A button is pushed which activates a confetti cannon from the top of the studio, showering confetti onto the studio floor and any people around it.
This is almost always accompanied by the million dollar win cue, million pound win cue, or any millionaire cue. It is usually activated whenever a contestant correctly answers the final question, however, there have been cases where it was activated to celebrate something else, such as a jubilee episode.
Trivia[]
The first time it was seen in action worldwide for a top prize win was during John Carpenter's $1,000,000 win on the U.S. version on November 19, 1999.
The confetti drop is notably absent in some countries (Russia, Ireland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sri Lanka (2021-present), Sweden (2019-present), Ukraine (2000-05) and Norway). Season 2 of the 2020-present US revival also averts having a confetti drop due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The confetti appears in different colors depending on the country (the US versions use a rainbow of colors for the Philbin and Vieira runs and pink and yellow for Season 3 of the 2020 revival, the UK versions use blue and white for the Chris Tarrant era and gold for the Jeremy Clarkson era, and the Australian version uses gold and silver).
In some countries, the confetti is accompanied by additional effects. In the Ecuadoran and Colombian version, a balloon drop is used, while in the German, Austrian, Hungarian, Israeli, Bulgarian and Albanian versions, pyrotechnic fireworks are set-off on stage.
In the Italian version, when Michela De Paoli won the top prize, CGI confetti was displayed on the screen along with physical confetti.
The confetti drop for Joe Trela was unusually large, as the confetti filled the backside of the studio alongside the main part.
The confetti drop has occasionally malfunctioned, with the cannon not going off in time. This was the case on Judith Keppel's £1,000,000 win, however, the problem was fixed as the episode continued, and at the end of the episode, the confetti drop worked as normal, showering confetti onto the studio as the credits rolled.
Despite the fact that confetti drops are used for big winners, there have been times when confetti was dropped for other occasions:
In the original UK version, confetti was dropped at end of each of the first two series, and has been dropped on many celebrity specials during the clock format's usage. It was also activated at the end of the first run of The People Play specials, immediately following Monica Utting's run.
In the ABC version, confetti dropped at the end of the first season.
On the syndicated version, confetti dropped at the end of the November 9, 2007 episode to celebrate the 1,000th episode of the syndicated version (although it was actually the 980th episode). It was also activated on the November 5, 2010 episode to celebrate the 1,500th episode.
On Millionaire Hot Seat, confetti is dropped for every $250,000 winner and, of course, for a top prize winner. It also dropped at the end of the 1,000th Hot Seat show.
For the Albanian version, confetti tends to drop on celebrity specials. It has also dropped when Edgar Çani won €25,000 and at the beginning of the fifth series.
On the Vietnamese version, confetti was dropped on the 10th anniversary episode (December 30, 2014), after host Lại Văn Sâm and celebrity contestant Hoàng Bách sang 'Happy Birthday'. It was also dropped during the host entrance on the February 12, 2013 episode to celebrate Lunar New Year.
On the German version, confetti dropped on the April 1, 2019 show when Luigi Tassone won €500. Fittingly, this was an April Fool's Day joke played on host Günther Jauch by the production team.
On the Argentine version, confetti dropped at the beginning of the first episode of the revival series.
On the Indonesian version, confetti was dropped when a contestant took the money on the final question in one episode.
On the India Hindi version since 2010, confetti was dropped when a contestant answer correctly the ₹1 Crore question (or ₹3 Crore and ₹5 Crore questions under Maha Crorepati format), even though it's not the top prize question.
During the Tarrant era, the confetti operator was called Pascal, originally from Belgium.
During the days of Philbin and the early Vieira run, it was revealed that a man called Norris was the man responsible for releasing the confetti during a million dollar win. He would feature frequently in the second episode of Carole Price's game.
The Confetti Drop is not used during the second season of the reboot of the US version due to COVID-19 restrictions, as well as Sam Murray answering his $1,000,000 question correctly during the Million Dollar Tournament of Ten.
1,000th Show Celebration (syndicated U.S. version)
1,500th Show Celebration (syndicated U.S. version)
