10 Reasons that could qualify Celso Portiolli as Silvio Santos’ successor

Silvio Santos is undoubtedly the greatest communicator in Brazil, being a reference for professionals and motivation for many, since his life trajectory is inspiring: from street vendor to successful entrepreneur. Today, at 88 years old and 60 years into his career, he has not yet officially announced the date of his retirement, but he is slowly slowing down the pace of recording his programs and extending his vacation. In this sense, for Silvio Santos to be able to retire from the small screen, it is necessary that there is a successor up to the mark to continue his legacy of credibility, perseverance, leadership, charisma, and of course, to attract and keep good sponsors for SBT.

In view of this, the awesome.club mentions presenter Celso Portiolli, and lists 10 reasons in his personal and professional trajectory that could qualify him as Silvio Santos’ successor. Just follow!

Celso Yunes Portiolli began his career at the age of 17, worked as a radio broadcaster, and had stints on several radio stations in Paraná, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo.

Despite his success as a radio broadcaster, Celso never gave up on his dream, which was to appear on the small screen. Therefore, as soon as he heard Silvio Santos’ announcer, Lombardi, announce on TV for people to send suggestions for pranks with hidden cameras, Celso recorded some videos and also a message in which he asked for a job opportunity at SBT.

This tape of the recording ended up in the hand of Silvio Santos, who liked the suggestions sent and proposed to Celso a salary of 500 reais as a prank writer. Despite the proposed value being 5 times less than what Celso received in his work at the time, he accepted the proposal in search of fulfilling his dream.

Since childhood, Celso has been through dramatic situations that almost cost him his life. He almost drowned twice, a trauma that still accompanies him and prevents him from learning to swim. Celso again showed his strength to live by surviving carbon monoxide poisoning, caused by a problem with the heater in the house where his family was vacationing.

Another episode in which Celso’s life hung in the balance was when he underwent throat surgery for tonsil problems, a relatively simple procedure, but Celso’s blood pressure dropped a lot, which complicated his health and the presenter claims he almost died that day.

With his perennial boy style, sharp sense of humor and facility for improvisation, Celso showed versatility to be a presenter of different formats of programs on SBT, replacing personalities such as Angélica, Adriane Galisteu and Gugu.

Celso left the production of SBT when he received the first opportunity to be a presenter, to be the new “face” of “Passa ou Repassa” in place of Angélica who would go to Globo. Soon, Celso was conquering the public and consolidating his space in the station as a TV animator, until he reached the mark of almost 20 programs presented by him on the station.

In 2016, in recognition of his work, he won the “Press Trophy” award in the “Best TV Presenter or Animator” category.

With more than 20 years with SBT, Celso comments that he knows “everyone” at the station, employees such as housekeepers, electricians, scenographers and the artists who work there constituting the “SBT Family”.

When Celso had the mission to replace Gugu on “Domingo Legal”, he was not sure about being the new presenter, since Gugu, in front of “Domingo Legal” for 16 years, was a remarkable figure. But what gave Celso strength was the crowd and support from co-workers, including Silvio Santos, so that he accepted and took charge of the Sunday program. Today, 10 years later, the program is consolidated as the vice-leader in audience. And Celso, in addition to being a presenter, is responsible for planning, creating and producing the entire program script, worrying about the time needed to perform the activities well.

Celso Portiolli has no kinship with the owner of SBT, Silvio Santos, contrary to what many think. But as a boss, Silvio Santos taught the presenter valuable lessons.

A learning experience that, despite being painful, brought a remarkable message to Celso, when he was negotiating with Rede Globo, with details that could not yet be exposed. He had to confront Silvio Santos with the proposal and told the owner of SBT that at Rede Globo he would receive a higher salary. Silvio Santos said he could not reach the same value, but a lower one compared to that offered by the competing broadcaster and asked for more details of the negotiation, but Celso refused to tell.

Finally, Celso accepted to stay on SBT even with a lower salary, as a sign of gratitude for Silvio Santos, but he went through a very complicated phase at the station: he stayed in the “refrigerator”, his programs at the time did not have continuity and for no apparent reason. All this made Celso realize that Silvio Santos used this experience to teach him to be a more mature, humble man, to respect other professionals and “not to live the artist”.

The “Domingo Legal” program through the framework “Building a Dream” helped, along with its sponsors, people to fulfill their dream of having a better home to live in. Celso, personally, followed and was sensitized with each story told there by the participants of the panel, which demonstrated the presenter’s empathy.

To support and encourage donations to the Associação de Assistência à Criança Deficiente (AACD), Celso was present since the beginning of the Telethon (a television marathon for the benefit of the AACD) at SBT in 1997. Twenty years later, he was called to be the “godfather digital” as a way of recognizing his contribution to the association and the great influence that Celso has on the internet, even as YOctober with almost 5 million subscribers on his channel.

Showing once again his human side, the presenter revealed that he had the habit of always taking a picture with each person in the audience, a way of thanking everyone for their presence.

Celso Portiolli, at the age of 11, started recording his voice on tapes, imitating local personalities and announcers that he used to listen to. But he did not find support in his father, who claimed that the profession (an announcer) would not earn him money to support a family.

Even though his father was against it, Celso remained motivated and at the age of 17 he got his first opportunity to work within a radio station, but not as an announcer, but as a telephone operator. At the age of 17, he had the chance to do his first voice-over, but he got stuck live and lost his voice. This made many around him doubt his ability, but he saw what happened as a reason to train more.

With a lot of training and narration practice, even at home, Celso developed as an announcer and soon conquered the public, becoming a leader in audience at the radio stations where he worked. And today, he has his own network of radio stations called Great FM.

Celso is the youngest of 12 siblings and grew up alongside his mother and father who worked hard to ensure that their children had a dignified life. A very important childhood memory for Celso is seeing his father, a man considered a “fortress”, crying desperately for not being able to provide a Christmas party for his children.

In his youth, when Celso was successful as a broadcaster in the interior of São Paulo, he found himself obliged to return to the city where his family lived (Ponta Porã, Mato Grosso do Sul) because of a family problem, and he had to leave the old job to help his father with the sawmill work. He soon also went on to direct two radio stations. Still in Ponta Porã, Celso met his wife and they have been together for over 20 years, and they have 3 children.

Considered an exemplary husband and father and a precious child, Celso shares moments on social media alongside his mother, wife and children, always showing himself to be present despite the hectic work routine.

“Domingo Legal” is considered a commercial success. In SBT, in 2017, it ranked second as the program that most has merchandising, that is, one of the preferred programs for advertisers to present their brands.

Given this, the presenter has a lot to celebrate, because his image is associated with the credibility that sponsors need. The success in ads linked to Celso’s name doesn’t stop there: the perfume with the presenter’s name leads the ranking of Jequiti’s best sellers.

There are certain similarities between the career of Silvio Santos and that of Celso Portiolli. Like Silvio Santos, Celso started out as a radio broadcaster, but gradually abandoned this profession to dedicate himself to the small screens.

Interestingly, the two decided to run for political office. In the case of Silvio Santos, his candidacy for the mayor of São Paulo and the Presidency of the Republic, despite the national repercussion, did not materialize. While Celso was elected as a councilor in Ponta Porã, but after two years in office, he resigned to fully commit to his dream of working in television.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that Celso also had a passage in the musical universe, releasing CDs, including music composed by the renowned composer Michael Sullivan.

Do you think Celso Portiolli could be Silvio Santos’ successor? Which other personality would be qualified to present the programs that are now commanded by the owner of SBT? Tell us!