Xuxa (pronounced shoo-shah - IPA [ˈʃuʃɐ] -, born Maria da Graça Meneghel, March
27, 1963, Santa Rosa,
Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) is a Brazilian
Grammy Awards Winner, television actress, singer and children's
television show host. Her various shows have been broadcast in Portuguese,
Spanish, and English. Xuxa is of
German, Austrian, Italian,
and Polish descent.
She was a famous idol to Latin American children in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Among her achievements include
the best-selling album in the history of Brazil, and being the second
singer with the most number-one hits in Brazilian parades, surpassed
only by Daniela Mercury. Xuxa has some of the biggest box
office results in Brazilian history and a fortune of over $250 million dollars.
Rise to stardom
Xuxa's father, Luiz Floriano, was in the military and stationed in Rio de Janeiro when
she was 7. At age 15, Xuxa was followed home by a magazine publisher who spotted the pretty blue-eyed blonde on the train and
invited her to audition to be a model. A year later, she was on the cover of a Brazilian magazine.
In 1980, Xuxa posed for another magazine with other Brazilian models and the great soccer legend Pelé. The smitten athlete wooed the young model and the two embarked on a six-year romance which propelled her
career forward.
While performing as model she graced the centerfold of Playboy magazine's Brazilian
edition in December 1982, which led to her being cast in the motion picture Amor Estranho
Amor (Love Strange Love, IMDB
page).
She was only 20 when she was given her own variety TV show, Clube da Criança (Children's Club). She was an
instant hit; her candor on camera and her way with kids caught the attention of Latin America's Portuguese media giant,
Globo TV. In 1985, Globo TV took her as its own.
Career highlights
Early film career
Xuxa started her movie career in 1982 in Fuscão Preto. She also accepted a role in the psychological Amor, Estranho,
Amor( Love Strange Love in USA) often mistakenly referred to as an adult movie. During the filming of these movies she was
publicly known for her relationship with Pelé and as a highly paid model. In Amor, Estranho,
Amor Xuxa costarred with respected actors Vera Fischer and Tarcísio Meira.
Amor, Estranho, Amor controversy
The movie Amor, Estranho, Amor was controversial due to Xuxa's role in a sex scene where she is naked on top of a young
boy. Xuxa, until 1986, defended her participation in the movie, saying that it was essential to her career. However in 1986,
after being a national hit with "xou da Xuxa", CIC Video released the movie to VHS. Xuxa changed her stance on the film, not
wanting her "baixinhos" (as Xuxa called her children audience) and their parents to see her seducing a 12-year-old boy. She went
to court claiming the contract has no mention of video release. According to Xuxa, Pelé made her agree to do the movie. Marlene
Mattos, who was Xuxa's manager for many years, bought all rights for Xuxa's dramatic movie with her nude scene, and they are not
available on video or DVD in Latin America.
Os Trapalhões
Os Trapalhões were the biggest comedy group in Brazil and their show
was a big hit with children and adults. Their movies were some of the biggest hits of Brazilian cinema. In 1983, Xuxa had a minor
role in the comedy group's movie Os Trapalhões e o Mágico de Oróz, a
spoof of The Wizard of Oz. She also had roles in two more Os
Trapalhões movies: Os Trapalhões e a Arca de Noé (1984) and Os Trapalhões e o Reino da Fantasia (1985).
In 1989 she starred for the first time in a movie with the comedy group Os Trapalhões in A Princesa Xuxa e Os Trapalhões (Princess Xuxa and The
Messed-Up Guys). Previously, she had appeared in "special appearances" such as that in Os Trapalhões e o Mágico de Oróz. The following year, she starred in two movies:
Xuxa e os Trapalhões em 'O Mistério de Robin Hood' (Xuxa and The Messed-Up Guys in 'The Mystery of
Robin Hood') and Lua de Cristal (Crystal Moon). The second was her biggest box
office hit, spawning her hit single "Lua de Cristal". Lua de Cristal was also the
last Brazilian movie to have more than five million viewers in theaters before Dois Filhos de Francisco, 16 years
later.
Children's entertainment
In 1979 Xuxa began a new career as a children's show presenter at Manchete. This occurred
the same year she was invited to her first starring role in a movie with Os Trapalhões. Some newspaper reviewers wryly reported
that her chancy (racy?) wardrobe made her show at Manchete more appropriate to at-home fathers than to children.
Xou da Xuxa
| Xou da Xuxa |
| Format |
Children |
| Starring |
Xuxa Meneghel |
| Country of origin |
 Brazil |
| Production |
| Running time |
120+ minutes |
| Broadcast |
| Original run |
1986 – 1992 |
| External links |
| IMDb profile |
Xou da Xuxa is probably the most famous children's show in Brazil and Latin America, she sold over than 40,000,000
albums. It started in 1986. In the show, aired every weekday morning, Xuxa presented cartoon and games, did interviews and
performed some of her songs. The show created a kid show frenzy in Brazil, and until about 2001, more than 9 years after the
ending of Xou da Xuxa, most TV networks had at least one kids' show in the same style. Not only in Brazil, but also in
most of Latin America, Xou da Xuxa-type shows became popular (show with a beautiful host, usually blonde, who presented
cartoons such as Walt Disney's DuckTales,
etc).
The audience of the show was of kids who jumped up and down during the whole show. Kids shook pompoms throughout the show,
marking the trademarks of the show. But the biggest trademark was the pink spaceship. Every show began with Xuxa getting out of
the spaceship and at the end, she would go back to the spaceship (it remains so even today).
Every year she released a new album for children. 1988's Xou da Xuxa 3 with her biggest hit 'Ilariê' (#1 in the radio
in almost every Latin America country) is her best-selling album, selling 3 million copies in Brazil alone. Xou da Xuxa 3
is the best-selling album in Brazilian history.
In Xou da Xuxa, Xuxa gained a reputation for wearing revealing clothing, showing her
belly, legs, and even parts of her buttocks. Her first LP targeted at children revealed her breasts on the cover under a translucent shirt. That wasn't very scandalous for Latin America, but she wore more conservative
clothes to the US version of the show.
Xou da Xuxa ended in 1993 due to Xuxa's desire to invest more time in her international career, which included Spanish
and English versions of Xou da Xuxa as well as various shows in the U.S. and Europe, and the popular TV Colosso's premiere. During that year, she developed health problems attributed to stress; a typical
week consisted of seven hours of taping for a month's worth of shows coupled with flying to Argentina where the Spanish version
was taped.
Other children's shows
Xuxa Park (Brazil) - (The Brazilian Xuxa Park had no relation to the Spanish version) Aired from 1994 to 2001 on
Saturday mornings and was a modern version of Xou da Xuxa. It was cancelled after several children were injured in an
on-set fire. After the incident Xuxa became depressed and didn't appear in the media for
several months.
Xuxa Hits - Aimed at a teenage audience, Xuxa Hits aired just after Xuxa Park on Saturday mornings. The
show had musical guests and games. It was later moved to Sunday and renamed Planeta Xuxa (Xuxa Planet).
Planeta Xuxa - The show was a big hit and was shown on Sunday afternoons with musical guests. It ran concurrently with
Xuxa Park. The most popular segment was 'Intimacy' where Xuxa would interview different celebrities. The show went on hiatus
after the fire on Xuxa Park; it came back and was later canceled due to Xuxa's desire to work with children once more.
Reinvented as a children's entertainer, Xuxa began the Xuxa Só para Baixinhos (Xuxa Just for Kids) series,
releasing CDs and a videotape with song clips. She also
began her first tour since the end of her Xou da Xuxa show, and won two Latin
Grammy awards.
In 2001 Xuxa began a new children's show, Xuxa No Mundo da Imaginação (Xuxa at the World
of Imagination), a show for preschool children on weekday mornings. The show was initially successful, but following a dispute
between Xuxa and her manager, Marlene Matos, ratings for the show began to decline, resulting in the show being pulled from air
in 2004. Xuxa, however, being one of the most popular Brazilian TV personalities at the time, was
kept on and a new show, TV Xuxa was launched, containing more educational content and
cartoons, and less of Xuxa than previous shows.
Xuxa no Mundo da Imaginação (Xuxa in the World of Imagination) - This show arose from Xuxa's desire to return to
produce children's programming. It premiered in 2002 and aired weekday mornings. It was the lowest-rated Xuxa show, highlighting
the Globo morning block's ratings loss to the SBT morning block for the first time in years.
TV Xuxa - This was a repackaging Mundo da Imaginação in an attempt to boost its ratings. In this show, presented
on weekday mornings, Xuxa did segments on nature, internet and art, but the main focus was the game 'Battle of the Titans'. The
show also included a "day's topic" which was explored and explained by Xuxa. During the show, she also presented cartoons. After
a few seasons, the show was remodeled and came back with new segments, games and cartoons, but remained much the same as the old
show.
Controversy surrounding her Spanish version of the song "Danza de Xuxa", that when played backwards contained the message "the
Devil is magnificent", helped fuel her fame. But she denied having anything to do with the production of the Spanish version.
Xuxa - O Show Ao Vivo - This DVD is an almost complete copy of the famous The Wiggles show. The credits at the
end of this DVD credit The Wiggles for writing many of the songs. Xuxa does not write music, lyrics or dance numbers but
copies them from other children’s shows from around the world.
Bichos - So Many Animals - Written by Harriott / Einspruch
Ele é o Txutxucão - Wags Loves To Shake Shake - M. Cook / J. Fatt / A. Field / G. Page / Ed. Wiggle Tunes
Cinco Pathinhos - Five Little Ducks - M. Cook / J. Fatt / A. Field / G. Page / Ed. Wiggle Tunes
For a complete list see the end of the credits on the DVD Xuxa - O Show Ao Vivo
Also many of the exact dance numbers can be viewed on Youtube.com. Search for The Wiggles
International career
Between 1991 and 1993, Xuxa became very popular in the whole of Latin America, widening
her appeal among Spanish-speaking audiences, when she recorded a program in
Argentina, Show de Xuxa, which was also popular when
broadcast in Chile, Mexico and 16 other Latin American countries.
The first two seasons of the show, the most populars, were produced by Argentine TV channel Telefé while the third one, in 1993,
was produced independently and then sold for broadcast to Canal 13. Her las Spanish speaking show aired in Latin America on
December 31st 1993.
In 1993 Xuxa hosted an English language series in the
United States, Xuxa, but it did not
achieve the popularity she had enjoyed throughout Latin America and Spain. It was initially broadcast by 124 stations across the
country. The shows were produced on Sound Stage 36 at CBS Television City in Los Angeles. 65 episodes were taped for the first season of the show. Taping of the episodes was
done in a 5-week period in the summer of 1993. The shows were broadcast Monday through Friday, generally in the early morning or
mid-afternoon. All 65 episodes were broadcast during the initial 13 weeks before there was a repeat. Helping Xuxa on the show
were the Pixies (three U.S. "Paquitas" plus one Brazilian Paquita), the Mellizas (uncredited), Jelly, Jam, and ten "child
wranglers" for the 150 kids on set. Starting September 1994, Xuxa began airing on The Family
Channel cable network, at 8:00am ET/PT on all stations affiliated to The Family Network.
They reprised original episodes on a new children's block until February 19, 1996 when Xuxa stopped airing on The Family
Channel.
The show was sold to a great number of countries throughout the world, among them Japan,
Israel, Russia, Australia and
some Arab countries. Many parents were taken aback by her seemingly open displays of sexuality and
immodest clothing, as well as her practice of putting on bright red lipstick and kissing the cheeks of prepubescent males at the
end of each show.{cn}
Xuxa Park, the 1992 Spanish game show in which she presented,
drew good ratings. The theme song of the show, 'Sabor de la Vida' ('Flavor of Life'), was a big hit in Spain, topping the charts.
Her Xuxa Park album also sold well for 8 weeks, and was certified gold. However, the show was cancelled after
TeleCinco decided not to renew its contract.
Her international ambitions apparenly ended after the gruelling taping schedule for her American show. She was hospitalized
for several days due to exhaustion, and decided to give up her international career.
On 7 July 2007, Xuxa presented at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth in Rio de Janeiro.[1]
Later films
Xuxa also starred in a new movie every year. Lua de Cristal (1991) had over 5 million
viewers and spawned a number 1 single, "Lua de Cristal". Her second biggest box office was in 1989 with Super Xuxa Contra o Baixo Astral, which included her hit song 'Arco-Íris (Rainbow)' was a hit across
Latin America that was the biggest box office success of all time in Brazil. 1989 was also the last year she starred in a movie
with Os Trapalhões (O Mistério de Hobin Hood).
At the summer of 1990, presenter Sergio Malandro, "Lua de Cristal" male lead, and the "Paquitas" and "Paquitos" (Xou da Xuxa
dancers) made another movie, this time produced by Xuxa. Sonho de Verão (Summer Dream), a youth-oriented movie, was a hit
but more moderately so in regards to her other films.
It took 9 years before she made her next film, 1999's "Xuxa Requebra". The movie was a critical success and a big commercial
hit, becoming the most-successful Brazilian movie of the year and the most-successful Brazilian movie in years, and she used the
same formula for her next movie, "Xuxa Popstar", which was also very successful, but a critical flop.
In 2001, she did Xuxa e os Duendes. Since then, she has released a new movie every year. Xuxa e os Duendes 2 in
2002, Xuxa Abracadabra in 2003, and Xuxa e o Mistério da Cidade Perdida in 2004. Her first animated movie
Xuxinha e Guto: Contra os Monstros do Espaço, released in 2005, was comercial and critical flop. In her 2006 movie, "Xuxa
Gêmeas", she played twins, one evil and one good. The movie featured the singer Ivete
Sangalo and was a "come back" of Xuxa in the cinema. The movie had more than 1 million viewers.
In 1999 Xuxa appeared in Xuxa Requebra (Xuxa in Shake
It), a movie that targeted the teen demographic. It was a critical flop but a commercial success. The following year,
a movie in the same style (no story line, lots of advertisements, lots of popular actors/groups/singers making cameos) was made,
called Xuxa Popstar.
In 2001 she made her first children's movie in twelve years, Xuxa e os Duendes. A
fantasy movie, it not only had many cameos, but also a story line and no advertisements - a
first for Xuxa's movies. The movie was a hit and a sequel was made the following year.
In 2003 she made another fantasy movie, Xuxa em Abracadabra, followed by Xuxa e o
Tesouro da Cidade Perdida (Xuxa and the Treasure of the Lost City) in 2004. As of
2005, Xuxa is about to release her first animated movie.
Her next film is named Gemeas (Twins), which will mark the first time that Xuxa will play a villain. The movie will be
launched in January of 2007.
Brazilian icon
Xuxa's childhood home, now a pseudo-museum in
Santa
Rosa,
Rio Grande do Sul,
Brazil
Xuxa is a Brazilian icon, who was part of the childhood of many young people born in
the 1980s and 1990s. She is still popular with children today, who
listen to her CD collection Só Para Baixinhos. As an extremely popular children's presenter in Brazil, her success created
demand for more presenters to appear on TV in the mid-80 and the early 90s such as Angélica, Eliana and Mara Maravilha. Xuxa was also the first Brazilian to appear twice on Forbes
Magazine's list of richest artists, first in 1991 taking 37th place with an annual gross
income of US$19 million. Her second appearance put her in 28th place with US$26
million.
Her third album is the best-selling album in Brazilian history, selling almost 4 million copies. The album included the hit
"Ilarie", which went to Number 1 across Latin America and was the bestselling single and
most-played song on the radio in 1989. Xuxa's biggest singles were during her Xou da Xuxa
era, the biggest of them all being "Ilariê", but she was also successful with Lua de Cristal; Tindolelê; Brincar
de Índio and Arco-Íris.
The Disneyesque monument to Xuxa in downtown
Santa
Rosa,
Rio Grande do Sul - the city is Xuxa's birthplace
She had many licensed products since the 1980s, from bubble gum to televisions, shampoos, soap, food, books, clothes, shoes, dolls, toys, video
games and board games.
Xuxa is one of the richest Brazilian entertainers. In 1991, she was one of the 40 best-paid
celebrities in the World according to Forbes. She was the only Latin American on the list. Xuxa is one of the richest women in Brazil, with a net worth of more than
US$160 million.
In 1992 People Magazine included Xuxa in its annual list of the 50 most
beautiful people in the world, along with Princess Diana and Elizabeth Taylor.
Xuxa has dated the notable Brazilian figures Pelé and the late Ayrton Senna.
Motherhood
In November of 1997 Xuxa announced live on Globo's Sunday show to Domingão do Faustão that her dream would come true and she would have a child. Xuxa became a mother to
daughter, Sasha, on July 28, 1998 with her reoccurring partner,
model and heir Luciano Szafir. Her daughter was born live on Jornal Nacional, the most watched TV news in Brazil. English songwriter/producer Richard Daniel Roman wrote the song "Mi Niña Bonita", included on Xuxa's Spanish language album
El Mundo Es De Los Dos, for her daughter Sasha.
Xuxa's maternal habits have been publicly criticized due to the perception of allowing for indulgent parties for young Sasha.
One party involved a rented theme park at a cost of around $1 million.
Discography and films
Discography
See in Xuxa Discography
Filmography
- 1982 - Fuscão Preto
- 1982 - Amor estranho Amor
- 1983 - O Trapalhão na Arca de Noé
- 1984 - Os Trapalhões e o Mágico de
Oróz
- 1985 - Os Trapalhões no reino da fantasia
- 1988 - Super Xuxa contra Baixo-Astral
- 1989 - A Princesa Xuxa e os Trapalhões
- 1990 - Xuxa e os Trapalhões e o Mistério de Hobin Hood
- 1990 - Lua de Cristal
- 1991 - Gaúcho Negro
- 1999 - Xuxa Requebra
- 2000 - Xuxa Pop Star
- 2001 - Xuxa e os Duendes
- 2002 - Xuxa e os Duendes 2
- 2003 - Xuxa em Abracadabra
- 2004 - Xuxa em O Tesouro da Cidade Perdida
- 2005 - Xuxinha e Guto Contra Os Monstros do Espaço
- 2006 - Xuxa Gêmeas
- 2007 - TBA
See also
External links
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