File:Paulo Barros Carnavelesco Champion 2010 Rio Carnaval (5198498994).jpg

The 2010 Championship production was entitled: It's a secret!

This time Tijuca's brilliant Carnavelesco Paulo Barros would not be denied what the people had said too often about his past highs on Sambódromo da Marquês de Sapucaí in the past. Breaking a fast of 74 years without the title Tijuca is the champion of Rio's carnival for the second time. They carry the banner of Gold as the best Samba School in the World with much deserved pride. In a parade full of highlights the amazing magic trick of the comissão de frente will hold up as one of Carioca Carnival's most memorable moments of all time. The Carnavalesco in Rio Carnaval is the person responsible for the artistic work of designing, producing and directing the school's parade which may include choosing the schools' theme as well. With the arrival in 2004 of the carnavalesco Paulo Barros , the school surprised many more than just the spectators and won runner-up or vice-championship with an enredo plot that spoke of the advances of science, has revolutionized the aesthetics of the parades to show human allegories such as the now classic car DNA Unidos da Tijuca was always a school that was guided by boldness and innovation. The “blue & gold” samba-school, is the third oldest in Brazil. In recent years the school has evolved a much admired signature float that presented performers in choreography mounted in floats or “human sculptures” who transform themselves into an object of beauty such as a peacock, the symbol of the samba school. The first float in this series was DNA in 2004. Unidos da Tijuca won the Top Carnival Championship in 1936 although the leading paper publishes a critic's choice list known as "Estandarte de Ouro" where Tijuca has been recognized 19 times. In 2005 Barros again brought vice champion or 2nd place finish to Tijuca with an enredo or a plot that spoke of cities and realms of human imagination. Many thought the championship belonged to Tijuca ahead of the winner Beija-Flor. Following a 6th place finish with Tijuca in 2006 performing "Listening to everything I see, I see all I hear" Barros moved on to other opportunities, but much of the distinctive style Barros introduced remained with the school.

As the artistic director with Viradouro  in 2007 he put the drum bateria on top of a float for the first time. In 2008 he caused his greatest controversy with a float of the Holocaust, one part of a theme or enredo dedicated to "Shockers" and included floats depicting the shock of birth, the shock of horror and the shock of cold.The courts prevented the float to appear on the Marques de Sapucai.  

"The float is extremely respectful, it's a warning, it's something shocking that we don't want to happen ever again," said Paulo Barros, Viradouro's artistic director. The float would be the only one without dancers on top. "If we had people dancing on top of dead bodies that would indeed be disrespectful," he told Reuters. For the 2010 Rio Carnaval, Mr. Barros returned to Unidos da Tijuca , a school established long established as one of the most creative in Brazil, and has now gone on to win his first championship title of the special group of Rio de Janeiro. It was a remarkable parade that began with an idea sent to him by a 15 year-old boy through google's ORKUT.com social network. Paulo Barros, with this first title, becomes one of the most important innovative influences on Rio carnival moving forward into the 21st century. A hard reputation to live up to in the creative business of Carnaval where every Carnaval is expected to be your best ever.

For the 2011 Carnaval he returns with Unidos da Tijuca and a theme titled "This night will lift your soul" [Esta noite levarei sua alma] which will explore fear in the movies. The theme will look at the fear caused by horror, suspense in films and feature some of the biggest names in Brazilian film production. Tijuca also plans to show the spirit with which Brazilians overcome their fears. . "we will show the strength of a people which ..... isn't frightened to be happy" says Paulo Barros.