Carnival celebrations returned to Rio's streets for a last gasp of partying Tuesday, following close on the heels of the city's legendary samba parade.
As the centerpiece of Brazil's carnival ended early Tuesday in the massive Sambadrome, bleary-eyed revelers took to the avenues and byways to dance, drink and snarl traffic.
Here is another muse selection that highlighted the avenue:
It is Rio, it is hot, and it is the last night of fun at Rio's Parade. Here is a selection of the muses who attracted attention from the "folioes" (public):
While most of the carnival’s international buzz is around Rio’s scene, Salvador is where the "action" takes place. Unfortunately it is very difficult to explain all emotions associated with Bahia’s carnival. It is a mixture of energy, human body, and tons of fun! Here are some photos from last night parade…
Daniela Mercury Bel - Camaleao Xanddy Feling the vibe
Now the traditional carnival parades and parties started in Brazil. All over the country, people are on streets having fun and dancing "samba" or "axe". The following posts I will show some pictures from those parties and give a little taste of this especial event.
Stating with this traditional and odd parade that happens every year at Parati (RJ): The Mud Parade! Check it out!!!
Thousands of Brazilians took a break from samba to rock with U2 frontman Bono during Carnival celebrations in the northeastern city of Salvador.
Bono performed an impromptu duet of "Vertigo" with Brazilian popular singer Ivete Sangalo as Carnival got underway in Salvador on Thursday, a day earlier than in Rio de Janeiro.
While the highlight of Brazil's carnival celebrations is Rio's annual samba parade on Sunday and Monday nights, many people prefer Salvador's carnival, where giant sound trucks with bands on top jam the city's streets night and day.
The U2 singer is attending Salvador's Carnival as a guest of Culture Minister and pop star Gilberto Gil (left on the photo). The O Globo newspaper reported Friday that music producer Quincy Jones was also attending Carnival as a guest of Gil.
Bono sang the duet from Gil's private box that faces the avenue as Sangalo and her band performed from atop a sound truck.
U2 played two sold-out concerts in Sao Paulo's Morumbi soccer stadium Monday and Tuesday nights.
Serial kissers at Brazil's racy Carnival parades can now swap saliva with even more revellers thanks to a mouth spray designed to fight germs, just one of many weird products companies have launched to profit from traditionally libidinous revelry.
The spray was launched by a local company for Carnival celebrations this weekend in Salvador, the heart of Brazil's African culture, and Sao Paulo, its biggest city. French kissing among strangers is rife during Carnival.
Its slogan was "Kiss a lot, kiss pleasurably, kiss safe."
"Beije," or "Kiss," is made with propolis, or bee hive glue. Though propolis has long been used in natural medicine, many health experts disagree about its positive effects.
Still, propolis extracts from tropical Bahia state have special qualities that fight microorganisms and boost the immune system, Brazilian researchers say.
A 35-milliliter bottle of mouthspray will sell for 5 reais (1.35 pounds) and the local Naturapi company hopes to sell more than 100,000 bottles during the bash.
Other companies or groups are selling revealing costumes, flavoured condoms, drag costumes and even small patches of glitter to cover genitalia during the celebrations.
The government is distributing 25 million free condoms during Carnival this year to promote safe sex as part of its acclaimed anti-AIDS program, which provides free antiretroviral drugs for all HIV-positive Brazilians.
End poverty, respect rights, Bono urges Brazil fans
Irish rock group U2 gave a lesson in human rights and urged Brazilians to help end poverty in their country in a spectacular concert on Monday night at a Sao Paulo soccer stadium.
About 70,000 fans packed the Morumbi Stadium for the eagerly awaited show and the band delivered with a two-hour performance that mixed hard-edged rock with high emotion.
In a sequence of songs, lead singer Bono brought a political message to the crowd of mostly middle-class and wealthy Brazilians.
During "Miss Sarajevo", a song inspired by the Balkan Wars of the 1990s, clauses of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were scrolled down in Portuguese on the huge digital screen behind the band.
They then launched into "Pride", their tribute to Martin Luther King, the slain U.S. civil rights champion of the 1960s.
Bono told the crowd: "Martin Luther King didn't just have an American dream, but an Irish dream, a Latin American dream ... sing for Peru, for Chile, for Argentina, for Brazil."
