On April 6, 1965, Excelsior TV put on the grand finale of the 1st National Brazilian Popular Music Festival, which introduced Elis Regina —who sang the winning song, Arrastão , by Vinicius de Moraes and Edu Lobo—to a national audience.

This was the first time a music contest had been broadcast on TV in Brazil, and it marked the start of an era in which the great singers and songwriters of Brazilian popular music would become revered. The genre even became known simply by its Portuguese acronym, MPB (música popular brasileira).

In 1966, the Festival was held for a second year, and it would be the last time that Excelsior TV broadcast the musical extravaganza. The winning song was Porta Estandarte , written by Geraldo Vandré and Fernando Lona, and performed by Tuca and the singer-songwriter Airto Moreira, who was part of the group Quarteto Novo at the time.

It was after seeing an ad in a newspaper that the then unknown singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento (pictured) entered this second edition of the contest, finishing fourth with Baden Powell and Lula Freire's Cidade Vazia .

Later that year, Solano Ribeiro, the artistic producer who dreamed up the contest, would take the show's format to Record TV, which took over as the main broadcaster of Brazilian popular music festivals.

In September 1966, Record TV opened the doors of its theater in São Paulo for the 2nd Brazilian Popular Music Festival. The company had broadcast the 1960 edition on its radio channel, but this would be the first time it would air the show on TV.

In an unprecedented twist during the final, the organizers decided that two of the finalists should win the prize for best song: Disparada , written by Geraldo Vandré and Théo de Barros and sung by Jair Rodrigues (left), and A Banda , written by Chico Buarque (right) and performed by Nara Leão (center).

Dori Caymmi (left) and Nelson Motta co-wrote Saveiros . Performed by Nana Caymmi, it was the winning song in the Brazilian round of the 1st International Song Festival.

The International Song Festival was an annual event between 1966 and 1972. It was broadcast by Globo TV, with Rio TV also airing the first edition in 1966.

The contest was split into two rounds (national and international) and its seven-year run made it the longest-running music contest on Brazilian TV.

On the evening of October 21, 1967, the song Ponteio , written by Edu Lobo and Capinam, and performed by Edu Lobo and Marília Medalha, was crowned the winner of Record TV's 3rd Brazilian Popular Music Festival, beating 11 other finalists. The Record TV show was the most-watched song contest in Brazil.

That year's edition was also significant because it gave two young contestants from Bahia, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, the opportunity to break onto the scene with their brand of what would become known as Tropicália . Their experimental sound and esthetics were a move away from the cultural traditionalism of the time.

Gilberto Gil's Domingo no Parque , which Gil himself performed with backing from the group Os Mutantes, came second in the contest. With its mixture of orchestra, acoustic and electric guitars, and berimbau (a single-string percussion instrument), it became one of the most memorable songs from the song contests of the time.

Gilberto Gil had entered one of his songs in the 1966 Festival— Ensaio Geral , performed by Elis Regina. Later that year, he also entered the 1st International Song Festival with Minha Senhora , a song he co-wrote with Torquato Neto and that was performed at the festival by Gal Costa.

Chico Buarque and the group MPB-4 perform Roda Viva , which came third out of the 12 finalists. This song, with its traditional sound and revolutionary lyrics, was one of the standout moments of the extraordinary 1967 contest.

Backed by the Argentinian band Beat Boys, Caetano Veloso sings his own song Alegria Alegria , which finished fourth. Along with Gilberto Gil's Domingo no Parque, the song brought a new vision to Brazilian music, which was already undergoing transformation as the bossa nova era drew to a close.

The singer-songwriter Roberto Carlos and O Grupo perform Luiz Carlos Paraná's Maria, Carnaval e Cinzas . Already well known because of his leading role in the early rock 'n' roll Jovem Guarda (Young Guard) movement, and as one of biggest idols of young Brazilians at the time, Roberto Carlos ventured into samba at the 1967 festival and came fifth.

