Brazilian Bikini: March 2011

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Adriana Bombom (1974- ) is a Brazilian dancer and Carnival queen from Rio. On television she was one of Xuxa’s helpers and in 2007 was the host of a variety show, “Bom Demais”. Bombom is her stage name.

She is one of the most beautiful women in Brazil that I know of: she has a pretty face, a great smile and an amazing body – even though she is now in her early 30s and has given birth twice. She says sex is a great workout. Doing 50 sit-ups a day does not hurt either. She looks even better in motion than in still pictures.

During Carnival, schools of samba, as they are called, hope to win by putting on the best and most breathtaking show as they play music and dance their way down the street. Every school has its own queen, who dances just ahead of the drummers. Bombom is the queen for the Portela school in Rio. Every city in Brazil has Carnival, but the one in Rio is the most famous.

Carnival queens sometimes wear little more than paint and sparkle, so having a great body matters. Carnival, remember, is Latin for “goodbye to flesh”, coming as it does in the last days before Lent.

In 2004 she came out with some naked pictures of herself. Her husband even helped her to pick out which pictures to print!

She was not always like this. As a girl growing up she was very modest and knew nothing about sex. She had no mother or father, so she grew up in an orphanage.

With her beauty she could have married a handsome football player, but instead she married Dudu Nobre, a samba musician who is not even quite as tall as she is. Somehow he won her heart. They have two girls: Olivia, born in 2002, and Thalita, born a year later.

She also sings and acts and has appeared on television as a host and reporter.

One of her songs seems to be a love song sung to a woman. She says the idea never crossed her mind.

She became known in Brazil first as a paquita, one of Xuxa’s helpers. She also appeared in some of Xuxa’s films. Later she took part in the television shows “A Turna no Didi”, “Sob Nova Direção” and “Malhação” (where she appeared in 1998 as Julieta). She was also the main character in the 2004 film, “A incrível história da mulher que mudou de cor”.

Her show “Bom Demais” lasted only a year: it came in second place with audiences.

She often lets her feelings get the best of her.

She says black women are full of fire, being one herself. That is why men lose their heads over them.

As a dancer she would have never been famous in America, certainly not famous enough to appear on the cover of a magazine or get her own television show. But she lives in the land of Carnival.

Black Brazilian models

Here are the most beautiful black Brazilian women models that I know of who are famous enough to be in the Portuguese Wikipedia. Some no longer model, but all have modelled at some point. I count as black anyone who is Afro-Brazilian, which is close to the English meaning of the word.

1. Taís Araújo (1978- ), from Rio, became the first black actress to appear as a main character in a telenovela on Brazilian television. She is a presenter on the television show “Superbonita”, about how to be beautiful! More.

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

3. Ildi Silva (1982- ) is a television actress from Bahia. She was discovered on the streets of Salvador and became a model. She says that in Brazil she is seen as neither black nor white. According to the BBC she is one-fifth African by blood and one-tenth native Indian. Her green eyes are Dutch. More.

4. Rojane Fradique (1986- ) is a fashion model from Bahia in the north where most people are black. 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.

5. Camila Pitanga (1977- ) is a Brazilian model and television actress from Rio. Best known in Brazil as Bebel on the telenovela “Paraíso Tropical”. Ildi Silva, listed above, plays a secretary on the same show. Her father is black, her mother is white.

6. 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.

7. Lucy Ramos (1982- ) is a model and television actress. She is best known for her role in the show “Sinhá Moça”. She was born in Recife in Pernambuco. More.

8. Marina Montini (1948-2006) was a beauty from Rio in the 1960s and 1970s. She was so beautiful that men painted pictures of her, especially Di Cavalcanti. Her heavy drinking brought her to an early end at age 58.

9. Suyane Moreira (1982- ), from the state of Ceara in the north, is part black, part native Indian. She has been in Vogue magazine in Italy, Germany and France and on the runways in London and New York. She says that people hold her colour and her looks against her more often in Brazil than elsewhere.

10. Deise Nunes (1968- ) was Miss Brazil in 1986, the first black woman to win the title and, more than 20 years later, still the only one. She came in sixth place in Miss Universe.

Black models in Brazil have broken into advertising since the 1990s, but the fashion industry is still very white.

The most beautiful white Brazilian women

Here are the ten most beautiful white Brazilian women that I know of who are famous enough to have their own article in the Portuguese Wikipedia. Merely my opinion, of course. This is very much a work in progress.

Note that most whites in Brazil are at least one tenth African by blood and many have native Indian blood as well. It is hard to know where to draw the line between whites and everyone else.

1. 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”

2. 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.

3. 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).

4. 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. She looks like she is part native Indian.

5. Carol Castro (1984- ) is a television actress from Rio. She was Ruth in “O Profeta”.

6. Camila Rodrigues (1983- ) is a television actress from Sao Paulo state. She was Mari in “America”.

7. Fernanda Tavares (1980- ) is a supermodel from Natal.

8. Isadora Ribeiro (1965- ) is a television actress from Curitiba. She has been on television for most of the past 20 years, mainly on Globo. She is part native Indian. When she appeared on the cover of Brazilian Playboy in 1989 and 1991. Her father stopped talking to her for a while after that.

9. Juliana Paes (1979- ) is a Brazilian actress who grew up in Niteroi. In most of her pictures she is just pretty, not beautiful, but sometimes she can be very beautiful. She has been considered as a possible Bond girl for the next James Bond film.

10. Camila Finn (1991- ) became the first Brazilian ever to place first worldwide in the Ford Supermodel of the World. Adriana Lima came in second in the same contest eight years before.

Whites in Brazil come mainly from Portugal and Italy, though some come from Spain, Lebanon, Germany and Poland too. So you see Nordic women there, like Xuxa and Gisele Bundchen. You do not see them in this list because I prefer Mediterranean and black women.

The most beautiful black Brazilian women

Here are the ten most beautiful black Brazilian women that I know of who are famous enough to have an article in the Wikipedia (in Portuguese). Brazil has more black women than any place in the world outside Africa, even more than America.

This is very much a work in progress: whenever I find out about one who is more beautiful than any of these I will add her and kick out number ten. And so on. I take age into account.

I count as black anyone whom Brazilians consider to be Afro-Brazilian.

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

2. Taís Araújo (1978- ) became the first black actress to appear as a main character in a telenovela on Brazilian television. 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. Ildi Silva (1982- ) is a television actress from Bahia. She was discovered on the streets of Salvador and became a model. She says that in Brazil she is seen as neither black nor white. According to the BBC she is one-fifth African by blood and one-tenth native Indian. Her green eyes are Dutch. More.

5. Rojane Fradique (1986- ) is a fashion model from Bahia in the north where most people are black. 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.

6. Camila Pitanga (1977- ) is a Brazilian model and television actress from Rio. Best known in Brazil as Bebel on the telenovela “Paraíso Tropical”. Ildi Silva, listed above, plays a secretary on the same show.

7. Adriana Lima (1981- ) She has modelled for Victoria’s Secret and Maybelline. She one of the richest and best-known Brazilians in the world. More.

8. Adriana Lessa (1971- ) is an actress and singer from Sao Paulo. She has appeared on Brazilian television throughout the 1990s and 2000s. She has a long nose and big, beautiful eyes – and a good website in English.

9. Valquíria Ribeiro (c. 1977- ) is a television actress. She is best known as the mother of the main character on the show “A Escrava Isaura”.

10. Lucy Ramos (1982- ) is a model and television actress. She is best known for playing Adelaide in the telenovela “Sinhá Moça”. She was born in Recife in Pernambuco. More.

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.