Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (Sunny game show)

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is a Sunny game show based on the original British version of the same name. The show originally aired on TV4 between August 20, 1999 and May 1, 2015, hosted by Joe Andrews, later by George Martin. It has since returned to TV4, the first season of the revival airing on April 23, 2022, this time hosted by José Maria Branson.

Pre-game and Fastest Finger First
Contestants phone a premium-rate telephone line to enter the preliminary phases of the show. After a certain period of time, the contestant will receive a phone call from this premium-rate number, telling the contestant if they are chosen as a candidate or not. If the contestant is chosen as a candidate, they are told to go to the production company's exam offices to take some general-knowledge exams. If the contestant gets at least 50% of the answers right, they have a further chance to appear on the show. The production and distribution companies then review who will appear as contestants on the show. If they are asked to appear on the show, the contestant will receive a phone call asking them if they want to participate. If the contestant accepts, they would then be asked to go to the studios (currently located in Studio City) on a certain date. Initially, there would be a batch of ten contestants appearing on the show, before being asked a "Fastest Finger First" question in which they would have to arrange four options into a given order and in the fastest time. The contestant who got the order correct in the fastest time would then be invited by the presenter into the Hot Seat to play for $1,000,000. This round was dropped upon the arrival of the clock format in 2012, and did not return in the 2022 revival either. Now, the presenter invites the contestants into the Hot Seat one by one.

The main game
The contestant will have to answer 15 (formerly 12) multiple-choice questions correctly to win $1,000,000. If the contestant gets stuck, they can either walk away or use one of their three (or four) lifelines if possible. If an incorrect answer is given on the first 5 (formerly 2) questions, the contestant will leave the studio empty-handed. If the contestant answers incorrectly on the next 5 questions, they leave with a guaranteed $1,000 (or $2,000 in the 12-question format). If the contestant answers incorrectly on the last 5 questions, they leave with a guaranteed $32,000 (or $50,000 in the 12-question format). In the original run, the two "safety nets" were fixed as questions 5 and 10 (or 2 and 7 in the 12-question format). In the 2022 revival, only the first safety net is fixed, once again at question 5. The contestant can set the second safety net anywhere they like, as long as it is between question 6 and question 14.

Current lifelines
Since the start of the revival series in 2022, there are four lifelines:


 * 50:50, in which the computer automatically removes two random incorrect options, leaving the contestant with the right answer and one remaining wrong answer.
 * Phone a Friend, where the contestant is allowed to call one of their three selected friends. In the 2022 revival series, TV4 and Sony signed a contract with Zoom to provide a video calling service for the modernised lifeline. After a short introduction, the contestant has 30 seconds to read the question and its four answers aloud to the friend. The friend will then try to answer the question within the time limit. If the friend does not want to speak any further, the presenter ends the call early, and if not, the call automatically ends 30 seconds after the contestant starts to explain the question.
 * Ask the Audience, in which the 100 (50 since 2022) audience members are asked to answer the question via a poll. The results are shown as a graph showing the percentages of the audience who voted for answers A, B, C and D. The audience is often right, but in the history of the show, there have been some instances in which a majority of the audience votes for the wrong answer.
 * Ask the Host, in which the spotlight is turned to the presenter, as he is given a chance to give his opinions on the question. This lifeline was introduced with the revival on 23 April 2022. This lifeline is only possible because, in both of its inceptions, the answer is not shown to the host until the contestant locks in their answer.

Former lifelines

 * Double Dip: Used during the clock format (2012-15), this lifeline allowed you to have two chances at a question. If the contestant gives a wrong answer on the first chance, the answer is eliminated and they are asked to have a further chance at answering the question. To make sure that the contestant did not use 50:50 and Double Dip on the same question, the rules stated that you were not allowed to use any other lifeline if you would activate Double Dip. This lifeline was only available after the contestant had correctly answered the 7th question.

Money tree
Throughout the contestant's run, there is a strategic structure as to the amount of money the contestant would win upon answering an answer correctly. This is called the money tree. It consists of 15 (formerly 12) questions of increasing difficulty, with increasing amounts of money on the money tree as the questions get harder to answer. These representations show the safety nets in bold and the potential settings for the second safety net in italics.

Music Scores
As most versions of WWTBAM have to follow similar rules to the UK version, two notable exceptions being the USA and India, the music scores used in Sun Island have always been used in some other version. The theme was initially composed by father-and-son team Keith and Matthew Strachan, and, unlike other game shows historically, the music scores was designed to excite and intimidate both the people in the studio (contestants, presenter, audience) and the viewers, as did the studio. These cues were mainly used from 1999 to 2008, and were replaced with newer cues composed by Ramon Covalo. The Ramon Covalo cues returned once again with the revival of the show in 2022.

Top prize winners
Four people have won $1,000,000 over the years.

Rafael de Freitas
The first person to win $1,000,000 was Rafael de Freitas, a 40-year-old lawyer from Sao Tome who appeared on 8 March 2002. His last question was on the Higgs boson, and he said he knew this because had a master's degree in physics from the University of Cambridge, which he took before taking a law degree.

Imran Shah
Imran Shah, a 32-year-old doctor from New Sunny, was the second contestant to ever win $1,000,000. He appeared on both 30 September and 6 October 2006.

Ana de Soares
Ana de Soares, a 26-year-old teacher from New Sunny, was the third contestant in total, as well as the first woman, to win the top prize. She appeared on 4 and 5 April 2008.

Gabriel da Costa
Gabriel da Costa, a 24-year-old engineer, appeared on 1 May 2015. He was the fourth and currently most recent contestant to win $1,000,000, as well as the first and only person on both the 12-question and clock formats. He is also currently the only million-dollar winner to use a lifeline on his final question, as he used his 50:50 lifeline.