The following year, Roberto Carlos would win the 18th Italian International Song Festival, better known as the Sanremo Festival, with Sergio Endrigo's Canzone per Te .

In one of the most remarkable moments of the 1967 song contest, the veteran performer Sérgio Ricardo was greeted with boos from the 2,000-strong audience, which made it impossible for the singer to perform his samba song Beto Bom de Bola .

The singer's unexpected response was to smash his guitar and throw it into the audience and, as a result, his song was disqualified from the competition. The following year, Sérgio Ricardo's song Dia de Graça would finish fifth at the festival.

At the 2nd International Song Festival in 1967, the winning song was Margarida, which was written and performed by Gutemberg Guarabira with backing from Grupo Manifesto.

Having entered three songs, two of which made it through to the final of the contest, singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento (pictured) won best singer for his performance of Travessia , which he co-wrote with Fernando Brant. The song also finished second overall at the festival.

In November 1968, Tom Zé, the singer-songwriter from Bahia, took his São Paulo-inspired São São Paulo Meu Amor to first place at Record TV's 4th Brazilian Popular Music Festival.

As well as best song, Tom Zé also won the prize for best lyrics for his revolutionary song 2001 , which he co-wrote with Rita Lee. At the time, Rita Lee was a member of the group Os Mutantes and they performed the song at the festival, finishing fourth overall.

In 2014, during an interview for Folha TV, Tom Zé recalled his inspiration for the song São São Paulo Meu Amor, which came first at Record TV's 4th Brazilian Popular Music Festival.

Edu Lobo and Marília Medalha, who had performed the winning song Ponteio at the 1967 festival, return to the Record TV stage to sing Memórias de Marta Saré . Written by Edu Lobo and the actor and playwright Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, the song would come second in the 1968 edition.

Another highlight of the 1968 festival was Gal Costa's performance of the electrifying song Divino Maravilhoso , written by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. The song, which finished third, was highly politicized and reinforced the mood of resistance that Gil and Caetano had brought to the festival in 1967.

On December 13, 1968, four days after the festival's final was held, Brazil's military government introduced Institutional Act No. 5, commonly known as AI-5. It introduced authoritarian measures such as the imprisonment of political opponents and preventative censorship of the press and the arts.

In 1968, Record TV hosted the 1st Biannual Samba Festival, which featured young artists such as Paulinho da Viola, Chico Buarque, and Paulo César Pinheiro, as well as veteran performers like Cartola, Ataulfo Alves, and Pixinguinha.

First place at the festival went to the Afro-samba song Lapinha , which was written by Baden Powell and Paulo César Pinheiro, and performed by Elis Regina with the group Os Originais do Samba.

The second and last edition of the festival was held in 1971. The winning entry was the highly acclaimed song Pisa Nesse Chão com Força , which was written and performed by the singer-songwriter Geovana .

Cynara and Cybele sing Tom Jobim and Chico Buarque's Sábia . Despite a lot of booing from the audience, the song came first in both the national and international rounds of the Globo TV festival.

In second place was the event's most applauded song, Pra Não Dizer que Não Falei das Flores , which was written and performed by Geraldo Vandré. It was considered the song most symbolic of the struggle against the military dictatorship, which had seized power in Brazil in 1964.

It was to the sound of jeers that Caetano Veloso, backed by the group Os Mutantes, performed his anti-establishment song É Proibido Proibir during the state round of the 3rd International Song Festival in São Paulo on September 15, 1968.

Unhappy with the booing, the singer launched into an impromptu rant at the audience and the jury, calling the jury members “really nice but useless,” which led to his song being disqualified.

Record TV's 5th Brazilian Popular Music Festival brought to a close the successful series of events that had played a huge role in the growth of the music scene in Brazil.

The winning song was the masterful Sinal Fechado , written and performed by samba musician Paulinho da Viola. The song would become one of the great classics of Brazilian music.

