91Èȱ¬

Zak, Tang, Panzee and Drum are music sensation ZingZillas. Launching on CBeebies in April, this brand new music show will get toddlers and tots across the nation grooving on down to the ZingZillas' sound.

At home on their tropical island paradise, this band of primate friends live to play fantastic music. Gorilla and lead singer, Zak, provides vocals while musical genius and lead guitarist, Tang the orang-utan, creates the toe-tapping, finger-clicking compositions. The band is styled by chimpanzee bass guitarist and keyboard player, Panzee, and monkey percussionist Drum always lays down a great beat.

Under the guidance of their mentor, music guru DJ Loose, they create their unique ZingZilla sound in time for their daily performance, The Big Zing, with a little help from their island friends: the Moaning Stones, Granite and Gravel, doo-wopping on the bass line; the Beach Byrds, Maxine, Patti and Laverne, harmonising their backing vocals; and island caretaker and eccentric inventor, Todd, boogieing along on the beach.

During each episode, the tropical island is visited by a different musical guest, including some of the biggest names in the international music scene – from opera star Sarah Connolly to scat singer Dame Cleo Laine to didgeridoo player Dhinawan.

The ZingZillas always discover their musical guests in a lush jungle glade which pulsates with music. They take inspiration from the guests and incorporate them and their sounds into each Big Zing.

Ranging from a full concert orchestra to a lone saxophonist or a bottleneck guitarist, this series embraces and celebrates musical genres from around the world.

Head of CBeebies Production Kay Benbow said: "ZingZillas is a musical feast introducing new sounds, new instruments and musical ideas into the lives of CBeebies' young audience, inspiring them to jump up, join in and create some music for themselves.

"ZingZillas' band of energetic primates aims to get under-sixes across the nation making music... ZingZilla-style!"

Linda Bance, the show's Early Years Music Education Consultant, added: "When listening to or playing music it can help us relax, concentrate, be motivated and inspire us. It can keep us fit and healthy and allow us to express our emotions. Being involved with music-making helps us to communicate, socialise, concentrate, and be broad minded, forward thinking and creative.

"Young children are naturally musical and adventurous – they love new ideas, taking risks and trying things out. We should not underestimate the power of music in our pre-schoolers' lives and ZingZillas will give them the quality musical experiences they deserve."

As the band strut their funky stuff on screen, viewers can tune in to CBeebies radio to sing along to the Big Zings or log on to bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/zingzillas to join in the fun online in a fully immersive website including a complementary set of toe-tapping, finger-clicking activities and games.

Youngsters can even join the band and play along with their webcams! As Zak would say: "Let's do it! Now!"

With its exemplary blend of high production values, core music education principles and lively, inspirational content, ZingZillas is just one of the programmes that demonstrates the 91Èȱ¬'s commitment to making outstanding children's content.

CBeebies is dedicated to delighting and surprising its young audience and it remains the UK's most watched and loved channel for the under sixes, with almost half of the target audience tuning in each week (parents and carers with children aged 0-3 and 4-6 year olds in digital homes).

The CBeebies website attracts more than 800,000 unique users a week, peaking at over 1 million unique users in February last year, and last May saw the launch of the specially designed, child-friendly CBeebies iPlayer.

FW