The first of this year’s delights was the venue: Kino Šiška, with its modern, spacious and accessible hall in the heart of Ljubljana, was the perfect spot for such a wonderful evening.

The second treat: it is safe to say this year’s event brought with it the most entertaining on-stage candidate presentation ever, thanks to interviews by host Igor E. Bergant, otherwise known as a sports journalist and editor for RTV Slovenia. Bergant’s interviews provoked many interesting and above all humorous reactions from the guests as he challenged them to comment on the newborn football superpower – Slovenia.

To add to the special occasion, there was an interesting dance performance by Igen, live music by a string “Inquartet”, and outstanding catering by Vivo featuring a delicious bograč goulash.

Diplomacy – a tight result The vote count was tight but finally pointed to H.E. Dr Villur Sundararajan Seshadri, Ambassador of India. Economy – it all stays in the Mediterranean The winner Bahaa Abdallah, an Egyptian by origin, has proven both the importance of his work in one of Slovenia’s hi-tech companies as well as the loyalty of his subordinates. Culture – two Juliets and an absent Romeo Ballet dancer Lukas Zuschlag was, at the time of his win, rehearsing for a stage performance and so unable to collect his prize personally. But this Romeo materialised in time for the after party, hurrying to Kino Šiška from a dress rehearsal to catch some of the banquet. Sports – the art of Coaching Ivan Hudač, the coach of the Olympic heroine Petra Majdič, stands behind the most outstanding achievement Slovenes witnessed in sports in recent years. Hudač didn’t miss the opportunity to say his award is actually a shared achievement of the entire team.

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The fifth Guest Star award ceremony, set in the beautiful surroundings of the City Museum of Ljubljana, was a night of superb food, exquisite wines, eminent international guests and four starry sculptures for the winners. Above all it was a night of cultural blending, friendly bonding and strengthening the ties between Slovenia and its expat community.

The Guest Stars of 2008 were: musician Chris Eckman, footballer Marcos Magno Morales Tavares, General Manager of Kempinski Palace Portorož Thies C. Bruhn and Ambassador of The Netherlands John C. Groffen.

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Guest Star 2007, held at the glorious 450-year old Fužinski grad (Fužine Castle) was undisputedly the most solemn of all.

The red carpet, strawberries and champagne, and local delicacies satisfied the refined tastes of all the invitees. The evening started with a warm welcome by Ljubljana’s Mayor Zoran Jankovič followed by the showing of a video tribute to previous winners.

The year’s winners were: Russian Ambassador Mikhail Valentinovič Vanin in Diplomacy, managing director of Harvey Norman Blaine Callard in Economy, Australian musician Kate Hosking in Culture and volleyball player (ACH Volley Bled) Delano Vanneto Thomas in Sports.

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Nova Gorica’s Hit Perla Conference Center was the host of Guest Star 2006. If 2005 was dominated by the Eastern stars, 2006 was taken over by Francophones.

In the category of Culture, the winner was Michel Obenga from Gabon, the Director of French Language Institute in Ljubljana. The Diplomacy winner was Jean-Louis Mignot, former Belgian Ambassador to Slovenia, who was one of the most active ambassadors also on the cultural field as well. The Economy and Sports award went to 2005 and 2004 winners, Andreas Maierhofer and Marlene Ottey.

The special guest at the event was the Slovenian skier and businessman Jure Košir, who invited all the guests to attend his annual Ski Legends Hit Challenge project. Hit’s classy musical accompaniment of Big Band Nova and jazz singer Kristina Oberžan made the evening an unforgettable musical experience.

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The Guest Star 2005 brought a new category in Culture. There was also a new location, and more nominees than the previous year.

The choice of candidates was not only larger, but also richer in variety. Despite the so-called “westernization”, all the winners came from the places east of Slovenia. The brand new Vitranc Hall in Kranjska Gora hosted the event that surpassed its previous edition in various ways. Many nominees and invitees from the first ceremony decided to attend the event once again and enjoy a splendid evening and pleasant atmosphere, complimented further by performances by Perpetuum Jazzile, Mojca Horvat’s dance group and Austrian harpist, Monica Stadler. The ceremony was successfully led by hosts Mojca Mavec and Michael Manske.

The award in Culture went to Huiquin Wang, a Chinese painter who impressed many with her fine art creations. Sports were the only category where the winner was unfortunately absent: Edouard Kokcharov couldn’t be missed by the Russian national handball team, preparing for the European championship. The category of business seemed to have seen the fiercest battle among the candidates, but Andreas Maierhofer from Si.mobil was the victor. Diplomacy award was won by Balkan Kizildeli, the former Turkish ambassador, who came to Slovenia with the first flight on Turkish Airlines: a flight that was a fruit of his endeavours.

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Guest Star project was first realised in 2004, the year of Slovenia’s accession into the EU. In the beautiful setting of the Grand Hotel Rogaška, the magnificent background of the Crystal Hall was complimented by distinguished foreigners, the guest stars of the evening. Out The organisations awarded Guest Stars in three categories - Politics & Diplomacy, Economy and Sports – to nine nominees. The award in the category of Politics & Diplomacy went to the head of the Austrian Institute in Slovenia, Christine Okresek; the Economy award was granted to the former director of the Sava Tires, Richard Allen Johnson and the sports battle was won by the athlete Marlene Ottey.