Gugu Liberato

Antônio Augusto de Moraes Liberato (born April 10, 1959), better known as Gugu Liberato,^[1] is a Brazilian television presenter, entrepreneur, actor and singer.

Biography

Son of Portuguese parents,^[2] Gugu used to write letters to Silvio Santos (who later hired him) suggesting ideas for programs. Gugu started in television at age fourteen as program production assistant on Domingo no Parque (Sunday at the Park), presented by Silvio Santos at SBT. Gugu is regarded as one of the most famous entertainers in the history of Brazilian television, standing next to names like Fausto Silva, Silvio Santos, Hebe Camargo and Xuxa Meneghel.^[3]

Career

Gugu started to study Dentistry in Unimar (University of Marilia), in the city of Marilia / SP, but abandoned the course, when called by Silvio Santos, who invited him to take up a post in front of the cameras. One of its first programs in 1981 was the Sessão Premiada São Paulo - Rio's version was by Paul Barboza. In 1982 Silvio Santos asked Nelly Raymond, an important Argentine director, to create a program for Saturday night. Viva a Noite was created, which at first was divided into several parts, and also presented by Ademar Dutra, Mariette Detotto and Jair Ogun.^[4] After some format changes, Gugu remained alone in the program, then directed by Homer Salles. While anchoring Viva a Noite, Gugu was also directing Domingo no Parque for some time and act as the editor for the President's Week (Semana do Presidente) newsletter, which was aired in the intervals between the Program Silvio Santos show.

After the success of the musical group Menudo, which was extensively promoted by Viva a Noite in 1984, Gugu launched Brazilian musical groups of the same style, such as Dominó e Polegar, becoming a successful businessman. His production company, GGP,^[5] is responsible for recording commercials, programs and series.

In August 1987, at the height of the success of Viva a noite, Gugu signs a contract with TV station Rede Globo. But on Saturday Carnival 1988, Silvio Santos went to meet the owner of the Rede Globo Roberto Marinho personally, in order the release the presenter so he could stay in SBT. Silvio Santos was about to undergo a delicate surgery and made a millionaire proposal to Gugu, offering him much of the Sunday's programming schedule. As a comparison, Gugu's wages increased tenfold, besides earnings coming from advertising.

Gugu debuted in SBT Sundays in April 17 of 1988,^[6] hosting alone programs like Passa ou Repassa and Cidade Contra Cidade. Gugu also co-hosted Roletrando with Silvio Santos.

The TV station Rede Globo, however, had already created a program for Gugu, and the program was ready but without a host. Rede Globo hired hastily Fausto Silva, who ran the Saturday late night show Perdidos na Noite (Lost in the Night) at TV Bandeirantes. So the show Domingão do Faustão started, by chance, on Sunday afternoons at Rede Globo, filling a schedule previously occupied by American TV series.

Even though Gugu was responsible for part of the Sunday programming, he remained anchoring shows on Saturday night, especially musical programs like Sabadão Sertanejo. The greatest success, however, came with the show Domingo Legal , which competed with Domingão do Faustão, ironically a program created to be his. The competition in the late 1990s was for a long period favorable to Gugu, which ended the decade with peaks above 40 rating points.

References