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Salsa e Merengue

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Salsa e Merengue
GenreTelenovela
Created byMiguel Falabella and Maria Carmem Barbosa
Directed byWolf Maya
Starring
Opening theme"María"
by Ricky Martin
Country of originBrazil
Original languagePortuguese
No. of episodes185
Production
Running time45 minutes
Original release
NetworkTV Globo
ReleaseSeptember 30, 1996 (1996-09-30) –
May 2, 1997 (1997-05-02)

Salsa e Merengue is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast at the 7pm timeslot by TV Globo, from September 30, 1996 to May 2, 1997, in 185 episodes.[1]

It is written by Miguel Falabella and Maria Carmem Barbosa, with text supervision of Gilberto Braga and directed by Wolf Maya.

The telenovela stars Patrícia França, Marcos Palmeira, Marcello Antony, Débora Bloch, Victor Fasano, Laura Cardoso, Arlete Salles, Bia Nunnes, José D'Artagnan Júnior, Rosamaria Murtinho, Walmor Chagas and Cristiana Oliveira in the main roles.

Plot

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A rich woman named Bárbara gives birth to a dead child, however without her knowledge, her husband Guilherme exchanges the child's body for a baby whose mother is poor and cannot afford to raise the child. 30 years later, Eugênio, the exchanged child, develops leukemia and is in need of an urgent marrow transplant. The donation of a blood relative is required for the surgery and with the risk of his son dying, Guilherme tells Bárbara about the exchange. The two go in search of Anabel Muñoz, Eugênio’s birth mother.

Anabel never told anyone about the pregnancy, but never forgot the son she had with Urbano. Anabel later met her late husband Félix Munõz, with whom she had five other children: Valentim, Remédios , Amparo, Assunção, and Antônio. With Eugênio’s reappearance in her life, Anabel is forced reveal the truth. Eugênio, who thought he was the son of millionaires, discovers that his real family is poor. The tests show that Anabel’s bone marrow is incompatible with Eugênio. Because of this, Anabel reveals another secret: Valentim is also Urbano's son. Valentim is faced with the situation of having to donate bone marrow for a brother he doesn’t know. To make matters worse, Eugene and Valentim fall in love with the same woman, Madalena.[2]

Cast

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Special guest stars

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Production

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Salsa e Merengue is the first telenovela written by the duo Maria Carmem Barbosa and Miguel Falabella. In order to be able to write the telenovela with ease, Falabella took a month's leave from the comedy show Sai de Baixo.[3][1] The telenovela had around forty scenes shot in Miami, with the cost of filming being around 300 thousand dollars.[4][5]

In the first few weeks, the telenovela aired a topless scene at 7 pm. The scene was made at the request of the production team.[6]

The opening credits sequence showed people dancing to the rhythm of salsa and merengue, to the song María by Ricky Martin, which was a hit at the time. Meanwhile, a complementary soundtrack, Bailando Salsa e Merengue, was released containing the songs featured in the telenovela.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "'Salsa e Merengue' estréia hoje na Globo". folha.uol.com.br (in Portuguese). 30 September 1996. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  2. ^ "Trama Principal | Salsa e Merengue". memoriaglobo.globo.com (in Portuguese). 28 October 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  3. ^ Guerini, Elaine (29 September 1996). "Falabella se diverte como autor". folha.uol.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  4. ^ Balleroni, Ediana (29 September 1996). "'Salsa e Merengue' mostra a ginga e a mediocridade da classe média". folha.uol.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  5. ^ Balleroni, Ediana (29 September 1996). "Gangue surra equipe técnica". folha.uol.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  6. ^ Guerini, Elaine (20 October 1996). "Nudez de 'Xica' invade 'Salsa'". folha.uol.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  7. ^ Dias, Gabriela (11 November 1996). "Música latina invade pistas e rádios". folha.uol.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 May 2025.
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