Hi-5 (American kids' band)
Encyclopedia
Hi-5 was a children's musical group and television program that started in 2003 It was based on the original Australian TV show
. The show was nominated for an Emmy Award
three times and won other awards in its short lifespan.
as the Australian version. The American show had episodes airing every weekday on The Learning Channel and Discovery Kids
, and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 2005, 2006, and 2007. In addition, the Fall 2004 Parent's Choice Award was given to their first CD, Jump and Jive with Hi-5.
As the show became increasingly popular, the cast appeared and performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
in New York City
, on CBS
's Early Show, and NBC
's Today Show, among others. During one Today Show appearance, Matt Lauer
, the show's host, compared the group's popularity to The Beatles
.
Hi-5 toured theatres and arenas in the U.S. in 2005, on the "Move Your Body" Tour, playing live to sold-out crowds in Hartford, Boston
, Columbus
, Washington, D.C.
, Atlanta, Chicago
, Green Bay
, Tallahassee, and Raleigh
. Beginning August 19, 2006, over two weeks of concerts were held at Vancouver's PNE, with additional concerts at Sesame Place and at Target book festivals in Minneapolis and New York City. Their second tour, "Hi-5 Live", was also a sell-out.
The members of Hi-5 visit families and kids alike during their 'off' time, helping in relief efforts for victims of both Hurricane Rita
and Hurricane Katrina
, visiting children at Target House (a facility servicing St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis), and helping with other benefits. Individual members often work with their own project or charity, such as Karla's work with middle school-aged kids at an after-school program.
Original cast members Curtis, Jenn, Kimee, Karla and Shaun last performed together on September 23, 2007 at the Sesame Place
theme park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania
.
and Shaun Taylor-Corbett
left the cast to start doing other things.
CD Titles:
2006, 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards
2007 34th Daytime Emmy Awards
.
Hi-5 (Australian Kids' Band)
Hi-5 is an Australian children's musical group formed in 1998 which is associated with the children's television series of the same name.-Origins of the group:...
. The show was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
three times and won other awards in its short lifespan.
History
Due to the popularity of the show in Australia, an American group was assembled and Hi-5 made its U.S. debut in February 2003 (featuring American performers in the same roles as the original Australian version). The American version was shot in the same studios in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
as the Australian version. The American show had episodes airing every weekday on The Learning Channel and Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids is an American website owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. created for children. Until October 10, 2010, it was an American digital cable specialty channel, owned by Discovery Communications with television programming for education of children. It was launched in October 1996...
, and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 2005, 2006, and 2007. In addition, the Fall 2004 Parent's Choice Award was given to their first CD, Jump and Jive with Hi-5.
As the show became increasingly popular, the cast appeared and performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, often shortened to Macy's Day Parade, is an annual parade presented by Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States along with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and four years younger than...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's Early Show, and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Today Show, among others. During one Today Show appearance, Matt Lauer
Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd "Matt" Lauer . is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond...
, the show's host, compared the group's popularity to The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
.
Hi-5 toured theatres and arenas in the U.S. in 2005, on the "Move Your Body" Tour, playing live to sold-out crowds in Hartford, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Atlanta, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Green Bay
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
, Tallahassee, and Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
. Beginning August 19, 2006, over two weeks of concerts were held at Vancouver's PNE, with additional concerts at Sesame Place and at Target book festivals in Minneapolis and New York City. Their second tour, "Hi-5 Live", was also a sell-out.
The members of Hi-5 visit families and kids alike during their 'off' time, helping in relief efforts for victims of both Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
and Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, visiting children at Target House (a facility servicing St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis), and helping with other benefits. Individual members often work with their own project or charity, such as Karla's work with middle school-aged kids at an after-school program.
Original cast members Curtis, Jenn, Kimee, Karla and Shaun last performed together on September 23, 2007 at the Sesame Place
Sesame Place
Sesame Place is an American theme park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. It derives its theme from the Sesame Street television program and characters like Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Ernie, and Bert. It includes a variety of rides, shows, and water attractions suited to very young children...
theme park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania
Langhorne, Pennsylvania
Langhorne is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,622 at the 2010 census.The name "Langhorne" is used broadly to describe the majority of surrounding Middletown Township, which for the most part uses Langhorne's zip code of 19047...
.
Cast members and Puppets
In late 2006, Karla Cheatham-MosleyKarla Cheatham-Mosley
Karla Cheatham Mosley is an American actress. She stars on the emmy-nominated children's show Hi-5; she has starred in numerous plays and also had minor roles in several other TV shows and films. She regularly appeared as Christina Moore Boudreau in the soap opera Guiding Light.-Early years:Karla...
and Shaun Taylor-Corbett
Shaun Taylor-Corbett
Shaun Michael Taylor-Corbett is an American actor, and is the son of choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett. Shaun is of Native American descent and has three sisters: Hunter, Conner, and Maddison. He also has a dog named Jazzbeau and four cats named Princess, Buster, Bambie, and Skooter. He is 5'7"...
left the cast to start doing other things.
- Curtis CreganCurtis CreganCurtis John Cregan is an American actor. He is currently seen in the American version of the children's television show Hi-5....
, from Okemos, MichiganOkemos, MichiganOkemos is an unincorporated community in Meridian Charter Township, Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place for statistical purposes and does not have any separate legal existence as a municipality. Local government is provided by the township...
, starred on Broadway in RentRent (musical)Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
.
- Jennifer KorbeeJennifer KorbeeJennifer Korbee is an American singer and actress.-Biography:Korbee was born in Madison, Wisconsin...
