Hi-5 (Australian band)

Hi-5
Background information
Origin	Australia
Genres	Children's music, edutainment, sketch
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Sony BMG
Associated acts	Hi-5 USA Hi-5 UK
Website	http://www.hi-5world.com
Members	Stevie Nicholson Dayen Zheng Ainsley Melham Mary Lascaris Tanika Anderson
Past members	Kathleen de Leon Jones Tim Harding Charli Robinson Kellie Crawford Nathan Foley Sun Park Fely Irvine Casey Burgess Tim Maddren Lauren Brant

Hi-5 is an Australian children's musical and comedy group formed in 1998 which is associated with the children's television series of the same name.

History

In 1998, television producer Helena Harris, creator of Bananas in Pyjamas, created "Hi-5" when her two children outgrew Bananas. She and co-producer Posie Graeme-Evans decided the new show would be aimed at children of all ages, would include educational trends as fun and games, and would feature music and movement that would attract children's attention.

The auditions for the hosts and the eventual members that would make up the group were held in June 1998, with the first program broadcast in April 5, 1999. Since then, the group has won five ARIA awards for "Best Children's Album" (in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004),^[1] won three consecutive Australian Logie Awards (the Australian awards for television performance and production recognition) for "Most Outstanding Children's Preschool Program" in 2000, 2001 (tied with Round the Twist) and 2004.

In 2006, Kathleen de Leon Jones became pregnant and Sun Park was found to temporarily replace Kathleen while she went on maternity leave. The beginning of series 9 showed Kathleen introducing the audience to Sun and asking her to look after her space while she had the baby. Later in the series, Kathleen returned to introduce everyone to her baby, Mikayla. In July 2007, Kathleen made the decision to permanently leave the group to focus on being a mum.

Also in 2007, Tim Harding was involved in a serious motorcycle accident which left him with injuries that required intensive care and rehabilitation. Just prior to this, Stevie Nicholson was hired as an understudy to both Tim, so he took Tim's place when he decided he could no longer continue with the group.

In February 2008, Charli Robinson announced that she would be leaving Hi-5, having just completed filming series 10, and would stay with the group until a suitable replacement was found. Soon after, Casey Burgess was hired as Charli's replacement and began touring with the group.

In October 2008, Kellie Crawford (née Hoggart) announced that she would be leaving the group at the end of the year. A month later, Nathan Foley announced that he would be leaving with Kellie, and rumours swirled that the pair had been fired in favour of younger, cheaper alternatives. These rumours would never come to be confirmed. In December 2008, Sun stated that Nathan and Kellie had not been pressured to leave and announced that she too would be leaving at the end of the year. The trio's final performance was at the 2008 Carols by Candlelight.

Auditions were then held to find three new Hi-5 members. In February 2009, on Mornings with Kerri-Anne, the new line-up was revealed, with Lauren Brant, Tim Maddren and Fely Irvine joining the cast. The cast remained the same for three years until December 2011, when Fely left the group. Her final performance was at the 2011 Carols by Candlelight. Dayen Zheng replaced Fely and the group spent the year touring.

Then, in December 2012, Casey and Tim announced that the year's Carols by Candlelight would be their last with Hi-5 and they would be leaving the group early in the new year.

In January 2013, Ainsley Melham and Mary Lascaris were announced as Tim and Casey's replacements. Hi-5's first movie 'Some Kind of Wonderful' was released in March 2013 and showed the audition process for Dayen, Ainsley and Mary, as well as taking a look back at the history of Hi-5.

In April 2014, Hi-5 travelled to Malaysia to film the second series of Hi-5 House. However, Lauren did not join them, instead being replaced by the group's understudy Tanika Anderson.

Presenters

Some of the current and former members of Hi-5
Stevie Nicholson  Fely Irvine  Lauren Brant  Casey Burgess

Replacement of cast

• Charli Robinson was replaced by Casey Burgess in 2008, who was then replaced by Mary Lascaris in 2013.
• Tim Harding was replaced by Stevie Nicholson in 2007.
• Kellie Crawford was replaced by Lauren Brant in 2009, who was then replaced by Tanika Anderson in 2014.
• Nathan Foley was replaced by Tim Maddren in 2009, who was then replaced by Ainsley Melham in 2013.
• Kathleen de Leon Jones was replaced by Sun Park in 2006, who was then replaced by Fely Irvine in 2009, and then by Dayen Zheng in 2012.

