Shenzhen girl Zhou Bichang, runner-up of the "2005 Super Girl" contest, announced her retreat from the "Super Girl" national tour in Fuzhou, Fujian Province on Saturday.

"This will be my last concert tour," Zhou told "Super Girl" fans at a full-house concert in Fuzhou. She promised to post her reasons online.

Shanghai E.E. Media, agent for the "Super Girls," acknowledged receiving a formal request from Zhou. "Zhou said her health does not allow her to handle studying and performing well at the same time," the company said. E.E. Media is still hoping to persuade Zhou to finish the tour with concerts in Wuhan, Jinan, Nanjing and Hong Kong.

Zhou's father explained that frequent performances and commercial events had taken too much of the 20-year-old's time and energy. "She wants to have time for study and her family," he said.

Zhou, now a sophomore at Guangzhou Xinghai Conservatory of Music, shot to fame in the "2005 Super Girl" contest that took the country by storm this past summer.

(Shenzhen Daily November 9, 2005)