One of the small pleasures of travel to non-English speaking countries is trying to work out how game shows work on TV.

Take for example a show I watched on SVT2 in Sweden.  14 contestants each lined up with either 3 or 4 light bulbs on their podium.  Roland, complete with smug look and 4 lit bulbs, is obviously the carry over champ.  The rest of the contestants, with expressions varying from enthusiasm to sheer terror, have 3 or 4 light bulbs with either 2 or 3 lit.  Questions are fired at the contestants in turn and if they get the answer wrong one of their lights goes out.  The lights seem to be going out quite rapidly for some of the contestants.  Not understanding a word of the language I still managed to get a couple of questions right.  Who would think that the Swedish still call Beijing Peking?  How can a question that mentions the 100m and 200m and Peking have anything other than an answer of Usain Bolt?  One saved light for A.

As the game wore on, and more contestants were eliminated, it came down to three finalists in the running for the win.  Our smug carry over champ Roland, a thick set German looking chap by the name of Ivan, who had a penchant for deep resigned sighs when asked a question, and a bearded well dressed fellow by the name of, can’t remember, let’s call him Sven. It was neck and neck between Roland and Sven until the last few questions when Sven pulled ahead much to the obvious angst of Roland and the resigned apathy of Ivan.  The winner walked away with a bunch of flowers and a certificate. Lucrative prizes indeed.  With that lot I almost expected them to be given an ABC cricket book and a JJJ magazine.  Good to see ABC standards being adopted elsewhere in the world. Who needs a new car and a round the world trip when you can win a bunch of flowers?  I suspect, however, that Sven may have to invest in better home security to stop Roland from breaking in and stealing the certificate.