Tours

The band tours annually with programs based on their TV series. They have visited several countries in which they are popular, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.

Performances and media appearances

Christmas concerts

Hi-5 were performers at the Carols by Candlelight shows on Christmas Eve since 2000 until 2012. For a few years, the group held a short concert preceding the Carols main event, and then included their set as part of Carols. Several cast have noted the Christmas Eve concerts as one of their highlights and because of this, it is often the last performance of departing members.

Shows

On 30 October 2009, Hi-5 performed at the UK shopping centre Westfield London for its first anniversary.

Discography

Studio albums

Each album is listed with the year it was first released. Source: National Library of Australia

Hi-5

Year	Series no.	Title	Peak position (AUS)	Notes[note 1]	Refs
1999	1	Jump and Jive with Hi-5	33	Platinum 2000 ARIA for Best Children's Album	[3][4][5]
2000	2	It's a Party	4	2xPlatinum 2001 ARIA for Best Children's Album	[3][4][6][5]
2001	3	Boom Boom Beat	3	Platinum 2002 ARIA for Best Children's Album	[3][6][5]
2001		It's a Hi-5 Christmas	3	Platinum	[3][6][7]
2002	4	Celebrate	27	Gold 2003 ARIA for Best Children's Album	[3][8][5]
2003	5 & 6	Holiday	26	2004 ARIA for Best Children's Album	[3][5]
2004	6	Space Magic
2004		Jingle Jangle Jingle With Hi-5	5		[7]
2005	7	Making Music		Nominated-2005 ARIA for Best Children's Album	[5]
2006	8	Wish Upon A Star	29	Nominated-2006 ARIA for Best Children's Album	[3][5]
2007	9	WOW!	30		[3]
2008	10	Planet Earth		Nominated-2008 ARIA for Best Children's Album	[5]
2009	11	Spin Me Round
2010	12	Turn the Music Up!		Nominated-2011 ARIA for Best Children's Album	[5]
2011	13	Sing It Loud		Nominated-2012 ARIA for Best Children's Album	[5]

Hi-5 House

Year	Series no.	Title	Peak position (AUS)	Notes[note 1]	Refs
2014	1 & 2	Hi-5 Hot Hits!

Compilation albums

• Hi-5 Hits (2003) – #10 Australia^[3]
• Hi-5 Christmas Gift Pack (2003)
• All The Best (2008)

Multi-album packages

• Hi-5 Double the fun (2000) – Jump and Jive with Hi-5, It's a Party
• Hi-5 Triple Treat, Vol. 1 (2001) – Jump and Jive, Boom Boom Beat, It's a Party
• Hi-5: Twice the fun – Boom Boom Beat, Celebrate
• Hi-5 Triple Treat, Vol. 2 (2005) – Celebrate, Making Music, Holiday

Videography

Notes

Other versions

Also after the U.S. version, the UK has its own members and recently a Latin American group released the first season of the new Hi-5 series for the continent.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hi-5 (Australian band).

• Hi-5 Website
• Hi-5 Forum Website
• Hi-5 (Australia) at the Internet Movie Database
• Hi-5 on NineMSN
• HI-5 at the National Film and Sound Archive

Hi-5 Australia Stevie Nicholson Dayen Zheng Mary Lascaris Ainsley Melham Tanika Anderson Original members Kathleen de Leon Jones Tim Harding Charli Robinson Kellie Crawford Nathan Foley Former members Sun Park Fely Irvine Casey Burgess Tim Maddren Lauren Brant CDs Jump and Jive with Hi-5 It's A Party Boom Boom Beat It's a Hi-5 Christmas Hi-5 Holiday Hi-5 Space Magic Jingle Jangle Jingle With Hi-5 Making Music Wish Upon A Star WOW! Planet Earth Spin Me Round Turn the Music Up! Sing it Loud! Related articles Hi-5 Australia Hi-5 House Hi-5 USA Hi-5 UK Hi-5 Fiesta