Who will get a kiss from me today?
[Xuxa]
Xuxa is a Brazilian international recording star who just recently celebrated her tenth year with Brazil’s Globo television network. Her three shows (Xuxa Park, Xuxa Hits, Planeta Xuxa) total more than five hours a week of on-air time. A few years ago, she tried to crack the lucrative U.S. television market with a children’s show called, go figure, “Xuxa.” Much like Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, the show’s educational value was nil; unlike Pee-Wee, however, Xuxa came on the show dressed up in thigh-high boots and hot pants. At the end of each episode, Xuxa would lay some sugar on a lucky guest or crew member. The show was eventually taken off the local affiliate station because of the typical concerned parent uprising. Spoken during cloying or cute conversational exchanges in an artificially high (read: not actually Xuxa’s) voice. Think Senor Wences ... with HOT PANTS.
– Jeff Stendec (April 10, 1997)