Magazine
With EU accession just weeks away, the EC's headquarters in Brussels gets a taste of things Czech - beer, fruit dumplings and films - as well as a crash course in Czech for free! Birds of a feather flock together -and they are all flocking to the Jihlava Zoo for the annual human-bird jamboree! And, the garbage truck that smells of Chanel. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova.
The Czech Superstar contest is in full swing - with millions of people glued to their TV screens on Sunday nights. Although it will be some weeks yet before Czech viewers pick their pop idol the contest already has its anti-star - who is currently getting more publicity than her successful rivals. The 17 year old drop-out has been dubbed the Czech Dido and despite -or rather due to- her awful rendition of Dido's Thank You is receiving offers from radio stations, music companies and advertising firms. Her face has already appeared on billboards across Prague. What made the audience sit up and take notice was her incredible composure and assertiveness when faced with a merciless jury. Told that she couldn't sing to save her life and that her English was atrocious Anna responded - well, that's your opinion and it is not worth much! Clearly spunk is something that Czechs appreciate because the 17 year old supermarket salesgirl now gets loads of fan mail saying Ann -we love you!
Young people across the Czech Republic take part in an annual ritual of welcoming in the spring. On the first day of spring they dress up a straw figurine representing death and carry it at the head of a procession to the nearest river. After much singling and dancing - not to mention many shots of plum brandy - the straw figure is thrown into the water and swept away by the tide. This old tradition representing the cycle of life and death is not only practiced in towns and villages but also in the Czech capital Prague where the event is annually organized by the nations' TV weather forecasters. On that day all rivalry is cast aside and the forecasters of the three leading television stations in the Czech Republic -Czech public television and the two private stations Nova and Prima - get together to bid winter farewell.
The winner of this year's Most Popular Teacher contest is thirty-two year old primary school teacher Jiri Luka from Prague. Luka won hands down -having been nominated by several classes of kids. In a school system that is still fairly authoritarian, Luka collected his winning points for two outstanding qualities - an innovative approach to teaching and a sense of humour. Luka is known to pick up a guitar and sing lessons to the younger children, having versed the subject matter to make it easier for them to memorize, and his pranks are well known throughout the school. Luka was crowned Teacher of the Year at the annual Teachers Ball and presented with the main prize - a few weeks at a wellbeing spa in the Czech Republic. The annual contest also brings out some bad blood between students and teachers - asked to voice general reservations students said many lessons were plain boring, while teachers complained that students were increasingly difficult to control and increasingly aggressive in class.
The crowd that attended the opening of a new sports arena, which is to host the world ice hockey championships in Prague later this year, got its first taste of the strict anti-terrorist measures that will surround the event. Many people failed to pay proper heed to the notices about what was and what was not permitted at the opening and were in for a nasty surprise at the entrance. Security staff were uncompromising and everything on the banned list was tossed into huge containers -cameras, any kind of food and drink and even bottles of expensive perfume. But why- demanded a woman clutching her bottle of Chanel - I paid two thousand crowns for this! We have no idea what that substance is - only 20 millilitre perfume bottles allowed, the security man said pointing to the container. Faced with the choice of leaving with their perfume or staying for the opening night the vast majority of people tossed their perfume away. Of course they were free to come back and rummage for them in the huge containers after the show -but not everyone did. And so on the following day garbage trucks were in for a brand new experience - the garbage they picked up smelled sensational!
