Chico and Roberta

Biography

The duo consisted of two Brazilian children: Washington "Chico" Oliveira, also known by the names Uoston and Voston, (born on February 20, 1979 in Eunápolis), and Roberta de Brito (born on April 27, 1977 in Brasília). The duo first appeared in the videoclip "Lambada" by the French-Brazilian group Kaoma in 1989. Both Kaoma and Chico and Roberta had the same producer, Jean-Claude Bonaventure, and the duo's songs were composed by Kaoma's lead singer Loalwa Braz, with contributions by Daniel Darras, Alan Pype, Bonaventure, M. Nogueira, and Roberta and Chico themselves.

At the end of 1990, Chico and Roberta had their first success with the album Frente a Frente (Face to Face), which was certified gold by the French certification group SNEP and contained their first two singles, "Frente a Frente" and "Esperança do Natal" (a Christmas song). These singles were listed at the top of the French SNEP singles charts for several weeks, and sold approximately 322,000 and 228,000 copies, respectively.

Chico and Roberta recorded their songs in Portuguese, and they performed on television programs in various countries, including Brazil, France, the UAR and Italy.

After their initial success, however, the children's musical career suddenly stopped. Chico became a priest of a Protestant church and currently lives in Espírito Santo with his wife and daughter, working in a mission in Vila Velha. Roberta got married with "Angelo" and lives in Brasília, where she works as a veterinarian.