| | | | | |  | | 2016 Olympic bid | | Funk_Carioca is one of the first new genres of electronic, street dance music to have become important outside North America and Europe. Also known as favela funk or in Rio-simply "funk" while, elsewhere in the world it is baile funk. This dance music is derived from Miami bass. Brazilian funk artists usually compose two different sets of similar lyrics for each of their songs, one gentler, more "appropriate" version, and another harsher, cruder set of lyrics. However, while they do talk about the violence and crime, the lyrics of funk carioca songs do not advocate sexual violence. Additionally, while funk carioca references sexuality frequently and obviously, it often uses euphemisms instead of bold statements. | | After 2006 and 2007, LIESA reduced the numbers of schools affiliated with it by 12. Therefore, in the Carnaval of 2008, the Access Group will return to the anterior ascension and fall: in the Access Group A, one will rise to the Special Group and two will fall to the Access Group B, then will rise two to Access Group A and three to Access Group C, then will rise three to Access Group B and fall three to Access Group D, then will rise three to Access Group C and descend three to Access Group E, then will rise three to Access Group D and the last placed will be eliminated from the Carnaval, remaining without parading during two or three years to wait for an avaliation of AESCRJ, to know if it could display the title of samba school or to parade hors concurs in its city of origin. | | | | Estandarte_de Ouro by pt.wikipedia.org | | caipirinhas are made with cachaça | | | | | brazilbrazil.com/
riomaps | | | Special Rio de Janeiro Carnaval 2009 Report | | Samba school Salgueiro edged last year’s champion, Beija-Flor, to win the Carnival parades championship. Salgueiro’s parade theme this year focused on the history of the drum dating back almost to the dawn of man. Some floats, for example, depicted cavemen atop prehistoric animals. It was the ninth time Salgueiro claimed the crown, but its first win since 1993. Beija-Flor had won five of the previous six competitions. Salgueiro's parade was simply entitled Drum!, and told the history of the instrument which all cultures share and is likely humanity's first instrument first played in Africa. | 2009 Carnaval Results | | 1) Salgueiro: 399,0 2) Beija-Flor: 398,0 3) Portela: 397,9 4) Vila Isabel: 397,6 5) Grande Rio: 396,9 6) Mangueira: 396,8 7) Imperatriz Leopoldinense: 396,4 8 ) Viradouro: 395,1 9) Unidos da Tijuca: 393,1 10) Porto da Pedra: 392,4 11) Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel: 391,5 12) Império Serrano: 390,7 | The top six finishing samba schools of Rio's fiercely competitive Carnival parades marched the Parade of champions on the Carnaval after Saturday: Mangueira, Grande Rio, Vila Isabel, Portela, Beija-Flor and Salgueiro, Salgueiro's parade theme centered on the history of the drum and its importance to music in various cultures. An army of 4,100 marched alongside ornate floats featuring prehistoric beasts ridden by cavemen. The school scored 399 points out of a possible 400 to win its ninth title and first since 1993. In second place with 398 points was Beija-Flor, which had won five of the previous six years and edged out Salgueiro in 2008. Salgueiro performed its interpretation of the history of the drum using eight huge and beautifully designed floats and 4,200 dancers dressed in imaginative costumes and divided into 36 groups. Despite the fact that at the beginning of its parade, Salgueiro had mechanical problems with some of its floats, the members of the samba school managed to resolve them in time and make a clean presentation for the judging panel and the more than 70,000 people crammed into the Sambadrome Monday night.