The screen then lit up with a display of the flags of all Latin American nations.
At the show's pre-encore climax with the song "One", an appeal for peace, Bono spoke over the music saying: "I love Brazil, I love Carnival, because everyone crams together -- rich and poor, young and old, left and right. But to beat poverty, all of us have to work together, to act together."
Brazil suffers from a range of human rights problems from police brutality to sexual exploitation and has one of the biggest gaps between rich and poor in the world.
President Luiz Inacio Lula, a former factory worker whose grassroots support lies with the poor, has launched programs to wipe out poverty and hunger and has promised social reform in the country of 185 million people.
How much the message of peace and brotherhood got through was open to question. Mention of Argentina brought boos from the crowd. Some also jeered when pictures of Lula and U.S. President George W. Bush appeared on the screen.
Bono ended the show with the appeal: "Pobreza Zero" (Zero Poverty), and thanked Lula for his hospitality.
The singer, a high-profile social activist who has met frequently with world leaders to plead the case of disadvantaged nations, had flown to the capital Brasilia on Sunday to talk to Lula. He praised him then as a hero for his social stands.
Bono will donate a guitar for auction to benefit Lula's Zero Hunger campaign, which aims to give all Brazilians three meals a day, the government's Agencia Brasil agency said on Monday.
U2 will play a second show at Morumbi on Tuesday night before taking the "Vertigo" tour to Santiago, Chile, on February 26 and Buenos Aires on March 1 and 2.
U2 rocker Bono to donate guitar to Brazil's Zero Hunger program
Rock star and activist Bono will donate one of his guitars to Brazil's Zero Hunger campaign, Agencia Brasil, the government's official news agency said on Monday.
The guitar will be donated to the government after Bono's Feb.20-21 concerts in Sao Paulo's huge Morumbi soccer stadium. It will then be auctioned to collect funds for the program aimed at ensuring that all Brazilians will have three meals a day by the end of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's term on Dec. 31.
The presidential press office said it did not know when nor how the auction will take place.
In March 2005, Lenny Kravitz donated one of the guitars used in his first Latin American tour. Its subsequent auction brought in $132,000 US.
The idea to donate a guitar emerged Sunday when Bono, on tour with U2, met with Silva at the Granja do Torto presidential resort, 30 kilometres from downtown Brasilia.
During that meeting, Silva talked about his government's efforts to reduce hunger and develop renewable energy sources.
Silva's government seeks to expand Brazil's use of a biodiesel fuel based on sunflower, soybeans and seeds of tropical fruits.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hosted singer and social activist Bono of the Irish rock band U2 for lunch on Sunday at his presidential retreat.
Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil, who became famous as a pop music star before joining the government, joined them.
Local media quoted Bono as saying he wanted to discuss fighting poverty with Lula.
U2, which performed in Brazil in 1998, will play two concerts on Monday and Tuesday in Sao Paulo.
"Bono for president of United Nations," read the sign of one of many fans waiting outside the presidential retreat for a glimpse of the rocker. Bono has worked on poverty relief efforts and Lula's best known social program is called Zero Hunger.
During last night show, Mick Jagger made use of his portuguese classes and showed his love to more than 1 million fans. Here are some of the phrases he interacted with the crowd:
“Que linda noite para um show” - What a wonderful night for a concert show “E aí, galera?” - what's up? “Tudo bem Rio?” - what's up Rio? “Copacabana é a melhor festa do mundo” - Copacabana is the best party in the world! “Aqui está muito bom” - This is really good! “As mulheres daqui são lindas” - Brazil has the most beautiful girls in the world "Alguem de Sao Paulo aqui?" - Anyone from Sao Paulo here? "Alguem do Rio?" - Anyone from Rio?
And of course, everyone at this point shout back...
More than one million people attended a free show by The Rolling Stones on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach, in one of the biggest-ever rock concerts.
The Stones kicked off the Saturday night gig with their 1968 classic, Jumping Jack Flash. The sexagenarian rockers blasted out 20 songs in total as eight video screens and more than a dozen sound towers broadcast the concert to fans far from the stage.
Fire department officials estimated one million people had arrived by the time the music began.