Voted the best up-and-coming singer at the 4th International Song Festival, 18-year-old Evinha sang the winning song Cantiga por Luciana , written by Edmundo Souto and Paulinho Tapajós.

The curves found in Brazil's clouds, mountains, and rivers inspired Oscar Niemeyer's innovative and unmistakable style. Hailing from the Laranjeiros neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, he would become the most famous Brazilian architect of all time.

One of the architect's most significant works is the Church of St. Francis of Assisi—widely known as Pampulha Church—which was built between 1942 and 1943 in Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais State.

Along with the Golf Yacht Club, the Ballroom, and the Casino (now the Pampulha Art Museum), Pampulha Church forms part of the Pampulha Architectural Ensemble (Conjunto Arquitetônico da Pampulha) and was Niemeyer's first and most important Modernist work.

The work was commissioned by the then mayor of Belo Horizonte, Juscelino Kubitschek (1940–46), who wanted the Minas Gerais State capital to have a space for religion, leisure, and tourism. In 2016, the site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Two famous painters were involved in building the church: Paulo Werneck, who was responsible for the mosaics on the chapel's side walls, and Cândido Portinari, who created the exterior panel on the rear facade and the paintings inside.

As the first Modernist religious building in Brazil, Pampulha Church faced opposition from the church authorities and was only consecrated in 1959, 15 years after its initial design. Today, the church is considered Belo Horizonte's most important tourist landmark.

It was by invitation from Lúcio Costa, the pioneer of modern architecture in Brazil, that Niemeyer joined the team of architects working on the new Ministry of Education and Health building in Rio de Janeiro, in 1936. Today, the building is known as the Gustavo Capanema Palace.

Considered a hallmark of Modernist architecture in Brazil, the project was overseen by the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, one of the world's leading exponents of modern architecture.

The team working on the project included young architects Carlos Leão, Affonso Eduardo Reidy, Ernani Vasconcellos, and Jorge Moreira, visual artist Cândido Portinari, landscaper Burle Marx, and sculptors Bruno Giorgi, Celso Antônio, Jacques Lipchitz, and Adriana Janacópulos.

Built at the request of the then minister for education and health, Gustavo Capanema Filho, the building featured some of Le Corbusier's five points of architecture, including pilotis (slender columns) and a free facade. It was opened in 1945 and set a new standard for Brazilian architecture.

In 1952, work started on the Copan building—Latin America's largest housing complex, with 1,160 apartments. It was originally intended to be a hotel and tourism complex, and there was a rush to finish it in time for São Paulo's 400th anniversary, in 1954.

The project came about through a partnership between the North American International Hotels Corporation, which would later abandon the venture, and the National Real Estate Bank (Banco Nacional Imobiliário or BNI), owned by Roxo Loureiro and Octavio Frias de Oliveira , who would take over the Folha de São Paulo newspaper in 1962.

When President Getúlio Vargas's suicide caused a national crisis in 1954, financial difficulties forced the BNI to put the project on hold. Building work would resume in 1956, the year Niemeyer left the project to focus on building Brasília, Brazil's new capital.

In 1957, Bradesco Bank (Banco Bradesco) took over construction after buying the bankrupt BNI's assets. It hired architect Carlos Lemos—who had worked in Niemeyer's office in São Paulo—to oversee continuation of the building works, but Copan would not officially open until 1966.

On the building's 50th anniversary in 2016, Copan residents talk about what it is like to live in Brazil's largest apartment block.

Built to host the celebrations for São Paulo's 400th anniversary in 1954, Ibirapuera Park was a milestone in “Brazil's definitive acceptance of modern architecture,” according to Carlos Lemos—a member of Niemeyer's team of architects who designed the park's buildings.

In Niemeyer's design, there are six buildings, all different in shape, with five of them linked by a huge covered walkway. The landscaping was created by agricultural engineer Otávio Augusto Teixeira Mendes, who replaced the original landscaper Burle Marx.

