Brazil's traditional Samba school wins Rio carnival competit

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Samba school Estacao Primeira de Mangueira on Wednesday won Rio's main league 2016 Carnival contest.

Mangueira is one of Rio's most traditional samba schools and it is rooted in the Mangueira slum in the city's suburbs.

Mangueira performance featured the life of Brazilian singer Maria Bethania with an explosion of color, elaborate floats and costumes.

The victory marks Mangueira's recuperation from a fiasco in last year' s contest, when the school finished 10th among 12 samba schools.

Samba school Unidos da Tijuca finished second with an agriculture theme, and Portela, another very traditional samba school in the city, finished third, having chosen to talk about travels.