Simone addresses women's issues, from a contemporary perspective, throughout the 22-song script for the show 'Que Mulher é esse?' Rodrigo Goffredo ? SHOW REVIEW Title: What woman is this? Artist: Simone Date and place: August 7, 2026 at Vivo Rio (Rio de Janeiro, RJ) Rate: ? ? ? ? ? ? Show that marks Simone's meeting with Ana Frango Elétrico, “What woman is this?” It fulfills the expectation of being a breath of renewal in the singer's career, on the scene since 1973 with a singular timbre and great scenic strength. Since freeing herself from the phonographic market formulas that imprisoned her in the 1980s and 1990s, Simone has been experiencing bold streaks in her career in renewal movements that began 25 years ago with the album “Seda Pura” (2001). Some of these impulses turned out to be ephemeral. Others had more breath. But none of them resulted in the real freshness and potential shown in “Que Mulher é essa?”, Simone's best solo show in the 21st century, judging by the performance last night, August 7th, at the Rio premiere of the tour, in a performance that sold out the Vivo Rio house (the singer's meetings with Ivan Lins in 2018 and with Francis Hime, in May of this year, also resulted in anthological shows). The spark of newness lies in the musical direction of Ana Frango Elétrico, an artist who has been standing out in the alternative scene since 2019, especially as an arranger. Ana's sui generis tone is the spark that ignites Simone in this show directed by Ronaldo Fraga, stylist – creator of the singer's elegant costumes – who had the humility and wisdom to become imperceptible as director, letting Simone be herself on stage, framed by the beautiful scenography and lighting created by Mari Pitta. Simone is the creator of the show directed by stylist Ronaldo Fraga, creator of the singer Rodrigo Goffredo's costumes. In addition to the arrangements, there is the construction of a script – signed by Simone with Fraga and Ana Frango Elétrico – which contributes to blowing the winds of renewal onto the scene. Also prepared with freshness, this script harmonizes the novelties with some emblems of Simone's repertoire – “Face a face” (Sueli Costa and Cacaso, 1977), “Jura secreto” (Sueli Costa and Abel Silva, 1977) and “Yolanda” (Pablo Milanés, 1970), a passionate song sung by Simone with the original lyrics in Spanish – and these songs are necessary to establish the connection between the singer and a loyal audience that is not always open to changes. Like the title “What Woman Is That?” already indicates, the show's motto is the approach to female issues that, strictly speaking, have always been recurrent in Simone's repertoire, performer of songs such as “Mulher, e Além?” (1980) – a composition in which Gonzaguinha (1945 – 1991) dribbled sexist expectations in lyrics written from a feminine perspective – and owner of an album called “Desejo” (1984) and a live album entitled “Feminino” (2002). The novelty is in the way these issues are reorganized in the script from the perspective of a 76-year-old woman who expresses the strength of being alive, full, with an active voice. From this perspective, it is emblematic that the script opens with a rock song by Roberto Carlos and Erasmo Carlos (1941 – 2022), “Se Você Pena” (1968), which, in a woman’s voice, acquires another meaning. It is the woman who is in charge, full of life and desires. “A lot to walk around / A lot to live around / A lot to learn / A lot to get up to,” warns Simone in the verses of “Petúnia resedá” (Gonzaguinha, 1978), a song boosted with the same rock energy as the rock that opens the script. The electricity of the band – formed by Chico Lira (keyboards), Filipe Coimbra (guitar), Giordano Bruno (bass) and Vitor Cabral (drums) – guarantees the youthful vibe of the arrangements. Simone sings songs by Dona Onete, Erasmo Carlos (1941 – 2022), Gonzaguinha (1945 – 1991) and Rita Lee (1947 – 2023) in the show 'Que Mulher é essa?' Rodrigo Goffredo From this point of view, the inclusion in the rock script, “Velha RoupaColor” (1976), in which Belchior (1946 – 2017) declared 50 years ago that the new always comes, is symptomatic. And sometimes the new comes in the form of the old, like “Morena”, the samba-canção by Dalto that opened Simone’s first album in 1973 – then still in training as a singer, with her voice still tough – and which returns revamped in the show’s script “Que Mulher é essa?”. If the brunette from 1973 is prevented from casting her gaze of passion through the streets due to the rain, a metaphor to denounce the repression of the sexist and dictatorial society of the time, the uninhibited woman in the “Sob measurement” bolero (Chico Buarque, 1979) already calls the shots in the game of love and experiences everyday desire that also erupts in the sensual verses of “When I met you” (2013), carimbó chamegado by Dona Onete launched by the singer Lia Sophia, propagated in Onete's own voice in the recording of the album “Banzeiro” (2016) and now revived by Simone in one of the most lively numbers of the show “Que Mulher é essa?”. It is the woman who makes the decision in this female script in which Simone, in another surprising move, brings to light the song “Migalhas”, a composition by the gentle giant Erasmo Carlos presented by Simone on the album “Na vein” (2009). But perhaps nothing surprises or touches more in the show than the intimate approach to “Baby” (Caetano Veloso, 1968) made by Simone with just the artist’s voice and guitar. It is not necessary to read on the Cigarra shirt that this delicate corner is dedicated to Gal Costa (1945 – 2022), a love from the past that resonates in the form of a longing for Brazil. Simone debuts at the Vivo Rio house, in the city of Rio de Janeiro (RJ), the show 'Que Mulher é essa?', under the musical direction of Ana Frango Elétrico Rodrigo Goffredo After singing “Baby”, the musical approach of Ana Frango Elétrico and Ava Rocha – “Mulher bicho Homem” (2020), recorded by Ana six years ago with echoes of pop made by the couple Rita Lee (1947 – 2023) and Roberto de Carvalho in the 1979 / 1983 era – returns the rock energy of the beginning to the show, a temperature maintained in the sequence by “Fullgás” (Marina Lima and Antonio Cicero, 1984), a song that entered the script at the premiere