Horror is a bet, but with a view of the Strip.
There are ironies that not even the best screenwriter would dare to write. Businesswoman Paula Lavigne, one of the most active voices of the artistic community within the powerful in Brasília, announced on Instagram that she has arrived in Las Vegas, the world capital of casinos, to attend the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards week, whose ceremony takes place on November 12th.
“We’ve arrived, Vegas! And @unsproducoes has already organized the venue to welcome our artists and team for a special Latin Grammy week,” she wrote, cheering on the nominees Zeca Veloso, Mosquito, Loulu Gilberto, and Cézar Mendes. Zeca Veloso, son of Paula and Caetano, is competing in two categories with Boas Novas, his first solo album, released in November 2025: Best New Artist, where he also faces Brazilians Loulu Gilberto and Dora Sanches, and Best Engineered Album. Loulu Gilberto also has two nominations, Record of the Year and Best New Artist, with O Amor Nos Encontrou, produced by Cézar Mendes. Mosquito is competing in the Best Samba/Pagode Album category with the album Quinhão. And Cézar Mendes, in addition to releasing the album João, appears among the nominees in one of the main categories of the awards.
Also in Las Vegas will be Anitta, who filmed a video for the "Block no Tigrinho" campaign. Interestingly, the singer and businesswoman holds the position of Head of Creativity and Innovation at Beats, formerly Skol Beats, an alcoholic beverage brand belonging to the Ambev group. She is nominated in two categories with her album *Equilibrivm*: Album of the Year, the main award, and Best Contemporary Pop Album in Portuguese. Those campaigning against gambling will be competing for the most important prize of the night inside a hotel-casino.
Up to that point, nothing out of the ordinary. The problem came in the video. With the nonchalance of someone commenting on the weather, Paula explained why the group wasn't staying on the Strip: “We rented a resort. I didn't want to stay in those awful hotels with a casino downstairs. I'm terrified of gambling, betting, absolutely terrified. So we rented this house.” And she even joked that the house is so big that Caetano Veloso will ask if she rented a motel or a house.
The “horror” with a view of the neon lights.
Let's be honest: someone who hates gambling choosing Las Vegas for a week is like someone who hates water taking a vacation in Fernando de Noronha. The entire city exists because of gambling. The airport has slot machines. The Latin Grammy Awards are held in Las Vegas precisely because the local entertainment industry has been sustained for decades by money from casinos and sports betting, which are legal and regulated in Nevada.
The "horror," it seems, is selective. It applies to the Brazilian gambler, who must be protected from himself by the stroke of a pen in Provisional Measure 1.394. It doesn't apply to the season of parties, champagne, and red carpets financed, directly or indirectly, by the American gambling economy. And there's a tasty detail: the 27th Latin Grammy Awards ceremony takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which is inside the MGM Grand, one of the largest hotel-casinos on the Strip. You can avoid the casino in your hotel, but to get to the red carpet, the crowd will have to enter one and appreciate the neon lights and the clinking of coins.
As I often say, gambling is either legal or illegal; not gambling is impossible. Las Vegas is living proof of that, and Paula Lavigne is there, enjoying every square meter of the "resort".
Now, the shows have to be sold out.
For months, some in the artistic community repeated that betting was draining money from families, emptying commerce, leisure, and culture. Well, with the "end" of betting decreed by the government, this argument will have to be proven at the box office. Paula herself, in a meeting with artists convened by Lula, said that she has been producing shows for 40 years and has never seen such empty audiences, and blamed betting. The data says otherwise. The Cultural Habits survey, by the Itaú Foundation Observatory with Datafolha, showed that attendance at shows rose from 45% to 51% between 2025 and 2026, precisely when betting was operating in a regulated manner. BNLData showed this in October : Itaú refuted Paula Lavigne's claims.
It will be opportune to closely monitor the exponential growth in audience numbers at shows by Mosquito, Zeca Veloso, Loulu Gilberto, and other artists from Uns Produções. If the theory is correct, the money that used to go to betting will now fill concert halls, sell out tickets, and open up extra dates. There's no excuse anymore. BNLData will be following this closely.
Moral of the story
No one is obligated to like gambling. But anyone who turns their own taste into public policy for 200 million Brazilians should, at the very least, avoid posting from their Las Vegas backyard. Apparently, the aversion to gambling doesn't hold up against a good Grammy nomination.
Good luck to the nominees. And may the shows be packed, as promised. After all, the offensive by the production company alongside Dona Santinha das Bets resulted in at least 15 layoffs, removed protection from millions of bettors, and created a great business for organized crime, which continues to offer illegal betting in the country.
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