Nossa

     I first listened to Brazilian música caipira with Leandro e Leanardo. Their beautiful Temporal de Amor is still my favorite song. Like American country music, música caipira has evolved into something more Paul Simon than Sons of the Pioneers.
     This past weekend my wife and I ventured to a Brazilian restaurant, Carne do Brasil, run by my friend Ivo. Ivo plastered his churrascaria's walls with flat screens on which he plays DVDs of Brazilian musicians. That is how I came to discover Michel Teló. I come late to the party, I know, but I get there.
     Outside the United States, Michel Teló is the biggest music star on the planet. His rendition of "Ai se eu te pego" topped the music charts across Latin America and most of Europe.
     Here he is singing at the Planeta atlantida in Rio Grande do Sul earlier this year (at 4:17 he crosses to stage right where a group of 40 young women are singing the English version and proceeds to sing with them; that's why people like him so much; he invites you to party with him, and he parties with you):

     For those of you who don't speak Portuguese, MT reports the success of "Ai se eu te pego" across Europe and Latin America. After he sings in English, he tells the crowd that he prefers to sing in Portuguese.
     I understand. My native language is English, and I prefer to sing in Portuguese.
     Tenha um bom dia e, para ser feliz, sempre canta.