Brazilian Soap Opera Openers!

During my year in Brazil, I was exposed to almost 20 different (and all eagerly followed by the local population) soap operas, called Novelas! In Brazil, Novela is a way of life, and by living there, you will hear their theme songs enough to have them permanently ingrained in your soul. So these following clips are songs that will stay with me forever- for better... or worse. :S

This first is from the novela, Viver a Vida (Live Life), which was the evening novela, and therefore the most popular, during my most important TV watching months (aka, the last few, when I actually understood the stuff they said) :

This Novela, was replacing one from earlier on in the year, called Caminho das Indias (translated by the International Soap Opera awards- or whatever they're called - as " India, a Love Story." But I'd called it "The Indian Way." ). I got to Brazil when this Novela was in it's heyday. And I hated it... being that I couldn't actually understand a single word that they said. But the Indian style music is pretty catchy!



Now we have my personal favorite, a Novela that was actually shown for the second time, Alma Gemea. This one really represented my growth in the Portuguese language, because I started watching her when I first arrived and didn't understand a word, and by the end, I was hanging on every word. This is a "spritualist" novela, so (spoiler alert!) ends with the lovers dying, but being reborn as other couples in the future, and the villain bursting into flames and seeing images of her wrong deeds among the flames. Oh well, all's well that ends well.... And I can sing the whole theme song!



And here is the next Spiritualist Novela... Esctiro nas Estelas (Written in the Stars), which I would watch under NO circumstances... It's like... Dude, I'm sorry your son died and is watching you, but can we like... get over ourselves now?



Okay, this next one is really tough for me. This Novela, Paraiso, (I'm sorry I'm missing the accents), was one of the worst things I saw on Brazilian TV. And that is a REALLY impressive thing... I mean, the opening scene is about horses in love... which is cute, but misleading, because the show is mostly about middle aged people's romantic difficulties... But on the other hand, I LOVE this song by Vitor e Leo! So normally, I'd just watch the opening and then turn the TV off!



And finally, (though not the last of the Novelas, but a long run!), my personal favorite song: the theme from Caras e Bocas (Faces and Mouths). This Novela was pretty silly (okay, downright stupid. I mean, it ended with monkeys falling in love....) it had it's dramatic moments (picture this: blind lady's fiance takes her out to a river, falls, hits his head, and she is now left to find a way home and save them both!) and I found it watchable when Everybody Hate's Chris (Todo Mundo Odeia Chris) wasn't on.