My understanding on bravo/brava is that it originated with Italian opera, that a female vocalist would be bombarded with bouquets of flowers and the cheer of "Brava!" (if she impressed the audience, that is), while a male vocalist would get "Bravo!" and hotel room keys thrown on stage at his feet.
Kidding about the last part. I think. And I could be way off the rails on this one. Just my tuppence.
