Banaroo is a German pop group. They had several successful singles in countries including Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The first line-up consisted of Robbert “Bobby” Dessauvagie, Vittorio “Vito” Magro, Stefanie “Steffy” Dreyer and Kathrin “Cat“ Geißler and were active from 2005 until they disbanded in 2008. In 2013, the group was relaunched with new members Doro Farkas, Laura Luppino, Alvin Philipps and Daniel Langer. The second line-up disbanded on November 6th, 2013 due to Doro and Alvin leaving the group. It is unknown if Banaroo will return in the future.
Banaroo released their debut single “Dubi Dam Dam” on June 5, 2005. The single achieved huge success. It charted in four countries, three of which it charted in the top five. It peaked at number two in both Germany and Austria.
In July 2005, Banaroo released their debut album Banaroo’s World. The album charted at number one in both Germany and Austria. It also charted at number seven in the Swiss charts. It was certified platinum in Germany, and certified Gold in both Austria and Switzerland.
Banaroo’s second single from the album, “Space Cowboy”, was released across Europe in August 2005. Not as successful as “Dubi Dam Dam”, it still however charted at number five in Germany and in the top twenty in Austria and Switzerland.
Banaroo returned on November 11, 2005 with their third single, “Coming Home For Christmas”. It failed to do as well as previous singles, however it still made the top ten in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
In December 2005, Banaroo released their second album, Christmas World. The album, despite its name, did not include just Christmas songs. The album debuted at #12 on the German charts on December 9, 2005.
In February 2006, Banaroo returned with their fourth single “Uh Mamma”. It charted in the top ten in Germany and Austria. In Switzerland it reached #11.
They released their third album Amazing on March 24, 2006. It charted at #2 in Austria and was certified Gold. It charted at #6 in Germany and #25 in Switzerland.
“Sing and Move (La La La Laaaa)” was the second and last single from the album. It was released June 27, 2006. It failed to match the success of previous singles, not making the top twenty and only reaching a peak of #51.
Having been away from the music scene for nearly nine months, Banaroo returned with “Ba Yonga Wamba”. It was released March 23, 2007, and also failed to match the success of previous singles, although it did chart higher than “Sing and Move (La La La Laaaa)”. The song also managed to chart in the top thirty in Germany and Austria.
They released their seventh and last single “I’ll Fly Away” on May 4, 2007. It only reached number 84 in Germany. Banaroo released their fourth and last studio album Fly Away on July 4, 2007. Failing to do as well as previous albums, it still charted at #24 in Germany. On October 19, 2007, Banaroo released their greatest hits album The Best of Banaroo featuring 18 songs from their four albums, plus two new songs. The album failed to chart.
“Dubi Dam Dam” was released in Australia in April 2007, but failed to chart; this possibly being the reason why no more Banaroo CD’s were released in Australia ever since. After the release of The Best of Banaroo, Banaroo disappeared from the music world. It was confirmed in 2008 that they would not be releasing any more music and that they had broken up.
In 2013, Na Klar! held a casting in Germany to pick four new members for Banaroo, the reason being that the original members are too busy with their personal lives and other personal reasons. After the auditions completed, the members chosen as the new members were Doro Farkas, Laura Luppino, Alvin Philipps, and Daniel Langer. While still being under Na Klar! and Sony Music, they also joined forces with Villa Productions for their comeback.
The first new single was a new version of Banaroo’s most popular song, “Dubi Dam Dam”, released as “Dubi Dam Dam (2013 Version)”. It was released as a single on May 17, 2013 and includes two versions of the song. Following its’ release, Banaroo also announced their new album called “Bubblegum World” and revealed its’ cover art and track list. “Bubblegum World” is a tribute album to the Bubblegum Dance genre and some of its’ most popular artists, such as Aqua, Ch!pz, Me & My, Rednex and more. Banaroo also started touring with the Toggo Tour in May, performing many of the songs that would be included on “Bubblegum World”.
Their fifth studio album “Bubblegum World” was released on June 7, 2013. They released a second single from the album, a remake of another popular Banaroo song called “Space Cowboy” on June 21, 2013. Banaroo also announced a contest for the summer, where the winner would get to meet Banaroo and spend the day with them in the studio. Despite the fair amount of promotion for the releases and constant touring, their album and singles from the album failed to chart anywhere.
Banaroo continued to tour until their final tour date on October 7. After completing their tour, Banaroo announced a new concert date, which took place on October 17. Following Banaroo’s last Facebook update on October 24, things became quiet around Banaroo. On November 6, Laura Luppino announced on her official Facebook page that Banaroo would be disbanding a second time, as the members had different ideas for Banaroo’s future and that it would be impossible for them to continue together. The other members, as well as their producer Oliver DeVille, have confirmed the disbandment. It is unknown at this point if new members will be selected or not. The management of Banaroo has yet to comment on the sudden disbandment publicly, however, their producer has mentioned the disbandment took place when Doro and Alvin decided to leave Banaroo and pursue other aspects in the entertainment industry.
Recently, it was also confirmed by some fans of Banaroo that the members had said they were planning to release a Christmas single, however, this single was never released due to their disbandment in November 2013. Their producer Oliver DeVille also confirmed that, while this was the plan, the single was never even recorded due to the sudden disbandment.
Following the disbandment, former members Alvin and Doro confirmed that they would soon debut as a duo, however, they have yet to make a debut as a duo. Laura Luppino has moved forward as a soloist, still working under Villa Productions and with her producer as a member of Banaroo, Oliver DeVille. In 2014, Laura competed in the pre-selections for Eurovision, representing Switzerland with “The Energy Of Love (In Your Eyes)”. As part of a contest, she gave away a signed copy of Banaroo’s “Bubblegum World” album.
Doro Farkas has since gone solo as well and has began releasing solo material, meaning the duo project planned with Alvin Philipps may not be happening. Alvin Phillips has moved forward recently, continuing as a model and also as an actor. Daniel Langer, however, hasn’t been active in the entertainment industry since Banaroo’s disbandment and has not updated his official Facebook since late 2013. He has decided to continue with his personal life and it is unknown if he has any plans to return to music in the future, however, he has been pictured with Laura Luppino and Oliver DeVille recently, meaning Daniel might still be signed with DeVille Productions.
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