His memory was no longer so faithful and his health had been deteriorating, but Julio E. Sánchez Vanegas was still that imposing man who presented, on June 13, 1954, the television that arrived in Colombia, as master of ceremonies for General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, at that time president of the country.
His name is and will be one of the hallmarks of Colombian television and his death, which occurred yesterday, leads us not only to make him part of the memory, but also to thank him for his love for audiovisuals, for his entertaining programming and for wanting to put Colombia in the spotlight. calendar of companies that broadcast big shows, such as the Oscars and Miss Universe, of which it was a pioneer in broadcasting in our country.
(Also read: This is how they say goodbye to Julio Sánchez Vanegas, a television pioneer who died this Friday)
“My hero is gone. I owe him everything and more… Already from heaven, tomorrow from anywhere in the world… Goodbye, beloved father,” his son Julio Sánchez Cristo posted on the X network (formerly Twitter), alluding to that phrase that He made the international broadcasts of his television programmer and producer famous.
For the media analyst and television columnist of this newspaper Ómar Rincón, Sánchez Vanegas leaves a deep mark on the way shows were made on television, from the programmer he created.
“Don Julio E. Sánchez Vanegas is like an institution. He marks a way on Colombian television to create a style: of presenting contests, with ‘Concentrese’; animation of musical programs. He formed a programmer who dedicated himself to the show. That marks the ‘show’ of Colombian television, but also because he created a family that he has in ‘Julito’, as his great heir. I believe that in the type of television that he made, is where he totally marked a destiny. It is not a soap opera, it is not a newscast, but it was the show, as the main axis,” explains Rincón.
Reactions
Personalities from the political, journalistic and TV worlds reacted this Friday night as soon as the news of his death became known.
“I met Don Julio Sánchez Vanegas, we always had a good conversation. I appreciated it. I deplore his departure and convey our feelings of regret to Julio Sánchez Cristo and the entire family,” former president Álvaro Uribe wrote in X.
Former minister and journalist Alberto Casas recalled it for EL TIEMPO: “Julio Sánchez Vanegas was everything on Colombian radio and TV. He was a great man, his family is an example. He was the first Colombian to appear on television and as an actor and radio man he always innovated, the Miss Universe broadcasts and his contest program Concéntrese were a novelty; I particularly had the privilege of working with him on Panorama and always enjoyed his talent.”
“Julio Sánchez Vanegas, pioneer of Colombian television, left us today (yesterday). I will always remember his creative ability, his sense of humor and his kindness. A hug to Julio, Jaime, Gerardo and his dear family,” journalist Daniel Coronell posted on X, for his part.
Businessman Mario Hernández also regretted his departure: “My great friend and brother Julio Sánchez Vanegas, a man who left his mark on Colombian radio and television, has left this land. We were very close and shared very special moments, thanks to this he left me several unforgettable lessons. Rest in peace”.
Gustavo Gómez, director of 6 am Hoy Por Hoy, on Caracol Radio, remembered it for this newspaper with great nostalgia: “My sadness today, enormous, from the bottom of my soul. Tomorrow from anywhere in the world. Julio E., I don’t need any ‘focus’ to confirm the tons of happiness and joy you gave my generation with your programs. Your warmth cannot be erased by anyone. Goodbye, beloved ‘Cacharilas’. “See you on the other side of the screen and of life.”
Nubia Gamboa, a journalist, who was the press manager of his programming company, says that she came to work at his side when Producciones JES began to get big and win more spaces in the tenders (a way of programming before private television), and always saw him working.
“He was the owner and could afford certain luxuries and licenses, but no, he arrived and kept his schedule, in fact, he was the first to arrive,” he says.
“I always admired his persistence, because he did it by hand and he articulated himself very well with his children,” he continues.
Julio Sánchez Cristo and Julio E. Sánchez Vanegas
Television pioneer
Thus, by hand, she did her programmer after spending time on the radio. Producciones JES was born in 1964 and went off the air at the end of the 90s, precisely when private television arrived in the country.
Born in Guaduas, Cundinamarca, on July 19, 1930, he was the creator of programs such as Concéntrese, a riddle contest that was born with a giant board and 30 squares that, in its early days, were moved manually and, as Sánchez Vanegas said in An interview in The Informants, “they had three faces: that of the number, that of one of the sponsors of the program and that of the hieroglyph symbol”, which was the highlight of Concentrate and gave whoever guessed it a special prize.
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Likewise, he created and presented Espectaculares JES, a program that promoted Colombian and foreign musicians. From Julio Iglesias, a great friend of Sánchez Vanegas, to Celia Cruz and Héctor Lavoe, among many others, passed through there.
At that time (decades from the 70s to the 90s), its competition was The Star Show, by Jorge Barón, but ultimately and on a television with two channels, those who won were the viewers, because they could see their artists. favorites.
Sánchez Vanegas coined several famous phrases from television, including “Concentrate, so you don’t forget,” which he said in this space, and “Today from (Moscow, Manila, New York or wherever you broadcast) and tomorrow from anywhere.” of the world”.
With him, Colombia began to watch the Oscar ceremony and also the Miss Universe contest, because, they say, he was a great admirer of women’s beauty.
At the end of the 90s, the arrival of private television, with such strong competition with the RCN and Caracol channels, and a strong economic crisis in the country, made mixed television, as the private company model was known, in the public spectrum, disappeared and the programmers had to give up their spaces because they accumulated a large amount of debt due to the lack of advertising.
At that time, JES became a producer with its glorious past of great productions, including soap operas like Sangre de lobos and magazines like Panorama, which had among its presenters the most beautiful women in the country, including former queens.
For more than 60 years he was married to Lili Cristo and had four children: Julio (director of W Radio Colombia), Jaime, Alberto and Gerardo. Fun and with a great sense of humor, he was famous, Gamboa says, for giving his employees nicknames.
“She called me ‘Miss Journalist’, she called a man who had an accident and almost died ‘Half a Life’, and she called another colleague who was very white ‘Pale Face’,” she says.
His grandson Emilio Sánchez Salamanca, son of Jaime, has the unforgettable memory of the sacred gatherings on Saturdays, with his uncles and cousins, at his grandparents’ house. “My grandmother, like a good Lebanese woman, made everything revolve around food. But they say that when the whole family was in Producciones JES, those meetings became boring because they ended with the board of directors,” she said, in conversation with EL TIEMPO.
Sánchez Salamanca refers fondly to his two grandparents. However, when he thinks about Don Julio Enrique’s legacy, nostalgia runs through him with a deep sense of pride.
“My grandfather raised a family where there was no money or means. And he left a very good name for that family, which is respected and loved in the media,” he commented.
Regarding his personal relationship with his grandfather, he defines it as “absolute adoration. I admire him, but what honors me most is that he also admired what I did. He told me several times that he considered me very serious and prepared. “It was a relationship of mutual admiration.”