The Rio carnival parades are broadcast live throughout the night. On the Wednesday afterwards there are hours of voting with each of the 14 samba schools being awarded marks by about 40 judges; each mark read out individually. The schools are marked against not only samba skills but in wonderful categories such as `fantasy´and `allegory´.
[much later] OK, in shamefaced retropect I realise that 'alegorias' means floats and 'fantasias' are the costumes. My phrasebook is seriously limited. I think it's still a model for Eurovision.