He may sadly no longer be around to provide a musical backdrop to Saturday’s World Cup draw in Rio de Janeiro, but late “king of pop” Michael Jackson is proving a crowd-puller as tourists flock to see the favela, or shanty town, in the Dona Marta district where he recorded a video 15 years ago.
Since “Wacko Jacko” gyrated around the area, minders on hand just in case, the area has been “pacified” as part of efforts by the Brazilian authorities to stem violence in time for the 2014 World Cup.
“Rio Top Tour” is a project, created by residents themselves, which has brought visitors flocking to Dona Marta with aid from the authorities, who hope that spin-offs from tourism both before and during the World Cup — and also the Olympics in 2016 — will prove a boon.
“I came to see the area Michael Jackson picked out for his video, but I discovered much more. I saw how people live here and how friendly the people are and I am very surprised. I really didn’t know it was a favela,” Belgian tourist Denis Francois said.
Francois was able, by taking the monorail high up to the top of the town, to look over Dona Marta, a maze of narrow and winding streets, and see where Jackson famously recorded his track They Don’t Care About Us.
With the World Cup looming, authorities are keen to show that they do care.
In the same square, Spanish student Senen Hermidia couldn’t resist the urge to strike Jacksonesque poses beside a statue and a mosaic of the former “king of pop.”
“I loved his stuff from when I was very young. I’ve never before been close to anything to do with Michael Jackson or in a place where he was,” Hermidia said.
The Brazilian ministry of tourism is supporting the “Rio Top Tour,” which was created in August last year and employs residents to act as guides, who can pass on their first-hand knowledge of the area and its attractions.
A tour costs about US$15.
Salete Martins, a food vendor in the favela, is able to supplement his usual earnings by working as one of the guides.
“Tourists tell me what they’re interested in and I work out a route. I like serving the visitors as it’s good for business and also for the community,” Martins said. “The more people come and go home with good things about us to say, the better.”
Rio authorities began a “pacification” of favela areas with an eye to “cleaning up” the metropolis for the World Cup and the Olympic Games and increasing the police presence in poor areas, many of which have been in thrall to drug traffickers.
Santa Marta was one of the first favela to benefit from the program in receiving special police units for the purpose.
Twenty other communities had already benefited from a similar beefing up of community police.
Even so, some intrepid tourists did come to Santa Marta before “Rio Top Tour” began to increase visitor numbers, with specialist agencies assigning them guides who were not from the community.
What “Rio Top Tour” has managed to do is draw the locals into the process and many are now benefiting, including Miranda, owner of a little bar that can be seen fleetingly in the Jackson video.
Miranda asked for a loan to expand and diversify into selling shirts imprinted with logos of the favela.
Francois, impressed with what he has seen, duly buys his “been there, got the T-shirt” souvenir.
While Miranda sells her shirts, another local, Leonardo Luis, has set up a stall selling traditional caipirinha drinks just opposite the Jackson statue.
In the main tourist season of November to March, local artisans also have stalls selling souvenirs.
Given the general feeling of security in Santa Marta, some tourists elect to wander around without a guide armed only with a map and list of the main sights in English and Portuguese.
Peruvian student Erick Cerquera says he enjoyed his day out in the favela immensely.
“It was interesting to see how people live here; how they went to live on top of a hill, and also to see the city from above,” Cerquera said. “The experience was definitely well worth it.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to