Raúl Velasco

Raúl Velasco Ramírez (April 24, 1933 – November 26, 2006) was a Mexican host/producer of the TV show Siempre en Domingo (Always on Sunday) which is his hallmark contribution to the Latin American world and eventually to other parts of the world where Spanish entertainment programs are broadcast.

Velasco began this program as co-host of a Sunday afternoon special in 1969 called Domingos Espectaculares (Spectacular Sundays).

One of his catch phrases was, "Aún hay más" ("There's more to follow"). For a short while, Siempre en Domingo was known as Aún hay más because he would always say these words prior to each intermission or commercial, with the hand gesture that corresponds to a request for a commercial break, similar to what Frank Sinatra might have said or sung, The best is yet to come. . . The phrase and hand gesture became popular in Mexico as a result. (y aún hay más... amigos!) Velasco was born in Celaya, Mexico on April 24, 1933. Coming from a family with few resources, he started working at an early age. He worked first at his family store, called La Violeta, a small grocery. He also worked as messenger, tractor operator (agriculture machinery), and driver.

When he was very young, he married Hortensia Ruiz. They had three children; Raúl, Claudia and Arturo. Some years later, he divorced Ruiz and married Dorle Klokow. In this second marriage with Dorle, Karina and Diego were born.

When he was twenty years old, he fulfilled one of his dreams: to move to Mexico City. He began working as an accountant for the National Bank of Mexico. At the same time, he began to write. He wrote many sports articles and then he started writing in a magazine called Novelas de la radio. Furthermore, he wrote for Cine Universal, Cine Novelas and Cine Álbum.

Velasco made his mark in the world of the theater when he became the head of the entertainment section of the El heraldo de Mexico newspaper. He also worked on the radio station Radio Variedades. In addition, he started working on the Independent Television of Mexico (TIM) as a host, first with the program La reseña cinematografica de Acapulco, and then he participated in some open TV programs like Confrontación 68, Media Noche and Domingos espectaculares.

On December 13, 1969, Siempre en Domingo was born. This program was one of the most popular TV musical programs in history. It was broadcast in the United States, Central and South America, Europe and Asia, via satellite. It was a program of Televisa Company. As time went by, Velasco became an international artistic icon. He created some TV shows too. Some of them were Estrellas de los ochenta, Juguemos a Cantar, Festival OTI and Galardón a los grandes.