LaRem’s disappointing results in France’s regional elections

This week on The Sound Kitchen you’ll hear the answer to the quiz about France’s first round of regional elections. I'll tell you about my mini sight-seeing trip around Paris, there's an homage to the Bollywood icon Dilip Kumar, and you'll listen to music chosen by The Sound Kitchen’s sound engineer, musician Erwan Rome. All that and the new quiz question, too - so just click on the “Audio” arrow above and enjoy! 

Sound Kitchen Podcast RFI

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday – here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You’ll hear the winners' names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you’ve grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and listen every week.

I am busy cooking up special shows with your musical requests, so get them in! Send your musical requests to [e-mail]  Tell us why you like the piece of music, too – it makes it more interesting for us all!

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In addition to the breaking news articles on our site, rfienglish.com, with in-depth analysis of current affairs in France and across the globe, we have several podcasts which will leave you hungry for more.

There’s Paris Perspective, Africa Calling, Spotlight on France, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We have a bilingual series - an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. And there is the excellent International Report, too.

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We have a new RFI Listeners Club member to welcome: Peter Jones, who hails from West Sussex in Britain.

Welcome, Peter! So glad you have joined us!

You too can be a member of the RFI Listeners Club – just write to me at [e-mail] and tell me you want to join, and I’ll send you a membership number. It’s that easy. When you win a Sound Kitchen quiz as an RFI Listeners Club member, you receive a premium prize, AND, you can join our Facebook page, the RFI Listeners Club page. You must ask to join the group, you must furnish your RFI Listeners Club membership number, I’ll approve you, and then off you go! Peter, be sure you join!

This week’s quiz: On the 26th of June, I asked you a question about France’s first round of regional elections – you were to send me the percentage of votes won by President Emmanuel Macron’s party, La République en Marche, LaRem.

The answer is: The results, as my colleagues Michael Fitzpatrick and Sarah Elzas noted, were disappointing for the party. LaRem performed poorly across the country, with a national vote share of 10-11 percent, underlining how it has failed to convert five years in power at the national level into grassroots local support.

The winners are: Mrs. Nafisa Khatun, the president of the RFI Mahila Shrota Sangha Club in Hariharpara, India; Priyanka Paul, the president of the RFI Women’s Club in Murshidabad, India, and Raihan Ali, a member of the Nilshagor RFI Fan Club in Nilphamari, Bangladesh.  Also on the list of lucky winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Shaira Hosen Mo from Kishoreganj, Bangladesh and Rachid Dahmani from M'sila, Algeria.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “An American in Paris” by George Gershwin, performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra; “Suhana Safar Aur Ye” from the film Madhumati, written by Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra and sung by Mukesh; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “Tea Festival” by Tony Hung; “Qidrechinna” by Abdel Gabir Salim, performed by the composer and his ensemble, and “New Beginnings” by Don Pullen, performed by the Don Pullen Trio.

Do you have a musical request? Send it to [e-mail]

This week’s question ... You'll have to listen to the show to participate. You have until the 23rd of August to enter this week's quiz; the winners will be announced on the August 28th podcast. When you enter, be sure you send your postal address in with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

[e-mail]

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

or

By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country’s international access code, or “ + ”, then 33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

To find out how you can win a special Sound Kitchen prize, click here

To find out how you can become a member of the RFI Listeners Club, or to form your own official RFI Club, click here