TrendCommittee 2024: Two Truths, one Lie

Every year, the Spielwarenmesse TrendCommittee looks for the latest trends in the toy industry. It is composed of international experts, trend scouts, market researchers and journalists with years of experience. Each member has prepared three statements about themselves, one of which is wrong. Can you guess which one?

John Baulch (England)

1. I couldn't go out with my bandmate and George Michael to give George the demo tape of our band because I was at the Spielwarenmesse. 

2. I once turned down the chance to work for a record company - years later I found out I would have worked on the same team as Simon Cowell.

3. I almost became the drummer of Coldplay.

Clara Blasco (Spain)

1. When I was a child, I thought babies were born through the belly button.

2. Although I am almost 40 years old, I still count on my fingers.

3. I don't like to invest time in preparing elaborate dishes.

Daniele Caroli (Italy)

1. In 1986, I had a long and friendly conversation in Milan with Bill Gates, who was traveling through Europe to inform about the High Sierra CD-ROM storage format. I couldn't have guessed then that he would soon be the richest man in the world.

2. In July 1974, my wife Rossella and I were stranded on the island of Skopelos during a vacation in Greece, just after a war with Turkey over Cyprus had begun. So we witnessed the fall of the colonel junta and the return to democracy with the return of the politician Karamanlis from his exile in Paris.

3. In August 1969, I was one of the few Italians who attended the Woodstock music festival in New York State, which was attended by more than 400,000 people.

Axel Dammler (Germany)

1. I wrote for "Der Preis ist heiß" as an author during my student days. Those were the texts that Walter Freiwald read out at the time.

2. In school I played the leading role in several theater plays.

3. During my military service I became regiment champion in the soccer tournament with my unit - mind you as reserve goalkeeper. So I didn't play a single minute, but I was part of the team and accordingly got three days of special leave.

Steven Ekstract (USA)

1. When I was at university, I raced motorcycles to earn money.

2. My wife has a twin brother, and she and I have twins, a boy and a girl.

3. I have a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Philippe Guinaudeau (France)

1. I have dived more than 300 meters deep in the Mediterranean Sea.

2. I can speak three languages fluently.

3. I have visited over 40 countries.

Lena Hedö (Sweden)

1. I bowl in the second highest league in Sweden.

2. I was a competitive gymnast in my youth.

3. I can remember people's names very well.

Gabriela Kaiser (Germany)

1. During my studies I won first place in a fashion competition. The prize was a trip to Australia and New Zealand.

2. In my early 20s, I performed cabaret on cabaret stages and also sang solo.

3. As a teenager I was a successful track and field athlete and participated in the "European Youth Olympic Festival".

Urszula Kaszubowska (Poland)

1. As a student, I decided to take a year off from my studies and travel around Norway and Iceland. I spent 7 months in Longyearbyen and Spietsbergen, where I worked as a library assistant at the local cultural center.

2. I love to read books. And for me paper books are "real and proper". I buy a lot of them, so now I have almost 800 books! I'm even thinking about buying a bigger apartment where I could set up my own library. 

3. When I was younger, I wanted to become a professional dancer. I took some dance classes: classical dance, Latin, flamenco and belly dance.

Sujin Lee (South Korea)

1. I sold blankets in Cairo (Egypt). 

2. I slept in a cornfield with locals in Papua New Guinea. 

3. I have climbed the 2,750 meter high Mount Paektu, a volcano on the border between North Korea and China, on foot.

Reyne Rice (USA)

1. I arm wrestled with Eric Clapton in Warsaw (Poland) and won the fight. 

2. I attended a live original Blues Brothers concert with 3 current members of the TrendCommittee at the House of Blues in Dallas (Texas, USA).

