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The French way of partying

• Tim Weber
• 27 Jan 08, 08:58 AM

Davos is almost over.

Most proceedings wound down late on Saturday afternoon, with sessions on many heavy-weight topics like the role of central banks in the current financial crisis (with ECB boss Jean-Claude Trichet on the panel), and an from the world's top trade ministers (EU, US, India, Brazil, Australia).

After the sessions participants lingered in the halls and corridors for longer than usual, for one last bout of intense networking, sharing of ideas and swapping of business cards.

But then everybody got ready for some serious partying at the annual Gala soiree on Saturday evening.

Festivities are usually sponsored by one or two countries, and last night it was the turn of France and Turkey to impress the world's movers and shakers.

Soon, the millionaires and billionaires were bobbing along to the stomping rhythm of Turkish pop music.

A bit later, in the main Congress Hall, France got its party under way - keen to drive home the new government's message that "France is on the move".

It was a stunning show.

For entertainers, the World Economic Forum is always a bit of a challenge, because the networking and talking never stops. So when a pianist, a cellist and an opera singer took to the stage for a few arias from French operas, they found it hard to cut through the noise from all the chitter chatter.

But then the show morphed into a breathtaking but very French mix of Cirque du Soleil, break dance, techno music, modern ballet and opera that wowed even the jaded Davos crowd.

The French event managers understood that there is only that much French culture that Davos man and woman are prepared to take.

A group of singers was brought on stage (the women showing off slightly improbable cleavages) that delved deep into the canon of globally popular pop, rock and blues - most of it in English.

It got the Congress Hall dancing and the crowd was still going strong at two o'clock in the morning. I even spotted a notoriously pessimistic economist smiling broadly as he propped up one of the bars.

I was just wondering: when the French singers were belting out AC-DC's "Highway to Hell", were the dancing millionaires thinking about the state of their share portfolios after this wild week on the stock markets?

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