"I wanted to see a legend, a myth," said Lazaro Rosas, 26, who had staked his tent out on the sand on Wednesday — one of many who had begun to camp out on the four-kilometre beach earlier in the week. The artist travelled from his town in southern Brazil to see the event.
The concert also attracted fans from around the world. Fleets of buses bringing people from elsewhere in Brazil and Latin America clogged city streets.
Tom Nolan, a 62-year-old businessman from New York state had already seen the band in Albany last September but said he didn't want to miss the Rio show.
"They are an inspiration to our generation. They have given the world so much and they are still cranking it out."
The city deployed 10,000 police officers to keep watch at the concert, on streets and in volatile neighbourhoods. They were joined by at least 600 firefighters, lifeguards and civil defence workers, while port authority crews patrolled the shoreline.
The veteran British rockers and a number of their guests stayed at the Copacabana Palace, just opposite from the stage.
About 4,000 friends of the band, including sponsors and promoters, watched the show from a special enclosure around the stage.
The concert was part of the band's "Bigger Bang" tour, which opened in the United States in August 2005.
The concert organizers had touted it as the world's largest rock concert. But an estimated 3.5 million people turned out to hear Rod Stewart play on Copacabana Beach on New Year's Eve in 1994.
Copacabana beach is packed for the Rolling Stones concert, where they expect more than 2 million people. Even though it is 5 hours before the show start, Rolling Stones fans is already on the beach...
Have you heard about arriving early for a great concert show? Sure, but how early is the ideal time: 1 hour? 5 hours? 24 hours? what about 5 days???
Well some people in Brazil thing it is worth. After all tickets fly in few hours, now U2's extreme fans are camping outside the arena since last Thursday, where the concert will happen this Monday.
U2 fans camping in front of Morumbi stadium
At the same time in Rio, another crowd is expecting one of the major open and free concert rock in the Brazilian history. Rolling Stones is already in Rio and they are promising a great show. Latter I will post some pictures from the concert...
Fans crowd Brazil beach in anticipation of giant Rolling Stones show
Screams and cheers greeted the Rolling Stones as they pulled up to their beach-front hotel Friday in a huge police motorcade, and diehard fans were already staking out spots before an enormous stage on Copacabana Beach, where up to two million people were expected to attend the band's free concert Saturday night.
"We've been camped out here since 5 a.m. Thursday and we're only leaving to take baths in the ocean," said Rodrigo Barduco, a 23-year-old student from Sao Paulo.
A week before Carnival festivities hit full-swing, the concert was already drawing tourists and Brazilians to Rio de Janeiro - which knows a thing or two about hosting massive parties.
Millions of people flock to Copacabana Beach each year for the city's New Year's Eve celebration, which features fireworks, tributes to Afro-Brazilian spirit deities and bands on several stages. In 1994, 3.5 million people hit the beach to see Rod Stewart in what The Guinness World Records website describes as history's largest live concert.
But Rio Mayor Cesar Maia is among the city officials already touting Saturday's Stones appearance as the biggest live concert ever, arguing that many of those counted at the Stewart show were on the beach to celebrate New Year's.
Stones fans were expected to fill fully half of the four-kilometre beach. Eight video screens and 16 sound towers will give fans far from the action a glimpse of the sexagenarian rockers.
Security is a concern. Earlier this month, three people were crushed to death and 38 injured in Sao Paulo when thousands of fans surged through security barriers at an autograph session for the Mexican band RBD.
The city is deploying 10,000 police officers - about three times the usual contingent for New Year's - as well as 600 firefighters, civil defence workers and lifeguards, said Ana Maria Maia, Rio's subsecretary of special events.
The city's port authority also was preparing for the huge influx of boats expected to crowd the shoreline.
As workers put the finishing touches on the enormous stage, fans were hoping for a glimpse of the band, known for hits such as Satisfaction.
"I'm here to see them," Cristina Spacarella, a 46-year-old tourist from Argentina, said Friday. But she said she would not go to the show itself - "it's going to be too crowded."
Local media speculated that the Rolling Stones might visit the city's Sambadrome stadium, where the Carnival group Imperatriz Leopolinense was rehearsing, since Luciana Jimenez, who has a six-year-old son with lead singer Mick Jagger, is a featured Carnival dancer for the group.
