(9 Feb 2005) SHOTLIST
1. Pan of crowd in front of the Scala Club, the venue for the Grand Gala Gay Ball
2. Wide of crowd watching the entrance of the club
3. Wide of a transvestite posing for a photo before entering the ball
4. Esther Gim, a transvestite from New York, posing in front of the club
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Esther Gim, transvestite from New York:
"I'm overwhelmed. I'm in love with Brazil. I mean I've always been in love with Brazil. The worst part about this country is when you have to leave."
6. Pan of attendees entering the ball
7. Tilt up of party reveller doing the steps of a samba dance at the entrance of the ball
8. Various of music band performing at the ball and people dancing
9. Various of people dancing at the ball
10. Tilt up of a drag queen dancing
11. Esther Gim dancing at the ball
12. Michael Wilson, a painter from Seattle, dancing with others
13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Michael Wilson, a painter from Seattle:
"I feel very comfortable here in Brazil as a gay man. I feel like there is less prejudice and that people are much more accepting."
16. Tilt-up showing Italian transvestite dancing
17. Tilt-up showing three Spanish transvestites dancing
18. Tilt-up showing transvestite in yellow
19. Aerial pan from band on stage to wide of ball
STORYLINE:
Brazil's annual carnival ended on Tuesday night, after five days of celebrations across the country.
In Rio de Janeiro, the most visited place in the country, the festivities ended in style, with transvestites, drag queens and gay people from all over the world participating in the famous Grand Gala Gay Ball.
Thousands gathered in front of the Scala Club, the venue for the most famous gay ball in the South American Continent, to watch the ball-goers in their glamorous outfits arriving for the event.
Inside the venue, which was decorated with balloons and flowers, the band was playing Brazil's best known carnival songs.
According to Riotur - the city's tourist office - this summer time has attracted more gay people from all over the world to Rio de Janeiro than previous years.
And according to the Brazilian Hotel Industry Association - ABIH - a total of 770, 000 tourists participated in the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, twenty per cent of them from outside the country.
The Grand Gala Ball - which always falls on the last night of carnival before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent - has been a regular carnival fixture since the eighties.
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