The gala dinner of BrazilFoundation, held at the New York Public Library on Monday, stopped New York City. With all the invitations sold out and US$ 1.1 million initial collection, plus US$ 600 000 with the auction – the result below the expected US$ 2 million – totaling somewhere around US$ 1.7 million.
* "All these people want to do is just eat and drink," joked Luciano Huck, one of the hosts. Preta Gil rose to say "I’m not rich, but I’ll donate US$ 10 000." And entrepreneurs began to open their wallets. A great moment? When Jair Ribeiro said he would donate US$ 50 000 if Ronaldo signed a Santos jersey. The ace agreed and a deal was made, but he couldn’t do it on the spot since no one had a Santos shirt there for him to sign.
* The highest bid of the night was by José Auriemo Neto, who spent US$ 32 000 on a work by Ernesto Neto with Russian model Natalia Vodianova. For US$ 16,000, Andrea Dellal got herself a visit to Institute Inhotim hosted by its creator, Bernardo Paz. Bernardo himself had been the star of the night with his drink-fueled speech, in the very beginning of dinner. Honoree of the night, with Carlos Saldanha, Paz walked around the hall, greeted everyone warmly and ended up being the target of some nasty comments…
* Preta Gil wrapped up the night singing "País Tropical", "Chora, Me Liga", "Não Quero Dinheiro, Só Quero Amar" and cheered up Lorenzo Martone, Fernanda Motta, Fernando Torquatto, Andrea Dellal, Angélica and Luciano Huck, who sang along in front of the stage.