Millionaire?" is a popular game show that everyone probably knows about. It has become an analogue of the English TV quiz called Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? In this program, everyone has the opportunity, thanks to their knowledge and, of course, luck to win 3 million rubles. The show features both celebrities who are regularly invited to film the popular game, as well as viewers who decided to try their luck in this quiz show.There were lucky ones who managed to win a decent amount of money, and one of them we will talk about in this article. in which Igor Sazeev played - "Who wants to become a millionaire?".
The history of the show
The program was first broadcast on NTV under the title "Oh, lucky!". Then the host was Dmitry Dibrov. The program became very popular, and its ratings increased more and more, but there were no winners who reached the main prize. Later, the program moved to Channel One under the more familiar name "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?". The humorist Maxim Galkin was put on the role of the host. This happened in 2001, but in 2008 Dmitry Dibrov again became the host. Since 2005, the amount of winnings has been increased - now the main prize was 3 million rubles.
Rules of the game
So, for those who do not know yet, let's recall the rules: in the game, as mentioned earlier, there are only 15 questions. However, they may be related to different areas knowledge, so the player must truly have a broad outlook, at least in order to reach the main, cherished 15th question.
Each question has 4 possible answers: the player must choose the only correct one. There are three hints: 50 to 50 (when two wrong answers are removed from the list of answers presented), calling a friend (everything is clear here anyway), and also the help of the hall, which should show erudition to help the player who has difficulty in choosing an answer.
The questions are not all difficult. For example, from 1 to 5 are for the most part comic, and it will not be difficult to answer them, although, of course, it’s how lucky. On the 10th there are already questions of an average level of complexity of a general subject. But then it will become much more difficult - here you will need a lot of knowledge in specific industries and you will need to make a lot of efforts to reach the victorious end. In the history of the show, by the way, there were such people, albeit in very small numbers. Let's talk now about the first millionaire who was able to win the main prize.
How did the future millionaire get the idea to participate in the game?
He began to notice that while watching this TV show at home, he often answered many questions correctly, while the participants did not know the answer. His wife somehow inspired him to go to Moscow and take the risk of playing in the show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", where Maxim Galkin then became the host. Igor Sazeev accepted this idea positively and went to the capital to fight to the end for the main prize.
Life to a million
Having received a university education, Igor Sazeev, a participant in the show "KHSM", came to work at the Institute of Silicate Chemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he worked until the mid-90s. Then he took up the layout of books, and later became an editor in a publishing house. At the time of participation in the program, he already had four children from his second marriage, and one from his first. The second wife is Anna, the sons are Yura, Sasha, Timofey and Vasily. The fifth child is the eldest son Maxim from his first marriage.
The start of a million
The place of residence of such a popular once millionaire as Igor Sazeev is St. Petersburg. He is the father of five children. On the program "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" got thanks to "Komsomolskaya Pravda". At first he tried to get through to the program, but nothing worked, then he saw the card numbers in this newspaper. Thanks to this, he was able to get into the list of winners who were sent to the program "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?". And finally, Igor Sazeev is a millionaire: in that first issue of the television quiz, which began to be broadcast on Channel One, he reached the 15th question.
Preparing for the game
As Igor Sazeev, a millionaire who won the main prize in a TV show, later stated, he was preparing more for the qualifying round than for the game. He was afraid that he would not pass it, so he trained very carefully, for example, he studied the history of the Russian Federation. He also studied many reference books. Diligence and the considerable work that he invested in preparing for the game did their job - he held out with honor and dignity throughout the show, answering all questions. He hoped that he would reach the tenth question: then he did not particularly count on more. Despite the confidence in knowledge in various fields of activity, the victory in such a popular game was a real surprise for him.
Answers on questions
The only thing he doubted was the question that concerned the work "Eugene Onegin". In a subsequent interview, the player admitted that he actually took him by surprise, since, of course, he read Pushkin's works, but many years ago. He gave confident and clear answers to the rest of the questions, so during this game he showed excellent erudition and endurance.