“It was very emotional. Salgueiro deserved that title,” model Viviane Araujo, the queen of the Salgueiro drum brigade, told Globonews television. EFE "It's a huge win. Salgueiro really needed this victory," said a crying school president Regina Celia Duran. "Salgueiro is a family, and we are now all very happy." In an attempt at a record for the smallest scrap of clothing ever in a Carnival parade, model Dani Sperle sported a sparkly silver headdress, a necklace, matching arm bands, and nothing else but a 3cm long patch of cloth. Stars like Brazilian top model Gisele Bundchen and Hollywood actors Kevin Spacey and Matthew McConaughey were spotted over two days of the parades. Officials reported nearly 720,000 tourists to flock to the city's Carnival and pump $521 million into the local economy. | 2009 Access A Escola de Samba Results | | União da Ilha do Governador | 1 | 239,9 | | Renascer de Jacarepaguá | 2 | 239,2 | | Acadêmicos da Rocinha | 3 | 239 | | São Clemente | 4 | 238,5 | | Estácio de Sá | 5 | 238,1 | | Acadêmicos de Santa Cruz | 6 | 237,8 | | Paraiso do Tuiuti | 7 | 236,8 | | Império da Tijuca | 8 | 236,3 | | Inocentes de Belford Roxo | 9 | 235,9 | | Caprichosos de Pilares | 10 | 235,3 | | On Carnaval Saturday, the Access league parades in the Sambadromo with the winner becoming one of the 12 greatest parading samba schools in the world the following year. With the theme: "What is travel - Travel through the extraordinary worlds known and unknown" the school took the crown and will return to the Special League for the first time since 2001. Imperio Serrano will enjoy just one year among the elite as its innovative introduction of Segway scooters for its front line commission did not bring enough points to finish last and demoted to the Access league. In Brazil's business capital of Sao Paulo, which holds a less celebrated parade, the Mocidade Alegre school was announced as the winner on Tuesday. The top five finishers were: 1) Mocidade : 359,25 2) Vai-Vai : 358,75 3) Rosas de Ouro : 358,25 4) Gaviões da Fiel : 358,00 5) Império : 356,50
Click below for 2009 video players from the sambadrome. | | | Order of the Special Samba Schools or Rio de Janeiro for 2009 | New for 2009 -mega  youtube jukebox players! | | Carnaval Sunday, February 22
Start of parades: 9:00 p.m. School Carnaval Monday, February 23
Start of parades: 9:00 p.m.
School
1.Porto da Pedra > Video
2.Acadêmicos do Salgueiro > Video
3.Imperatriz Leopoldinense> Video
4.Portela > Video
5.Estação Primeira de Mangueira > Video
6.Viradouro > Video
Parade time per school:
minimum of 65 and maximum of 80 minutes | | The video is in special jukebox players by youtube.com and features the enredo or 2009 theme songs as well as "Best of 2008" clips and goes back as far as we could find for a exclusive historical survey. | | | | |
| Eduardo Paes elected new Mayor of Rio de Janeiro | | Cesar Maia steps down after 3 terms amidst rumors of Presidential bid |  | |  |  The Brazilian Ministry of Tourism has confirmed that about 719,000 visitors attended Rio's annual Carnival celebrations this year. The Brazilian Association of Hotels said hotel records were broken with 90 per cent occupancy, up from last year's 86 per cent, boosting Rio's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. There were also improved results regarding safety in Rio. Visitors generally appeared to feel safer during this year's events with ratings for the city's security services rising to 7.7 (out of 10) from 7.2 in 2008. Carlos Nuzman, President of Rio 2016 said, "we welcome the results of Riotur's (the city's official tourism agency) 2009 survey as a clear sign of our city's ability to host large-scale events safely and draw significant amounts of international visitors to experience the greatest Carnival in the world." There is an intense focus within Rio de Janeiro political community to cement its place as the first City of South America by being the first to host the Olympic games. The year 2009 began with a dedication of the 36 meter tall Rio 2016 themed Ferris wheel located at Copacabana Fort to promote Rio’s candidacy for the Games. Rio’s new mayor, Eduardo Paes, also took advantage of the first day of his term to sign over a package of guarantees to support the staging of the Olympic Games, should the city be selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 2 October 2009. 
