Exaltasamba is a Brazilian pagode music group, formed in 1982 in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo. The group began simply playing gigs in restaurants and bars. They later began writing their own songs, eventually releasing an album, "Eterno Amanhecer" in 1992. However, it wasn't until 1996 that they truly became successful, with their 1996 and 1997 albums, "Luz do Desejo and "Desliga e Vem" each going Double Platinum. They released a Live Album with songs handpicked by their fans via E-Mail. In 2003, one of their best known Vocalists, Thiaguinho, joined the group. They continued to release albums. Their 25th Anniversary was in 2010, and they had written new material to perform on this show. The year thereafter, Thiaguinho announced that he planned on leaving the group. They subsequently announced their disbandment after 25 years as a band. Their final concert was on February 2012, and it was broadcast on a channel considered the Brazilian Equivalent to the United States' MTV; Multishow. Or so we thought.
Thell and Brillhantina- ex-percussionists of the group, made it known that they didn't want Exaltasamba to quit as a group. In 2015, Exaltasamba—with nearly all former members- held a tour called "A Gente Faz a Festa" (The People make the Party), after one of the songs in their 25th Anniversary Concert back in 2010. The Brazilian Audience wanted them to do a tour and bring back the band. By this point, both Péricles, a long-standing member of the group since 1985, and Thiaguinho, who was their most recognized member since 2003, now have established solo-artist careers outside of Exaltasamba, and as a result, decided to part ways with the band.
There were legal issues between Thiaguinho/Pericles/Pinha vs. Thell/Brilhantina, all legal disputes were settled and, essentially, Jose Zima- the group's producer- had this to say on the matter:
"It is unfortunate that there is unfair competition by allowing developers and local producers of shows in Brazil to try to sell covertly to the public a show that they say, would be the return of Exaltasamba to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the group. It's even more unfortunate, because they know that the only ones who can (legally) be on the market with all Exaltasamba activities are its two remaining founders Thell and Brilhantina."
Because Thell and Brilhantina are simply percussionists, it was decided that, should Exaltasamba come back, they were coming back with 3 new members: Much like how Thiaguinho himself was chosen as a member of Exaltasamba in 2003 after being eliminated on "Fama", a singing reality show/competition in the vein of "Idol" and "The Voice" in 2003, Romero Ribeiro was chosen as a Member of Exaltasamba as this year began, after being a finalist on "The Voice Brazil". Jefferson Clemente Machado- who is better known as Jeffinho- was brought in from another group; "Estilo de Ser". Nego Branco was chosen by the fans online