Leci Brandão was the first woman to be invited to Mangueira's Ala dos Compositores (composer's section), in 1974. She wrote hits such as "Antes Que Eu Volte a Ser Nada," "Olodum Força Divina," "Dengue" (re-recorded by Zezé Motta), "Deixa Pra Lá," "Isso É Fundo de Quintal," "Só Quero Te Namorar," "Café Com Pão," "Papai Vadiou," and had a gold record with Um Beijo No Seu Coração and two Sharp prizes for the album Cidadã Brasileira. At 16, Brandão was already performing as a singer, starting to write sambas at 19. In 1968, she won first place on Flávio Cavalcanti's TV show A Grande Chance. In 1973, she won the II Encontro Nacional de Compositores de Samba (National Meeting of Samba Composers), with "Quero Sim" (with Darci da Mangueira). In 1974, her samba-enredo achieved second place in the Mangueira internal contest for the annual Carnaval parade, the year in which she recorded her first single; the first LP would come in the next year, Antes Que Eu Volte a Ser Nada, when she participated in the Abertura festival (TV Globo), classifying "Antes Que Eu Volte a Ser Nada." Brandão had a national hit in 1980 with the title-track of her Essa Tal Criatura. Rejected by recording companies for five years, Brandão intensified during that period her artistic participation in political campaigns and toured internationally through France, Japan, Denmark, U.S., and Angola. She also participated twice in the Projeto Pixinguinha, touring Brazil together with Joyce and then with the group Fundo de Quintal. Her next album after this was Dignidade (1987), which had the hit "Só Quero Te Namorar." "Olodum Força Divina," included on her 1988 LP Um Beijo No Seu Coração, brought her her first gold record. In 1990, she got two Sharp prizes for the album Cidadã Brasileira, with the successful "Maravilha -- Araketu, Semente da Memória" (Tonho Matéria). ~ Alvaro Neder