Gracyanne & Viviane The press enjoyed an opportunity to focus on a rivalry with her replacement in the Salgueiro Samba School, Viviane Araújo. The clash of the two Muses first heated up in 2007, when Gracyanne began performing with Belo, who is afterall the former husband of Viviane . | Salgueiro Samba School and and singer Belo traded Queens between '07 & '08 |  |  | | Gracyanne 2007 | Viviane 2008 | "When they (Viviane and Belo) finished, everything was already solved. Each had other relationships. What they have had and are only to resolve the litigation. Now we are all very happy," said to an EGO reporter. According to Gracyanne, the famous samba Queen who took her place as Salguiero Queen was always "cool" when she called her cell phone to inquire about he ex. Viviane and Belo were married for eight years. In 2006, the singer was arrested for the first time, accused of association to drug trafficking. Viviane would often visit him in jail. She was even going to make the sex education for entitlement to intimate visits. In 2007, however, the couple separated amidst rumors of treason - Belo was seeing dancer | Viviane Araújo voted Queen of the Rio Carnaval 2008 | | According to the survey, reported at globo.com/carnaval2008 there was a technical tie between Viviane Araújo (6.6%) of the Salgueiro, and Juliana Paes (6.4%), successor to Luma de Oliveira as Queen of Viradouro. The difference of 0.2 percentage point, is within the margin of error of the survey of 3%. Still 28 year old Juliana Paes is in the press for launcing personal business ventures in 2008 while the new Queen of Viradoura is <title>HTML clipboard</title> Juliane Almeidaand who should emerge from retirement but Luma de Oliveira, who has appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine five times, more than any other muse. She will be parading with vernalbe Portela. | | | Gracyanne Barbosa. After the separation, Belo and Viviane met only in court, when they decided the division of property - which included the sale of the couple's mansion in Barra da Tijuca. Viviane was voted as the best Carnival queen of the drums 2008, The ex-wife of singer Belo had beautiful debut as the red-and-white queen of the critically acclaimed and crowd favorite samba school Tijuca. Graceyanne was very excited to have been given her first choice of drum baterias to lead in the 2008 Carnaval. "I prefer Manguera because it has an unparalleled energy, "said the dancer. According to the survey, reported at globo.com/carnaval2008 there was a technical tie between Viviane Araújo (6.6%) of the Salgueiro, and Juliana Paes (6.4%), successor to Luma de Oliveira as Queen of Viradouro. (Ms. Paes has retired from the 2009 Carnaval following a Sept-2008 marriage)  Still there is the prize that Gracyanne most desired. In June of 2008 she had a "I love you Belo." tattoo engraved on her arm by Daniel Larusso in Studio Wanda Frank. The most recent imprisonment of Belo for part of 2008 was related to prosecutors fighting probation from the first, an 8-year sentence for drug dealing.. After postponing the union for some time, Belo decided to marry at once with Gracyanne Barbosa after he left the prison in 2008 in a civil ceremony with a formal religious ceremony to be announced later.
