Hi-5's History

Hi-5 was created by Helena Harris and Posie Graeme-Evans in 1998, after her sons overcame her TV program "Bananas in Pyjamas".

Hi-5 is known as a children's pop music group as well as being a television show, much like peer children's entertainers, The Wiggles. Hi-5 is now shown in approximately 100 countries. The show has a vibrant mix of stories, investigation, imagination, and adventure. They also teach arts and crafts. The Hi-5 cast members bring to the screen and stage their love of children and their passion for music, movement, and laughter. The Hi-5 brand is complemented by an inviting, engaging, contemporary look and feel which extends to a whole world of applications and appeals beyond a preschool audience, capturing the imagination of children and adults alike. Hi-5 is loved throughout the world including Asia, the United Kingdom, Latin America, New Zealand, Canada and beyond.

Hi-5[]

Name: Hi-5
- Past Members: 22
Country of Origin: Australia
Genre: Children's Edutainment
Created by: Helena Harris & Posie Graeme-Evans
Original Language: English
Series and Episodes:
- Hi-5: 13 Series - 570 Episodes (1999-2011)
- Hi-5 House: 3 Series - 75 Episodes (2013-2016)
- Hi-5: Revival Series - 25 Episodes (2017)
First Aired: April 12, 1999
Production Company:
- Kids Like Us Productions (1999-2007)
- Nine Films and Television (1999-2011)
- Southern Star Group (1999-2001, 2008-2011, 2017)
- Asiasons Group (2012-2016)

History[]

Hi-5 was released on April 12, 1999, with the song Ready Or Not (Games). Hi-5 has 13 seasons, with three Hi-5 House seasons, and the last Hi-5 season was in 2017.

In every series, there are nine feature songs, termed 'Songs of the Week' (the titles of which are shown below). With the exception of Series 6, each series has run for nine weeks, allowing each song to be featured for a full week's schedule of five episodes. To date, there have been 670 episodes aired. In 2004, filming of new episodes was not completed due to the group focusing on touring. Instead, Series 6 was composed of 6 Songs of the Week and various segments which had been filmed in 2002 and 2003.

The 14th season was supposed to be produced and premiered in 2012, but it got cancelled due to Nine Network's financial problems, causing them to sell the Hi-5 brand to Malaysia-based Asiasons. A spin-off series, Hi-5 House, aired on Nick Jr. from 2013 to 2016, produced with no involvement from Nine.

Nine resurrected its partnership in with the Hi-5 franchise in October 2016 and announced its plans to revive Hi-5 with a new cast in 2017.

Each section indicates the year in which each season aired. As with all the skits, each song focuses on teaching the audience general common values in life and childhood, such as love, growth, imagination, fun, acceptance, adventure and more. Each week, there is a theme of the week that the song goes along with. The theme is given at the beginning of each episode in animation. Since 2009, a dinosaur on wheels and a caterpillar on wheels (or sometimes a teddy bear) participating in some activity that goes with the theme. The UK version features animated versions of the cast instead. The theme appears in colourful letters, children's voices announce the theme and then the show begins.

The logo is a purple hand with a green outline (yellow in stage since 2005) and the letters Hi (Yellow), - (Pink), and 5 (Orange). The logo has changed since 2009: The purple hand now is magenta.

Hi-5 in series 1 to 3.

Hi-5 in series 3 to 7, was also used in the American version.

Hi-5 in series 8 to 10, was used only in the American version's Christmas special.

Hi-5 in series 11 to 13.

The official TV screen logo for Hi-5 House series 1 to 3.

The official TV screen logo from Hi-5 series 17.

