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The purpose of the Guest Star campaign is to present and award individuals from the expatriate community whose talent and personality directly contribute to the positive development and openness of Slovenian society. The selection committee consisted of: Brane Krajnik, CEO of The Slovenia Times; Srecko Trglec, Editor-in-Chief of Radio Slovenia International; Mitja Mersol, a journalist at the Delo newspaper; Veronique Banzet, President of SILA; Janez Moder, Managing Director of the American Chamber of Commerce; Christine Okresek, Winner of the Guest Star 2004 International Affairs award, and Huiqin Wang, Winner of the Guest Star 2005 Culture award. The candidates for 2006 were selected on the 28th of November, and the committee's task of selecting sixteen candidates out of the forty nominees in four categories - as proposed by The Slovenia Times and Radio Slovenia International audiences - was far from easy. In the Culture category we can find Edward Clug, ballet dancer and choreographer; Javier Badiola, Head of Cervantes Institute; Michel Obenga, Director of the French Language Institute, and Shirlie Roden, musician, composer and sound healer. The Diplomacy category is represented by Birgitta Cecilia Maria Stenius - Mladenov; the Finnish Ambassador; Tim Simmons, The British Ambassador ; Jean Louis Mignot, the Belgian Ambassador, and Valentin Inzko, the Austrian Ambassador. Finalists in the Economy category include Shoji Kimura, CEO of Toyota Adria; Andreas Maierhofer, CEO of Si.mobil; Serge Banzet, CEO of Peugeot Slovenia, and Gerry Jekl, Manager of the Bled golf course. The Sports category is represented by Teemu Rannikko, a basketball player from Finland; Alasdair Green from the Ljubljana Cricket Club; Ivan Hudac, Head Coach of the Slovenian Cross-country Skiing Team, and Merlene Ottey, an athlete from Jamaica. There have been two changes to the list of candidates that was published in the previous issue; in the Culture section, Robert Monroe, Director of the British Council, gave up his candidature, and composer Shirley Roden was chosen instead. In the Economy section, Jean-Francois Higonet, CEO of E.Leclerc Slovenia, gave up his candidature, and Gerry Jekl, Manager of the Golf Resort Bled, was chosen instead. You Are Great to Hang Out With - But Your Driving, Man... The first informal meeting of the "Guest Star 2006" competition took place on December 11th in the pleasant surroundings of the most prestigious wellness & fitness centre in Ljubljana, the Sunny Studio. The aim of the gathering was to provide the candidates with an opportunity to get acquainted with one another, as well as with the Slovenia Times and Radio International teams. The latter, in cooperation with RTV, the Slovenian National Television station, shot interviews with the candidates who had managed to attend the meeting. Though they were supposed to be only 5 minutes long, the candidates took longer to express their sentiments regarding their adopted country. They all felt very flattered to be nominated for the "Guest Star 2006" award, in particular Andreas Maierhofer, CEO of Si.mobil, for whom this is his second nomination. The candidates unanimously agreed that Slovenia has an abundance of stunning natural and cultural treasures, and that they find the living and working conditions here very satisfying. Contrary to the sometimes too-critical opinion the Slovenes have of themselves, they find us to be a very agreeable and warm-hearted people, who should relax a little and open up to the world. Valentin Inzko, the Austrian Ambassador, said that in his opinion the Slovenes and the Austrians are quite similar to each other, with people from the Gorenjsko region coming closest to the Austrian way of thinking, and people from the Goricko region being the most welcoming. The slight criticism came from the British representatives Tim Simmons and Alasdair Green, who said that as much as they genuinely like us as people, we are absolutely terrible drivers. Cast Your Vote! Voting started on December 4th on www.gueststar.org, where you can find detailed information on all the candidates. We recommend that you stay tuned to Radio Slovenia International, which will broadcast the most up-to-date information about the competition and let you vote for your favourite candidate.