About Mara Maravilha

Mara Maravilha (real name: Eliemary Silva da Silveira, born Salvador, Brazil, 6 March 1968) is a Brazilian gospel singer and TV host, having commanded children's TV shows in her early career. Mara belongs to a group of "prodigy children" who were raised in front of TV cameras. She was already hosting her own TV show by the time she was 8, and was soon locally known as "Miss Mara", becoming one of the few (for its time) important TV hosts outside Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. After hosting other minor programs, she eventually caught the attention of Silvio Santos, the owner of SBT. At his request, she moved to São Paulo when she was 15, finally debuting in nationwide programs. Her popularity really skyrocket across Brazil only in 1987, with the debut of Show Maravilha, the TV show she's widely known about. Mara became one of the greatest idols of the history of Brazilian television; her tan skin, coupled with her fringy, black hair, as if she were an indian, became popular among many girls. For many times, the audience of Show Maravilha rivaled with - and even surpassed - Rede Globo's program's, which is the leading TV network. In 1993, supposedly due to a defamation from the assessorship of Angélica Ksyvickis, one of Mara's rivals, Mara quit SBT and went to resume her career in Argentina until 1995, when she changed her focus into gospel music ever since.