Open Your Eyes Morning Show Celebrates 16th Anniversary  

Tonight, we have a story that’s close to the heart of the Channel Five team. We’re celebrating the sixteenth anniversary of our morning talk show, Open Your Eyes. Since 2009, Open Your Eyes has been bringing educational and entertaining segments to viewers across Belize. As we mark this special occasion, we look back at how the show has evolved over the past sixteen years. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

This morning, viewers of the Open Your Eyes talk show were treated to a festive celebration with cake and champagne as the hosts marked the show’s sixteenth anniversary. Open Your Eyes first aired in 2008, with the current Channel 5 CEO, Marleni Cuellar, as the original host. She shared her journey and experiences as one of the show’s pioneers, reflecting on how far they’ve come.

 

Marleni Cuellar, C.E.O., Channel 5

“In 2008, when the show was launched, I came on board full time at channel five primarily as a host and it was an interesting time. The CEO at that time, Amalia Mai, had the vision to be able to create a morning show, a morning television show for Channel 5 or News 5 program as always has been such a important part of the daily conversation in Belize, but we felt we needed to have a different element, something that allowed us to have deeper conversations. That allowed us to be able to look at different aspects of culture and experience and life in Belize and to do a fantastic television production because we know we have a really great team here capable of doing that So that was the vision back in 2008 something positive something motivational and most importantly something informational.”

 

After fourteen years on the show, Cuellar stepped away from the spotlight to take on other roles within the company. But the show still needed a vibrant personality. That’s when news anchor Sabreena Daly was invited to join. She shared with us what it’s been like stepping into this exciting new role.

 

Sabreena Daly, Host, Open Your Eyes

“So I’ve been a part of Open Your Eyes as a host for about a little bit over a year. And honestly, the only thing I can say is it’s been such a learning curve. Of course, you would know that my involvement primarily was in news as an anchor, as a feature writer. But being invited over to the morning show was different because obviously I have to wake up earlier   in the morning. But for me, it was a learning experience because I get to have these extensive conversations that would normally be controlled by the news cycle, of course, the writing stories. But I get to engage with these persons that we are interviewing. Not only that, I get to learn a lot more. I have to do research. It’s really critical that the host does research, so that we’re able to know, one, the type of questions to ask, but also know exactly what our viewers are looking for as well.”

 

Daly credits her growth in the role to her mentors, Marleni Cuellar and fellow host Isani Cayetano. Other familiar faces on the team include Paul Lopez and April Martinez, who each bring their unique voices to the show. Behind the scenes, there’s OYE producer Viannie Reyes, who has been working her magic for about three years. She gave us a glimpse into her role as producer, sharing what it takes to keep the show running smoothly.

 

Viannie Reyes, Producer, Open Your Eyes

“It’s definitely not a one man show. It’s a show that consists of quite a team that I have here and I’m grateful for the team that I have. It takes preparation, dedication and commitment to make a production successful as open your eyes. I do believe that gathering segments, not only just here in Belize City, but it comes from all over the country, depending on the topics that we have. We have to work two weeks in advance, sometimes three, to plan different segments. We need to get creative on topics, educational topics, informative topics that we do believe Belizeans would enjoy to hear and to listen to.”

 

Just this year, Open Your Eyes received a Special Mention at the Caribbean Broadcasting Awards. Cuellar attributes this to the consistent quality the show has maintained over the past sixteen years.

 

Marleni Cuellar

“We have a standard that was set from the beginning. That we ensure that we get guests who are well versed and understanding of different topics. That our hosts are as prepared as they can be for conversations, that we ensure that our audience have learned something new or understand something better or have been able to see a different perspective than they have seen before. And I think that’s a standard that we’ve carried through all these years and I’m very proud of that.”

 

As the show continues to grow, the team promises more meaningful conversations with guests and entertaining segments but this time, bigger and better. Britney Gordon for News Five.