"Samba brings me joy and makes me happy," the 59-year-old crooner said in Portuguese, as he paused to pose for photos in the shade of palm trees.
The entertainer in question isn't your average Rio samba star. In fact, he's a South Korean diplomat from a very different seaside metropolis on the other side of the globe. But Lim Ki-mo, Korea's Busan-born ambassador to Brazil has sung his way to stardom since being posted to the South American country three years ago, with a series of viral performances in which he has belted out Brazilian hits.
This week, Lim's singing career hit new heights as he took the stage at one of Rio's most illustrious samba spots, Renascença Clube, to perform with one of its top samba groups. Hundreds of connoisseurs threw their hands in the air and danced euphorically as Seoul's man in Brasília sung tracks by the legendary composer Adoniran Barbosa and the chart-topping combo Grupo Revelação.
"The crowd went berserk," said Gabriel Cavalcante, the singer who had invited ambassador Lim to perform with his group, Samba do Trabalhador.
Footage of the diplomat's impassioned performance exploded on social media with a unanimous thumbs up from critics.
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