Daphne and Celeste
{{Short description|American pop duo}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Daphne and Celeste
| image =
| caption =
| origin = New Jersey, United States
| genre = Teen pop, bubblegum pop, indie pop, electropop
| years_active = {{hlist|1999–2002|2015–present}}
| label = MCA, Balatonic
| associated_acts = Max Tundra
| website = {{URL|http://daphneandceleste.tv}}
| past_members = Celeste Cruz
Karen DiConcetto
}}
Daphne and Celeste are an American pop duo, consisting of Celeste Cruz and Karen 'Daphne' DiConcetto. Three of their singles reached the top 20 in the UK Singles Chart.
Success and album reaction
They released three singles in the UK: "Ooh Stick You", "U.G.L.Y." and a cover version of Alice Cooper's "School's Out".{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/daphne-and-celeste/3643|title=SUMMER 'SCHOOL' FOR DAPHNE AND CELESTE|work=NME|date=21 June 2000}} A full-length album, We Didn't Say That!, was released in June 2000 to generally mixed reviews (Melody Maker awarded it four out of five stars). Another single, "Party", was due in November 2000, but was never released.
During their performance at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2000, the crowd's negative reception towards Daphne and Celeste's incongruous music resulted in the duo being bottled by the audience.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/899634.stm|title=Reading Diary 3: Daphne and Celeste's battle|date=28 August 2000|publisher=BBC News}} Despite the hostile crowd response, Daphne and Celeste remained on stage and continued to perform their songs{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/29/daphne-and-celeste-you-and-i-alone|title=Daphne and Celeste: 'They hated us so much!'|first=Tim|last=Jonze|date=29 March 2015|newspaper=The Guardian|accessdate=17 May 2018}} though they left at the end of their second song in a three-song set due to the increasing crowd hostility.{{Cite web|url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/daphne-and-celeste/2000/little-johns-farm-reading-england-53ceb705.html|title=Daphne & Celeste Setlist at Reading Festival 2000|website=setlist.fm|language=en|access-date=2019-05-31}}
"U.G.L.Y." was criticized by those who felt that it promoted bullying. Daphne and Celeste countered this by saying their lyrics were meant to be tongue-in-cheek. In an interview included on the "U.G.L.Y." single, Daphne stated: "Everyone is indeed ugly in their own special way." Daphne and Celeste made an appearance at Feet First.{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/daphne-and-celeste/4355|title='OOH STICK YOU' 2002!|work=NME|date=22 November 2001}} Daphne and Celeste also had a television and film deal.{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/daphne-and-celeste/3699|title=TV AND MOVIE FOR D&C|work=NME|date=29 June 2000}}
Daphne and Celeste were eventually dropped by their label. Their official website closed down in October 2001, and their management company, Perfect Noise Limited, was dissolved in November 2002. After the band broke up Celeste went back to school.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/may/25/daphne-and-celeste-pop-duo-look-back|title='People in the scene would sometimes be mean to us. They'd forget we were teenagers': Daphne and Celeste look back|first=Harriet|last=Gibsone|date=25 May 2025|via=The Guardian}}
Later activities
In a "Where Are They Now?" interview with Q magazine in 2005, Karen DiConcetto stated that the whole project was "100% manufactured", and that the girls auditioned for it in New York in 1998: "I just talked about shoes for an hour." She considered the Reading Festival to be the highlight of the whole experience, and mentioned her work in theatre afterwards, specifically a play called Tourrettaville, written by a boy with Tourette's syndrome. DiConcetto received positive reviews{{cite web |first=David |last=Ng |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0437,ng2,56724,11.html |title=Good Grief! - Page 1 - Theater - New York |publisher=The Village Voice |date=7 September 2004 |accessdate=10 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210100232/http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0437%2Cng2%2C56724%2C11.html |archivedate=10 December 2007}} for her portrayal of "CB's Sister" in the FringeNYC award-winning Peanuts spoof Dog Sees God. That production was adapted for an Off-Broadway debut featuring a number of big-name celebrities, including Eliza Dushku and America Ferrera.
In the same interview, Cruz said that she had also worked in theatre and that the duo were planning to break into television. In 2004, Celeste also took the role of "Maria" in the movie Brooklyn Bound. In 2009 she appeared in an Emmy-nominated episode of 30 Rock entitled "Generalissimo". Cruz can also be found on Twitter. Unlike DiConcetto, she considered the Reading Festival incident the "end of the party for us".{{Citation needed|date=February 2013}}
Daphne and Celeste were also interviewed by Bad Horsey towards the end of 2005, with the questions coming from the B3ta web community. The interview was posted on the Estudio Caballito Malo website and featured in the Popbitch newsletter. An edited version was published in the January 2006 edition of the UK publication Fused Magazine.
