Overview
When it seemed Cris Morena couldn't top her previous hits, she surprised again with Floricienta, which was her biggest hit since Chiquititas '98 in Argentina and her biggest international hit alongside Rebelde. The title, Floricienta, is a mix of Flor (the main character, Florencia, nickname) with Cenicienta (Cinderella).
Floricienta was a modern re-telling of Cinderella. The story was especially developed by Cris as a starring-vehicle for Florencia Bertotti which was cherry-picked by the producer.
There are a few similarities between the show and another Cinderella modern re-telling, the movie A Cinderella Story such as the Converse sneakers instead of the glass slipper but the movie and the show were in production at the same time (Floricienta premiered on Canal 13 in May 2004 while the movie debuted in the USA in July).
Floricienta was critically acclaimed for its fun storyline and dialogues, creative editing and post-production and the charisma of the main actress, Florencia Bertotti, and became the biggest licensing brand in Argentina in 2004 and 2005. Over 300 licensed products were available during the shows two-years run and even Floricienta branded apples were put on market.
Floricienta started with 14 points in its first episode and by the first season finale the show achieved ratings of over 30 points with the death of Federico at the end of the first season, being the biggest Cris Morena produced hit in history, even topping Chiquititas 98 ratings. The first season was the highest-rated afternoon-slot show in Canal 13 history.
After the huge twist in the end of the first season, many fans of Federico didn't liked how the story turned out after his death and drifted away from the show. The ratings for the second season suffered because of that but the show continued to be huge and won its time-slot. The TV show ended with Floricienta marriage in front of a huge live audience and the finale was also a hit, with 25 points.
Floricienta, as most Cris Morena productions, had huge Broadway style live musical in Teatro Gran Rex during the Winter vacations. Demand for tickets were extremely high with some concerts selling out in less than five minutes. In 2004, to satisfy the demand, the cast played two concerts at Estádio Velez Sarsifield with over 80.000 people attending.
In 2005, another musical was done and it was also a huge success with tickets selling out in minutes. Because of this, eight extra shows were played in Luna Park stadium in Buenos Aires. After the show ended, the complete cast (with the exception of Fabio DiTomassio who pulled out after disagreements with the production company) waved goodbye in front of 40.000 people at another sold out concert at Vélez Sársfield stadium. The musical was also presented in Rosario, La Plata and Mar del Plata.
The two Floricienta albums were also very successful, with the first album being the third best-selling album in 2004 and the 10th best-selling album in 2005 and with the album from the second season being the biggest seller in 2005 according to CAPIF.
Floricienta was also a huge phenomenon in most of Latin-America where it was aired by broadcast channels and at the Disney Channel, where it was as popular as the American shows such as Hannah Montana and That's So Raven. While Rebelde was, without a doubt, Cris' biggest hit in Latin America, Floricienta was the first original CMG production that achieved phenomenal success on the continent (since Rebelde was a remake by Televisa co-produced with CMG). The cast sold out huge stadiums all over Latin America, including Mexico, where no Argentine show had ever achieved such a huge success (even though the show had only aired on cable). The show cast also sold out concerts in Tel-Aviv, Israel although the success didn't reach Rebelde Way-level of hysteria in the country. Over 1 million people attended Floricienta tour in Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Israel, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay among many other territories.
Floricienta, alongside Rebelde, was the biggest youth-oriented show in Latin America in 2004-2005 being aired in every single country and selling out stadiums in Central America, South America and North America.
In 2004, a Brazilian version was produced, named Floribella. It doubled the ratings of Bandeirante at its timeslot, over 40 products were released and the two CDs achieved platinum certifications. In 2005, a Portuguese version was also aired at SIC and was a massive hit. The first CD released is the best-selling CD ever in Portugal and over 150 products were released at the country. Because of the massive success of the show, SIC bought the rights to other three Cris Morena shows: Alma Pirata, Rebelde Way (currently on air) and Chiquititas (aired in 2007).
A version from Chile (also called Floribella) was also produced with great acceptance and the Mexican version (Lola...Érase una vez) also did well. There was also a Colombian version and the rights were bought for Greece, Russia, among other countries.
In an interview with Radio 10 in February 2009, Cris revealed Disney had bought the rights for an American remake.
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