On December 12, 1953, with only two of the park's pavilions built, the opening date was brought forward so that it could host the 2nd São Paulo Art Biennial. The official opening, originally scheduled in time for the city's 400th anniversary, was delayed for six months and finally took place on August 21, 1954.

Offering leisure, culture, and extensive green spaces, Ibirapuera Park is the most visited in São Paulo. In 2013, a survey by the US website TripAdvisor, named it the best park in Latin America and, the following year, the eighth best park in the world .

Popularly known as the "eye", due to its peculiar architecture, the Oscar Niemeyer Museum located in Curitiba, Paraná was designed in 1947 by the architect who lends his name to the museum.

The building was originally designed to house the headquarters of the Paraná Education Institute, but today it is occupied by the art museum, which is considered the largest in Latin America, with more than 35,000 square meters of built area.

In 1956, Niemeyer was asked by the then president, Juscelino Kubitschek, to build the new government buildings representing the three powers of the Brazilian Republic in Brasília, the country's new capital city.

Three Powers Plaza (Praça dos Três Poderes) is home to the Planalto Palace, the National Congress, and the Federal Supreme Court. Work to build the Planalto Palace—the President of the Republic's headquarters—began on July 10, 1958.

The idea to transfer the Brazilian capital from Rio de Janeiro to the country's central region was hatched shortly after Brazil was proclaimed a republic. The plan was even mentioned in the country's first constitution, which was ratified in 1891 by the government of the first Brazilian president, Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca.

The Planalto Palace was officially opened on April 21, 1960, as part of the celebrations for the founding of Brasília—the country's new capital, with urban design by the architect Lúcio Costa.

The National Congress in the Three Powers Plaza (Praça dos Três Poderes) is one of the most frequently visited tourist spots in Brazil's federal capital, and one of Niemeyer's most distinctive buildings. It too was officially opened on April 21, 1960, as part of the festivities to celebrate the founding of Brasília.

The National Congress—the seat of legislative power—is made up of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies (or House of Representatives). It is where the major political debates take place and the laws governing the country are drafted.

With its twin towers and two domes—one concave and the other convex—the National Congress is considered one of modern Brazilian architecture's most iconic buildings.

On December 6, 2007, nine days before Niemeyer's 100th birthday, the National Congress complex was given listed status by the advisory council at the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional).

Niemeyer's love of curved lines provided the inspiration for yet another of his iconic works: the Federal Supreme Court Palace, home to the highest court in Brazil (the Supremo Tribunal Federal).

The current Supreme Court building was opened on April 21, 1960—along with the other two government buildings in the Three Powers Plaza (Praça dos Três Poderes)—as part of Brasília's inauguration celebrations.

Guardian of the Federal Constitution, the Federal Supreme Court traces its origins to Portugal. It came to Brazil with the Portuguese Royal Family in 1808, becoming known as the House of Appeals of Brazil (Casa da Suplicação do Brasil).

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of Aparecida, better known as the Cathedral of Brasília, is one of Niemeyer's most important works. The cathedral's cornerstone was laid in 1958, but the building was not finished until May 31, 1970—12 years later.

The key features of the Cathedral's eye-catching design are its series of columns forming a hyperboloid shape, and its stained glass artwork. The artist responsible for the windows was the Franco-Brazilian Marianne Peretti—the only woman on Niemeyer's team. She died on April 25, 2022, at the age of 94.

In 1988, this building earned Niemeyer architecture's most prestigious award—the Pritzker Prize, which has been presented by the US-based Hyatt Foundation every year since 1979.

Opened on September 2, 1996, the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum (MAC de Niterói) in Greater Rio de Janeiro is another of Niemeyer's breathtaking works, and one of the most visited.

Built in the shape of a chalice and resembling a flying saucer, building work on the museum started in May 1991. Located on top of the Boa Viagem lookout point, it offers a panoramic view over Guanabara Bay and its surrounding mountains.

Niemeyer drew the first sketch for the museum on a paper napkin while he was having lunch with friends, shortly after the site had been chosen.