Cast[]

Members[]

Kellie Crawford (1998 - 2008)
Kathleen de Leon Jones (1998 - 2007)
Nathan Foley (1998 - 2008)
Tim Harding (1998 - 2007)
Charli Robinson (1998 - 2008)
Sun Pezzimenti (2006 - 2008)
Stevie Nicholson (2007 - 2015, 2018 - 2019)
Casey Burgess (2008 - 2013)
Lauren Brant (2009 - 2014)
Fely Irvine (2009 - 2011)
Tim Maddren (2009 - 2013, 2018-2019)
Dayen Zheng (2012 - 2016)
Mary Lascaris (2013 - 2016)
Ainsley Melham (2013 - 2016)
Tanika Anderson (2014 - 2016, 2018 - 2019)
Lachie Dearing (2016 - 2018)
Gabe Brown (2016)
Chris White (2016)
Courtney Clarke (2016 - 2018)
Shay Clifford (2016 - 2018)
Joe Kalou (2016 - 2018)
Bailey Spalding (2016 - 2018)

Cast History[]

The original cast of Hi-5 was selected in 1998 to the first season, with Charli Robinson, Nathan Foley, Kathleen de Leon Jones, Kellie Crawford and Tim Harding. Kellie had the vocabulary segment with the help of the puppet called Chatterbox (Chats for short), Kathleen had the puzzles segment with the help of the puppet called Jup Jup, Nathan had the shapes segment, Tim H had the music segment and Charli had the moves segments. Everyone had the segment of Sharing Stories.

Hi-5 USA was created in 2003 with the Series 5 of Hi-5 Australia. But Hi-5 USA finished performing in 2007. All members of both versions have already met once in 2005.

In 2006, Kathleen de Leon Jones was having her first baby, and so, Sun Pezzimenti was the temporary replacement. Series 9 was released in 2007 with the debut of Sun. Kathleen has appeared in three episodes, in which she was pregnant and that is with a newborn baby named Mikayla de Leon Jones. Kathleen left Hi-5 in 2007.

Tim Harding left Hi-5 in November 2007 because he had a motorcycle accident and was replaced by Stevie Nicholson. Series 10 was released with the debut of Stevie Nicholson in 2008.

In 2008, Hi-5 UK was created with only eight Songs of the Week instead of nine that the original series was created with.

In that same year, Charli Robinson left Hi-5, she was replaced by Casey Burgess (initially, Casey was not blonde). In the Playtime tour, Kellie Crawford and Nathan Foley announced that they'd leave Hi-5 after 10 years in October 2008 that her last show would be at Carols By Candlelight on December 24, 2008. Sun also left Hi-5 on that same day. These are the reasons of the group members' departure:

Charli: In February 2008, she left to pursue other interests in presenting work, and acting in film and television, in order to "challenge herself".
Kellie: Left to explore other career opportunities and to settle down and start a family.
Nathan: Left to concentrate on a solo music career.
Sun: Quit as she wished to settle down, enjoy married life and possibly have children of her own.

The members Stevie Nicholson and Casey Burgess remained in the group, and Series 11 was released with new members Lauren Brant, Fely Irvine and Tim Maddren.

After Series 13, Fely Irvine left to pursue other acting opportunities. Her final performance was at the 2011 Carols By Candlelight. In 2012, Dayen Zheng replaced her. The TV series would follow with Series 14, but was cancelled by a breach of contract and due to production changeovers: A Malaysian company called Asiasons, bought all the rights to the brand Hi-5 while the group did more tours and events in Asian countries.

During Carols By Candlelight on December 24, 2012, Casey Burgess and Tim Maddren announced their departure from the group on January 19, 2013, the last day of the Hi-5 Holiday tour in Cebu City, Philippines. These are the reasons of the group members' departure:

Casey: Left to pursue a solo music career.
Tim M: Left after getting a role in The Addams Family Broadway Musical.

The members Stevie Nicholson, Lauren Brant and Dayen Zheng remained in the group. On 23 January 2013, it was the first performance with new members Mary Lascaris and Ainsley Melham. The choice of new members was shown in the first movie called "Some Kind Of Wonderful", launched on March 23, 2013 in Australia and New Zealand.

