Which one is your favorite? - XXXV -

This week's song is coming from the warm and sunny beaches of Brazil. It is one of the great and fine examples of Bossanova that was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes.

Here is the song for this week;

"The Girl From Ipanema"

The first commercial recording of "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") was in 1962, by Pery Ribeiro. The Stan Getz recording featuring the vocal debut of Astrud Gilberto became an international hit. This version had been shortened from the version on the album Getz/Gilberto (recorded in March 1963, released in March 1964) which had also included the Portuguese lyrics sung by Astrud's then-husband João Gilberto.

Jobim and Moraes were inspired by Helo Pinheiro, a young Brazilian girl who wore a bikini and regularly walked "Like a samba" past the "Veloso" bar that they frequented. In a 2008 feature in The Seattle Times, Pinheiro revealed she would walk by the songwriters on her way to buy cigarettes for her mother. She claims to be the first person on the beach to wear a two-piece bathing suit. We also learn that she had four children, posed for Brazilian Playboy twice (the second time with her daughter), and opened a boutique in Sao Paulo called "Garota de Ipanema" (Girl from Ipanema).

In 2001, the song's copyright owners (heirs of their composer fathers) sued Pinheiro for using the title of the song as the name of her boutique (Garota de Ipanema). In their complaint, they stated that her status as The Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema) did not entitle her to use a name that legally belonged to them. Public support was strongly in favor of Pinheiro. A press release by Jobim and Moraes, the composers, in which they had named Pinheiro as the real Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema) was used as evidence that they had intended to bestow this title on her. The court ruled in favor of Pinheiro.

Ipanema is a fashionable district in Rio de Janeiro. It was a fairly obscure stretch of beach until this song made it famous. The street where the songwriters used to sit and watch the girls go by has been re-named Vinicius de Moraes Street after the lyricist.

When sung by female artists the song has often been rendered as "The Boy from Ipanema", such as by Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and The Supremes, Shirley Bassey and Eartha Kitt. Petula Clark sang it on The Muppet Show. Crystal Waters recorded her version for the various artists Red Hot + Rio compilation and was later included on her greatest hits set. Diana Krall recorded another version on her album Quiet Nights.

Here are the 5 versions I picked for you;

• Amy Winehouse - "The Girl From Ipanema"

• Diana Krall - "The Girl From Ipanema"

• Oscar Peterson Trio - "The Girl From Ipanema"

• Cher - "The Girl From Ipanema"

• Lio - "The Girl From Ipanema"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.