One of Brazil’s most important newspapers, O Globo, is sponsoring a contest in Rio de Janeiro to pick Rio’s most popular figura, which translates best as a “colorful character.” For five years, the newspaper has had an annual competition to decide which Carioca (a person who lives in Rio) is the most popular colorful character.
The contest is called Carioca Gente Boa, which is also a popular samba song. Gente boa literally translates as “good people,” as in “he’s good people,” but in Brazilian Portuguese it has a deeper meaning, indicating that the person isn’t just friendly or kind, but is also happy, enthusiastic, and full of life. According to Globo, Rio has so many gente boa that the Carioca is considered the eighth wonder of Rio.
The competition has fourteen contestants, which consist of local celebrities who have gained their reputation through a unique talent or attribute, similar to someone like the Naked Cowboy in New York City.
Some of the contestants include:
- Renato Lourenço, a gari, or street cleaner. And a proud street cleaner! He’s known in Rio as the street cleaner who always has a huge smile on his face.
- Isabela dos Patins, one of Rio’s most famous drag queens.
- Paulo Cesar Silva, a peanut seller who wears a suit to sell his wares each day and earns R$2,000 per month by just selling peanuts.
- Ze das Medalhas, one of Copacabana’s most famous figuras, who wears 18 kilos worth of chains, medallions, and keychains around his neck, which he’s been collecting for twenty years.
The contest goes until March 9th, and voting is done online on Globo’s website, which can be accessed here.
It’s easy to see where to vote, since in Portuguese, the imperative of votar (to vote), is “vote.” (pronounced voh-chee]
