Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Philippine game show)


Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a Philippine game show based on the original British format of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The main goal of the game is to win 2 million Philippine pesos by answering 12 multiple-choice questions correctly. There are four lifelines: 50:50, Phone A Friend, and Switch and Double Dip. The latter two replaced Ask the Audience, which was used until the 2010 season and of Phone-a-Friend until the 2012 season and reused for the 5th Incarnation replacing the People's Pick lifeline instead.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was broadcast from 2000 to 2002 on the government-sequestered Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation, produced by Viva Television, and was hosted by actor Christopher de Leon.
On May 23, 2009, the game show returned under a new home over TV5, with actor-host-comedian Vic Sotto as the new host.
The show aired its season finale on October 7, 2012 to give way to another game show hosted by Sotto, The Million Peso Money Drop.
However, the show returned on air September 15, 2013 for a new season together with Pinoy Explorer and Wow Mali! Pa Rin in exchange to the now defunct talent show Talentadong Pinoy. This incarnation ended on January 11, 2015 in preparation for the launching of Move It: The Clash of the Street Dancers on January 25, 2015.
The show returned on May 10, 2015 at 7pm, replacing Move It: The Clash of the Street Dancers which held its grand finals two weeks before the launch of the new incarnation.
On November 22, 2015, it was the final episode aired.

Gameplay

Originally, the contestants must first play a preliminary round, called "Fastest Finger First", where they are all given a question and four answers from the host and are asked to put those four answers into a particular order. The contestant who does so correctly and in the fastest time goes on to sit in a chair in the center of the set, known as the "Hot Seat", and play for the prize.
Once in the Hot Seat, the contestant is asked increasingly difficult general knowledge questions by the host. Questions are multiple choice: four possible answers are given, and the contestant must choose the correct one. Upon answering a question correctly, the contestant wins a certain amount of money. After questions, the host will ask the contestant "Is that your final answer?", when a contestant says "Final Answer" in conjunction with one of the answers, it is official, and cannot be changed. For the first few questions, there is a possibility for the contestant to leave with no money if they.

2000–2002: Viva/IBC Version

The first version of the show was hosted by actor Christopher de Leon. The first season of the original Millionaire, which began on November 13, 2000, had its 15th question prize of ₱1,000,000. In 2001, the final question's prize was doubled to ₱2,000,000.
The show lost its popularity soon after its original studio in Parañaque City was destroyed by a fire, and after the show moved to Riverbanks Center in Marikina City. Its last original episode was aired on December 14, 2002.
No one won the game by way of answering all fifteen questions correctly in this incarnation. There had been two contestants who went the closest: DLSU associate professor Amelita Lopez-Forbes and actress Sharon Cuneta, who each answered 14 questions correctly and won a million pesos in separate instances in 2001.
The money tree used in the IBC version is as follows :
  1. ₱1,000
  2. ₱2,000
  3. ₱3,000
  4. ₱5,000
  5. ₱10,000
  6. ₱20,000
  7. ₱30,000
  8. ₱40,000
  9. ₱50,000
  10. ₱100,000
  11. ₱200,000
  12. ₱300,000
  13. ₱400,000
  14. ₱500,000
  15. ₱1 MILLION
  1. ₱1,000
  2. ₱2,000
  3. ₱3,000
  4. ₱5,000
  5. ₱10,000
  6. ₱20,000
  7. ₱30,000
  8. ₱40,000
  9. ₱50,000
  10. ₱100,000
  11. ₱200,000
  12. ₱300,000
  13. ₱500,000
  14. ₱1,000,000
  15. ₱2 MILLION

