Hi-5 were an Australian children's musical group formed in 1998 in association with the children's television series of the same name. Helena Harris and Posie Graeme-Evans created the television series for the Nine Network, which premiered in 1999. The group were made up of five performers who entertained and educated preschool children through music, movement, and play. Kellie Crawford, Kathleen de Leon Jones, Nathan Foley, Tim Harding and Charli Robinson were the founding members. By the end of 2008, all of the original line-up had left, and the group's membership changed several more times after that. They collectively starred in several television series, released albums, and performed on worldwide tours. The television series features puppet characters Chatterbox and Jup Jup, who were included in the group's live stage shows.
Hi-5 were one of Australia's highest paid entertainment groups, placing in the Business Review Weeklys annual list several times, earning an estimated A$18 million in 2007. As employees of the brand, once owned by the Nine Network, the members of Hi-5 did not hold equity. The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) certified their albums as double platinum (It's a Party), platinum (Jump and Jive with Hi-5, Boom Boom Beat, It's a Hi-5 Christmas) and gold (Celebrate). Four of them reached the top 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart; It's a Party (number four, July 2000), Boom Boom Beat (number three, August 2001), It's a Hi-5 Christmas (number four, December 2001) and Hi-5 Hits (number ten, July 2003). By 2004, the original line-up had received three Logie Television Awards for Most Outstanding Children's Program and five consecutive ARIA Music Awards for Best Children's Album.
The group's later iterations did not enjoy the same popularity or critical success as its original line-up. Hi-5 were last nominated for a major Australian award in 2012 and last released an album in 2014. The Nine Network sold the brand in 2012 to Malaysian-based group Asiasons, who shifted its commercial focus to the Southeast Asian market. After a short-lived television revival in 2017, the group's production company wholly relocated to Singapore and began employing a roster of temporary performers for touring purposes until 2019.
History 1998–1999: Formation Hi-5 were formed in September 1998 in Sydney, Australia, as a children's musical group. Television producer Helena Harris, who had worked on Bananas in Pyjamas, co-created Hi-5 as a concept for a new television show of the same name for the Nine Network. She and co-producer Posie Graeme-Evans developed the series as preschool entertainment, blending educational theories with a musical appeal to capture children's attention. The name of the series and featured group was derived from the high five gesture. Harris said that while Hi-5 was predominantly a television series, its music was able to be differentiated from the show. Featuring five performers, the cast were intended to act as the audience's older siblings or friends, rather than adults teaching children. Harris was inspired to develop a show with broad appeal and accessible themes such as family and animals. Note: Article is published across two pages. She modelled the group's style on the fast-paced nature of contemporary music videos and strove to allude to items of current interest (such as relevant curriculum as well as popular jokes, films and music) to keep children engaged. Harris recalled watching the Spice Girls, whose dance moves she believed preschoolers could copy. The creators saw the need for "life-affirming" television for rapidly maturing preschoolers and found most children learn from programs which use music and movement.
After auditions for the group in June 1998 (narrowing down around 300 people to only five), the television pilot for Hi-5 was produced in mid-1998. The original cast consisted of Kellie Crawford (née Hoggart), Kathleen de Leon Jones, Nathan Foley, Tim Harding and Charli Robinson. After being commissioned, production began in October 1998. The first series premiered in April 1999 on the Nine Network. In September, Sony Music released their debut album, Jump and Jive with Hi-5, which reached number 33 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Albums Chart.
2000–2006: Early success
Hi-5 won the 2000 Logie Award for Most Outstanding Children's Program in recognition of their television program, and the ARIA Award for Best Children's Album for Jump and Jive with Hi-5. Their releases consistently received album accreditations; Celebrate was certified as gold, while Jump and Jive with Hi-5, Boom Boom Beat and It's a Hi-5 Christmas went platinum, and It's a Party received double platinum status. Four of their albums reached the top 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart; It's a Party (number four, July 2000), Boom Boom Beat (number three, August 2001), It's a Hi-5 Christmas (number four, December 2001) and Hi-5 Hits (number ten, July 2003). It was reported in 2005 that a feature film starring the group was in early development, as well as arrangements for a single release.
Hi-5 toured nationally for up to eight months of every year, with sell-out concerts in venues such as the Sydney Opera House. The quintet's production of Hi-5 Alive won the 2002 Helpmann Award for Best Presentation for Children, while their Space Magic production was nominated in the same category in 2006. The group first toured the UK in 2004, and in 2005 performed in arenas around Australia to maximise the audience capacity. In addition to their regular tours, Hi-5 appeared annually at Vision Australia's Carols by Candlelight in Melbourne, broadcast live by the Nine Network on Christmas Eve.
