Baldo Comic Strip Character Entered in Oprah's "Your OWN Show" Competition

Kansas City, Mo. (June 29, 2010) - Does Tia Carmen have what it takes to host a talk show? The favorite great aunt of newspaper comic strip character Baldo has entered her own audition video in Oprah Winfrey's "Your OWN Show" competition.

The contest winner will host a TV series on Winfrey's new television network, OWN, which is scheduled to launch in January 2011.

"Oprah is looking for people with a big personality and a big dream, and Tia Carmen fits the bill," said Baldo co-creator Carlos Castellanos.

"Now it's up to the public to decide whether she gets her own talk show," added Baldo co-creator Hector Cantu.

Aspiring hosts can label their shows under categories such as traditional talk show, cooking, health and wellness, and interior design.

"Tia Carmen does it all," Cantu said. "If she gets a show, she will talk about her favorite novelas, herbal remedies and, of course, all the neighborhood gossip."

"There's also a 'wildcard' category," said Castellanos. "Maybe that's a better category for Tia Carmen."

You can view Tia Carmen's audition video, vote, and share her link by starting at her Web site www.VoteTiaCarmenOnOprah.com and then clicking on her Oprah audition link.

Visitors to Winfrey's Web site can vote for their favorite contestant through July 3, 2010.

Baldo, which recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, is a daily comic strip featuring Latino characters and themes. Starring the teenage Baldo and his extended family, the strip is syndicated by Universal Uclick in more than 200 newspapers coast-to-coast.

To read Baldo, visit www.gocomics.com/baldo.

About Universal Uclick

Universal Uclick is the largest independent syndicate in the world and a leading digital entertainment provider of humor, comic strips, editorial cartoons, and other content for print, desktop, web and mobile phones. Universal Uclick provides editorial development, licensing and other distribution services for major brands like Doonesbury, Dear Abby and some of the most significant comics in history including Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side, Garfield, For Better or For Worse, Cathy, and Ziggy as well as recent hits Lio, Cul de Sac and The Argyle Sweater. Universal Uclick is a division of Andrews McMeel Universal, the leading newspaper syndicate and publisher of humor books and calendars in North America.