2009 Carnaval Saturday at the Sambadrome Porto da Pedra had two personalities receive awards in the special group, but their 12th place finish means you will need to look for them in the Sambadrome on Carnaval Saturday : Mestre Louro and porta-bandeira, Ana Paula. The Niterói samba school Acadêmicos do Cubango was awarded best samba-plot of Grupo Access. The enredo was entitled "Mercedes Baptista: de passo a passo, um passo", sobre a primeira bailarina negra do Teatro Municipal or plot "Mercedes Baptista: step by step, a step," about the first black dancer of the Municipal Theater. | Source URL @ globo.com Adopted from 2008 Ash Wednesday - front page headline awarding Best Samba School to Unidos Tijuca based upon a panel of twenty distinguished Carnaval authorities. | | | | Luma & Luiza | | The return of the Imperial Eternal Muses | | As a model, actress and former Playboy cover girl, Luma de Oliveira certainly fitted the mold. It was her age, 44, that did not. And neither did that of Luiza Brunet, 46, who will be queen for Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba troupe. “It’s interesting that women over 40 are serving as examples of beauty,” said Joyce Pascowitz, Brazil’s elder stateswomen of fashion. The boss of the fashion website, Glamurama, and Pascowitz magazine added: “This puts a value on Brazilian women over the age considered the maximum. It shows that, yes, there is life after 40. And not just intelligent life.” "It's a huge change," Luiza Brunet, 46, told The Associated Press as she prepared for her showcase role in the Imperatiz samba school's parade. "It shows that women who are more mature are gaining space in a country with so much machismo, where we give more value to youth and beauty." Psychologist Enaile Ortiz - herself 48 - agreed: "Brazil has always had this understanding that youth equals beauty, but this year's Carnival is breaking that paradigm," Ortiz said as she strolled down Ipanema beach. "This shows you can be in a beautiful state, no matter what stage of life you are in." Historically, the Queen of the Drums was the most beautiful girl in the favela. Today she is usually a soap star, celebrity or beauty queen. Natália Guimarães, 24, won Miss Brazil in 2007. This year she parades for the Vila Isabel school for the second consecutive year “It’s wonderful,” she said. “Age doesn’t matter. It’s the personality that the queen shows that’s important.” Becoming queen is a great career move. “Today women use carnival to promote themselves,” said Meme de Oliveira, Ms de Oliveira’s brother and manager. “Luma doesn’t get involved in this. She goes to carnival because she likes carnival.” Luiza Brunet will be completing 25 carnivals this year in Sapucaí. "When the time comes to stop, I will not announce in advance." she told "This for me is a sacred place," said Luma de Oliveira, to reporters before dancing Samba non-stop for 80 minutes in front of about 70,000 spectators for the Portela school.
| | Brazil Carnaval 2009 | | International financial crisis impacts Rio's Carnaval | | The prices to create the traditional floats and costumes have risen 70 percent, the price of steel 7 percent and imported fabrics 30 percent, because of the depreciation in the Brazilian currency reai vis-a-vis the US dollar. ‘This, without any doubt, is one of the most difficult carnivals in history. The schools have smaller budgets and I asked that the quality of the show not be compromised,’ said Liesa president Jorge Castanheira. Only the Grande Rio school was able to secure considerable financing this year, taking in 2.2 million reais (about USD $939,800) from companies in the city of Nice, because its theme for this year’s carnival is France. The $5.1 million that the state-run petroleum company Petrobras contributed in 2008 to the Independent League of Samba Schools, or Liesa, in Rio de Janeiro - the largest and most important in the country - was cut this year as a result of the crisis. The government of Rio de Janeiro state will contribute about $2 million and Rio city hall has provided $1.7 million, which along with the television rights and the sale of tickets to the Marques de Sapucai sambodrome, will provide each school with about $1.4 million. Rio’s main store for carnival items for the public - Casa Pinto - has seen sales fall by 15 percent so far this year, along with a rise of 12 percent in fabric prices and 25 percent in feathers and decorative jewelry and associated items. The Brazilian Hotel Association has calculated a reduction of 20 percent in room bookings during the Carnival season this year. | | Revillion on Copacabana Beach | | New Year Eve 2009 Samba schools join the world's largest party to give a taste of the upcoming world's largest show. | | Steady rain failed to deter an estimated two million Brazilians and visitors from the world's largest New Years celebration December 31, 2008. Everyone will make a visit to the sea, some to uncork bottles of champagne and toast others to deliver an offerning to Iemanja, the goddess of the seas Close to 2 million Rio residents and tourists gathered on Rio's most famous beach Wednesday night for the annual event that is billed as the world's largest party, ringing in the New Year by dancing to salsa rhythms and witnessing a spectacular, 24-ton, 21-minute fireworks display.
The fireworks were launched from eight barges anchored about 100 meters (327 feet) from the coastline; passengers on a dozen cruise ships also took in the spectacle.
