Alceu Valença he is about to kill what he calls “one of his greatest longings”. After three years of hiatus, the iconic singer from Pernambuco, from São Bento do Una, at the height of his 76 years, is preparing to perform, this Saturday (11), the first megabloco of this year’s Carnival in São Paulo.
O “Crazy Animal Beauty” which takes place from 14 hours on Ibirapuera’s Park, should attract over 450,000 people. Artists Juba – son of Alceu –, Mariana Aydar, Orquestra Tropicana de Frevo and Chico César – who will also parade in their own block, at 10am, in the same place, are expected.
In an interview with CNN, Alceu reports that he is more than ready to break with this carnival break forced by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I got Covid-19 three times, I’ve had all four vaccines. My health is excellent, wonderful, especially because of this return to the stage. When I’m on stage it’s the biggest vitamin there is for me. I become that boy who went to live in Recife, that boy from Carnaval, frevo, baião”, he said during the Zoom conversation.
More than used to the stage, he no longer feels nervous or even needs special preparations, but this time he even did something different.
“By chance, now I went to do pilates, I’ve done it twice, but it’s much more because of the stress”, he revealed. It’s not for less. The amount of concerts that she would normally do over the course of a month, during Carnival, saw a frenetic schedule of just over 10 days, sometimes with more than one show a day.
Carnival 2023 by Alceu Valença
- Feb/11: Bicho Maluco Beleza Block – São Paulo/SP
- Feb/16: Olinda/PE
- Feb/17: Jaboatão dos Guararapes/PE
- Feb/17: Marco Zero – Recife/PE (Participation in Geraldo Azevedo’s show)
- Feb/18: Boa Viagem Carnival – Recife/PE
- Feb/19: Paudalho/PE
- 21/Feb.: Carvalheira na Ladeira – Olinda/PE
- Feb/21: Ground Zero – Recife/PE
- 25/feb.: Camarote Folia Tropical, from Sapucaí – Rio de Janeiro/RJ
In the case of the block, it will be the seventh edition of the event, but only the first since it saw its numbers grow even more during the pandemic.
Her video singing “La Belle de Jour” and “Sunflower”, for example, has gained over 100 million views on YouTube in that period, reaching 245 million recently.
“I feel expanding to everything that is singing, things were expanding. The internet catapulted all of that. Nobody really understands why it happened, it’s viral”, said Alceu.
Recalling with nostalgia the feeling of being on top of the “Bicho Maluco Beleza” trio and driven by viralization, he said he hopes to see triple the audience compared to the last edition, in 2020. “If it is smaller, I will sing with the same I like it,” he joked.
“I will not do a dance”
Since he started to participate in university festivals in the 1970s, Alceu Valença’s music has always been well connected with Brazilian youth.
Even so, his team reported how, during the pandemic, the numbers of artists on different platforms had a significant increase.
Even taking advantage of the movement, for example, Alceu gained a profile on TikTok in 2021 to collaborate in the promotion of the album “Sem Pensar no Amanhã” – one of the four that he recorded during the pandemic in his “creative outbreak”.
Success in networks does not put pressure on you at all. “I tend to do things my own way. ‘Make one of these that is successful here.’ I respect it, you can do it, but I don’t, ”he said.
He recalls that, when he went to release “Cavalo de Pau” through Universal, in 1982, the disc was delivered with eight songs, but the label pressed for him to release with 12.
“I denied it, I said that the story I wanted to tell was already done. And it was the record that sold the most at the time”, said Alceu.
“My music always comes from things that remained in my unconscious. And these things have nothing to do with marketing, have nothing to do with the industry, nothing,” he added.
He himself does not have any social networks. In fact, I was never one to get too involved with the numbers. “I had no idea of sales, concerts, records sold. If you ask, I don’t even know my bank account numbers ”, he joked.
The singer said that, when he needs to communicate with fans directly, he writes and passes it on to his team to republish. He even has a sense of the virtual repercussions from what his wife, producer Yanê Montenegro, shows.
“I’d rather not have one because I would waste too much time looking at things. I see that I prefer to read. If I’m successful on TikTok, great. But I don’t think about it, I don’t think about any of that,” she said.
@alceuvalenca Forró caught on in an impressive way in Europe. In Germany, it was no different. The vibe of the Stuttgart crowd was so contagious that it even boiled the city’s thermometers. No song has more human warmth than Brazilian music. #alceuvalencaturneeuropa ♬ original sound – Alceu Valença
And if ByteDance’s virality on the Chinese social network is often linked to choreography and 15-second dances, Alceu makes it very clear: “I won’t do it. I will do whatever I want.”
“It’s no use coming to me with marketing stuff. Saying: ‘Lift your finger like this, do like this.’ No. I say no, ”she completed.
First shows without partner of 46 years
For Alceu, this will be the first Carnival in which he will go on stage and not see guitarist Paulo Rafael, his road partner for 46 years, beside him.
Pernambucano, also known for the band Ave Sangria, died in 2021, in Rio de Janeiro, from complications of liver cancer.
“It’s cruel, it’s sad, but we have to move on. Paulinho was one of the greatest friends I had in my life. It was like he was a brother of mine,” he recounted.
He fondly remembers how his entire family loved the guitarist: “He was a special artist. He didn’t go up in high heels. He was with me, we went to every festival in the world, tours in Europe, the United States, and he didn’t give a damn about it.”
The two were from nearby cities in Pernambuco – Paulinho de Caruaru, Alceu, from São Bento do Una. The two met when they moved to Recife.
“I had met him in a square, playing the guitar, and he ended up playing with me in a very natural way. I needed a bass player and they sent for him, because he played in Ave Sangria. He played with me on Opening festival, in São Paulo, at Theatro Municipal, and we never stopped”, said the singer.
During the pandemic, the two got together at a friend’s house, in Santa Catarina, and recorded the album “Alceu Valença e Paulo Rafael”, with re-recordings of old works and a new song.
Alceu remembers that Paulo was already sick, “but we thought he was going to get better”. The guitarist died in August 2021, and did not see the album released in April of the following year.
The singer says that, since then, he has not been able to listen to the last collaboration with his old friend more than twice: “It was beautiful, but it is agony, sad.”
But Alceu makes a point of smilingly pointing out that “Paulinho’s legacy continues in the songs” due to the details he imprinted on the songs.
“For example, I can’t sing “Coração Bobo” without that guitar intro by Paulinho. He is always present at concerts, ”she concluded.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
