Brazilian women behind bars in Rio de Janeiro held a singing contest on Friday inside a prison, dressing for a “Voice of Liberty” competition that organizers said was meant to spotlight talents and boost confidence ahead of the detainees’ release.
In a vast, echoing multipurpose hall, 15 candidates performed on a purple-themed stage before an audience that included prison officials, volunteers and fellow detainees, who clapped and sang along. Many contestants chose gospel songs, while others offered interpretations of MPB—Brazilian popular music in Portuguese—such as “Black Sheep” by the late singer Rita Lee.
A jurors’ panel that included actor and TV presenter David Brazil and singer Maurício Mattar watched the performances and attributed scores for voice, performance, presentation and charm. Fernanda Fernandes Domingues, 36, won first prize.
After taking the top honor, Domingues said, “I don’t even know what to say, I’m really happy!” She also said, “Music is a way of empowering myself in this sad time, because being in prison is sad.”
The contest followed preparations in the months before the event, including auditions, rehearsals, and makeup, costume and hair tests to add variety and stimulation to what the report described as a repetitive prison routine. On the day of the competition, candidates prepped in a room with mirrors and a dressing screen, vocalizing and shaking their arms to release nervous energy.
Rilary Cristina Leite, 31, said she used to sing in bars, at parties and at church before being arrested six years ago, and that she is due to leave prison in less than a year. She said the show offered a path toward rehabilitation by showcasing her skills, adding: “It’s magical because we’re doing what we want.” She said, “It means liberation for us. We’re in prison and art liberates us,” and described a dream of singing at the Rock in Rio festival.
This year’s “Voice of Liberty” competition, held under the theme “hope and emancipation,” was the third contest organized by Rio de Janeiro’s state prison administration authority, according to the report. Maria Rosa Lo Duca Nebel, Rio’s state secretary for penitentiary administration, said prison’s objective includes rehabilitation through work, studies, reading and—like on Friday—through culture, and that it also helps with the atmosphere inside the facility.
Nebel said the event helps calm tensions, saying, “This helps calm things down, in the sense that it eases the tension, because the prison system — even though this is a women’s unit — is an environment that’s tense by nature.” She added, “What we’ve provided here, with everyone’s presence, creates that sense of relief,”
Cassiane Victoria Moura Martins, who won last year’s show, said she has been singing since she was three and had performed on the radio and other public spaces before incarceration. She said she stopped after being incarcerated for involvement in drug-trafficking, then picked singing back up because of the contest, and aspired to sing professionally after release.
Martins said she plans to make videos for TikTok once she exits the facility, and she described the role music plays in her days: “When I sing, I feel at peace. It’s kind of like a calming medicine. I need it. So I sing, and everything is OK.”