) I guess the next on will be Poland then...
Post by Mangu99 on Aug 7, 2018 7:57:17 GMT -5
As I mentioned here I'm Italian and I had been watching the Italian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? for several years, until its closure in 2011. When compared to the original UK production and to other versions of the show, the Italian version is slightly different and these are the things I liked and the ones I didn’t like about it. Feel free to leave a comment to share your opinion.
THINGS I LIKED
1) The format
Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is a great format, and the Italian version kept many features of the original UK production, making the show a great success since its first episode. The music, the lighting and the general atmosphere of the game are some examples of these features I mentioned. When the show premiered in May 2000 it was called Chi vuol essere miliardario? (Who Wants to be a Billionaire?), as the currency of Italy was the lira ($1 = ITL1,674 and €1 = ITL1,936) and the top prize was one billion lire ($597,148 or €516,456). In 2000, after the transition of Italy's currency to Euros, the show was renamed Chi vuol essere milionario? (Who Wants to be a Millionaire?) and the top prize was doubled, as one million euros equals to a little more than two billion lire. The format was slightly changed in 2008, when they added the Switch the question lifeline (later removed) and in 2011 when they added the possibility to decide where to set the only safety net available.
2) The host
The host of the Italian version of Millionaire was Gerry Scotti, who is still one of the most popular Italian television presenters, primarily known as host of game shows. In addition to Chi vuol essere milionario? he hosted Passaparola and 50:50 (spin-off of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?). He recently became the host of The Money Drop, Caduta Libera (Free Fall, Italian version of Who’s Still Standing?) and The Wall. With 1,593 episodes, Gerry Scotti holds the Guinness World Record for 'Most episodes of WWTBAM hosted by a male presenter'. He became popular with Chi vuol essere milionario? and everyone in Italy still remembers the catchphrases he used in the show, like “Comincia qui la tua scalata verso il milione!” (Your journey towards the million begins now!) and “È la tua risposta definitiva? La accendiamo?” (Is that your final answer? Do we light it up? [meaning that the answer box will become orange]).
3) The questions and the top prize winners
In Italy, only three people answered question 15 correctly: Francesca Cinelli in 2001, Davide Pavesi in 2004 and Michela De Paoli in 2011. These are their final questions:
THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
1) The graphics, the studio and the lighting
The graphics used in the Italian version were terrible. Apart from the actual question box, which was smaller, Conduit ITC was replaced by a standard bold font that made the questions graphically unpleasant. Also the font of the money tree was changed, Copperplate was replaced by a font that made everything look poor. The studio was somehow incomplete, with the audience only on two sides (in most international versions the contestant in surrounded by the audience) and the lighting system, especially in the last few seasons was terrible: apart from the last five questions, which were asked in the complete darkness, during the first ten questions the studio was way too bright.
2) The Edizione Straordinaria (Special Edition)
Chi vuol essere milionario? – Edizione Straordinaria was based on the Hot Seat version of the show. For this reason classic music was replaced by the rave music from the UK and also the graphics were modified, as they used the international blue graphics in a red version (the font they used was Verdana). Fifty-Fifty (Cinquanta e Cinquanta), Phone-a-Friend (Telefonata a casa) and Ask the Audience (Aiuto del pubblico) were removed, and the only lifeline available was Pass, which was shown in the graphics in the same way as the Switch the question lifeline. The rest was identical to the Hot Seat Format: there were six contestant taking turns to answer questions. If a contestant could not correctly answer a question they were eliminated, and the highest cash value was removed. I personally don’t like this format and I think that everyone in Italy didn’t like it: the show had low ratings and the following season they went back to the classic format. They still used the international blue graphics and the new intro, but they removed Fastest Finger First (Il dito più veloce) and the rave music, switching back to the classic one.
