Jorge Barón

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Jorge Barón (born Jorge Eliécer Varón 28 June 1949 in Ibagué) is a Colombian television presenter, and media personality and businessman.

He started his career working as an announcer for a Ibagué radio station. Later he moved to Bogotá, hired by La Voz de Colombia station (which would be later bought by Caracol Radio). Around 1965 he founded his television production company, Jorge Barón Televisión. He created several variety shows, such as El Show de las Estrellas (which started in 1965 as El show de Jorge Barón y su estrella invitada), "Jorge Barón and his guest star show"), Embajadores de la música colombiana, Señoras y señores, and Noticiero del espectáculo, among others.

In its beginnings, El Show de las Estrellas, his flagship show, was recorded in a studio where Colombian and foreign popular artists performed live (though in later years they just playbacked). His moustache was a sort of trademark during almost two decades.

In 1980s Barón managed to produce some low-budget daytime telenovelas. In 1989 he published his memories entitle Mis primeros cuarenta años ("My first 40-years"), prologued by former president Belisario Betancur.

Since 1990s, El Show de las Estrellas became a tour show for popular Colombian artists, who perform across some of the poorest towns in Colombia. Remarkably, Barón is allowed to go to places under guerrilla or paramilitary troops control. People can attend free and enjoy his new personal trademarks: "La patadita de la suerte" ("The lucky kick"), which consists in a soft kick in the buttocks of the artist on stage. Another gimmick, also widely used, is "Agüita para mi gente" ("Water for my people"), which consists in throwing water at the audience by means of fire hoses. El Show de las Estrellas has also been taped in Mexico City, New York's Madison Square Garden, Caracas (Venezuela) and Madrid (Spain).

As for 2007, Jorge Barón Televisión holds 25% of programming time in state-run Canal Uno, including El Show... and Telepaís newscast. Barón also owns since 1984 the Emisora Punto 5 radio station in Bogotá. On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, he hosts and produces a TV music special known as La gran fiesta de los hogares colombianos, broadcast since mid-2000s by Caracol TV.