Emilinha Borba

At Rádio Nacional, Emilinha Borba rose to become Brazil’s most adored vocalist on a national scale, topping an internal fan-mail poll as its undisputed leader for nineteen straight years from 1946 until the survey ended in 1964. The peak of Brazilian radio’s cultural reach coincided with her time there, when a shrewd publicity campaign fabricated a supposed feud with Marlene that pitted the country’s two leading singers against each other and galvanized millions of listeners across the nation. Her carnival anthems quickly entered the seasonal canon and continue to resurface each year: “Pirolito” (1939), “Chiquita Bacana” (1949), “Tomara Que Chova” (1951), “A Água Lava Tudo” (1955), “Pescador Granfino” (1956), “Vai Com Jeito” (1957), “Corre, Corre Lambretinha” (1958), “Mamãe Eu Vou Às Compras” (1959), “Marcha do Pintinho” (1961), “Pó de Mico” (1963), “Marcha do Remador” (1964), “Mulata Iê-Iê-Iê” (1965), “Can-Can no Carnaval” (1966), “A Patroa Me Contou” (1967), “Israel” (1973), “Cordão da Bahia” (1975), among others. She became the first artist to issue a commercial pressing of a samba-school samba-enredo, “Brasil Fontes das Artes,” composed by members of Salgueiro in 1957, and likewise the first to cut a commercially released theme from a radio soap opera, Jerônimo, o Herói do Sertão (1955), originally broadcast on Rádio Nacional in Rio de Janeiro and later adapted for TV Tupi. Her image graced the cover of Revista do Rádio more than fifty times, and she appeared in thirty-four films, among them Poeira de Estrelas (Moacir Fenelon, 1948), Estou Aí (José Cajado Filho, 1949), Aviso aos Navegantes (Watson Macedo, 1950), and Barnabé, Tu És Meu (José Carlos Burle, 1952). Between 1939 and 1965 she released 117 discs containing 216 tracks, securing her place among Brazil’s most consequential vocalists.

Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro’s Mangueira neighborhood, she maintained an enduring bond with the local samba school. As a teenager she began entering amateur contests, claiming her first trophy at fourteen during Hora Juvenil on Rádio Cruzeiro do Sul and earning top marks on Ary Barroso’s Calouros de Ary Barroso. She simultaneously worked as a backing vocalist for Columbia and formed the short-lived duo As Moreninhas with Bidu Reis. After the partnership dissolved, she joined Rádio Mayrink Veiga. In January 1939 she recorded the year’s carnival smash “Pirolito” (João de Barro) alongside Nilton Paz, though the label omitted her name; that March she issued her debut solo Columbia single under the spelling Emília Borba, pairing “Faça o Mesmo” (E. Frazão/Nássara) with “Ninguém Escapa” (E. Frazão). Later the same year Carmen Miranda introduced the underage singer to Joaquim Rolas, proprietor of Cassino da Urca, who placed her on the club’s roster. In 1942 she joined Rádio Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, departed after several months, and returned to its roster in September 1943, remaining its principal attraction for the next twenty-seven years. She performed on virtually every program the station broadcast, yet her strongest association was with César de Alencar’s show, where she frequently collaborated. Overwhelming success arrived in 1947 with the rumbas “Escandalosa” (Djalma Esteves/Moacir Silva), “Rumba de Jacarepaguá” (Haroldo Barbosa), “Tico-Tico na Rumba” (Haroldo Barbosa/Peterpan), and the samba “Se Queres Saber” (Peterpan). The following year brought further hits: “Já é de Madrugada” (Peterpan/Antônio Almeida), “Telefonista” (Peterpan/Augusto Monteiro), “Esperar por Quê?” (José Maria de Abreu/Alberto Ribeiro), and “Quem Quiser Ver Vá Lá” (Peterpan/René Bittencourt). In 1949, alongside the marcha “Chiquita Bacana” (João de Barro/Alberto Ribeiro), she cut “Porta-Bandeira” (Nássara/Roberto Martins) and “Tem Marujo no Mar” (João de Barro). After ceding the Queen of Radio title to Marlene in 1949, the two singers released the duets “Eu Já Vi Tudo” (Peterpan), “Casca de Arroz” (Arlindo Marques Júnior/Roberto Roberti), and “A Bandinha do Irajá” (Murilo Caldas) in 1950, bewildering their respective fan bases. Emilinha’s version of “Tomara Que Chova” (Paquito/Romeu Gentil) dominated Carnival 1951. Success persisted into the mid-sixties with “Pó-de-Mico” (1963), “Marcha do Remador” (1964), and “Mulata Iê-Iê-Iê” (1965), but the rise of newer styles gradually reduced her visibility. A vocal-cord infection in 1968 permanently altered her timbre. She reappeared publicly in 1972 at a concert held by Clube de Regatas Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro, then won the Canecão Carnival competition in 1973 with the marcha “Israel” (João Roberto Kelly). In 1990 she marked fifty years in music with a six-thousand-person parade through Rio followed by a residency at Teatro Rival and the LP O Carnaval de João Roberto Kelly Na Voz de Emilinha Borba.