POSSIBLE NEW SEASON
During an interview for the game show The Wall, Gerry Scotti said he would like to host Chi vuol essere milionario? for another season, but they first have to understand who has the rights to produce it. Here you can find the complete interview, if you want I could translate it into English:
THINGS I LIKED
1) The format
Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is a great format, and the Italian version kept many features of the original UK production, making the show a great success since its first episode. The music, the lighting and the general atmosphere of the game are some examples of these features I mentioned. When the show premiered in May 2000 it was called Chi vuol essere miliardario? (Who Wants to be a Billionaire?), as the currency of Italy was the lira ($1 = ITL1,674 and €1 = ITL1,936) and the top prize was one billion lire ($597,148 or €516,456). In 2000, after the transition of Italy's currency to Euros, the show was renamed Chi vuol essere milionario? (Who Wants to be a Millionaire?) and the top prize was doubled, as one million euros equals to a little more than two billion lire. The format was slightly changed in 2008, when they added the Switch the question lifeline (later removed) and in 2011 when they added the possibility to decide where to set the only safety net available.
2) The host
The host of the Italian version of Millionaire was Gerry Scotti, who is still one of the most popular Italian television presenters, primarily known as host of game shows. In addition to Chi vuol essere milionario? he hosted Passaparola and 50:50 (spin-off of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?). He recently became the host of The Money Drop, Caduta Libera (Free Fall, Italian version of Who’s Still Standing?) and The Wall. With 1,593 episodes, Gerry Scotti holds the Guinness World Record for 'Most episodes of WWTBAM hosted by a male presenter'. He became popular with Chi vuol essere milionario? and everyone in Italy still remembers the catchphrases he used in the show, like “Comincia qui la tua scalata verso il milione!” (Your journey towards the million begins now!) and “È la tua risposta definitiva? La accendiamo?” (Is that your final answer? Do we light it up? [meaning that the answer box will become orange]).
3) The questions and the top prize winners
In Italy, only three people answered question 15 correctly: Francesca Cinelli in 2001, Davide Pavesi in 2004 and Michela De Paoli in 2011. These are their final questions:
If you were Albert King, what would be your profession?
(A) Writer - (B) Television journalist - (C) Formula One Pilot - (D) Musician
What name of the scientist is mentioned along with Kant in the theory explaining the formation and evolution of the Solar System?
(A) Laplace - (B) Lavoisier - (C) Faraday - (D) Gauss
According to Genesis, which was the first action taken by Adam left the Garden of Eden?
(A) He offered sacrifices to God - (B) He worked the land - (C) He joined Eve - (D) He built an house
THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
1) The graphics, the studio and the lighting
The graphics used in the Italian version were terrible. Apart from the actual question box, which was smaller, Conduit ITC was replaced by a standard bold font that made the questions graphically unpleasant. Also the font of the money tree was changed, Copperplate was replaced by a font that made everything look poor. The studio was somehow incomplete, with the audience only on two sides (in most international versions the contestant in surrounded by the audience) and the lighting system, especially in the last few seasons was terrible: apart from the last five questions, which were asked in the complete darkness, during the first ten questions the studio was way too bright.
2) The Edizione Straordinaria (Special Edition)
Chi vuol essere milionario? – Edizione Straordinaria was based on the Hot Seat version of the show. For this reason classic music was replaced by the rave music from the UK and also the graphics were modified, as they used the international blue graphics in a red version (the font they used was Verdana). Fifty-Fifty (Cinquanta e Cinquanta), Phone-a-Friend (Telefonata a casa) and Ask the Audience (Aiuto del pubblico) were removed, and the only lifeline available was Pass, which was shown in the graphics in the same way as the Switch the question lifeline. The rest was identical to the Hot Seat Format: there were six contestant taking turns to answer questions. If a contestant could not correctly answer a question they were eliminated, and the highest cash value was removed. I personally don’t like this format and I think that everyone in Italy didn’t like it: the show had low ratings and the following season they went back to the classic format. They still used the international blue graphics and the new intro, but they removed Fastest Finger First (Il dito più veloce) and the rave music, switching back to the classic one.
POSSIBLE NEW SEASON
During an interview for the game show The Wall, Gerry Scotti said he would like to host Chi vuol essere milionario? for another season, but they first have to understand who has the rights to produce it. Here you can find the complete interview, if you want I could translate it into English:
