The outcome of the election is open, but if he needed the support of the artistic class by the end of this week, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Labor Party would win the election. This does not mean that there is consensus in the artists’ political thinking, but that the proponents of the PT are much more vocal in showing their support.
While campaigns for a useful voice for Lula are gathering strong names in the final stretch and are being spearheaded by Caetano Veloso and Paula Lavigne, and artists like Anitta are declaring their voice for PT on the networks, those siding with Jair Bolsonaro are of the Liberal Party, rehearsed a timid virtual movement that only gained momentum on the eve of the first round.
This is reflected in last Monday’s PT campaignsponsored event in São Paulo. Lula gathered from Caetano and Gilberto Gil, who attended from a distance, to Pabllo Vittar, who was present at the meeting and was moved by his speech thanking the PT governments for their social policies.
The support goes beyond the music. From actress and model Bruna Marquezine to writer Itamar Vieira Junior, author of Torto Arado, Lula’s campaign has garnered impassioned videos and speeches in his favor. It’s a contrast to what’s happening with Bolsonaro.
Aided by a significant portion of country singers, the current president has lived with a certain silence of the artistic class. With the exception of a few louder names, such as the Latin American singer and singers of Raimundos, Digão, and of Ultraje a Rigor, Roger Moreira, there have been few public manifestations by wellknown artists in favor of the current president until this Saturday (1st). .
The list of names who have supported him in the past but haven’t spoken out on the networks for a while includes Gusttavo Lima, Zezé Di Camargo and Sérgio Reis to name a few. Lima, on the other hand, declared his vote for Bolsonaro at a concert in the USA this weekend.
Sorocaba from the duo Fernando & Sorocaba, Marrone from Bruno & Marrone were others who only entered the campaign in the closing stages. Ana Castela, one of the most important artists in agribusiness, opened one of her shows with references to the Brazilian flag and with Bolsonaro’s number on the ballot box displayed on the screen.
After videos of the event went viral, she said she was not taking any political stance. The show’s producer stated that the video shown in the opening was not made by the singer.
After being heavily criticized for charging public funds heavily, Gusttavo Lima distanced himself from politically biased comments in what became known as the “CPI of the Sertanejo”.
At the time, Lima cried live, saying that “it’s very sad to be ridiculed, treated like a criminal, a bandit.” “Here is a person, a father of a family, here nobody is a criminal,” he said. It was a sign that the singer was uncomfortable with the negative visibility he was receiving with the controversy.
He also stopped being a partner at Frigorífico Goiás, known for having created the socalled Picanha Mito with a kilo sold of R$ 1,800 in honor of the President. The singer did not clarify days before the first round whether he would continue to support Bolsonaro.
This fear of retaliation from the political demonstration was a key tenet of Bolsonaro’s own campaign. Lima’s case is still similar to that of the duo Zé Neto & Cristiano, who repeated the President’s speech when he said he doesn’t apply the Rouanet Law and criticized Anitta’s intimate tattoo.
But unlike Lima, Zé Neto continues to express his support for the PL candidate, albeit in a discreet way. He recently took a video to Instagram saying he was answering Bolsonaro’s number in the election “for the 22nd time” that his vote was secret.
But the different ways in which the artists appear in the election campaigns of the two frontrunners also have to do with very different strategies for operating in the networks. Supporting someone the size of Anitta, even though it was an important moment in Lula’s campaign, is not in the interest of his opponent’s movement.
Just keep in mind that to try to interact with this voice explanation, Bolsonaristas said Anitta would be a “vulgar woman” with a tattoo on her anus, a far cry from a demure female character.
And while Lula continues to post a slew of endorsements from the artists on his own social media, statements of support for Bolsonaro remain more confined to the profiles of those who choose to take a stand.
Sertanejos in general already have a habit of being less concerned with politics than their peers in other genres, whether in their music or in public office. In the 2022 elections it was in vain out of fear, caution or a strategic view of one’s own career.
On the one hand, bolsonaristas sertanejos fear image damage for the advertising market, public opinion and media circles, on the other hand those who are against the President also fear career damage as a result of their own positioning. This is the case of João Gomes, star of Piseiro, Forró’s electronic style, who appeared in a video supporting refrains against Bolsonaro at Rock in Rio.
His show in Imperatriz, a stronghold of Bolsonaro supporters in Maranhão, was almost canceled after the city’s rural union issued a statement saying it would not accept the singer’s presence at the exhibition park where the event would be held. The presentation was eventually moved to another location, and Gomes took to Twitter. “I wanted to apologize for mentioning a name I was never able to name,” he wrote.
For artists from the Sertanejo and in the case of Gomes also from Forró it is not interesting to buy a fight with these rural unions, since they are often behind the organization of agricultural fairs, important stages for the genre. Like agribusiness, these entities are largely allied with Bolsonaro.