2006–2008: Replacement of original members
In early 2006, de Leon Jones announced she was pregnant, and would take maternity leave from April onwards. Sun Park was introduced as her temporary replacement; de Leon Jones gave birth to her first child in July. Park was part of the television series filming in 2006 and toured with the group across Australia. In July 2006, de Leon Jones said she was intent on returning to Hi-5; however, in July 2007, made the decision to leave the group permanently to focus on being a mother. Park took her place as a full-time member.
A serious motorcycle accident in June 2007 left Harding unable to keep up with the pace of Hi-5's performances. Just a few days before this, Stevie Nicholson had been hired as an understudy and was put straight to work as a temporary replacement for Harding. The group toured the Hi-5 Circus Stageshow in 2007; the show adopted a circus theme and incorporated tricks such as trapeze, tightrope walking, and gymnastics. They had only one week of training; some members benefitted from prior experience. Nicholson debuted on tour with the Circus show in Singapore. Harding permanently departed in November after recovering from his injuries and was replaced by Nicholson.
Robinson (then referred to as Delaney) exited from the group in February 2008. She expressed an interest in proving herself as an actor for an adult audience and said she would help find a replacement member. After leaving, she established a career in the Australian media industry as a presenter. In April, Casey Burgess was revealed as Robinson's replacement and began touring with the group.
In March 2008, the Nine Network, along with production company Southern Star, purchased the Hi-5 brand. The change of ownership saw Harris and Graeme-Evans end their involvement with the franchise, which was placed under the direction of Martin Hersov and Cathy Payne, Nine and Southern Star executives.
By November 2008, the remaining original cast members had stated their intent to withdraw from the group. Crawford reported in October that she would be leaving at the end of the year to explore other options, and a month later, Foley outlined his plan to exit and focus on his adult music career. In December, Park also stated she would be departing the group since she had expected only to be a temporary replacement. The Daily Telegraphs Sydney Confidential reporter alleged that Hi-5's production company had asked Crawford and Foley to leave, and that the producers were "opting to recruit younger, cheaper performers". Neither of them responded to these reports, but Park denied the industry rumours, saying that there had been no pressure for any of them to resign. The departing members gave their final performance at Carols by Candlelight on Christmas Eve in Melbourne.
2009–2013: Second generation
In February 2009, Lauren Brant, Fely Irvine, and Tim Maddren joined Nicholson and Burgess to complete the group's new line-up. Burgess described the change as a difficult transition period that led to uncertainty over their future. They toured regional Australian locations in early 2010 to build a new audience. The group celebrated the 500th episode of the television series in 2010, and in 2011, they rerecorded several of the original line-up's songs. They did not receive the same positive critical reception as the original members; one reviewer found fault with the new line-up's vocal abilities. The group joined World Vision Australia as ambassadors in 2009, beginning their work in the Philippines while on a promotional tour, and completing a volunteer trip to Cambodia in 2012. They also became representatives of the Starlight Children's Foundation in 2009; their work included regular visits to hospitals while on tour.
Irvine's final performance as part of Hi-5 was at Carols by Candlelight on Christmas Eve 2011. Nine Network representatives said she would leave to explore "other career options". Her replacement, Dayen Zheng, joined the group in January 2012. Burgess and Maddren departed in early 2013; Maddren had secured a role in the Australian musical production of The Addams Family, while Burgess had decided to further her solo music career.
In June 2012, the Nine Network announced that because of their ongoing financial difficulties, they had sold the Hi-5 brand in its entirety to Malaysian-based equity group, Asiasons. Datuk Jared Lim, Asiasons's managing director, described plans to expand Hi-5 throughout Southeast Asia, while keeping the group's presence in Australia intact. Julie Greene, former producer of the television series, assumed the role of executive creative director.
2013–2016: Third generation, shift to Southeast Asia New members Mary Lascaris and Ainsley Melham joined Nicholson, Brant, and Zheng in early 2013. The audition process was filmed and turned into a documentary-style film, Some Kind of Wonderful, which premiered exclusively through Hoyts Cinemas in Australia in March. The press branded this line-up as a "new generation" of the group. Note: McCabe describes this line-up as the "fourth generation".
Throughout this period, the production company shifted the commercial focus of the group to the Southeast Asian market, with an increase in Asian touring locations. In 2014, the group debuted in the Middle East with a Dubai show and toured Bangkok for the first time in ten years. They returned to the Philippines in 2015 for an encore season after a sold-out run of concerts the previous year. A new television series entitled Hi-5 House was filmed in Singapore and Malaysia between 2013 and 2015, and aired on pay-TV channel Nick Jr. in Australia and Disney Junior in Asia; For filming in Singapore in 2013, see For filming in Malaysia in 2015, see For Nick Jr. airing, see For Disney Junior airing, see its success in Asia resulted in an Asian Television Award for Best Preschool Program in 2015. The program premiered worldwide on online television streaming service Netflix in March 2016.