DJ BoBo

DJ BoBo

René Baumann (born January 5 , 1968) better known as DJ BoBo, is a successful Swiss singer, songwriter, dancer and musicproducer.

Music career

René Baumann was born in Kölliken, Switzerland, to Italian father Luigi Cipiriano and Swiss mother Ruth Baumann. As a dance music producer, his first big success came with the single "Somebody Dance with Me", which is similar in sound to Rockwell's, "Somebody's Watching Me". The single hit number one in Switzerland. After this, he charted well with the singles "Keep on Dancing" and "Take Control". From 1992 till 2007 he had 27 single chart-hits in Switzerland and Germany.

René has received numerous golds and platinums for his songs and has found success in Europe (primarily Germany, Switzerland and Bosnia-Herzegovina), Israel, and South America. René's more recent songs are a departure from Eurodance, but he still produces decent Eurodance tracks such as "Moscow" (2001), "No More Pain" (2003), and "Amazing Life" (2005). He also wrote "Pirates of Dance" in 2005.

One of his singles, "Chihuahua", was used 2002 in a Spanish Coca-Cola commercial and went on number one in the single-charts of Spain and Mexico. In 2003 it was re-released due to its huge success and it ended being the best selling single of the year 2003 world wide. With this song DJ Bobo went on number one in the charts of Switzerland and France, number two in Czech Republic and Italy and number 36 in United Kingdom. In December 2004, the Cantonese version of Chihuahua was written by Wyman Wong as the theme song of the same product. This version was performed by Joey Yung.

In 2004, as a result of the success of "Chihuahua", René was awarded the Swiss award for Showbusiness at the Swiss awards, an annual event meant to recognise high achieving Swiss people.

As well as being a Eurodance performer and producer, René is also a talented choreographic dancer.

2007 Eurovision Song Contest

On October 11 2006 DJ Bobo announced in a press conference that he has applied to represent Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.

In past years, Switzerland's entry has not necessarily been a Swiss national, Most notably, Canadian Celine Dion won the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 representing Switzerland. In DJ Bobo's press conference, he told reporters that "It's a shame for Swiss tax payer money from the TV licence fees to go to fund a foreign act, and the people should resist that."

In December 2006 the Swiss TV Council announced that they had chosen Bobo out of over 200 applicants to represent Switzerland in Helsinki. The council earned some negative comments for the selection as not having been fair towards lesser known Swiss artists.

On February 21 2007, DJ Bobo revealed both the song and video he will enter in the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki. The song was titled "Vampires Are Alive", but despite being one of the countries expected to make the final on May 12, it failed to get pass the semi-final stage. The song was placed twentieth out of twenty eight entries.

World Food Programme

DJ Bobo became a United Nations World Food Programme National Ambassador Against Hunger in October 2006, becoming the first Swiss celebrity to take up the role. He was also a participant in the 2006 Geneva Walk the World event.

Family

In 1993 René met Nancy Rentzsch; she joined his team in 1995. René and Nancy became a couple and in 2002 they married. René and Nancy have two children.

Discography

Albums:

• Dance with Me (1993)
• There Is a Party (1994)
• Just for You (1995)
• World in Motion (1996) #2 AUT (Gold)
• Magic (1998)
• The Ultimate Megamix '99 (1999)
• Level 6 (1999)
• The Remixes (1999)
• Planet Colors (2001)
• Celebration (2002)
• Visions (2003)
• Chihuahua (2003)
• Live in Concert (2003)
• Pirates of Dance (2005)
• Greatest Hits (2006)
• Vampires (2007)

Singles:

• "I Love You" (1989)
• "Ladies in the House" (1991)
• "Let's Groove On" (1991)
• "Somebody Dance with Me" (1992)
  • #3 Austria, #1 Switzerland, #1 Sweden
• "Keep on Dancing" (1993)
  • #7 Austria, #2 Switzerland, #7 Sweden
• "Take Control" (1994)
  • #9 Austria, #7 Switzerland, #21 Sweden
• "Everybody" (1994)
  • #24 Austria, #3 Switzerland, #20 Sweden
• "Let the Dream Come True" (1994)
  • #6 Austria, #1 Switzerland, #11 Sweden
• "Love Is All Around" (1995)
  • #13 Austria, #16 Switzerland, #14 Sweden, #42 France
• "There Is a Party" (1995)
  • #29 Austria, #13 Switzerland, #35 France
• "Freedom" (1995)
  • #7 Austria, #4 Switzerland, #31 Sweden, #7 Finland
• "Love Is the Price" (1996)
  • #13 Austria, #11 Switzerland, #12 Finland
• "Pray" (1996)
  • #6 Austria, #2 Switzerland, #2 Finland
• "Respect Yourself" (1996)
  • #23 Austria, #16 Switzerland, #7 Finland
• "It's My Life" (1997)
  • #16 Austria, #7 Switzerland, #17 Finland
• "Shadows of the Night" (1997)
  • #25 Austria, #7 Switzerland
• "Where Is Your Love" (1998)
  • #20 Austria, #3 Switzerland
• "Around the World" (1998)
  • #23 Switzerland
• "Celebrate" (1998)
  • #8 Switzerland
• "Together" (1999)
  • #34 Austria, #4 Switzerland
• "Lies" (1999)
  • #48 Switzerland
• "What a Feeling" (2001)
  • #11 Austria, #2 Switzerland
• "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (2001)
  • #25 Switzerland
• "Colors of Life" (2001)
  • #37 Switzerland
• "Celebration" (2002)
  • #48 Austria, #14 Switzerland
• "I Believe" (2003)
  • #61 Austria, #13 Switzerland
• "Chihuahua" (2003)
  • #48 Austria, #1 Switzerland, #10 Sweden, #1 France, #19 Germany, #8 Belgium, #10 Ireland, #15 Norway, #36 United Kingdom, #20 United World Chart
• "Pirates of Dance" (2005)
  • #43 Austria, #3 Switzerland, #16 Germany
• "Amazing Life" (2005)
  • #27 Switzerland, #48 Germany
• "Secrets of Love" feat. Sandra Cretu (2006)
  • #39 Austria, #5 Switzerland, #13 Germany
• "Vampires Are Alive" (2007)
  • #62 Austria, #3 Switzerland, #7 Finland, #24 Germany

External links

• Official Website
• Full Discography and Swiss Chart Overview of DJ Bobo from www.swisscharts.com
• DJ Bobo at World Food Programme