Cristina Celebrates 15th Anniversary Of The ‘Cristina Show’.

Cristina Saralegui, one of the most recognized figures on Spanish-language television will celebrate her 15th anniversary as executive producer and host of her Emmy Award-winning “Cristina Show,” the top-rated U.S.-produced talk show on Spanish-language television. A two-hour special anniversary show with a “Quinceañera” theme is planned for Monday, May 24 at 9 PM on the Univision Network.

“I am delighted and thankful for the 15 years I’ve spent informing, motivating and entertaining TV audiences,” says Cristina. “This is truly the biggest joy in my life and I hope to continue with my show for many years to come.”

An icon to millions worldwide, a recent People en Español poll found that Hispanic Americans named Cristina as their most trusted television personalities, followed by Oprah Winfrey, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather and Univision network news anchor, Jorge Ramos. Through the years, Cristina’s name has become a brand across the Spanish-speaking worlds in the U.S., Latin America and Europe. Now, Cristina is poised to conquer the general market as she prepares an English-language sitcom based on her life through a development deal with Touchstone Television. She is also developing a biopic based on the life of her life-long friend, Celia Cruz.

As part of the 15th Anniversary celebration, Pop Art master Burton Morris, responsible for the 76th Academy Awardsâ commemorative poster, will create a special Cristina 15th Anniversary portrait. Additionally, Univision Network will unveil a new promotional campaign and Cristina herself will celebrate with a two-hour retrospective going back to her early days and welcoming big name celebrity friends as her special guests.

“The Cristina Show” premiered in 1989 on Univision and after almost 15 years, 10 Emmys and more than 3,000 shows, it continues its reign as the #1 U.S.-produced talk show on Spanish-language television in America. “The Cristina Show” airs every Monday night at 10 PM (ET) on more than 1,161 stations owned by or affiliated with Univision Network, covering over 95% of U.S. Hispanic television households.

“The Cristina Show” is a one hour talk and variety show featuring top international stars such as Jennifer Lopez, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Salma Hayek, Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan, Pamela Anderson, Julio Iglesias, Antonio Banderas, Enrique Iglesias, John Leguizamo, Placido Domingo, among countless others. In addition, “The Cristina Show” has won EMMY Awards for its treatment of subjects such as the Hurricane Andrew tragedy and kids with guns.

In 2000, after many years as a daily afternoon talk show, Cristina decided it was time for a change. She turned the show into a weekly evening talk and variety show. Since then, ratings have strengthened as “The Cristina Show” offers new and varied themes ranging from exclusive celebrity interviews, musical performances and human interest stories.

As an outspoken activist, Cristina’s long and illustrious career has not been without controversy. Among other incidents, in 1998, “The Cristina Show” was the first program to officiate a same-sex marriage on national television. Thousands of protesters filled up the streets outside her studios and she even endured death threats. In April 2004, Cristina again produced a show featuring same-sex couples and their children igniting the issue of gay marriage among the Spanish-language media.

Under the banner Cristina Saralegui Enterprises, Inc. (CSE), Cristina and Marcos Avila have built a formidable media empire, which is housed at their sprawling Blue Dolphin Studios. Inaugurated on May 6, 2001, the studios consist of 50,000 sq. ft. of state of the art television production facilities with three sound stages available to outside productions.

Blue Dolphin Studios also serves as the home of “The Cristina Show” and as headquarters for all CSE subsidiaries, including Cristina La Revista, a monthly magazine co-published by Cristina and distributed in the United States and throughout Latin America by Editorial Televisa, the leading publisher of Spanish-language magazines in the world and Cristinaonline, Cristina’s bilingual web site Licensed by Unvision.com. Cristina also hosts Cristina Opina, a daily radio program which airs on ABC Radio International, a division of ABC Radio Networks.