Jennifer Lopez dazzles in Rio as carnival hits peak

Rio's riotous Carnival was in full swing on Monday as top samba schools paraded sumptuous allegorical floats and hundreds of exquisitely costumed performers to thumping drum beats. The night parades in Rio's hallowed Sambadrome marked the high point of the pre-Lent bacchanalian Carnival festival, which is bringing this racially diverse country of 191 million people virtually to a stop. As millions watched the sequin-clad samba dancers on Sunday, many eyes turned towards the stars, or at least towards the VIP boxes hosting celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Fergie. The Carnival parade has been attracting top celebrities for much of its 80 years. Many are brought in by attention-hungry Brazilian advertisers hoping to share some of the glow of the world's biggest party. This year, beer company Brahma was promoting Lopez, while hair care company Head and Shoulders hosted Fergie. Neither planned to actually parade in the all-night-long event, but J.Lo, resplendent in red pants and matching top, waved to the crowd from the posh VIP seats at the Sambadrome as 13 samba schools joined in a fierce, sweaty competition before tens of thousands inside and many more watching at home on television. At the parade, making its first appearance in the elite group of samba schools vying for the title of Carnival champion this year, Renascer, from the western district of Jacarepagua, led the way. It chose as a theme to showcase the life and work of Brazilian artist Romero Britto, a Recife-born painter and sculptor viewed as an icon of world pop culture who combined influences from cubism with pop, to create a vibrant, iconic style. Renascer illustrated the artist's style with dazzling costumes representing colourful butterflies, flamingoes and giraffes. Next came Portela, one of the city's oldest schools, which paid tribute to the late Samba singer Clara Nunes and through her to the rich African cultural and religious heritage of the northeastern state of Bahia. Led by percussionists of the Sons of Gandhi street band and with its trade mark golden eagle as a symbol, the school portrayed in dances and songs what is most important to the people of Bahia: faith, happiness, hope, belief and devotion. Seven top schools were showing off their best performers in the renovated sambodrome's 720-metre-long avenue in front a capacity crowd of 72,500 people.