~ pulling this one off the shelf ~
The 2023 Rio de Janeiro Special Group parades took place between February 19th and 20th, 2023, at the Marquês de Sapucaí, with exclusive broadcast on TV Globo. The schools in the Special Group in 2023 were, in order of presentation: Império Serrano, Acadêmicos do Grande Rio, Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel, Unidos da Tijuca, Acadêmicos do Salgueiro, Estação Primeira de Mangueira, Paraíso do Tuiuti, Portela, Unidos de Vila Isabel, Imperatriz Leopoldinense, Beija-Flor de Nilópolis, and Unidos do Viradouro. The grand champion was Imperatriz Leopoldinense, with a theme about the life and death of the bandit Lampião. The other champion schools were Viradouro, Vila Isabel, Beija-Flor, Mangueira, and Grande Rio, and the school relegated to the Gold Series was Império Serrano.