Magazine

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President Klaus stars in an advertisement in the role of a homeless man, Czechs are to get their own Dream Date reality show, and - who is Yana Gupta? Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova.

The Council for Advertising is going to meet over a very unusual case in which the advertisers allegedly violated the Code of Ethics. The ad in question is for a private school - the Newton College in Brno. And the star actor is none other than President Vaclav Klaus - in the role of a homeless man. "You can do anything after graduating - go for the best!" says the ad which has appeared in newspapers and on billboards. The photograph of President Klaus in worn clothes on a park bench surrounded by garbage is not a computer generated image. Several years ago, Mr. Klaus, then Prime Minister, agreed to a request from a Czech photographer and posed for the picture which later appeared on the title page of Mlady Svet, a popular Czech weekly. The President allegedly gave Newton College the right to use the photograph in its promotion ad. The Code of Ethics in Advertising says that advertisers are not allowed to use public figures in promoting their product. "It is not the President who broke the rules, but the school," a member of the Council told the press. However, there are many who would find fault with the President as well - saying that it is unthinkable that the head of state should appear in any kind of advertisement.


Sculptor Jaroslav Bocker with the statue of general Patton,  photo: CTK
It took a long time for American general George Patton to get credit for liberating the western parts of the Czech Republic at the end of WWII - but ever since the fall of communism the town of Pilsen celebrates the anniversary with great pomp and ceremony. Sculptor Jaroslav Bocker is currently working on a statue of Patton which should be unveiled on the town square on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Pilsen by general Patton's troops. The sculptor is a big admirer of Patton's and has so far financed the project from his own money. A public collection is due to take place soon -to help him cover the expenses.


You'd be hard put to find someone in the Czech Republic who hasn't heard of the Czech singer and song-writer Karel Hasler. The association of Hasler's fans now want to give him a proper monument in Prague - a life-size statue. Ideally they'd like to have it on the old stone stairway leading up to Prague Castle because one of his best known songs is about this particular place. However they are willing to settle for a compromise - and three possible locations are being debated. The mayor of Prague 1, Vladimir Vihan is in favour of the idea of giving Karel Hasler a statue - "Hasler did a lot for Prague and it would be a nice way of saying thank you," he said. A public collection is now underway to finance the statue. If you don't know much about Hasler and are listening to us in Prague, you may be interested to know that on September 4th there is a special event held on Prague's Ovocny Trh - right next to the Estates Theatre - to commemorate Hasler's life and work.


Hundreds of young people are flocking to private TV Nova's Barrandov studios to try their luck in a new reality show that is to take TV viewers by storm. The aim is for the Czech public to watch a dozen men and a dozen women between 21 and 35 spend a fortnight at the Lonely Hearts Hotel. The courtships will end with TV viewers electing the million dollar couple - who will get a highly publicized wedding for free and 1 million crowns as a bonus - half of it on their wedding day - the rest after a year of marriage. After the success of Superstar TV Nova hopes it has another hit up its sleeve. It's rather different from the American Dream Date show, says the author of the game Evzen Gogel. Our show respects what I would call the Slavonic dating process - he explains - a game where one man picks out a bride from girls who are served up is just not to peoples' liking. Czechs prefer watching a slow courtship in which both sides are active. And Czech viewers like to be able to have a say in the end result - so that's what we are giving them, Gogel says. The new reality show is to take off on September 16th.


Czech fashion models are well known around the world -and you will almost certainly have heard of Karolina Kurkova, Eva Herzigova and Tereza Maxova. A name you may not recognize is Yana Gupta whose real name is Jana Synkova. She's from Brno and she is the hottest model in India. Jana travelled to India four years ago to seek tranquillity, inner peace and take a break from the many pressures of the fashion business. However the dark haired, dark eyed and white skinned beauty wasn't fated to get much rest in India. After casually accepting one modelling offer -she quickly soared to fame - and her popularity in India now borders on a cult. She is mobbed wherever she goes and she can take her pick from hundreds of offers that pour in. In the Czech Republic she was one of many -in India she is a star. "I was in the right place, at the right time," she says of her unexpected flight to fame.


A well known Czeck stamp collector - Ludvik Pytlicek - has been chosen to represent the Czech Republic at the first World Championship of Philatelists to be held in Singapore from August 29th to September 1st. Mr. Pytlicek has a fortune in stamps. He has one of the most impressive collections of Czechoslovak stamps in the world. The series issued between 1918 and 1939 has won sixteen gold medals at world stamp expos. He has millions of stamps which fill two rooms of his house and some of them have come from the collections of Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Egyptian king Faruk.

Pytlicek has been collecting stamps since age 13 -trading and buying them at auctions around the world. He has exhibited parts of his collection in Brazil, USA, Japan and Russia and needless to say he needs plenty of security. Foreign insurance companies have assessed his collection to be worth 100 million Czech crowns.