The most beautiful Brazilian women

Here are the ten most beautiful Brazilian women that I know of who are famous enough to have an article in the Wikipedia (in Portuguese). Strictly my opinion, of course. Gisele Bundchen, for example, does not make the list even though she is the highest paid Brazilian model in the world.

This is very much a work in progress.

1. Paula Lima (1970- ) is a singer and songwriter of MPB (latter-day bossa nova) – a diva of Sao Paulo, as she calls herself. I love looking at her face when she sings. More.

2. Taís Araújo (1978- ) is a television and film actress from Rio. She once played Elza Soares, one of Brazil’s best singers, and Xica da Silva, a slave who became the richest woman in Brazil. She is a presenter on the television show “Superbonita”, about how to be beautiful! More.

3. Adriana Bombom (1974- ) is a Carnival queen from Rio. She she was once one of Xuxa’s helpers. What a body! More.

4. Maria Fernanda Cândido (1974- ) is a television actress from Londrina, a city far to the south. She modelled in Europe and was on MTV, but made her name on “Terra Nostra” in 1999. That year she was voted the most beautiful woman of the century on the television show “Fantástico”.

5. Ildi Silva (1982- ) is a television actress from Bahia in the north. She was discovered on the streets of Salvador and became a model. She has brown skin and green eyes. At school she was known as the girl with the eyes of a cat. More.

6. Rojane Fradique (1986- ) is a fashion model from Salvador. She is tall (1.82 metres), extremely thin but looks like a work of art. In 2003 she placed second in Brazil in the Elite Model Look contest and 15th worldwide. More.

7. Raica Oliveira (1984- ) is a model from Niteroi, near Rio. She now lives in New York with her mother. She has been on the runway in Paris and Milan and in many fashion magazines and makeup ads. She is friends with fellow Brazilian models Adriana Lima and Ana Beatriz Barros.

8. Adriana Lima (1981- ) is a model from Salvador in Bahia, where she grew up without a father. She is the highest paid Brazilian model after Gisele Bundchen. She has modelled for Victoria’s Secret and Maybelline. She is friends with Raica Oliveira. More.

9. Valéria Monteiro (1965- ) is a radio and television news presenter who comes from Belo Horizonte. She has been on both Brazilian and American television (Discovery, Bloomberg, NBC).

10. Scheila Carvalho (1973- ) is a dancer from Minas Gerais. She was once part of the band É o Tchan!. She has been on television and in films. She was on the cover of Brazilian Playboy and was voted three times as the most physically desirable woman in the world by VIP magazine.