    2009–2015: TV5 Version

In April 2009, plugs about the "comeback" of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? started airing on TV5. Vic Sotto was announced as the host of the show. A promo is being sponsored by the network in connection to its comeback.
On January 9, 2010, Sharon Cuneta, who appeared in the previous incarnation became the first winner of the series after she correctly answered the final question worth ₱2,000,000. The following winner was Karl Jonathan Aguilar on September 18, 2011.
The show returned September 15, 2013 with the High-risk Money Tree option, which has one safe haven amount of ₱20,000 and four lifelines are Fifty-fifty, People Speak and Switch, in addition to a new lifeline: Double Dip. The Classic Money Tree has two safe havens at ₱20,000 and ₱150,000 and three lifelines: Fifty-fifty, People Speak, and Switch.
The Phone-a-Friend lifeline was also removed during this version.
The third ₱2,000,000 winner was Eduardo Gaeilo Pajinag, Jr. on October 20, 2013.
  1. ₱1,000
  2. ₱3,000
  3. ₱5,000
  4. ₱10,000
  5. ₱20,000
  6. ₱35,000
  7. ₱50,000
  8. ₱70,000
  9. ₱100,000
  10. ₱150,000
  11. ₱250,000
  12. ₱400,000
  13. ₱600,000
  14. ₱1,000,000
  15. ₱2,000,000
  1. ₱1,000
  2. ₱3,000
  3. ₱5,000
  4. ₱10,000
  5. ₱20,000
  6. ₱35,000
  7. ₱50,000
  8. ₱70,000
  9. ₱100,000
  10. ₱150,000
  11. ₱250,000
  12. ₱400,000
  13. ₱600,000
  14. ₱1,000,000
  15. ₱2,000,000
The show returned on May 10, 2015 with a brand new format. The program replaced the 15-question format with a new 12-question format. Money Trees were not named: instead they are just identified as Money Tree 1 and Money Tree 2, respectively. To distinguished both Money Trees, the first one has two "Safe Havens" and it has 3 Lifelines. Meanwhile, Money Tree 2 have only 1 "Safe Haven" and 4 Lifelines. The "People Speak" lifeline from the preceding version was removed and it was replaced by the returning Phone A Friend.
  1. ₱10,000
  2. ₱20,000
  3. ₱35,000
  4. ₱50,000
  5. ₱70,000
  6. ₱100,000
  7. ₱150,000
  8. ₱250,000
  9. ₱400,000
  10. ₱600,000
  11. ₱1,000,000
  12. ₱2,000,000
  1. ₱10,000
  2. ₱20,000
  3. ₱35,000
  4. ₱50,000
  5. ₱70,000
  6. ₱100,000
  7. ₱150,000
  8. ₱250,000
  9. ₱400,000
  10. ₱600,000
  11. ₱1,000,000
  12. ₱2,000,000 '''

    Top-prize winners

Sharon Cuneta (January 9, 2010)

On January 9, 2010, Sharon Cuneta once again played on the show and won ₱2,000,000, making her the first top prize winner in the Philippine franchise's history, three days after her birthday. References to her first appearance, especially the 14th question asked, were made during her game. All of the money she won was played for charity and was donated to the Hospicio de San Jose. Coincidentally, the 13th question in her game was about the orphanage's exact location. A translation of the 15th question can be seen on the right.

Karl Jonathan Aguilar (September 18, 2011)

On September 18, 2011, the Philippine version gained its second top prize winner in the person of IT specialist Karl Jonathan Aguilar. The final question involved the name of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum with the other options being made-up but similarly-sounding names. Of note, he did not use his lifelines up to the ₱600,000 question. When his last lifeline, Phone-A-Friend, was used during the final question, he was given one of the wrong answers. Also, the first fourteen were asked in the previous episode aired a week before. The translation of the ₱2 million question that Aguilar answered correctly can be seen at the right.

Eduardo Gaeilo Pajinag, Jr. (October 20, 2013)

The Philippine version show produced its third top-prize winner in the person of IT auditor Eduardo "Gaeilo" Pajinag, Jr. on October 20, 2013. According to him, he auditioned seven times before being accepted on his 8th audition. He is the first winner of the new money tree, the High-Risk money tree. The final question was about Jabberwocky, the poem written by Lewis Carroll where he used nonsense words. The other options were synonyms to "nonsense". After carefully deducing on his answer, to the extent that he mentioned where the dance group Jabbawockeez got their name, he ultimately went on to win the ₱2 million peso top-prize.

''Who Deserves to Be a Millionaire?''

For four episodes starting from December 12, 2009 to January 2, 2010, a special charity edition of the show was held called Who Deserves to Be a Millionaire?. Each episode comprised one celebrity and a representative from his/her chosen charity playing as a team. Rules stayed the same. The tradition returned on December 4, 2011. The Philippines was the fourth country to use the Deserves title and format; after Chile, Nigeria and China.
The following are the celebrities who played in this special edition and the prize that they each won: