Coining a different style of samba, which consists of fancy dressing and weepy vocal interpretations at the piano, Benito di Paula became one of the exponents and fathers of the "sambão-jóia," the overly romantic and commercial samba genre that was the precursor of the contemporary pagode romântico. Having songs recorded by international interpreters like Paul Mauriat, his highly successful discography (with several of his albums surpassing 600,000 copies sold) is complemented by his work as composer of prime time nationwide TV soap operas (Nino, O Italianinho, Simplesmente Ma...