The Camarote Expresso 2222 and the encounters in Bahia’s Carnaval

The trendy start, and Flora Gil’s dedication in turning the space into the glamour epicenter of the Bahia party, made celebrities flow to the box. Placed by the sea front, in the so-called Dodô Circuit—which goes from Farol da Barra all the way to Largo de Ondina—, where the main stars of Salvador’s Carnaval parade through, Camarote Expresso 2222 made its first house in the Oceania Building, up until 2007, when it moved on to another spot within the same circuit. In 2016, the box went back to its original spot, always keeping the glamour of being the pilgrimage converge point for the celebrities, onlookers, and fans, who annually attend the Salvador party.

The Oceania Building was handpicked: the view from the balcony would reach the holding area of music trucks waiting to parade. There, celebrities would line up, ranging from American manager and musical producer Quincy Jones, in 2006, the Midas of artists such as Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, and Tony Bennet; to Bono Vox, U2 lead singer, who, in that same year, went with his band to Salvador just to check what Bahia’s Carnaval had to offer.

The archbishop emeritus of the Anglican Church and Peace Nobel Prize winner, South-African Desmond Tutu, was also in Salvador, in 2007, as a special guest. Said Bishop Desmond Tutu, back then:

In 2003, Humberto Costa, minister of Health, had the full tour and went up on the music truck Expresso 2222 especially to promote the AIDS prevention campaign during Carnaval, sided by Gil and singers Toni Garrido, Sandra de Sá, and musician Armandinho.  Also that year, Walfrido dos Mares Guia, the Minister of Tourism, followed in the footsteps of the Minister of Health.

And moving on with the list of public figures, there were Jacques Wagner, then-Bahia state governor, who took with him Eduardo Campos, former governor of Pernambuco state; then-governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sérgio Cabral, had to share the box with his political rival, Denise Frossard, who had run against him for the office. Yet both of them attended with the same goal: to watch from the balcony as the Expresso 2222 music truck crosses the circuit. As peaceful as it gets, as the democratic manners of the place dictate.

YouTube influencers also paraded on Expresso 2222, such as the Rabello family, from Paraíba, who gave origin to the meme of a girl called Luiza, who went to Canada. On Carnaval Tuesday in 2012, all of them were there, including Luiza. Another super hit of the content platform, South-Korean singer Psy—who, with “Gangnam Style,” was the first world-class artist to hit a billion views on YouTube, in 2012—toured with Expresso 2222 on Carnaval Friday in 2013.

The Rio de Janeiro samba school Grande Rio had also been to Expresso 2222; along with Zeca Pagodinho and Alcione, it paid homage to the samba rhythm, the VIP box’s theme in 2007; senator Aécio Neves, who was in the middle of the run for the presidential office in 2014 and yet visited the space along his Salvador’s mayor and friend, ACM Neto, taking the opportunity to break the news that his wife, Letícia Weber, was pregnant with twins. The list goes on: Bahia-born actor Luís Miranda, filmmaker Andrucha Waddington, actors Marisa Orth and Carolina Dieckmann (the latter being one of Preta Gil’s best friends), football player Ronaldo Fenômeno, actor Selton Mello, model and actor Luiza Brunet… among many others, who compose the myriad of Brazilian and world cultural diversity of which the host is so fond.