Igor Sazeev: biography of the lucky man
At the time of winning, Igor Sazeev was 39 years old. He was born in 1962, December 21st. Graduated from Leningrad State University, Department of Chemistry. By profession - a typesetter, makes book layouts. As already noted, he is married and has five sons. His eldest son Maxim from his first marriage lives with his mother in Germany, at the time of the release of the program he had not seen him for two years. Igor Yurievich Sazeev has musical education, his childhood dream was to become a composer.
Hobbies of Igor Sazeev
He loves to play sports, in particular, he enjoys playing football and basketball. He thinks he is a gambler. Favorite directors - F. Coppola and A. Tarkovsky. From books prefers science fiction. Lover of music in various genres: listens to both classical and rock, jazz. Favorite singer is Louis Armstrong. Winnie the Pooh- favourite literary hero(he likes this character for his optimism). He considers hippos to be the most beautiful animals on Earth: he created a whole collection of these toy creatures, of which he has about 100 copies.
How did Sazeev react to his unexpected luck?
It was a surprise for him that he had to pay 35% of his winnings, in total it came out 350 thousand rubles, which he was forced to pay to the state treasury. According to the rules, it is necessary to transfer part of the funds won, which are collected in the form of a tax and go to the state.
How did you manage the win?
The date of March 12, 2001 became significant for him, because on this day he not only won the most big prize in the game "Who wants to be a millionaire?", but also became its first winner. Thus, it is forever recorded in the history of the most popular game. He disposed of the money in the following way: first he bought a bicycle for his younger children, spent part of it looking for his eldest son, whom he had not seen for quite a long time, went on a romantic trip with his current wife to Austria and Italy, bought a Renault car, bought a computer, and also rested in the Crimea with the whole family. Also part of the money was invested in repairs.
In addition, Igor wanted to open his own business and part of the money, thus, invested in it, but went bankrupt. While in Germany, he visited with his eldest son Maxim as part of a tourist group in Belgium and Holland.
Happy Transfer Release
The premiere of the updated version of the program, now broadcast under the title "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", took place on February 19, 2001, and it was shown on the air only on March 12. This happened for the reason that the audience might have doubts about honesty, since in the very first issue Igor Sazeev won a million. Then, with his victory, he shocked the organizers by winning the main prize so easily. He was getting winning live" Good morning": then they handed him over. After the transfer, instead of cash, they presented him with a card, opened a bank account for him.
Gambler
Igor Sazeev considers himself a gambler, ready to take risks. Before that happy game, he decided for himself that if he was lucky to get to the fifteenth question, he would answer it, even if he was not sure of the answer. At the very least, he will be the first person on this show to take the risk of reaching the end rather than taking the amount due to lack of confidence in the last answer.
By the way, at the end he was asked a question about the teachings of Zen, namely, to which direction of religious philosophy it belongs. Sazeev was helped to win in the transfer of his knowledge, because he is a person with a broad outlook, very well-read, erudite and intelligent, but the fact that the questions, as he later claimed, came across convenient for him, also played a role. They weren't all easy, but for the most part they were easy to answer.
Bad business investment
After Sazeev got a decent win at that time, albeit not in the amount of 1 million rubles, but 650 thousand after taxes, he began to think about how best to spend the money. His acquaintances then persuaded him to invest in a business, namely in a trucking company. He spent a considerable amount on this business - about 250 thousand rubles. Then, in an interview, he admitted that he knew little about business and then took a chance, trusting his comrades. But his acquaintances simply let him down, and the investments burned down. He later, of course, regretted his decision.
Renault car
Igor spent part of the winnings on a Renault car: it was maintained, its age at the time of purchase was already 11 years old, and the mileage was 130 thousand kilometers. Although the minivan was old, but then the car was very necessary big family Igor Sazeev. The joy, however, from buying a car was not long, after some time serious problems began with it. First one part, then another began to fail. Spare parts for a foreign car are expensive, so we had to spend a lot on repairs.
