Carols By Candlelight is an annual Australian Christmas tradition that originated in south-eastern Australia in the 19th century and was popularised in Melbourne in 1938. Hi-5 has performed at Carols By Candlelight from 1999 to 2012, and later returning from 2016 to 2017 as the main children's act for the portion of the event. The acts would usually involve the appearances of Santa Claus (played by the late Terry Gill), Humphrey B. Bear and the Australian National Boys and Girls Choir, though exceptions in castings would be listed below.
Setlist[]
1999[]
NOTE: The following setlist is unconfirmed at the moment and songs from the Santa Claus Is Coming! are set as a placeholder.
2000[]
NOTE: Setlist is currently incomplete and only consists of songs that have been confirmed through surfaced information and footage.
- Sleigh Ride
- T'was The Night Before Christmas
- Santa Claus Is Coming
2001[]
For this year, Hi-5 did not perform on stage during the main concert setlist, but rather as a separate act before the concert that was still televised.
NOTE: The following setlist is unconfirmed at the moment and only consists of songs that have been confirmed through surfaced footage and information.
- Santa Wear Your Shorts!
- Santa Claus Is Coming
2002[]
This was the first known year in Carols where the Australian National Boys and Girls Choir accompanied Hi-5 on stage during their act. Furthermore, in a departure from past and future acts, the songs presented utilise the original studio instrumentals, instead of live orchestra backing.
This performance was later included in the It's A Hi-5 Christmas video released the following year.
- T'was The Night Before Christmas
- Jingle Bells
- Five Days To Christmas
- Mary's Boy Child
- Santa Wear Your Shorts!
- Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
- Shine Your Light
- Santa Claus Is Coming
2003[]
This was the first known year after 2001, where The Australian National Boys and Girls Choir were absent during Hi-5's presentation, despite one of the former members claiming to be a part of the troupe for that year.
- Sleigh Ride
- Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
- Santa Claus Is Coming
- Jingle Bells
2004[]
- Jingle Jangle Jingle
- Feels Like Christmas
- Santa Claus is Coming
- Christmas All Around The World
2005[]
This set marked the last appearance of Kathleen de Leon Jones as a member, though she would return the following year in the case stated below.
- Tick Tock, Tick Tock
- Christmas Star
- Santa Claus Is Coming
- Jingle Bells
- Sleigh Ride
2006[]
This set marked the first year for Sun Pezzimenti as a member, and the last to feature Tim Harding prior to his motorcycle accident the following year. Kathleen also makes a special appearance before Hi-5's act, performing a pre-show solo of "Christmas Star".
This act is also the first for Hi-5 to cover a Christmas song that has not received an official studio recording, in the case of "One Little Christmas Tree".
- Christmas Star (pre-show)
- Angel On The Dancefloor
- Away In A Manger
- One Little Christmas Tree (Stevie Wonder cover)
- Santa Claus Is Coming
- Christmas All Around The World
2007[]
This set marked the first year for Stevie Nicholson as a member, and the last to feature Charli Robinson prior to her departure from the group the following year.
- Twas The Night Before Christmas
- Santa Claus Is Coming
- Jingle Bells
- Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
2008[]
This set marked the first year for Casey Burgess as a member, and the last to feature Nathan Foley, Kellie Crawford and Sun, all of whom made their official departures from the group with this set.
- Sleigh Ride
- Groovy Christmas
- Santa Claus Is Coming
- Jingle Bells
- Christmas All Around The World
2009[]
This set marked the first year for Lauren Brant, Fely Irvine and Tim Maddren as members. This is also the first known time in the Carols set where a song of the week from the show is performed as well.
- Living In A Fairytale
- Twas The Night Before Christmas
- Santa Claus Is Coming
- Jingle Bells
- Christmas All Around The World
2010[]
This set marked the last time that Humphrey B. Bear appeared with Hi-5 in the Carols set, though he would still appear in the concert's finale medley section until 2014.
NOTE: The following setlist is unconfirmed at the moment due to a technical fault that occured on the live feed during the group's performance. The list currently only consists of songs that have been confirmed through surfaced footage and information.
- Toy Box
- Favourite Teddy Bear
- Wish Upon A Star
- Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
- Santa Claus Is Coming
- Jingle Bells
- Christmas All Around The World
2011[]
This set marked the last Carols appearance of Fely, who made her formal departure from the group with this appearance. Hi-5 and Santa were also accompanied with characters from Happy Feet 2 during their set.
This is also the first known Hi-5 Carols set to include a songlet, though current speculation has it that it might have done so beforehand at the 2000 and 2001 Carols.
- Sleigh Ride
- Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
- Santa Claus Is Coming
- The Secret to Success
- Jingle Bells
- Christmas All Around The World
2012[]
This set marked the first and only Carols appearance of Dayen Zheng, and the last to feature Stevie, Casey, Lauren and Tim. Furthermore for Hi-5's set, this was also the last time where Santa was portrayed by Terry Gill, though he would reprise that role one more time in 2014 prior to his death the following year.
- Twas The Night Before Christmas
- Santa Claus Is Coming
- Jingle Bells
- Christmas All Around The World
2016[]
This set not only marked the return of Hi-5 to Carols, but also the first formal debut appearances of Lachie Dearing, Courtney Clarke, Shay Clifford, Joe Kalou and Bailey Spalding as members of Hi-5.
- Twas The Night Before Christmas
- Santa Claus is Coming
- Santa Wear Your Shorts
- Jingle Bells
- Christmas All Around The World
2017[]
This set currently marks the last year that Hi-5 participated in Carols, as a result of the later disbandment of the group due to the closure of the Australian production offices the following year.
- Let's Have a Christmas Celebration (Traditional cover)
- Santa Claus Is Coming
- Limbo
- Jingle Bells
- Christmas All Around The World
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- The fireplace set, which was introduced in 2004 continues to be used in Carols concerts to this day, using modifications to the stocking names wherever necessary.
- Part of Hi-5's arrangements for Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells were also continued to be used briefly in 2014 and 2015 in Hi-5's absence.