The Zinghoppers are a multi-platform children's brand that focuses on creating content for preschoolers and families. The show includes three animal characters: Olo, Coconuts and Penelope. The Zinghoppers have released CDs, DVDs and maintain an active international tour schedule.
The characters and songs were developed by a team of Early Childhood Educators from the
University of Minnesota and the
Mayo Clinic
The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...
.
In 2007, the Zinghoppers performed their first professional shows at the
Mall of America
Mall of America (MOA) is a large shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States. Located within the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the mall lies southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway ...
,
Minnesota State Fair,
South Dakota State Fair, and released their first CD, "Hop, Hop, Hop". Later that year, the band relocated from
Minneapolis,
Minnesota to
Phoenix,
Arizona to film a season of ''The Zinghoppers Show'' for a local Arizona
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...
(PBS)
Public television station
affiliate
Affiliation or affiliate may refer to:
* Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law
* Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship
* Affiliate marketing
* Affiliate network or affiliation pla ...
. This series was very low-budget and is currently out of circulation.
The Zinghoppers moved to Nashville in 2009 and were instantly popular with families and many local celebrities.
Nicole Kidman,
Keith Urban,
Brad Paisley,
Kimberly Williams-Paisley and members of
Kings of Leon have all been spotted in the audience of Zinghoppers shows. In 2012 the group performed two sold out shows at the historic
Franklin Theatre
Franklin may refer to:
People
* Franklin (given name)
* Franklin (surname)
* Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class
Places Australia
* Franklin, Tasmania, a township
* Division of Franklin, federal electoral divi ...
and
Mike Wolfe, star of
American Pickers brought his family to the show. The group was named "Nashville's Best Kids' Entertainers" for an unprecedented four years in a row (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) by the readers of
''Parents'' magazine.
In 2011, the band toured on behalf of the
US Pentagon on a 19 country world tour - performing for US military families serving in
Europe, the
Mediterranean and the
Middle East. That same year, the Zinghoppers hosted the first-ever web concert for families at the
Kennedy Center for Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
in
Washington DC. They are the only children's group ever invited to play the legendary
Bluebird Cafe
The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas.
...
in Nashville, TN.
The success of their
YouTube music video, "Tooty Ta", and their local popularity led to an interstitial series on
Nashville Public Television WNPT may refer to:
*WNPT (TV)
WNPT, virtual channel 8 (Very high frequency, VHF digital terrestrial television, digital channel 7), is a PBS network affiliate#Member stations, member television station city of license, licensed to Nashville, Te ...
. "Totally, Zinghoppers!" debuted in late 2011. The series is created, produced and funded independently by the Zinghoppers production team. It is known for being quirky and fiercely independent with both lyrics and visual spoofs inspired by a wide range of pop culture icons including:
Soul Train
''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series w ...
,
Taylor Swift, the
Black Eyed Peas
Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo (rapper), Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie (singer ...
and
Bob Dylan music videos.
Season 1 earned three
EMMY Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
nominations, with the team winning "Best Children's Program". The series was quickly picked up by additional PBS member stations nationwide. Currently, over 100 PBS member stations broadcast the series.
AFN Family,
KidzBop On Demand and
Trinity Broadcasting Network each broadcast the series as well, bringing the band to nearly 1 million viewers in over 195 countries daily.
During the filming of season one, the group filmed additional web-only bonus content backstage at
Bridgestone Arena during the
Justin Bieber North American leg of the wildly successful
My World Tour
The My World Tour was the debut concert tour by Canadian singer Justin Bieber. It is Bieber's first concert tour which supports his two-part debut EP and debut studio album ''My World'' (2009) and ''My World 2.0'' (2010). The tour was officially ...
. The band re-shot their viral video hit "Tooty Ta" with popular
Radio Disney
Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within the Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California.
The network broadcast music programming ...
rock band
Allstar Weekend
Allstar Weekend was an American pop rock band based in Poway, California. The band gained its popularity from the Disney Channel television network. The band consisted of lead singer Zachary "Zach" Porter, bassist Cameron Quiseng, drummer Micha ...
. Additional collaborations included a viral video hit with
Mindless Behavior.
The series picked up another two EMMY Award nominations in late 2012 for "Best Children's Program" and "Best Interstitial Series". It was announced that Season 2 would film in early 2013.
Works
Albums
* Snowflakes (2007)
* Hop, Hop, Hop (2007)
* Toot! Toot! All Aboard! (2008)
* A Zinghoppy Concert (2009)
* Be Creative At Your Library (2009)
* Sing Your Way Through The Day (2009)
* Splish Splash (2010)
* One World, Many Stories (2010)
* One World, Many Songs (2011)
* You Are Special! (2011)
* Meet The Zinghoppers - EP (2011)
* Songs From The Hit TV Show! (2012)
Home Videos
* A Dance Party Concert! (2010)
* Rock, Bop & Zinghop! (2012)
TV Series
* Hop With The Zinghoppers (2007) - ''13 interstitial episodes''
* Totally, Zinghoppers (2011/2012) - ''26 interstitial episodes''
References
*Crawford, Jim (7 November 2007). "Zinghoppers invade Valley to kids’ delight". The Desert Advocate Newspaper, Carefree, Arizona.
*Woodward, Erica (6 May 2009). "Nashville's most Famous Musicians...if you are under 5". The Tennessean, Nashville, Tennessee.
*Mayes, Angie (15 November 2012). "Franklin's Zinghoppers make kids, moms happy". Franklin Life, Frankin, Tennessee.
American children's musical groups