Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
Entertainment
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Film
Music
People
Television
Arts
Industry
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Environment
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Obama, creativity star as Rio Carnival defies crisis
Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:02pm EST
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Stuart Grudgings
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Ten million extra condoms are being handed out, slum residents are putting the final touches to huge floats depicting Queen Cleopatra and Can-can dancers, and Barack Obama masks are flying off the shelves.
Brazil's Carnival, the pre-Lenten festival of hedonism that possesses Rio de Janeiro and much of the country for a few days every year, takes off this weekend despite the best attempts of the global economic crisis to drag it down to earth.
Creativity is the word of the year as Rio's top Samba schools grapple with a double whammy of cash-strapped benefactors and higher costs of imported materials for their floats and costumes that are at the center of the spectacle.
The number of foreign tourists is expected to fall by about 10 percent from last year, Rio officials say, and some mining towns in nearby Minas Gerais state had to cancel their parades as the global crisis hit public coffers and employment.
But Brazilian visitors to Rio are expected to make up the numbers and the spirit of debauchery and irreverence is in no danger of being dimmed.
"It'll be the same as always -- lots of sex and lots of drink!" said Leo, a 24-year-old from the Minas Gerais town of Ouro Preto, who was shopping for costumes in downtown Rio.
The federal government is distributing an extra 10 million free condoms for the Carnival, on top of the 60 million it regularly provides in the first two months of the year -- Brazil's summer vacation period -- to prevent the spread of AIDS.
New U.S. President Barack Obama is the most popular choice for masks this year with costume stores reporting thousands of sales, threatening perennial favorite Osama bin Laden.
Viviane Castro, a model who got her Samba school disqualified last year when she inadvertently bared all during a parade after losing a tiny triangle of glitter covering her crotch, has no intention of being left out of the limelight this year when she parades in Sao Paulo.
"This year I will also come with few clothes, but paying homage to a big political personality who is Obama. He will be painted on my body," she told the O Globo newspaper's website.
There have so far been no scandals to match one last year in which organizers barred a float depicting Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust, although the Catholic Church has voiced concern over one Samba school's plan this year to depict the Inquisition.
TWO CITIES
Carnival in Rio -- which gets going on Friday with the handing of the city keys to Carnival King Momo, the Lord of Misrule -- is a tale of two cities.
One is in the Sambadrome where 70,000 spectators and live TV coverage (this year forsaking the Oscars) will follow the competing parades of top Samba schools, which this year feature a giant Queen Cleopatra bathing in milk among other themes.
The other is on the streets, where residents and visitors are already casting aside their sorrows and many of their morals for hard-drinking days and nights in neighborhood groups called "blocos", some of which have existed for a century. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
My Web
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
U.S. unemployment to top 9 percent, recession to deepen
Also on Reuters
Slideshow
Slideshow: Barbie turns heads at NY Fashion Week
China's artificially induced snow closes 12 highways
Video
Video: Stanford clients swarm banks
More Entertainment News
Duffy sweeps BRIT pop awards, Coldplay out in cold
| Video
Warning! Oscar can be bad for your career
Just a Minute With: Oscar nominee Kate Winslet
Coldplay and Bono team up with Take That for charity gig
Mickey Rourke loses beloved chihuahua in Oscar week
More Entertainment News...
Related News
FACTBOX: Brazil's Carnival - Let the fun begin!
11:16am EST
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Latin Americans fret as Stanford crisis spreads
Stanford probe widens, Venezuela seizes bank | Video
Pope tells Pelosi: Catholics cannot back abortion
North Korea warns of war as Clinton heads for Seoul
China's artificially induced snow closes 12 highways | Video
California lawmakers pass long awaited budget plan
Privacy concerns frustrate Facebook
Venezuela seizes Stanford bank after online run | Video
Recession will be worst since 1930s: Greenspan
UBS tax deal is Swiss bank secrecy's Waterloo
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Stanford clients swarm banks
Spaceship-like car to hit U.S. roads
Chopper ditches off UK coast
China makes it snow
Obama mortgage relief plan
Bernanke: No inflation threat
Business Update: Grim Fed
Afghanistan now Obama's war
Duffy sweeps Brit awards
Bolivia's housing collapse
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Pictures
Slideshow
Grammy glam
The Grammys raised the curtain on fashions that included Kanye West's sparkling tuxedo and M.I.A.'s bold maternity wear. Slideshow
Slideshow
Grammy performances
Artists perform under the bright lights at the Grammy Awards, showcasing a wide selection of music. Slideshow
Reuters Deals
The global destination for corporate leaders, deal-makers and innovators
Knowledge to Act
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Interactive TV |
Labs |
Reuters in Second Life |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.