DiConcetto has a role in Holger Ernst's The House Is Burning, which premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival on 26 May.{{cite web|last=James |first=Alison |url=https://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=features2006&content=jump&jump=story&dept=cannes&nav=NCannes&articleid=VR1117942153&cs=1 |title=More competish at Cannes |work=Variety|date=27 April 2006 |accessdate=10 February 2013}} The film was produced by Wim Wenders, and is considered a German production, despite being filmed around New Jersey. In 2005, Daphne and Celeste had a mini reunion tour in the UK with Lolly.{{cite web|url=https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/music/features/Whatever+Happened+To+Daphne+And+Celeste-6069.html|title=Whatever Happened To... Daphne And Celeste|last=Harrison|first=Ruth|date=1 October 2008|website=Female First}} Cruz sang guest vocals on a song for Kent Odessa.{{cite web|url=https://bushwickdaily.com/2012/12/bushwick-music-crush-kent-odessa/|title=Bushwick Music Crush: Kent Odessa|website=Bushwickdaily.com}}
Reunion and recording
In 2011, English music producer Max Tundra contacted Daphne and Celeste through social media to offer his production to make a comeback. On 29 March 2015, the duo had a second reunion and released a single titled "You and I Alone",{{cite web |last1=Popjustice |url=http://www.popjustice.com/interviewsandfeatures/daphne-celeste-comeback-interview/134785/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331140444/http://www.popjustice.com/interviewsandfeatures/daphne-celeste-comeback-interview/134785/ |title=Daphne And Celeste - The Comeback Interview|url-status=dead |archive-date=31 March 2015 |website=Popjustice}} produced by Max Tundra. The song is the first single from the album Daphne & Celeste Save the World,{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Daphne_Celeste/status/961194326788333568|title=Daphne & Celeste on Twitter|publisher=Twitter|accessdate=17 May 2018}} and was written and produced by Max Tundra.
On 7 February 2018, Daphne and Celeste announced the comeback album with the launch of another song, "BB", produced by Max Tundra.{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/daphne-and-celeste-enlist-max-tundra-for-new-album-share-song-listen/|title=Daphne & Celeste Enlist Max Tundra for New Album, Share Song: Listen|website=Pitchfork|date=7 February 2018 |accessdate=20 February 2018}} The duo and Tundra performed at London's Boston Music Room to promote the release.{{Cite news|url=https://www.stereoboard.com/content/view/214469/9|title=Daphne And Celeste Announce New Album And London Show|last=Johnson|first=Laura|website=Stereoboard.com|accessdate=20 February 2018}}
Discography
=Studio albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions ! rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"| Title ! rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Details ! colspan="2"| Peak chart positions |
| style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:45px;"| NZ ! style="width:45px;"| UK |
| scope="row"| We Didn't Say That!
| | 4 | 140 |
|---|
| scope="row"| Daphne & Celeste Save the World
| | — | — |
=Singles=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Single ! colspan="4"| Peak chart positions ! rowspan="2"| Album |
| style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:35px;"| AUS
|url=http://australian-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Daphne+%26+Celeste |title=australian-charts.com > Daphne & Celeste in Australian Charts |publisher=Hung Medien |accessdate=1 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923190706/http://australian-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Daphne+%26+Celeste |archivedate=23 September 2016 }}
|url=https://i.imgur.com/kp4EqpE.jpg |title=ariaNET The Chart! Top 100 Singles – Week Commencing 7th February 2000 |publisher=Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA) |accessdate=23 September 2016 }}
|url=http://www.aria.com.au/issue569.PDF |title=ARIA Report Issue 569 |publisher=Australian Web Archive (original document published by ARIA) |accessdate=23 September 2016 |url-status= |archiveurl=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20020220130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20020221-0000/www.aria.com.au/issue569.PDF |archivedate=21 February 2002 }}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} ! style="width:35px;"| CAN ! style="width:35px;"| NZ ! style="width:35px;"| UK |
| 1999
| style="text-align:left;"| "Ooh Stick You" | 54 | — | 5 | 8 | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"| We Didn't Say That! |
| rowspan="2"| 2000
| style="text-align:left;"| "U.G.L.Y." | 40 | 18 | 7 | 18 |
| style="text-align:left;"| "School's Out"
| 96 | — | — | 12 |
| 2015
| style="text-align:left;"| "You and I Alone" | — | — | — | — | rowspan="2"| Daphne & Celeste Save the World |
| 2018
| style="text-align:left;"| "BB"{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Daphne_Celeste/status/961195144904142853|title=Daphne & Celeste on Twitter|publisher=Twitter|accessdate=17 May 2018}} | — | — | — | — |
| colspan="15" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://daphneandceleste.tv Daphne and Celeste]
- {{IMDb title|0405807|Brooklyn Bound}}
- {{IMDb title|0469104|The House is Burning}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Musical duos from New Jersey
Category:American pop girl groups
Category:Musical groups established in 1999
Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2015