É o Tchan!

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É o Tchan! is a popular pagode group from Salvador, Bahia, Brasil that have started in 1992.

[edit] History

Originally called Gera Samba, they exploded onto the scene with their hit single 'Segura o Tchan'. Their first album, called É o Tchan (1995), sold into triple platinum.

After legal problems, the name of the band changed from Gera Samba to É o Tchan and with this name, they released the album 'Na Cabeça e na Cintura' [In the Head and In the Waist].

The group became popular because of the combination of catchy music and pointless lyrics, with choreography performed by two dancers, a blonde (loira do Tchan) and a brunette (morena do Tchan). Both became big stars and did Playboy covers, with the Carla Perez cover being the bestselling until 1999, when the Tiazinha and Feiticeira issues outsold her. The brunette dancer, Scheila, was also a big star. Both dancers wore little tops and bootie shorts. The male dancer was, and still is, Afro-Brazilian Edson Gomes Cardoso Santos aka Jacaré.

Carla Perez was very popular among kids and teenagers, and so was the group. Many licensed products were released under her image, such as costumes, sticker albums and bootie shorts. Lots of polemic started when the highly erotic lyrics and choreography became popular among kids and contests of kids dancing É o Tchan became popular on TV. That generate a high number of haters.

Their 1996 album was the best-selling of the year, selling over 2 million copies in Brazil, and in 1997 they released another huge hit, the album 'É o Tchan do Brasil'. The album sold, again, over 2 million copies and was the best-selling of the year. It was released after the brunette dancer left the group and an audition was made at the highest-rated Sunday show in Brazil, O Domingão do Faustão. Soon after the release, Carla Perez decided to leave the group and start a solo career, and again another audition was made at Domingão do Faustão. The first prize was, aside from becoming a member of the group, the cover of a Playboy Magazine.

Their fourth album, third as É o Tchan, was not as much of a success as the first two, but sold really well, receiving a diamond certification. The CD, after É o Tchan do Brasil [It's the Tchan from Brasil], was called É o Tchan no Havai [It's the Tchan in Hawaii]. Their next album also received diamond certification, É o Tchan na Selva [It's the Tchan in the Jungle] and that was their last album to receive diamond certification. After that, the downfall of the group was iminent, nowsdays most of the people left for other groups or other musical styles.

The lineup has changed three times since then and they have released two other albums and a compilation, in 2000, 2001 and 2003, respectively. The group released, in 2005, a 10 Year's Celebrative DVD which was certificated three times platinum. Morenas and loiras of the group maintain the tradition of posing nude for men's magazines but, after their peak, less popular Revista Sexy has replaced Playboy in their preferences: Silmara Miranda (October 2003), Scheila Carvalho (October 2005), Aline Rosado & Juliane Almeida (February 2006).