Igor Sazeev: second game
A few years after the resounding victory, Igor Sazeev was again called to the program "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?": Then a special issue was organized. The second time, however, he failed to break the record. He settled on the amount of 32 thousand rubles, having incorrectly answered the 13th question, as a result, a fireproof amount remained. The transfer was charitable, and Igor Sazeev sent the funds won, albeit small ones, to the Novgorod region for the construction of the temple
Other Winners of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
The next millionaires after Igor Sazeev in 2003 were the Chudinovsky family. By an interesting coincidence, the second winner, Yuri, studied at the same school as Sazeev. In 2006, the winner who won 3 million rubles was Svetlana Yaroslavtseva from the Moscow region, and then Timur Budaev, who lives in Pyatigorsk, won the same amount in 2010.
A few years ago, these people were unknown to anyone, led a normal life, but today, if not everyone, then very many residents of not only the Russian Federation, but also the CIS countries and even neighboring countries know about them. These people did not dream of wealth, they worked and earned money in order to support their family. Little did they know that one day their lives would change drastically. Who are they - ordinary residents of our country who have become real millionaires thanks to the television quiz "Who wants to become a millionaire?". Was winning the show a turning point in their lives? What has changed since then, and what was the fate of national heroes?
1999 The Russian national channel NTV broadcasts popular show"Oh, lucky one!" with permanent host Dmitry Dibrov. In 2001, Channel One (former ORT - Public Russian Television) bought the program and changed the presenter - the still little-known young humorist Maxim Galkin became it. And already in the first edition of the television quiz on Channel One, Igor Sazeev from St. Petersburg becomes the winner and receives one million rubles as the main prize. Before today skeptics claim that the management of Channel One decided to make this man a winner in order to attract even more viewers to this program on Channel One, as in the program “Oh, lucky!” in the two years of its existence on NTV, no one has won a million. However, be that as it may, Igor Sazeev played with dignity and got his win quite deservedly.
Igor Sazeev is a man who was 39 years old at the time of winning and has six children. According to him, he was preparing not so much for the game itself, but for the qualifying round, which he was afraid not to pass. To do this, he studied the history of the Russian Federation, and also looked through a large number of reference books. His zeal and work were not in vain - luck smiled at Igor. That's just for a short while. After receiving a prize of one million rubles, he was forced to pay three hundred and fifty thousand to the state treasury as a tax on the prize. The information that the money prizes from the program are not advertised and for Igor Sazeev the news of the need to pay a 35 percent tax was a real shock.
As for the game itself, Igor Sazeev was confused only once - when he was asked a question regarding the work "Eugene Onegin". In subsequent interviews, the man honestly admitted that this question took him by surprise, since many years had passed since he had read Pushkin's work. And he answered all other questions clearly and confidently, as he knew the correct answer. However, despite the fact that Igor Sazeev is the first winner of the game who wants to become a millionaire and did not hope that he would become the owner of such a serious prize, he still expected that he would reach at least the tenth question, since he had enough knowledge in various fields of human activity.
Today, Igor Sazeev does not hide the fact that he was brought to the program by chance - during the joint viewing of this television quiz, he often correctly answered those questions to which other participants left the game or gave incorrect answers. The wife, seeing such abilities in her husband, advised him to go and take part himself and win a million rubles for the family. So Igor Sazeev ended up on the program “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”.
As mentioned above, many skeptics believe that Igor Sazeev's victory in the television quiz is a good PR for Channel One. However, the winner believes that he honestly won his million. He does not believe that the questions he answered were too easy, they fully complied with the rules and regulations of the program and were divided into three blocks - comic (easy), medium and questions of increased complexity. It just so happened that for Igor the questions turned out to be convenient and nothing more.
