Bellini (German band)
| Bellini | |
|---|---|
,_Bellini.jpg)
Current formation of Bellini, live in 2014 at Saarbrücken
|
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Germany |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1997–2001, 2004–2010, 2013–Present |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | Bellisima |
| Website | Bellini Music |
| Members |
|
| Past members |
|
Bellini are a German pop girl group formed in 1997. The band consists of the three members Maria Efeldt, Tracey Ellis and Myrthes Monteiro. They have been produced by the producer duo Ramon Zenker and Gottfried Engels, known as The Bellini Brothers, where the group's name's origin comes from.
The name "Bellini" itself was inspired by the surname of the former Brazilian national football team's captain Hilderaldo Bellini, who first brought his team to world champion in 1958. When they were looking for a performers for the Bellini project, they compiled five members into a first mixed band, male dancer Mustafa Makhloufi (born 1974 or 1975 in Marokko) and four female dancers Tanja Niethen (born 1973 in Siegburg), Dandara Santos-Silva (born 1970 or 1971 in Brazil), Onni Khoei-Arsa (born 1974 or 1975 in Thailand) and Dewi Sulaeman (born 1979 or 1980 in Indonesia).
They released their first single "Samba de Janeiro", which heavily samples Airto Moreira's 1972 song "Tombo In 7/4" from his album Fingers, in May 1997. The song became a massive success, sold five million copies worldwide. In Germany the song peaked #2 in the German Single Chart and stayed in the top ten for thirteen weeks, earning the group an Echo Award for this song in the category "Artist or Group National in the rubric Dance/Techno. Soon after the release in summer of 1997, Makhloufi had been fired by the other members, leaving Bellini as a four piece girl group.
Both, the same titled debut studio album Samba de Janeiro, also known as Samba de Janeiro - The Album, and the second and final single release of the album, "Carnaval", became minor hits, only peaking #63 and #93 in the German Album und Single chart. The third single "Me Gusta la Vida" was released in 1998, first single to be released from their first compilation album Samba de Janeiro - Non-Stop Best of Bellini from 2001. In October 1998, Niethen and Santos-Silva left Bellini, to form the new girl group Bellissima with Mel Roberts from England.
Also Sulaeman had to leave the band due to her pregnancy forcing last remaining member Khoei-Arsa to leave as well in 1999. Between 1999 and 2000, the producers held auditions in Cologne for three new dancers and singers to reform Bellini. First selections were Sabrina Schmieder, born 1980 in Salzburg, and Fabiana. In 1999, the second single of the compilation album Samba de Janeiro - Non-Stop Best of Bellini, titled "Saturday Night", a Whigfield cover version, has been released, followed by the third and final single "Samba de Amigo"
...
Wikipedia