Beija Flor - theme for Carnaval 2011

Beija Flor's parade in 2010 will be about Roberto Carlos, the singer and composer.

Born in 1941, Roberto Carlos is famous in Brazil and many other countries, and has sold over 120 million records.  Roberto Carlos was one of the prime movers in the 'Jovem Guarda' rock music movement in the 1960s, during which time he rose to fame meteorically on the back of a string of hit records, radio shows and wildly popular TV series. He went on to make 3 films, all popular in Brazil. His songs have been recorded internationally, and he has received a Grammy.  Today he is a National Treasure, and practically the whole of Brazil tunes in to his annual Christmas Special show on TV.

As a theme this will have enormous resonance for Brazilians and mean nothing much to us poor old Gringos. But then we are there as spectators, and the better the theme is for Brazilians, the better the parade should be for us to spectate! Anyway, this Roberto Carlos theme is proving a great hit in Beija Flor where over 90 composers have already registered in the competition to produce next years samba enredo (themed samba song). Cynics point out that if Roberto Carlos decides to record the winning samba on one of his albums, there will be a lot of royalty money at stake. His records still regularly receive gold discs.

The final choice of song will be the result of a competition held over several weeks, culminating in the autumn.

67 meter Rio carnival float

Beija Flor fielded a 67 meter long float in their Rio Carnival samba school parade, 2010.

Heres a picture I took of their giant float as it appeared in the carnival parade. Beija Flor is a famously well organised samba school and, through meticulous advance planning and ingenious engineering, they managed to get it round the corners and along the narrow streets both to and from the sambadrome without any major incident.  Beija Flor came third overall in the results, not because of any technical problem with their parade, but because their theme was unpopular.

The float was made up of two smaller structures coupled together (like a train) so that they were able to bring it round the corner before assembling the full length.

But in this case, more was less. The overall effect, whilst stupendous, was also cold and impersonal. The parade became something to watch, not something to make you stand up and cheer. Such a shame. The beautiful spirit and energy of the participants ended up buried under the opulence of the costumes and presentation.

Beija Flor and Brasilia

The year 2010 is the 50th anniversary of Brasilia, the purpose built capital of Brazil. The Brasilia local government wanted, as part of their celebrations, for Brasilia to be the theme of one of the major Rio samba schools’ parades. There was much competition in Rio for this position, as it carried with it a generous sponsorship of an estimated three million Brazilian Reals, enough extra money to ensure a most luxurious parade.

But sponsorship and patronage are sometimes an uncertain prospect.

Beija Flor finally won this gilded prize and their carnival preparations are well under way, with every centavos of the sponsorship money accounted for in their spectacular plans.

In the last week a huge scandal has erupted in the city of Brasilia with key members of the local government accused of major corruption. Secret video recordings have been broadcast on television apparently showing Federal District politicians, including the governor, accepting wads of cash and stuffing them into their pockets, socks and underwear.  Judicial investigations are underway.

A purely positive treatment of the theme ‘Brasilia’ is going to be problematic. But a samba school accepting sponsorship money is not really in a position to bite the hand that is feeding them. It is unlikely that we will be seeing any cutting satire. Anyway, the enredo (theme) has already been published, the costumes and floats have been designed and the materials bought; construction is well under way. The sambas have been written around the enredo, the winner chosen and the CD recorded and released. I wait with great interest to see how the carnival directors of Beija Flor choose to play this one in the design and execution of their Rio carnival 2010 parade.