Rio, February 23, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Mangueira was the samba school that received greatest public applause in the Sambadrome, even though they had to hurry at the end to avoid overstepping the time limit. The Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, came especially from Bahia to honor Rio's Carnaval.

Incipient fires in two floats nearly spoiled the presentations of the Tijuca United and Salgueiro samba schools. Caprichosos de Pilares appeared on the avenue with an unprecedented number of children. São Clemente, which was the first to parade, had many German tourists, including three who won their costumes in a contest sponsored by the school on a German radio station.

Tijuca United finished its parade quickly, despite its large contingent of members (4,500), and Dercy Gonçalves [a veteran comic actress] was one of the main highlights.of the Salgueiro school.

Grande Rio covered some of its allegorical figures with sheets of green plastic and a black band on which the word "censorship" was written, in protest against a solicitation by the Public Prosecutors' Office to cover the couple on the Kama Sutra float, in response to a request by the Catholic church.

The parade was concluded by the Portela school, which brought seven floats, all of them with movements, built by artists from Parantins, Amazonas. The school is competing for the championship using the same theme that made it champion in 1970. The queen of the percussion section, Dodô, 84 years-old, was one of the school's attractions. (DAS)