According to psychologists, a serious test of a person's moral "strength" is quick and unexpected wealth or power. Igor Sazeev became richer by a million rubles for one television program. And, even despite the need to pay taxes, he became the owner of a huge amount of money. However, the winner of the TV quiz does not belong to the category of people who spend their winnings on various banquets in the very first months, festive events, and then they discover that there is no trace left of the winnings. After several years, Igor believes that he spent the money worthily and did not squander the winnings. He has a negative attitude towards those people who do not want to work, but prefer to receive money “just like that”, but at the same time he does not believe that victory in such a serious intellectual program is a dishonest or unworthy way of earning money.
Today, Igor again dreams of taking part in the program. Asked if it might be worth trying his luck abroad this time, the newly minted millionaire replies that he thinks he won't even be able to pass. qualifying round, since for this you will need to answer questions regarding local characteristics, the history of the country in which he will play.
The second winner of the program, who has already managed to take away three million rubles, was Viktor Chudinovskikh, who took part in the program together with his wife.
The fate of Yuri is similar to the fate of Igor Sazeev - Yuri was a talented boy from childhood, took part in all kinds of events that were held at school, participated in intellectual quizzes, olympiads in various subjects. In a word, Yuri Chudinovskikh possessed such knowledge that allowed him to study not in the usual general education high school, but in a special boarding school for gifted children. By a coincidence, Igor Sazeev graduated from the same secondary general education institution at one time. However, the fate of Yuri was not easy - despite the large number of various talents, it was difficult for the modest Chudinovsky to find his place "under the sun". He worked hard and earned little. Until the moment he got on the program as a participant, the family saved on almost everything, but there was still not enough money. However, oddly enough, having got to the doubles game, the husband and wife made a mutual decision already directly in the studio - to take risks and go to the end.
Irina and Yuri Chudinovskikh are sociable people who have many friends. In order not to lose the opportunity to win the maximum amount of money, they put several of their intellectual acquaintances at the phones at once, one of which was the director of the secondary school where Irina works. This man teaches history in high school and they planned to contact him if they came across a difficult question on history in the program. However, fate decreed otherwise - the spouses began to doubt the issue that concerned astronomy. I had to call a specialist in this matter from Moscow. However, he could not answer this question either, only at the last second one of the friends who participated in the “brainstorming” remembered that we are talking about Venus, which has a gaseous shell and therefore is the hottest on it. However, despite the fact that friends helped the Chudinovsky couple win three million rubles, Yuri and Irina did not consider it necessary to thank them for this.
Today, Irina and Yuri Chudinovsky are called people who, in fact, became the prototypes of the heroes who took part in the filming of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire. In addition to the fact that Yuri and Irina moved from one city to another for a long time, they wandered, trying to find better life, even while participating in the program, childhood memories surfaced in Yuri's memory. Yuri Chudinovskikh honestly admitted to reporters after his victory on the show that he did not know the exact answer to the last question. However, despite this, at the very last moment, when he and Irina were about to take the money and leave the program, he remembered the children's animated film “Well, wait a minute” and the answer was found.
After winning the program, the life of Yuri and Irina Chudinovsky changed for the better - after the program went on the air, Yuri was invited to work for a good position in a serious banking structure, where he works as a deputy CEO and until today.
However, the win did not radically change the lives of these people from Kirov, since, according to Yuri, three million rubles is too little to radically change something - the money earned by their own mind on the program dispersed too quickly.
Svetlana Yaroslavtseva is a person who managed to win three million rubles on her own. Unlike the couple Yuri and Irina Chudinovsky, she did not take part in the pair program - she decided to rely on her own strengths and talents. She was born and lived in the city of Troitsk (Moscow region), unlike previous winners, Svetlana did not study at prestigious educational institutions preferring self-education to studying at Moscow universities.
