BEIJA-FLOR DE NILOPOLIS... DEZ!

Spent the afternoon watching the Sambodromo results, from a great seat under the big-screen tv at Garota de Ipanema (the bar in Ipanema where the legendary Girl from Ipanema came walking in every day. Yes, she was a real girl and she caught the attention of a couple of soon-to-be-famous songwriters who hung out at the bar.) There was a little clump of Brazilians behind me who were rooting for Salgueiro and Viradouro "and Beija-Flor, a bit". They asked me who I was rooting for; I said I was hoping Mocidade didn't go down, and to win, I was rooting for Beija-Flor. "Which is the escola of your heart?' the guy asked. I said Mocidade. He reported to his friends, "She is Mocidade, and secondarily Beija-Flor."

It was awfully cool watching the announcements. It's broadcast live from the Sambodromo. Every single score from every single judge is announced, in every single category. The judges are shown by name and photo - no anonymity allowed! It's a very momentous event. For each category, the announcer goes down a list of a single judge's scores, sonorously announcing each escola's name and the score. The top score is 10 ("dez"). The announcer always uses the full, formal, grandiose name of each escola - none of this "Beija-Flor" or "Mangueira" shorthand, no, it's "BEIJA-FLOR DE NILOPOLIS... DEZ!" or "ESTACAO PRIMEIRA DE MANGUEIRA... DEZ!" or maybe "NOVE PONTO OITO" (9.8) or whatever. There were live camera feeds set up in every escola's quadra, all of which were completely packed with fans, and every time the announcer said "DEZ!" they'd cut to that quadra, which would be erupting in huge cheers.

Forty judges, thirteen escolas, and 520 grandiose score-announcing moments later, Beija-Flor's quadra had racked up so many "DEZ!"'s that they looked dizzy from all the cheering. The whole Beija-Flor quadra was going nuts, people jumping and waving the blue-and-white Beija-Flor flags ... and, of course, starting to samba as the bateria members grabbed instruments and started playing.

So, yes, Beija-Flor won! Grande Rio once again came in second. I was pleased. My whole Sambodromo adventure on Monday was just so I could see Beija-Flor and Grande Rio. They are two of my favorites. Beija-Flor was the escola that gave me chills during their last technical rehearsal, and they did it again during their parade. As I have said before, they are INTENSE. They were stunning from start to finish. I got those chills again at their life-size walking giraffes and elephants (full-size animal costumes hiding two stilt-walking people inside the legs). Loved their brilliant costumes, loved their floats - especially that huge African hummingbird - loved their song, loved the theme (Africa).

Next goal for me: trying to snag a couple of Beija-Flor's gorgeous lion costumes after the champions parade (for my Oregon band, the Lions of Batucada, of course!) and somehow ship them back home.

Poor Imperio Serrano went down! Not a surprise, with their tiny budget and float trouble this year. A historical moment, though, because Imperio is one of the original Great Four escolas of Grupo Especial (the other three are Portela, Mangueira and Salgueiro). Back in the old days, only the Great Four ever won titles. BUT... at least Imperio's bateria completely rocks. Perfect ten's across the board!!! They also won the Estandarte de Ouro award for Best Bateria. So the best bateria in Rio will be parading in Grupo A next year.

Mocidade just barely scraped by and hung on to Grupo Especial by their fingernails. Whew!

And my grupo A escola, Sao Clemente, won Grupo A and will parade in Grupo Especial next year! Rah!

Estacio de Sa is going right back down to Grupo A. Just like Rocinha's up-and-down bounce last year. It's so hard for the Grupo A escolas to scale things up to Especial level when they get their one chance. They have to ramp up everything, immediately, and they never have the financial resources of the long-time Especial escolas.

Here's the full list. I noticed a stunning correspondence with each escola's reported budget this year (numbers from O Globo, 18 february 2007), so I added the budget after each escola's name. Each escola was guaranteed 2.9 million reais this year (300,000 from the city of Rio, and the rest from Liesa's ticket sales and tv deals). Beyond that they're on their own.

2007 Grupo Especial results:
1. Beija-Flor (budget this year: 7 million reais!, more than half from their bicheiro Anisio)
2. Grande Rio (budget 4.9 million, including 2.5 from Duque de Caixas & some from their bicheiro Jaider Soares)
3. Mangueira (5 million)
4. Unidos da Tijuca (5 million)
5. Viradouro (6.5 million, including a small deal with the Brazilian Olympic Committee to include an Olympics float)
6. Vila Isabel (4 million, with several corporate sponsorships)
7. Salgueiro (4 million)
8. Portela (4.1 million; 1.8 from the Ministry of Sports for their Pan-Am Games theme this year)
9. Imperatriz (4 million; an undisclosed chunk from the Norwegian fishing ministry for the codfish theme this year)
10. Porto da Pedra (3.5 million)
11. Mocidade (3.25 million)
12. Imperio Serrano (demoted to Grupo A) (3.5 million)
13. Estacio de Sa (demoted to Grupo A) (3.8 million)

There's an almost perfect correspondence between budget and final placing. The outlier is Viradouro, which placed lower than its budget would predict. Viradouro's parade was simply fantastic, and until I saw the next day's parades, I was sure they'd win. But some judges didn't take to the unique design concepts of Viradouro's eccentric, brilliant float designer; and the bateria float, while a huge crowd-pleaser, caused a big bobble in parade flow.

Grupo A results:
1. Sao Clemente (promoted to Grupo Especial)
2. Caprichosos (which was knocked out of Grupo Especial last year)
3. Santa Cruz
4. Uniao de Ilha
5. Imperio de Tijuca
6. Renascer
7. Cubango
8. Rocinha
9. Tradicao
10. Arranco (demoted to Grupo B)