Rio de Janeiro: She is the Shirley Temple of samba, a seven-year-old girl named to a coveted Carnival role normally reserved for barely clad models who have undergone more plastic surgeries than little Julia Lira has seen birthdays.
Naming the girl drum corps queen for the Viradouro samba group is raising eyebrows even in a city where the annual mega-party begins next week.
A judge is considering blocking Julia's participation. A state agency that defends children's rights says she's too young to take on a traditionally sexy role.
However, the girl's father says she is a natural who can easily samba through the 80-minute parade route in Rio's sweltering summer heat.
"Any man who looks at a seven-year-old child and feels any sort of excitement should go see a doctor," Marco Lira said before rehearsal this week.
Brazil has long had a problem with sexual exploitation of children.
Allowing Julia to be a drum corps queen "would increase the treatment of children as sexual objects in Brazilian society", said Carlos Nicodemos, director of the Rio de Janeiro state Council for the Defence of Children and Adolescents.
