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Valeurs Actuelles
KIOSKParis press review
by David Anderson

Getting real
Years after the success of “Big Brother” in Germany, Britain and America, French private network M6 is starting its own version of the controversial Dutch television show, “Loft Story.” As in “Big Brother,” the 11 contestants will share a 225 square meter Seine-St-Denis loft in complete seclusion from the outside world, their every move recorded 24 hours-a-day by ubiquitous cameras and microphones. The winning couple wins a 3-million franc house, provided they live together under the watchful eye of television and Internet viewers for further six months. “France up to now had decried the show’s voyeurism, but it finally gave up,” a disappointed Nouvel Obsevateur writes in its
April 19 issue.

Smile?
Last year the French spent 40 billion francs on dental care, of which one third was reimbursed by social security. In its April 5 issue, L’Express probed a gritty question... Does France’s government value healthy teeth as much as its population appears to? “Hygienists would be particularly useful here, where people wait to have important problems to go to the dentist,” says parodontologist André Saadoun. On average, the French purchase 1.5 toothbrushes per year, while the Japanese buy five and Americans three.

Paris by night
Nova’s April cover story offers a tour of Paris’s diverse nightlife options, through the eyes of young Parisian clubbers who party till dawn and catch up on their sleep by day at work. So, where’s the action....Latino (Barrio Latino, La Java), artsy (Café Beaubourg, Viaduc Café), jazzy (New Morning), “aristos” (Chez Castel), modern chic (Les Bains, Man Ray), and techno (Les Carmes).

Grading French Universities
Disparities within the French post-secondary system are rampant, says Le Point. ’Odds of completing a degree (licence) in languages range from 27 % in Nice to 92% in Versailles. For economics and management Paris VIII, (University of Vincennes St-Denis) scored 25%, while 95% graduated from Clermont-Ferrand.

Fish stories?
The French fishing season started last month. According to Télérama, the capital’s river water has become steadily cleaner and better oxygenated. “The Seine still has a bad reputation,” says Edouard Armirail. But today 24 fish species swim in its waters — including carp, perch and pike — three times as many as in 1970.


VSD

L'Expresse