-ever Hongkong Talent Quest in 1976 and recording contracts and overseas tours soon followed.
  10. ↑ "Biography of Richard Lam". Hong Kong Memory. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  11. ↑ 區瑞強 (28 April 2023). "我走過的歌唱比賽路（四）《聲寶之夜》四盞燈". Ming Pao Weekly (in Traditional Chinese).
  12. ↑ "Television programmes: RTV (English)". South China Morning Post. 6 September 1976. p. 13.
  13. 1 2 Gracie (LP sleeve). Gracie Rivera. Hong Kong: EMI (Hong Kong). 1977. EMGS 6012.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. 1 2 3 Gracie Rivera (LP sleeve). Gracie Rivera. Hong Kong: EMI (Hong Kong). 1977. EMGS 6022.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ↑ Hartley, Bill (18 September 1977). "Unknowns on London charts". South China Morning Post. p. 24.
  16. 1 2 "利慧詩亮相唱主題曲" [Gracie Rivera appears to sing theme song]. 工商晚報 (in Traditional Chinese). 10 April 1978. p. 5 – via Hong Kong Public Libraries Multimedia Information System.
  17. ↑ "Rules of IFPI HKG Gold Disc Award". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Hong Kong Group). Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Grace Anne Rivera (LP sleeve). Gracie Rivera. Hong Kong: EMI (Hong Kong). 1978. EMGS 6031.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. 1 2 Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying (LP sleeve). Gracie Rivera. Hong Kong: EMI (Hong Kong). 1978. EMGS 6036.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. 1 2 We're Home Again (LP sleeve). Gracie Rivera. Hong Kong: EMI (Hong Kong). 1979. EMGS 6050.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. ↑ "The World of Music". Section II. Billboard. 16 June 1979. p. 101.
  22. ↑ "The World of Music". Section II. Billboard. 16 June 1979. p. 165.
  23. 1 2 3 "Filipinos form theatre group". South China Morning Post. 27 November 1985. p. 18.
  24. ↑ Hit Sounds Vol. 7 (LP sleeve). Various artists. Hong Kong: EMI (Hong Kong). 1977. EMGS 6011.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  25. ↑ Hit Sounds Vol. 8 (LP sleeve). Various artists. Hong Kong: EMI (Hong Kong). 1977. EMGS 6018.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  26. ↑ 16 Motion Picture Greats for You (LP sleeve). Various artists. Hong Kong: EMI (Hong Kong). 1977. SPR 1001.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  27. ↑ Star Hits Vol. 2 (LP sleeve). Various artists. Hong Kong: EMI (Hong Kong). 1978. EMGS 6043.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  28. ↑ Star Hits Vol. 3 (LP sleeve). Various artists. Hong Kong: EMI (Hong Kong). 1978. EMGS 6046.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  29. ↑ EMI Hit Sounds Collection (CD box set). Various artists. Hong Kong: Universal Music Hong Kong. 2021. 602438243815.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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