TDSounds

Rio carnival judges are hard to source. The league of samba schools has to select people with the expertise to judge the various categories of the Rio Carnival parade, but who have absolutely no connection with any of the samba schools. Even a friendship with a samba school member is enough to disqualify a candidate. The judges then have to go on a course run by the league, to learn about the carnival. You get  theatre and dress designers, sculptors, writers, classical musicians.

During the carnival parades themselves, the judges aren't allowed to talk to anyone. There's excellent and copious food and drink in the judges' boxes - and air conditioning - but it's still a marathon. The parades go on for 7 or 8 hours. The judges are encouraged to take notes, and these notes and the marks are taken and sealed immediately after each parade. The marks are unsealed and read out, one mark at a time, during the results ceremony on the wednesday after carnival. Nobody knows which school will win until the last marks are read out. The notes are published on the league of samba schools' website several weeks after carnival (when fans'  tempers have had time to cool).

It's a marathon, but some judges have to work much harder than others. The judges of the samba enredo (song) and the enredo (theme) can do much of their judging before the carnival even starts. The judges of bateria, commisao da frente, and mestre sala / porta bandeira, are only allowed to judge what happens when these sections are directly in front of their judges' box. But pity the poor harmonia, evolucao and conjunto judges. They have to keep judging during the entire parade. And if they miss anything, you can be sure there will be hordes of disgruntled fans complaining on the internet within minutes of their marks being announced.

Who would be a carnival judge? Well. I'd jump at the chance myself, but the rules state emphatically that you have to be a Brazilian.