Timbiriche
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| Timbiriche | |
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 Original Timbiriche members
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Genre(s) | Latin pop |
| Years active | 1982–1995 1997-1998 2007-2008 |
Timbiriche is the name of a Mexican group that debuted on April 30, 1982 during a broadcast of the news program Hoy Mismo with Guillermo Ochoa. Timbiriche included six children, most of whose parents were famous actors/singers/composers. Their names were Paulina Rubio, Sasha Sokol, Benny Ibarra, Diego Schoening, Mariana Garza, and Alix Bauer. Later on, Erick Rubín would join the sextet. The name "Timbiriche" is the Spanish (Latin American Spanish) version of the game Dots and Boxes.
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[edit] Original members and replacements
In 1985, the group starred in the teenage version of the stage production of Grease (Vaselina in Spanish), going on tour to major cities in Mexico.
By 1986, when they were all teenagers, the band's fame was almost at its highest. Thalía replaced Sasha and Eduardo Capetillo replaced Benny Ibarra, but they continued to succeed. Sasha's departure from the group was very hard for the fans to accept as she was one of the favorites, and Thalía had a lot to live up to. But the group's success far surpassed what they had accomplished before Thalia. The group went on to sell millions of records as they continued to grow on and off the stage. Songs about life, growing up, school and the friendships were replaced with songs about love found (and lost), the anxieties of adolescence and the hope that adulthood would one day bring. Throughout, they always pushed the rockers within and celebrated happiness and friendship, despite rivalries that would occur. In 1990, the album 10 was released with the same success as the previous album. Thalia left the group after their 10th album to embark on a solo career.
The last of the original members were Eric Rubin, Paulina Rubio, and Diego Schoening. Shortly after Alix Bauer left, Paulina Rubio and Erik Rubin followed because of their increased desires to become soloists. Other famous replacements for the original members of the group were Bibi Gaytán and Edith Márquez. Diego Schoening was the only original member to never leave the group.
In 1992, most of the members left the group and were replaced with new ones. They released 11. Surprisingly, the group managed to maintain its popularity. The final album released was 12. After that album, the group officially disbanded.
In 1998, the original group reunited for the Mexican summer show Acapulco '98. With the success of the reunion show, a 4-night engagement was booked at the National Auditorium in Mexico City. The 10,000-seat auditorium sold out quickly, leading to the extension of the engagement by 16 more shows. In the end, the group performed a total of 20 shows, breaking the record of 17 shows previously set by Luis Miguel at the venue. Later, they went on a national tour, from which came a live double album and three new songs, "Está Despierto," "Suma Cósmica," and "La Fuerza del Amor." "Está Despierto" was released as a single.
"Buscando a Timbiriche, La Nueva Banda," a reality show on Mexico's Televisa, which airs in the United States on Univisión, began airing in July 2007 as part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the start of what had become known as GENERACION TIMBIRICHE. An American Idol-type show, it features 30 participants competing to re-form the band.
[edit] 25th Anniversary Reunion
2007 marks the 25th anniversary of Timbiriche. With this in mind, Timbiriche reunited again for one year to tour Mexico and the U.S., calling their tour "Timbiriche 25." Twenty dates were scheduled in Mexico and ten in the U.S. Taking part in the tour was 6 of the 7 original Timbiriche members: Sasha Sokol, Benny Ibarra, Diego Schoening, Mariana Garza, Alix Bauer, and Erick Rubín; Paulina Rubio did not reunite with them due to her own successful tour and marriage (which coincidentally happened on the anniversary of the premiere of Timbiriche). They were also invited to participate as the closing group during the 2007 Teleton fundraiser on the Televisa Network, the proceeds of which went towards building rehabilitation centers for handicapped children.
During the reunion they released three albums, Timbiriche 25 is a collection of 12 of their greatest hits updating them with a modern sound, Somos Timbiriche 25 is the first live album with 11 songs from their tour, and finally the cd/dvd Vivo en Vivo is the second live album with all the songs performed in the tour along with a dvd of the concert itself. For this album as well, Timbiriche recorded three brand new songs: Vuelvo a Comenzar (the first single), Atado a Ti and Domar el Aire as a valentine and thanks to their fans for making this reunion more successfull than expected.
Also three new music videos were released, two of their updated biggest hits: Tu y Yo Somos Uno Mismo and Princesa Tibetana as well as the first single for their last cd: Vuelvo a Comenzar. A documentary about this 25th anniversary reunion was shot, and a musical based on their songs is in the works.
Due the demand of their fans, and the great success of the reunion, the tour was prolonged by 5 more months than originally planned bringing its total to 1 year and 5 months, in which Timbiriche broke sales records in both concert tickets and album charts.
On Monday, May 5th, 2008 Timbiriche ended their reunion tour in Mexico's Foro Sol arena, the show lasted more than 2 hours, and the group performed close to 30 songs for their fans.
[edit] The New Band (La Nueva Banda)
"Buscando a Timbiriche, La Nueva Banda", a reality show on Mexico's Televisa, which airs in the United States on Univisión, began airing in July 2007. An American Idol-type show, it featured 30 participants competing to re-form the band. In each episode the contestants show their dancing and singing skills and are graded by the judges: la mesa de creadores (the creators' table) and el consejo Timbiriche (Timbiriche council), which is composed of the original band members with the exception of Paulina Rubio. Based on the scores, three girls and three boys would be up for dismissal from the competition. The audience would then call in and vote for them in order to save them. The Timbiriche council would save one boy and one girl, the public call-in votes saving another boy and girl, while the other two participants are expelled.
As of Episode 12 the format changed. All of the participants were up for dismissal and the honor roll fused, with the audience still calling in to save their favorite. The number of calls was factored in with the grades. The two highest scores would face off to see who would be chosen as a band member, and the lower one would be expelled.
On October 14, the final show was aired featuring the now-official band:
- Brissia (First member)(left the band to be solest)
- Fernanda (Second member)
- Alberto (Third member)
- Gaby (Fourth member)
- Eduardo (Fifth member)
- Taide (Sixth member)
- Yurem (Seventh member)
Televisa, the Mexican television network sponsoring the new band, has been the topic of serious controversy for censoring parts of the band's web page and blocking access to it by U.S. internet users.
In the first months of 2008 there was great speculation that Brissia was going to leave the group as she missed a couple of concert dates and did not participate in the U.S. tour that La Nueva Banda was doing as the opening act for RBD. Brissia broke the news that she was indeed leaving the band to pursue a solo career.
[edit] Film
In October 2007, producer Pedro Damián announced that he was planning to make a feature film based on Timbiriche's songs.
The script will be written by Martha Carrillo and Cristina García (who wrote the script for the telenovela Tres Mujeres) and will tell a story of adolescent love through the music of Sasha, Benny, Diego, Mariana, Álix, Érick, and Paulina Rubio.
About the project, Damián said, "It’s like the play "Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar" [with music from Mecano] or like the Abba thing with Mamma Mia! — they made plays that used all the music [from the groups], but with a different story."
Carrillo told a Mexican newspaper that the plot deals with "the life of some kids who are trying to move forward with music, but not as a band; the main character is a composer, but she’s not the one who sings."
The film is expected to be made in 2008, but Televisa executives still have a lot of decisions to make, including who will star in the movie.