Other entertainment was provided by samba group Grupo Revelaçao and singer Mart'nalia, the event's main attraction, who performed on a stage 60 meters (196 feet) in diameter that was set up in the middle of the beach. The city's world-famous samba schools put the finishing touch on the event by giving the crowd early look at the themes they have chosen for the 2009 Rio Carnival. Many Brazilians made flower offerings to Iemanja, the goddess of the sea who holds pride of place among millions of spiritual Brazilians and is a New Year's Eve fixture. In a centuries-old Afro-Brazilian rite, people offer perfume and rice in addition to flowers which are set into little boats and cast adrift in the water, all in a bid to secure an auspicious new year and to thank Iemanja for past favours. Some will enter the waters to jump over seven consecutive waves to make our seven wishes come true, another midnight tradition designed to bring good luck for the year ahead. Municipal authorities had organised celebrations in other points of the city, but they were hit with budget reductions as the financial crisis took its toll. Beach festivities were cancelled in Flamingo and the famed Ipanema beach.Tourism officials had estimated that 600,000 visitors would descend on Rio, the same number as 2007, when 70 per cent of the visitors were foreign tourists. But the number of international visitors this year dropped to about 30 per cent. | |
| | Going Global: | | | | As the moon waxes so does the date for Carnaval | | 20099Queens or Rainhas da bateria | |  | | Obama Mask the 2009 Rage |  | Obama masks are all the rage as preparations for the Carnival kick into high gear. When the party starts, thousands of Brazilians with Obama masks will hit the streets.
According to Olga Valles, owner of one of Rio's oldest Carnival costume producers her company has already made 7,000 masks this year.The company is well known in Rio for its clever designs featuring politicians or other news makers. | | President Lula, expressed a more specific hope: that Washington will roll up its sleeves and bring a successful completion to the Doha round of world trade talks which he believes is key to helping developing countries with agriculture-based economies move out of poverty. | | World's #1 Super model | | Brazilian supermodel Giselle Bundchen took photos on Carnaval Sunday at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome. Later in the week, she reportedly married NFL quarterback Tom Brady in California. Gisele and Tom also made sure to get some quality time together, hanging out on a Pacific Palisades balcony with Tom’s son John Edward Thomas Moynahan. In related news, Gisele’s grandfather Walter Bundchen recently expressed his approval of her marriage to Brady, telling press, “Marriage is a natural thing that happens in people’s lives. I wanted so much to see her married!” | | Bottomless Ban | | While most of the top 6 groups appearing in the Parade of Champions had topless dancers, the judges drew the line at going bottomless, apparently penalizing perennial special group contender Sao Clemente for breaking a rule against display of genitalia during its 80-minute parade. Viviane Castro, 25, a model and dancer, had lost her original "tapasexo" -- a small triangle 1.6-inch patch,of glitter used to cover the most intimate parts of her body. An improvised substitute glued between her legs right before the show also fell off on the parade strip. [MORE] | | Black Orpheus Stars take final bow | | while the bossa nova turns 50 | | The tragedy of the mythical tale of Orpheus and Eurdicyce is death itself. Although in real life, the two principal stars of the movie went their own separate ways, in a sense, death eerily brought them back together once more. Both passed away within a short space in time, resembling the ending of Black Orpheus, but in reverse. Breno Mello (Orpheus) died July 14, 2008, age 76. The strikingly beautiful Marpessa Dawn (Eurydice) died Aug. 25, 2008, age 74. Both actors were felled by heart attacks. Besides the Rio de Janeiro Carnaval, the biggest "star" of Black Orpheus is the music itself by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luis Bonfa. Their innovations defined and sealed the popularity of the bossa nova, which was initially laid out and formed in 1958 by Joao Gilberto. | | | President Lula | President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spent eight hours watching the 2009 Sunday parade staying till 5 a.m. Monday morning when Beija Flor concluded. At one point, he tossed condoms down from his box seat onto those parading, taking an active part in a government anti-AIDS campaign to distribute 65 million prophylactics this month. This was the first time he has turned up for the party in Rio since taking power in 2003.
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