The new cast recorded a new TV series called Hi-5 House which debuted on November 4, 2013 from Nick Jr. It was filmed entirely in Singapore. On June 12, 2014, Lauren Brant left the band on an official statement on YouTube. Tanika Anderson replaced her.

Chào Bé Yêu was announced by Tri Viet Media and was scheduled for March 2014 by HTV 3 channel. There are rumours that there would be versions for China and Mexico, which would be the first Hi-5 groups of the Far East and Latin America if this happens (in the case of a possible Mexican version). This would replace the Australian cast for the second time in Latin countries. The Vietnamese version was the first series of Hi-5 to have their own language.

In August 2015, Stevie Nicholson announced that he would leave the group on December 21, 2015, the last show was in the Philippines. In the last month that Stevie would leave Hi-5, the new successor called Lachie Dearing was revealed, and his debut in the group was in January 2016. However, in the same period that Ainsley Melham had left the band, and in the same year, there was a replacement twice. Gabe Brown was the first acting successor (The production would already have a Hi-5 House Series 4, but that didn't happen), and after three months, Gabe left the group, and was later succeeded by Chris White.

In October 2016, it was announced that the new cast, the members Dayen Zheng, Mary Lascaris, Tanika Anderson and the acting member Chris White left the team due to the contract. On December 14, 2016, the new members were revealed: Courtney Clarke, Shay Clifford, Joe Kalou, Bailey Spalding, and Lachie Dearing has become the new definitive member for the new cast. Their first live performance was in Carols By Candlelight on December 24, 2016. The recordings of the new TV series were scheduled from January to April 2017. The series premiered on 9Go! on May 15, 2017.

A second series of the revival was planned for 2018 before filming was halted and the Australian production office was closed. All five members announced their departures and the group adopted temporary touring members for the remainder of 2018.

On October 12, 2018, Stevie Nicholson announced that he will only be returning in the Hi-5 Supers tour after 3 years.

In late 2019, the group got disbanded before the COVID-19 pandemic started.

Guide segments[]

Each presenter hosts an education-centric segment of the show. At times, they're assisted by their co-presenters to display social skills and group problem-solving skills.

Courtney Clarke (Series 17) hosts the segment of wordplay, looking at language and sounds with the help of her puppet friend Chatterbox ("Chats"). Formerly presented by Kellie Crawford (Original Series 1-10) and Casey Burgess (Original Series 11-13), Lauren Brant (House Series 1) and Tanika Anderson (House Series 2-3).
Shay Clifford (Series 17) presents a segment on logical thinking and mathematics, looking at numbers, puzzles and mazes - this segment also features Jup Jup, a puppet who is not seen by her yet, but constantly plays tricks on her. Formerly presented by Kathleen de Leon Jones (Original Series 1-8), Sun Pezzimenti (Original Series 9-10), Fely Irvine (Original Series 11-13) and Dayen Zheng (House Series 1-3).
Lachie Dearing (Series 17) presents a segment exploring shapes, colours, textures and patterns, including coloured boxes, balls and play-dough. Formerly presented by Nathan Foley (Original Series 1-10) and Stevie Nicholson (Original Series 11-13 & House Series 1-3).
Joe Kalou (Series 17) hosts the musical segment, looking at concepts such as beat, rhythm, pitch and melody using pianos, guitars, bells and other instruments to his aid. Formerly presented by Tim Harding (Original Series 1-9), Stevie Nicholson (Original Series 10), Tim Maddren (Original Series 11-13) and Ainsley Melham (House Series 1-3).
Bailey Spalding (Series 17) hosts the section body move encouraging body coordination skill development through dancing, hopping, jumping and stepping. Formerly presented by Charli Robinson (Original Series 1-10), Lauren Brant (Original Series 11-13) and Mary Lascaris (House Series 1-3).

There is also a segment where all five presenters join together to present a story. This segment is to promote social skills and group problem-solving.

Australian TV series[]

International versions[]

About the reasons for changes[]

"Where are the old Hi-5?" ask followers