How "A Favorita" Determined Our Favorite Songs

The first episode of a telenovela (capítulo ‘chapter’ in Brazil) carries massive responsibility. It introduces characters, sets the foundation for story arcs, starts off the love story, and presents (or at least hints at) the first challenge lovers will face. In the case of Brazilian telenovelas and their realistic nature, it also introduces the one or several current societal issues that will be either central or of great importance for the plot.

On top of all its responsibilities, the first episode of the telenovela also pre-defines what people will listen to in the upcoming months. Especially before the streaming era, it was the 9pm telenovela that defined which songs would chart #1 in the country – songs that would be played at wedding ceremonies, proms and birthday parties.

        Episode 1 is a kaleidoscope of sounds. If you are somewhere else other than in the living room when it starts, you might think someone is changing radio stations. It is a rollercoaster of theme songs stemming from local country love ballads to international pop anthems. The reasons for this wide range of genres are plenty. Music is intertwined with character design and just like each character gets their story arc, their backstory and their wardrobe, they also get a theme song. Songs are also bound to places and time. There is a theme song that prepares the viewer for a transition from the big city to the country, another one that tells you the story is moving from a rich to a poor neighborhood. In Manoel Carlos’s telenovelas, for example, bossa nova is played every time the story transitions to richer areas of Rio, such as Leblon or Ipanema, and pagode/samba tells us we are moving to poor neighborhoods or favelas.

Music may not play a central role in A Favorita (the telenovela of my choice), but it is intrinsic to the story. Years before the story starts, our protagonist Donatella and our antagonist Flora were a sertanejo (Brazilian country music) duo. Their career brought them together and tore them apart. Their tale, much like most country music stories, was that of love, loss and betrayal – I will expand on their relationship in upcoming entries to this blog.

Donatella and Flora on the cover of their debut sertanejo album.

Sertanejo also underlines one of the major societal issues discussed in the telenovela. Produced in the early 2000s, A Favorita addresses deforestation. Donatella’s ex-husband's rich family owns a paper factory in the fictional town of Triunfo, close to Sao Paulo. The town, founded to house the factory workers, is a humble, rural location that is a source of conflict for younger characters, such as Donatella’s daughter, Lara, who wishes to travel and see the world. Here, country music enriches wide shots of the forest, the field and the poor Triunfo neighborhoods.

Chitãozinho e Xororó's Sinônimos supports the transitions from the big city to Triunfo.

The prominence of the genre takes A Favorita one step further in music consumption. Because of the importance given to music played in telenovelas, Rede Globo releases special compilation albums with theme songs:

Flora (left) and Donatella (right) on the cover of A Favorita's compilation album

However, the strong environmental theme of the telenovela resulted in a special country album featuring renowned country singers from Brazil, like Leonardo, Daniel and Chitãozinho e Xororó, while also welcoming newcomers such as Jorge e Mateus, Edson e Hudson and César Menotti e Fabiano. Not surprisingly, however, these new sertanejo duos had their breakthrough in the telenovela music industry and remain famous today.

The cover of A Favorita's country album

A Favorita is not constrained to one music genre. The telenovela presents a clash of simplicity and glamor, of the rich and the poor, and of a rural town and a megalopolis. Shot mostly in Sao Paulo, it also welcomes globalization. The international songs add a sense of modernity and cosmopolitanism to the characters, locations and events. For instance, parties are often accompanied by David Guetta’s “Baby When The Light”, and transition shots from Triunfo to Sao Paulo are scored by Kate Nash’s “Pumpkin Soup”. The love story between Lara, the rich company heiress, and Cassiano, the grandson of a factory worker, is also young and modern. As a consequence, Cassiano’s melodrama and inner conflicts are supported by Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours”. Lara’s anguish and ambition is backed by Regina Spektor’s “Fidelity”.

Lara on the cover of A Favorita's international album

        The use of international music in telenovelas is common practice in Brazil. Yet, its comes at a price. Brazil is an essentially monolingual country – 99% of its population speaks Portuguese – and the rate of English speakers is not particularly high. This means that, for many, songs are limited to the melody and singing, and little to no attention will be paid to lyrics. A famous (consequential) example of this is Robie William’s “Sexed Up”. The song – constantly played in one of Manoel Carlos’s telenovelas – was a theme of a couple who would eventually break up. Despite the bitter lyrics in the lines of “screw you, I didn’t like your taste anyway”, it sounded like a love ballad. Therefore, people came to associate the song with love and, nowadays, if you ask Brazilian young adults, you will find at least one person who will tell you they heard the song at a friend’s wedding or a neighbor’s festa de debutante (Brazilian quinceanera).

This comical example illustrates the power of telenovela music for our culture and society. It reshapes our music charts, launches new musicians into success, and builds bridges between languages and cultures. Each character gets a theme. Each viewer relates to a character. And soon enough, a song in a language they do not speak comes to express how they feel.