3. I jumped off the top of a waterfall in Kauai (Hawaii).

Jane Wong (China)

1. I am a big fan of giant pandas because they are so cute.

2. I know many different kinds of pandas, such as Menglan, Heye, Huahua, Xiangxiang, Fubao and many more. 

3. As a student, I volunteered to help the panda animal keepers.

Solution

John Baulch

1. I couldn't go out with my bandmate and George Michael to give George the demo tape of our band because I was at the Spielwarenmesse. 

2. I once turned down the chance to work for a record company - years later I found out I would have worked on the same team as Simon Cowell.

3. I almost became the drummer for Coldplay. (Wrong)

Clara Blasco

1. When I was a child, I thought babies were born through the belly button.

2. Although I am almost 40 years old, I still count on my fingers.

3. I don't like to invest time in preparing elaborate dishes. (Wrong)

Daniele Caroli

1. In 1986, I had a long and friendly conversation in Milan with Bill Gates, who was traveling through Europe to inform about the High Sierra CD-ROM storage format. I couldn't have guessed then that he would soon be the richest man in the world.

2. In July 1974, my wife Rossella and I were stranded on the island of Skopelos during a vacation in Greece, just after a war with Turkey over Cyprus had begun. Thus we witnessed the fall of the Colonel Junta and the return to democracy with the return of the politician Karamanlis from his exile in Paris.

3. In August 1969, I was one of the few Italians who attended the Woodstock music festival in New York State, which was attended by more than 400,000 people. (Wrong)

Axel Dammler

1. I wrote for "Der Preis ist heiß" as an author during my student days. Those were the texts that Walter Freiwald read out at the time.

2. In school I played the leading role in several theater plays. (Wrong)

3. During my military service I became regiment champion with my unit at the soccer tournament - mind you as reserve goalkeeper. So I didn't play a minute, but I was part of the team and accordingly got three days of special leave.

Steven Ekstract

1. When I was at university, I raced motorcycles to earn money. (Wrong)

2. My wife has a twin brother, and she and I have twins, a boy and a girl.

3. I have a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Philippe Guineaudeau

1. I have dived more than 300 meters deep in the Mediterranean Sea.

2. I can speak three languages fluently. (Wrong)

3. I have visited over 40 countries.

Lena Hedö

1. I bowl in the second highest league in Sweden.

2. I was a competitive gymnast in my youth.

3. I can remember people's names very well. (Wrong)

Gabriela Kaiser

1. During my studies I won first place in a fashion competition. The prize was a trip to Australia and New Zealand.

2. In my early 20s I performed cabaret on cabaret stages and also sang solo.

3. As a teenager I was a successful track and field athlete and participated in the "European Youth Olympic Festival". (Wrong)

Urszula Kaszubowska

1. As a student, I decided to take a year off from my studies and travel around Norway and Iceland. I spent 7 months in Longyearbyen and Spietsbergen, where I worked as a library assistant at the local cultural center. (Wrong)

2. I love to read books. And for me, paper books are "real and proper". I buy a lot of them, so now I have almost 800 books! I'm even thinking about buying a bigger apartment where I could set up my own library. 

3. When I was younger, I wanted to become a professional dancer. I took some dance classes: classical dance, Latin, flamenco and belly dance.

Sujin Lee

1. I sold blankets in Cairo (Egypt). 

2. I slept in a cornfield with locals in Papua New Guinea. 

3. I have climbed 2,750-meter Mount Paektu, a volcano on the border between North Korea and China, on foot. (Wrong)

Reyne Rice

1. I arm wrestled with Eric Clapton in Warsaw (Poland) and won the fight. 

2. I attended a live original Blues Brothers concert with 3 current members of the TrendCommittee at the House of Blues in Dallas (Texas, USA).

3. I jumped off the top of a waterfall in Kauai (Hawaii). (Wrong)

Jane Wong

1. I am a big fan of giant pandas because they are so cute.

2. I know many different kinds of pandas, such as Menglan, Heye, Huahua, Xiangxiang, Fubao and many more. 

3. As a student, I volunteered to help the panda animal keepers. (Wrong)