Svetlana Yaroslavtseva answered fourteen questions of the presenter with dignity and was only one step away from three million rubles, but the last - the fifteenth question - baffled her. "Which writer in the time of Catherine II was a page?". Svetlana did not know the answer - this was evident from her facial expressions, gestures and serious excitement, reflected on the face of the future millionaire. Despite the fact that she tried to remain calm, the audience in the studio, and then the viewers, noticed the internal struggle - to take 500 thousand rubles or go to the end. The choice was not easy. Svetlana Yaroslavtseva, who managed to keep the hint until the end of the program, asked a question auditorium and it was the people who came to the program that helped her win three million rubles.
With the money won, Svetlana Yaroslavtseva bought a summer house near Troitsk, as well as a one-room apartment for her elderly mother. A few months after her victory, the woman fulfilled her old dream - to visit the Dead Sea, Netanya, Jerusalem, Eilat.
She speaks of Maxim Galkin with a gleam in her eyes, speaks of his charisma and incredible charm. The only thing that really surprised her during the game was the look of a tired person, eyes full of longing. However, to the surprise of Svetlana Yaroslavtseva, this was absolutely not visible on TV.
Today, yesterday's millionaires lead a normal life. They live among us and continue to work, study, reach new heights and open horizons. Luck smiled at these people and gave a lot of positive emotions, but today their life is practically no different from the previous one - everything passes, money is spent, but the memory of such a gift of fate remains forever.
31-year-old Timur Budaev from Pyatigorsk won 3 million rubles in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
This is only the fourth time in the show's 10-year history. Lika Bragina hastened to talk to the newly-made rich man.
Timur, congratulations! You have already shared good news with loved ones?
- I'm already tired of the increased attention: I just hang up, as soon as a new call. I told many people about the trip, so now everyone is calling, trying to find out something. But I didn’t tell anyone about the victory, not even my parents. I was urged to do so by the program leaders.
- Tell us about yourself.
— I am the head of the maintenance department of the Pyatigorsk State Linguistic University. Not married, I live with my parents. My father is a retired military man, my mother is a doctor in a sanatorium. There is a sister and a brother.
- What is your salary?
“I have had occasion to hold large sums of money in my hands, but precisely to hold them in my hands. I had nothing to do with them. I cannot disclose the salary, but I will say that it is significantly higher than in our region. And the average salary in Pyatigorsk is 10 thousand rubles. I do not bathe in money and I realize that the amount that I won, I would never have earned even for many years. I feel like an astronaut who flew up to an unattainable height and grabbed a star from the sky.
- And from the girls, probably, there will be no release.
“I actually already have a girlfriend. But if I were alone, I would have thought with increased attention, to whom it is directed - to me or money.
Which question got you into the most confusion ?
- Just the last question. He introduced not even into confusion, but into some kind of despondency. Which chemical element is named after an evil underground gnome: hafnium, cobalt, beryllium, tellurium? The correct answer was cobalt. There was both luck and knowledge. There were questions, the answers to which I did not know, but came to them through logical reflection. By the way, I set a record: I reached the last sum with two unused tips.
— Dibrov helped somehow or, on the contrary, pressed with authority?
- It was no more difficult for me to communicate with Dibrov than with a bosom friend. I felt like I was at a cafe table next to him.
What advice would you give to the next participants?
“First of all, keep your cool and calm. If a person can not be nervous, then knowledge, intuition, and logic will come to his aid.
- The first winner, Igor Sazeev, spent money looking for his eldest missing son and found him. What will you spend your winnings on?
- I will send my father and mother to rest abroad - to Paris, Prague. I myself will go to Italy, the country of my dreams: Rome, Florence, Milan. The rest of the money will probably be invested in real estate. I will receive in my hands not 3 million, but 1 million 950 thousand. Of course, this money will not be enough for Moscow or abroad, so I will buy here, in Pyatigorsk.
Millionaires
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Winners All-Time
Winning - 1 million. He spent part of the money on the search for his missing son. I bought a car, a computer, a ticket to Europe, invested in a business.
Winning - 1 million. Bought a car, renovated the apartment. The rest of the money was invested in banks and investment funds.
Winning - 3 million. The first who was lucky to get an "indexed" million. She was able to buy a cottage with her winnings.
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