This the Stones' third visit to the country but the first time the band has played for free in Brazil, where few can afford tickets to see top international acts.
Fans were also camping out outside Sao Paulo's Morumbi stadium on Friday, hoping for a seat at Monday night's concert by the Irish band U2. Organizers were overwhelmed by huge crowds when the U2 tickets went on sale Jan. 16. Police were called in to restore order when some infuriated fans threatened to break into the stores where tickets were being sold. >> 1 million to roll into Rio for Stones
Viewers in Japan and Korea will feel the heat from Carnival fever thanks to a deal with Brazil's Globo TV International.
Globo has sold footage and three documentaries about Rio's famed annual Carnival to Japanese pubcaster NHK and Korean cable channel Magic TV.
NHK is planning to air a special about the Carnival this month, produced in part from Globo's high-definition footage, while Magic TV will broadcast three Carnival specials, totalling more than four hours, in March.
The deal cements Globo's growing presence in Asia, coming on the heels of a four-year output deal it closed in Indonesia through Dori Media International. The volume deal will see 500 hours of Brazilian drama air annually on Dori's new Indonesian channel Televiva Vision 2, launching next month on satellite platform Indovisio.
The channel plans to have six daily slots dedicated to telenovelas, of which two primetime slots will be occupied with Globo product. The first two telenovelas to air will be Family Ties and The Clone.
Brazil's famous yellow shirt has been voted the most recognisable football kit by British fans.
Ahead of this summer's FIFA World Cup, nearly half of those polled voted the yellow shirt of Brazil as the most iconic kit in football, ahead of England and Holland.
A total of 46 per cent of those questioned in the survey voted for five times World Cup winners Brazil's yellow shirt, with England and Holland - who always wear orange - being beaten into second and third places respectively.
Brazil, who are favourites to win a record sixth World Cup in Germany this summer, dominated the UK-wide poll conducted by Nike.
And when asked which country played the most beautiful football - or "Joga Bonito" as the Brazilians like to say - almost 60 per cent voted in favour of the country that boasts the skills of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Adriano.
The words "Skill" and "Joy" came out on top when those polled were asked which most resonated with the Brazilian way of playing football.
And more than three-quarters (77 per cent) of the voters decided that the World Cup would not be the same if Brazil didn’t qualify.
A Nike spokesperson said: "Brazil’s is a shirt every football fan knows and it reminds them of the joy, soul and skill that the Brazilians have been showcasing to football fans for the last 50 years."
Brazilian Models on the 2006 Sports Ilustrated's Swimsuit edition
Four brazilian models were included in the latest Sports Ilustrated Swimsuit edition. Unfortunately, no brazilian babes were included on the cover. (just a pitty!)
2006 Sports Ilustrated Swinsuit Cover Left to right: Veronica Varekova, Elle Macpherson, Rebecca Romjin, Rachel Hunter, Daniela Pestova, Elsa Benitez, Carolyn Murphy e Yamila Diaz-Rahi.
Concert to be one of biggest in history Roll over, bossa nova. The Rolling Stones are taking over Rio de Janeiro's famed Copacabana Beach next Saturday for what promises to be a historic rock 'n' roll extravaganza.
Organizers expect more than 1 million people to fill the beach area for the free concert by the aging but still agile rockers -- one of the biggest crowds ever for a rock show.
A huge stage is being constructed on the sand opposite the elegant Copacabana Palace Hotel where the band will stay.
Local media is gossiping about the VIP list, which will include singer Mick Jagger's 7-year-old Brazilian son. Hotels are booked solid by fans despite jacked-up prices and apartments overlooking the beach have been rented out.
"It will be historic - in the sense that they are in their 60s and they can still pull in a million people. I don't know how they do it," Paul Lester, deputy editor of Uncut music magazine, told Reuters from London.
Behind the excitement lies concern over security. Rio is scarred by violent crime and gunplay often spills over from the slums ruled by drug gangs into city streets. More than 6,600 people were killed last year in a population of 6 million.
Copacabana, where the gentle bossa nova sound was created in the 1950s, is now a haunt for prostitutes and drug dealers.
