Rio de Janeiro carnival queens in cut-throat battle to look their best The gruelling training sessions endured by the women in the months leading up to the parade - which necessitate regular visits to the doctor for checkups - are just part of the picture. Of all the intricate costumes worn by performers at the Carnival, that of the drum queen is most revealing - putting intense pressure on the women to get themselves into shape by whatever means are necessary. The result is that Miss Bruno, who runs a beauty clinic by day, is widely reputed to be one of the only top drum queens not to have sought surgical enhancement for the role. "There is a lot of pressure," said Miss Bruno. But I prefer to maintain my body naturally, with exercising, diet and massage. I have had no surgery. In fact she has held on to the top spot with her school for nine years, and is increasingly unusual in another respect: she was born and brought up in Ilha do Governador, the island in Rio's Guanabara Bay that is home to 500,000 people as well as the city's airport, where her samba school based. In the past it was always the tradition that each samba group's drum queen would be chosen, like Miss Bruno, from the local community for her beauty and charm. But in recent years schools have begun to look further afield, with an eye to the publicity that the right drum queen can bring. High-profile models, actresses and one former contestant in Big Brother Brazil are increasingly being selected. Among them is Susana Vieira, a popular Brazilian television actress, who was in her sixties when invited to be the drum queen for Grande Rio, one of the elite 12 that form the Special Group, or top league, of samba schools in Rio de Janeiro. Having already enjoyed a successful acting career, she commanded the attention of the public and the press despite her advancing years. Now she has become the unexpected voice of many of those who worry about the direction the Carnival has taken and its effect on younger dancers. "When you enter the Sambodromo for the parade, it's a big responsibility," she said. It's very competitive: every beautiful young woman wants to be the drum queen as it's the role with the most visibility. I know the girls suffer a lot. For them, it's like a war. They live for this. For me, it's just one part of my life. I live to be happy, to be a great actress and a beautiful woman. But the women from Rio are preoccupied just with their bodies. She blames in part the increasing commercialisation of the Carnival, with rival schools requiring constant improvements to stay at the top of their leagues. But she is also critical of the younger women for succumbing to the pressure to have surgical enhancement - in a country where, according to recent figures, the number of people seeking plastic surgery has doubled over the past four years. "The women here in Brazil have plastic surgery very early," she said. At 25 or 26, they put silicone in here, they cut there, and it's permanent. They shouldn't do this - they are young, so why do they need this? Many blame the attention lavished on Rio's drum queens for fuelling the demand for cosmetic surgery, making Brazil - with 905,000 procedures carried out in 2011 - second only to the US. The most common procedures are liposuction and breast augmentation. "When a woman goes for plastic surgery, it's 100 per cent competitive," said Dr Luiz Victor Carneiro, who has worked with Ivo Pitanguy, the world-renowned plastic surgeon based in Rio. Some come here and want unbelievable things and if I realise that is happening, I don't do the surgery. There is a great vanity here in Brazil, we expose too much of our body - especially in Rio. Dr Barbara Machado, who has also worked with Dr Pitanguy, said there was a seasonal spike in young women seeking this kind of surgery towards the end of every year, to be ready in time for carnival. Becoming a drum queen, even though it is usually unpaid, can lead not just to a level of celebrity but also to sponsorship and marketing deals. Raissa de Oliveira, 22, the drum queen for Beija-Flor samba school who will also be under the spotlight this weekend, has had both liposuction and breast implants - and has no regrets. "Everyone wants to be at the front of the percussion section," she said. But I'm the queen. I represent a marvellous school and I'm very grateful. There are no words to describe how I will feel when Carnival begins. Asked about her cosmetic enhancements, she said she had the surgery for her own benefit. I work for Carnival all year. I travel outside the state, promoting the name of the Rio Carnival. Nor is spectators' appetite for the Carnival likely to diminish. Last year it attracted 1.1 million visitors from outside Rio, of whom 350,000 were from abroad, generating an estimated £465 million business for the city - while millions more watched coverage on television worldwide. And for all her criticism, even Ms Vieira remains a fan. "It's perfect," she said, "not because of the money, but because it's about the Brazilians who play every instrument, the people who work from 7am to 7pm to make it happen. The whole Brazilian people are represented by what happens on the avenue. It's still the best spectacle in the world.