Many people got goosebumps when, at the opening of this year’s Recife carnival, Chico Sience took the stage to sing “A praieira”, one of his hits with Nação Zumbi. Obviously, it wasn’t Chico who was there. But rather a hologram of the artist who died in 1997, aged 30.
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On Twitter, the culture reporter for Jornal do Commercio, Emannuel Bento, explained the feat.
“Using artificial intelligence, the singer’s voice was reconstructed using audio files. The video was captured by an actor, but the face was also constructed from archive photos. Inciativa opened the show ‘Recife Cidade do Mangue’, with Louise, Chico’s daughter, and participation by Céu, Isadora Melo, Ylana, Jorge du Peixe, Maciel Salu, Toca Ogan and Nailson Vieira”, wrote Bento in the post.
See an excerpt from Chico Science’s “presentation” via hologram:
Chico Science in a photo from 1994 — Photo: Carlos Ivan / Agência O Globo
Born in Olinda, Francisco de Assis França — Chico Science — was one of the main names in the counterculture movement that emerged in the 1990s, in Recife, and which would become known as mangue beat.
With Nação Zumbi, Chico recorded two albums: “From mud to chaos” and “Afrociberdelia”. With references ranging from Mestre Salustiano to Jorge Ben Jor, he created a genuine, unique work, admired and respected by many of his contemporaries, such as Cássia Eller, Arnaldo Antunes and Herbert Vianna.
Chico Science died on February 2, 1997, in a car accident, while traveling alone at the wheel from Recife to Olinda. He was taken to a hospital, but he did not survive his injuries.