A huge security operation will be mounted with up to 10,000 police on duty. They might even occupy some of the favelas, or slums, close to Copacabana.
"We have a series of worries, from teenagers in a total state of abandon to traffic jams," police spokesman Colonel Aristeu Leonardo Tavares said: "A show of this size has no comparison to other shows."
A previous free Stones show, at Altamont in California in 1969, entered the annals of rock history after Hells Angels hired as security guards clubbed fans with pool cues. A fan was stabbed to death as he appeared to point a gun at the stage.
Though sex and drugs are an important part of Stone's lore, the band will avoid the action on Copacabana's main drag.
They will cross from their suites on the sixth floor of the Copacabana Palace Hotel on a purpose-built walkway over Atlantic Avenue onto the seven-story-high stage on the beach.
The Stones -- Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood and support musicians -- have been playing across the United States on the "Bigger Bang" tour and performed at the Super Bowl halftime show on February 4. (Read how ABC stifled some Stones' lyrics)
The "Bigger Bang" album, hailed by critics as their best in years, won a Grammy last week. The Rio show will be filmed for a DVD.
This will be their third time in Brazil. Jagger has a young son, Lucas, from a liaison with Brazilian model Luciana Gimenez. The two will be among the 4,000 special guests, celebrities and sponsors who will be treated to a lavish buffet in a special enclosure next to the stage.
The concert is being financed by the Rio municipality and communications companies Claro and Motorola.
It's indicative of how the Stones have moved from being bad boys to businessmen over the decades, Uncut's Lester said.
"The Stones are really a multinational corporation. They are up there with McDonalds and Coca-Cola as a recognized world brand even though for many people Jagger is still a figure of decadence and debauchery."
Some question Rio city's involvement in the show. In a letter to Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, Pedro Fontes said the money would be better spent on improving favelas and community projects.
"Is it better to have a million-dollar rock show than to try to ease the misery that exists right next to the concert stage?" he wrote. "Only one more thing...I adore the Rolling Stones."
I found this website (Concurso Sereias) that has a really great calendar for february... Ok, ok, the calendar is only a excuse to have a brazilian babe in your desktop, but it is worth and it is free!
SAO PAULO, Brazil — The National Basketball Association announced Monday that a Brazilian Web portal will be the first to stream live NBA games over the Internet, increasing the league's presence in South America's largest country.
NBA Latin America said Globoesporte.com will air two matches a week starting with Tuesday's match between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks. A subscription will cost fans about US$5 (euro4) per month.
"We broadcast NBA highlights all over the world, but Brazil will be the first country to be able to broadcast live games," said Vincent Burniske, director of television and marketing for NBA Latin America. "We want to reach out to fans in every media platform."
Globoesporte's parent company, Globo.com, is owned by Brazil's Organizacoes Globo, Latin America's largest media corporation. The terms of the three-year deal weren't disclosed.
"Hopefully this will stimulate the appearance of new talents in Brazil," said basketball legend Julius Erving, in Brazil to promote the new service.
The NBA now has four Brazilian players: Nene Hilario of the Denver Nuggets, Leandro Barbosa of the Phoenix Suns, Anderson Varejao of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rafael Araujo of the Toronto Raptors.
ESPN International already broadcasts two live matches per week on Brazilian cable networks, and the NBA is in negotiations "to bring a preseason match to Brazil in the short term," Burniske said.
The NBA's "Basketball Without Borders" training camp also brings together some of the best young players from 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Brasilia - The Brazilian government said on Monday that it will hand out 25-million free condoms to carnival-goers this year, as part of its Aids prevention effort in this country of 180-million people.
The prophylactics will be distributed by non-governmental organisations at health stands and, above all, during the numerous parades and street dances held around the country, the health ministry said.
Eleven million condoms were given out last year during the carnival, which this year falls on February 25-28.
It is the government's goal this year to give out a record 1,5-billion free condoms in the country, more than doubling last year's record of 667-million.
Sales for second U2 concert in Brazil gone in 7 hours
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Some 70,000 tickets for a U2 concert in Brazil sold out smoothly in about seven hours, organizers said Monday, avoiding a repeat of chaos last month when nearly 100,000 fans overwhelmed stores and computer systems.
