in a further development, carnival in rio started to differentiate itself form carnival celebrations in the rest of the world - in fact, it became so important and heart-felt to turn into a formal competition, with rules, regulations, winners, and losers.

today, some blocos compete against one another to be upgraded and declared 'samba schools,' while many samba schools compete against one another to move up in the divisions.

the best schools, grouped in what is called the 'special group' parade and compete in the sambódromo hoping to win the extremely prestigious title of the championship.