Xuxa

Maria da Graça Xuxa Meneghel (Portuguese: [maˈɾiɐ da ˈgɾasɐ ˈʃuʃɐ meneˈgew]; born March 27, 1963, Santa Rosa, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) commonly known as Xuxa (English pronunciation: /ˈʃuːʃə/ SHOO-shə; Portuguese: [ˈʃuʃɐ]), is a Brazilian television presenter, film actress, singer and businesswoman. Her various shows have been broadcast in Portuguese, English, and Spanish worldwide. She is a two time winner of the Latin Grammy for Best Children's Album, and is also known for her epithet, Queen of the Shorties.

In 1991, she debuted a version of the program Xou da Xuxa in Spanish that was broadcast in 17 countries in Latin America by Argentine television station Telefé. In the United States the program was aired on Univision. 2 million Spanish-speaking children in Los Angeles watched the show produced in Buenos Aires that was carried in Los Angeles. The show was pulled off the air when Xuxa changed it from a daily program to a weekly program. In the same year, she was the first Latin American to appear in Forbes's list of the 40 Highest-Paid Entertainers. (She was #37 on the list, ahead of Mel Gibson and Vanilla Ice).

In 1992, she launched the Xuxa Park, presented by the Spanish network Telecinco. An eponymous program, Xuxa Park, was launched by Rede Globo in 1994.

In 1993, she signed a contract signed with MTM Enterprises, and went to the USA. The American version of her program, Xuxa, was in English and was launched in September of that year. The program was broadcast daily from about 100 stations.

Xuxa owns the largest average attendance since the resumption of national cinema. Her most popular film was Lua de Cristal, which had an average of 5 million viewers. All together, her films have reached an audience of 37 million people. She was the artist with the best-selling albums by record label Som Livre.

Over her 30 year career, Xuxa Meneghel has sold over 30 million copies of records worldwide, which makes her the second-highest selling Brazilian musician after Rita Lee.

She is one of Brazil's most prominent celebrities and has the highest net worth of any Brazilian entertainer, at US $500 million.

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