A first show by the Irish rockers sold out on Jan. 16, but organizers were forced to regroup after the 12 stores selling tickets experienced computer problems and were overwhelmed by massive crowds.
Police had to be called in to restore order when some infuriated fans threatened to break into the stores.
The supermarket chain that owns the stores issued a public apology following the mayhem, which kept some frustrated fans waiting in lines for more than 12 hours.
Concert promoters set up a telephone call centre to handle sales for the second show, and organizers said in a statement that it handled nearly 900,000 calls on Sunday from fans seeking tickets.
U2 is scheduled to play at Sao Paulo's Morumbi stadium on Feb. 20 and 21, just two days after the Rolling Stones stage a free concert at Rio de Janeiro's famed Copacabana beach. Nearly one million people are expected to attend.
The bands haven't performed in Brazil since the late 1990s.
A credit card owned by one of the billionaire Google founders Larry Page or Sergey Brin was inexplicably DECLINED at an Ipanema, Brazil, restaurant Wednesday, even though the founders' credit is good enough to charge the purchase of part of Brazil itself.
Carnaval didn't start yet, but there are parties all over the place warming up for the big event. Sao Paulo, Rio, Bahia, all places are preparing for the big holiday. Check it out the highligh of some of those events:
Arnold Schwarzenegger hosting Rio's Carnival video
Now is time for some vintage but great stuff. This video probably ran 20 years ago but is just surreal...
Here, governor Arnold Schwarzenegger while still young and very muscular went to Brazil to host a show about Brazilian Carnival. Besides trying to put his hands on the dancers' ass and seduce the cohost of the show, Arnie showed his Samba "movements" and learned some portuguese words.
You already know about Kevin Federline's video "PoPoZao" that hit the internet a little while ago, now G4's Attack of the Show decided to do a little parody of it. The idea was simple but very effective, knocking off K-Fed's pathetically simple dance track popped up, in a "ten minute" challenge.
What was the challenge exactly? To produce a short track mocking K-Fed's style, film the creation of the song and the actual parody of the video itself and have everything created in just 10 minutes.
The result, a very funny video "Requeijao" (Cottage Cheese Thighs) that you can check it here!
What do you get when you mix a giant douchebag, a recording studio, and the worst single ever released by a human being? The funniest thing you'll see today. You haven't lived until you've seen Kevin Federline bobbing his head and tripping out to his own pathetic single. Well maybe you have, but everything up until now has just been practice for this.
In a surprise and quick visit, the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, went to Brazil to visit Google's new office in Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte. They also visited a Sugar Factory, responsible for alternative combustible production (alcohol), commonly used in Brazilian cars.
Not sure if they want to diversify and invest in different fields, but what I loved the most was their t-shirts... Can I buy them at Google's store?
Brazilian culture, news, fashion, eletronic music, samba, places to hang out, beaches, and much more... Everything you should know about Brazil, but couldn't find it on the web.
Daniela Mercury
Bel - Camaleao
Xanddy
Feling the vibe
Adriane Galisteu
Luana Piovani
Carol Castro
Ivete Sangalo
During last night show, Mick Jagger made use of his portuguese classes and showed his love to more than 1 million fans. Here are some of the phrases he interacted with the crowd: 
More than one million people attended a free show by The Rolling Stones on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach, in one of the biggest-ever rock concerts.
Viewers in Japan and Korea will feel the heat from Carnival fever thanks to a deal with Brazil's Globo TV International.
Brazil's famous yellow shirt has been voted the most recognisable football kit by British fans.
Brasilia - The Brazilian government said on Monday that it will hand out 25-million free condoms to carnival-goers this year, as part of its Aids prevention effort in this country of 180-million people.
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Some 70,000 tickets for a U2 concert in Brazil sold out smoothly in about seven hours, organizers said Monday, avoiding a repeat of chaos last month when nearly 100,000 fans overwhelmed stores and computer systems.
You already know about 
What do you get when you mix a giant douchebag, a recording studio, and the worst single ever released by a human being? The funniest thing you'll see today. You haven't lived until you've seen Kevin Federline bobbing his head and tripping out to his own pathetic single. Well maybe you have, but everything up until now has just been practice for this.
