Xuxa’s 60th birthday has black paquita and anti-Bolsonaro choir; know how it was

The celebration of Xuxa Meneghel’s 60th birthday, aboard a thematic ship full of fans, confirms the more mature stage of the presenter, who seems ready to address topics that were considered taboo during her career. There was room for political demonstrations and, on stage, she had black paquitas — a response to criticism that she only had blonde assistants in her programs.

Xuxa disembarked from the ship set up in the water park of the ship MSC Fantasia around 10:30 pm. To the sound of “Lua de Cristal”, she made the approximately 4,000 passengers who filled the space run to try to get a good view of the stage. As the VIP area, in front of the stage, was higher than the track, right behind, some eager fans climbed on the bars.

“Six hours waiting here for this”, complained a fan, who ended up missing Xuxa’s entry. Disgusted, those without a view of the stage began to shout “down, down, down!” When they were not answered, some threw water and ice on people who were blocking their view.

Right at the beginning, Xuxa made a point of introducing the corps de baile, formed by new “paquitas and paquitos”, including several black people. Some of them had already worked with Xuxa on Dancing Brasil, a program she presented on Record between 2017 and 2019.

The presenter did not comment on the news. In recent interviews she has said that she always wanted to have black paquitas, but was forbidden by her then director Marlene Mattos. So much so that the only one that existed was in the American version of her program, where she had another director. Mattos, in turn, has preferred not to respond to the accusations.

The first part of the show was dedicated to songs from the repertoire that she sang on Xou da Xuxa, which was shown from 1986 to 1992 on Globo. When singing “Ilariê”, one of her biggest hits, the screens showed images of programs she did in countries like Argentina, Chile and Spain, among others.

Between one song and another, Xuxa talked to the audience, sometimes using motivational phrases that marked her speech for a long time (“if you want to give a gift to me and to God, be very happy”), sometimes making fun of her new age (” now when I perform, everything hurts, because I’m almost like a grandma”).

Considered an icon by the LGBTQIA+ community, she also made some affection for this audience. One of them was asking the women and then the men to scream. “Where is the cry of women? And of men? Who is not a man and is not a woman?”. Disappointed with the low adherence to the last question, she asked: “Are you ashamed of who is on your side?” “No need, here you can be whoever you want”, she amended.

However, it was after the break —during which DJ Marlboro played a set of funks from the early 2000s— that Xuxa returned, more activist than ever. Rainbow and trans movement flags, among others, were displayed on the screen and waved by the dancers, as she sang that “every color has a light in it, a certain magic”.

At the end of the song, she even amended another line about tolerance by asking for “more respect and more love”. “The world badly needs people to respect differences, whatever they may be,” she said. “I’m sure that’s the only language God understands.”

Next, she made the symbol of love in pounds (the Brazilian sign language). “This is the symbol we have to make, not this one”, she commented, while making a “gun” with her hand. The gesture was closely associated with former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who during his term in office made access to guns more flexible.

That’s when she started singing “Good News” (from the chorus “From now on, I just want good news”). While the music played, the screen displayed black and white images of the January 8 attacks on Brasília, quotes from the murder of Marielle Franco and newspaper clippings talking about deforestation, among other subjects.

In the end, some present started a chorus with the phrase: “Hey, Bolsonaro, go take it in the ass”. Xuxa did not manifest and, with the low adherence, the screams ceased shortly afterwards.

Back to softer subjects, she made her daughter, Sasha Meneghel, blush by reinforcing her desire to become a grandmother. “I’ve been called so many things in this life, good and bad,” she said. “Today at [sessão de] photo with the fans, one person told me: ‘You were my mother for a long time’. I’ve been a toy, electronic babysitter, aunt… Now I’m dying to be called grandma.”

At midnight, the fans tried to sing happy birthday to the blonde, but she didn’t want to leave the script. “Hold on, don’t do that,” she asked. That’s when she announced who would go up on the ship with her — a privilege for few in her program. “I’ve never done that with that person with me”, she said, before her husband Junno Andrade entered the stage.

Together, they performed “Doce Mel”, the classic closing of their Globo program. At the end of the song, the audience continued singing the chorus “sweet, sweet, sweet, life is sweet, life is honey, which drips in the mouth like a candy, piece of heaven”, bringing the presenter to tears.

Junno then pulled “Congratulations from Xuxa”. “I’ve been with this person for ten years and every day I see her singing happy birthday to someone, nothing fairer than us singing to her”, he said. That’s when Sasha entered the stage with a cake, accompanied by her husband João Figueiredo and several former paquitas and other professionals who went through Xuxa’s life.

The birthday girl, however, barely took a bite of the cake before getting into her ship with Junno and leaving, leaving the fans to the sound of “Kiss, Kiss”.

CHECK THE SET LIST OF THE PRESENTATION

“Crystal Moon”
“Xuxa’s Xou Began”
“Ilarie”
“Xuxa Dance”
“Xuxalelê”
“I’m Good With Life”
“I am happy”
“Xuxa’s ABC”
“Punch beat twist”
“Dancing with the Txutxucão”
“Head, Shoulder, Knee and Foot”
“Statue”
“Five Ducklings”
(interval)
“Rainbow”
“Good news”
“Planet Xuxa”
“I marked an X”
“Pine for You”
“Xuxaxé”
“Our Song of Peace”
“Tindolelê”
“Sweet Honey”
“Congratulations from Xuxa”
“Kiss, Kiss”