, credited as Jennifer Peterson-Hinds, a native of Madison, WisconsinMadison, WisconsinMadison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, toured with The American Folklore TheatreAmerican Folklore TheatreThe American Folklore Theatre is a professional theater company that creates, develops, and produces musicals and plays based on the populist culture and heritage of the United States. Located in Door County, Wisconsin, the company began in 1970 as The Heritage Ensemble, performing on the stage of...
for three summers. Her solo album, Give a Girl a Reason, was released June 12, 2007. Her first single is "Good Night Tonight". She was seen as a contestant on season 8 of American Idol. Though she did not get much camera time during her brief stint on season 8, her appearance on the show was nonetheless notable since she was joined by husband Tom, also a Hollywood finalist. The two were American Idols first ever married couple. Neither was selected to be in the top 36.
- Kimee BalmileroKimee BalmileroKimberly Jonelle Balmilero is an American actress.-Career:Originally from Kaneohe, Hawaii; Kimee Balmilero graduated from James B. Castle High School, home of the Castle Performing Arts Center on Oahu...
, a FilipinaFilipino AmericanFilipino Americans are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipino Americans, often shortened to "Fil-Ams", or "Pinoy",Filipinos in what is now the United States were first documented in the 16th century, with small settlements beginning in the 18th century...
born and raised in HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, performed in Miss SaigonMiss SaigonMiss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
on tour and made her Broadway debut in Mamma Mia!Mamma Mia!Mamma Mia! is a stage musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, former members of the band. Although the title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia", the plot is fictional, not...
.
- Sydney JamesSydney JamesSydney James is a member of the American kid's band, Hi-5; he replaced Shaun Taylor-Corbett who left to perform for Altar Boyz.James also auditioned on American Idol and made it to the Hollywood Round.-References:...
, an African-American performer who auditioned for American Idol and made it to Hollywood. He played Simba in the Lion King on Broadway.
- Yasmeen SuliemanYasmeen SuliemanYasmeen Sulieman is an American singer born in Oakland, California and raised in Hawaii. She has toured with the musical Little Shop of Horrors and has appeared on the UPN series Half & Half...
, an African-American singer born in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, CaliforniaOakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
and raised in Hawaii. She toured with Little Shop of HorrorsLittle Shop of Horrors (musical)Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
.
- Jup-Jup, is the silly 5-legged puppet that can be found in Kimee's "Puzzle and Patterns" segment. He continues to take ordinary things from Kimee and gives her other things she can use to help her solve the problem.
- Chatterbox (Chats), is the best friend of Jenn in her "Word Play" segment. Together Chats and Jenn sing about various topics.
Segments of the program
- Kimee specializes in "Puzzles and Patterns" to help with math and logical thinking.
- Karla/Yasmeen focuses on "Body Move" to emphasize physical activity and coordination. She replaced Karla in this segment.
- Curtis creates "Music" to show melody, rhythm and beat.
- Jenn works with "Word Play" to expand children's vocabulary, often using rhyming and song.
- Shaun/Sydney helps identify "Shapes in Space" - visual and spacial awareness, shapes, colors and sizes. He replaced Shaun in this segment.
Discography/Videography
Video Titles released on DVD/VHS in America (Region 1):- 2004 Game Time: Ready or Not
- 2004 Color Craze: Living in a Rainbow
- 2004 Music Magic (Winner of the iParenting award for 2004): Feel the Beat
- 2006 Move Your Body: Move Your Body, Five Senses, North, South, East, and West
- 2006 Action Heroes: Action Hero, T.E.A.M, Under the Sea
- 2007 Making Music: Making Music, Feel the Beat, Robot Number One
- 2007 Wonderful Wishes: Some Kind of Wonderful, Three Wishes, Sleigh Ride
- 2008 Animal Adventures: So Many Animals, Underwater Discovery, North, South, East, and West
- 2008 Hi-5 Hits: Features every Hi-5 song
- 2008 Summer Rainbows, Living in a Rainbow, Five Senses, Feel the Beat
- 2008 Season 1: Robot Number One, Five Senses, So Many Animals, North South East and West
- 2009 Season 2: Ready Or Not, Move Your Body, Three Wishes, Feal The Beat
- 2009 Season 3: Living In A Rainbow, Making Music, Action Heroes, T.E.A.M.
- 2010 The Best Of Curtis: Action Heros, Robot Number 1
- 2010 The Best Of Jenn: Making Music, T.E.A.M.
CD Titles:
- 2004 Jump and Jive with Hi-5Jump and Jive with Hi-5Jump and Jive with Hi-5 is a CD by Hi-5, the American children's music band. It was released by Koch Records in 2004. It can be found on the iTunes Store, where it is noticably extended with more tracks and karaoke versions, ending with the 28-second song "We're Hi-5".-Track listing:# Robot Number...
**Winner of a Parents' Choice Award in 2004** - 2005 It's a Hi-5 Christmas
Awards and nominations
It was nominated for an Emmy in 2005, 32nd Daytime Emmy Awards32nd Daytime Emmy Awards
The 32nd Daytime Emmy Awards, commemorating excellence in American daytime programming from 2004, was held on Friday, May 20, 2005 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. CBS televised the ceremonies in the United States...
2006, 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards
33rd Daytime Emmy Awards
The 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards, commemorating excellence in American daytime programming from 2005, was held on Friday, April 28, 2006 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. This was the first time that the Daytime Emmys were held outside of New York. ABC televised the ceremonies in the United States...
2007 34th Daytime Emmy Awards
34th Daytime Emmy Awards
The 34th Daytime Emmy Awards, commemorating excellence in American daytime programming from 2006, was held on June 15, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. CBS televised the ceremonies in the United States...
.
External links
- Hi-5 America - unofficial fan site
- Hi-5 Yahoo! Groups discussion boards