Kto vozmyot million? (Russian: Кто возьмёт миллион?) is the original Kazakh version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which originally broadcast in Russian from May 17, 2001 to September 29, 2006. The show was hosted by Yevgeny Zhumanov (2001-2004) and Serik Akishev (since september 2004). The show premiered in 2001 on the KTK TV channel and aired until June 26, 2004. From September 2004 to April 2006 the show on the Khabar TV channel aired. From May to September 29. 2006, this show was on the El Arna (Khabar-2) TV channel (in parallel with the Kazakh version) aired until 2017. This version was aired every Saturday with a repeat on Sunday.

Mïllïon kimge buyıradı? (Kazakh: Миллион кiмге бұйырады?) was the Kazakh version of the show broadcast in the Kazakh language. It aired from September 2004 to September 30, 2006, and was hosted by Eskendir Sergebayev. This version was aired every Friday with a repeat on Saturday. Since September 15, 2018, the Kazakh version has returned to the air with a new host, Dosymbek Otegaliyev, every Saturday at primetime.
Lifelines[]
In two versions, three standard lifelines were used:
- 50:50 (Пятьдесят на пятьдесят; Елуден елу)
- Phone-a-Friend (Звонок другу; Досына телефон шалу)
- Ask the Audience (Помощь зала; Көрермендердің көмегі)
Seasons[]
Kto vozmyot million? (in Russian)[]
- Season 1 (30+ episodes, May 17, 2001 - August 31, 2002)
- Season 2 (21+ episodes, September 5, 2002 - August 30, 2003)
- Season 3 (49+ episodes, September 4, 2003 - June 26, 2004)
- Season 4 (? episodes, September 2004 - May 2005)
- Season 5 (? episodes, September 2005 - September 29, 2006)
- Season 6 (45 episodes, September 16, 2017 - July 28, 2018)
Mïllïon kimge buyıradı? (in Kazakh)[]
- Season 1 (? episodes, September 2004 - May 2005)
- Season 2 (? episodes, September 2005 - Septemer 30, 2006)
- Season 3 (45 episodes, September 15, 2018 - July 27, 2019)
Return[]
In the summer of 2017, it was announced that the show would return to the air on the Khabar channel, and SMS-registration of contestants was introduced.
Money Trees[]
17.05.2001 - 29.09.2006[]
Question No. |
Correct Answer Value |
Walk Away Value |
Miss Answer Value |
Amount Lost for a Wrong Answer |
---|---|---|---|---|
15 | 5.000.000 tenge | 2.500.000 tenge | 150.000 tenge | 2.350.000 tenge |
14 | 2.500.000 tenge | 1.250.000 tenge | 1.100.000 tenge | |
13 | 1.250.000 tenge | 600.000 tenge | 450.000 tenge | |
12 | 600.000 tenge | 300.000 tenge | 150.000 tenge | |
11 | 300.000 tenge | 150.000 tenge | 0 tenge | |
10 | 150.000 tenge | 80.000 tenge | 5.000 tenge | 75.000 tenge |
9 | 80.000 tenge | 40.000 tenge | 35.000 tenge | |
8 | 40.000 tenge | 20.000 tenge | 15.000 tenge | |
7 | 20.000 tenge | 10.000 tenge | 5.000 tenge | |
6 | 10.000 tenge | 5.000 tenge | 0 tenge | |
5 | 5.000 tenge | 2.000 tenge | 0 tenge | 2.000 tenge |
4 | 2.000 tenge | 1.000 tenge | 1.000 tenge | |
3 | 1.000 tenge | 500 tenge | 500 tenge | |
2 | 500 tenge | 200 tenge | 200 tenge | |
1 | 200 tenge | 0 tenge | 0 tenge |
16.09.2017 - present[]
Question No. |
Correct Answer Value |
Walk Away Value |
Miss Answer Value |
Amount Lost for a Wrong Answer |
---|---|---|---|---|
15 | 10 000 000 tenge | 5 000 000 tenge | 300 000 tenge | 4 700 000 tenge |
14 | 5 000 000 tenge | 2 500 000 tenge | 2 200 000 tenge | |
13 | 2 500 000 tenge | 1 200 000 tenge | 900 000 tenge | |
12 | 1 200 000 tenge | 600 000 tenge | 300 000 tenge | |
11 | 600 000 tenge | 300 000 tenge | 0 tenge | |
10 | 300 000 tenge | 150 000 tenge | 20 000 tenge | 130 000 tenge |
9 | 150 000 tenge | 90 000 tenge | 70 000 tenge | |
8 | 90 000 tenge | 60 000 tenge | 40 000 tenge | |
7 | 60 000 tenge | 40 000 tenge | 20 000 tenge | |
6 | 40 000 tenge | 20 000 tenge | 0 tenge | |
5 | 20 000 tenge | 10 000 tenge | 0 tenge | 10 000 tenge |
4 | 10 000 tenge | 5 000 tenge | 5 000 tenge | |
3 | 5 000 tenge | 2 500 tenge | 2 500 tenge | |
2 | 2 500 tenge | 1 000 tenge | 1 000 tenge | |
1 | 1 000 tenge | 0 tenge | 0 tenge |
Selection of contestants[]
Starting from 2017, selection in the show has been carried out with the help of SMS for all residents of Kazakhstan. Selection is carried out in several stages.
First Fastest Finger First[]
All applicants send an SMS with a certain combination to a short number.
In response, in the form of a reply SMS message, the subscriber receives confirmation that the application was accepted and receives a link to the multimedia content portal of the "KVM" show. On the portal, the subscriber will be able to download one unit of content.
Next, the subscriber from another short SMS number will be sent a question with options for answers to check his erudition. The options will be numbered 1, 2, 3, 4. In order to answer the question, the subscriber needs to send the selected option to the same short number.
After sending your answer, the subscriber will receive an appropriate notification in the reply SMS from the number about whether the answer was correct or not.
In both cases, the applicant will receive a link to access the thematic portal of multimedia content of the show "KVM?".
If you gave the correct answer, it means that you successfully passed the first FFF and became a potential contender for appear in the show "KVM?", registering themselves in the computer base of potential contestants.
Reply messages[]
After sending the application "..." to the number ... you will receive a message with the following text:
- Thank you, your application is accepted. Expect the issue from the number .... Link to the portal: http://n.s5.kz/2y7BQ.
Then you will receive a message with a question from the number ....
Second Fastest Finger First[]
Two weeks before the filming in the database of potential players, who gave the correct answer to the question via SMS, random numbers are selected. The special computer program selects 300 mobile phone numbers, according to which the producers of TV shows will call up potential contestants for the next Fastest Finger First and offer to answer 5 qualifying questions. According to the results of the 5 questions, the contestants will be selected
In each of the 6 shows of filming, there are 12 contestants (10 main + 2 spare players) who gave the most number of correct answers.
Substitute contestants[]
The substitute contestant must appear in the studio on the day of the show that was set for them. In case of the absence of any of the main 10, one or both of the reserve contestants takes the absent contestant's place in the studio.
If all the main 10 contestants appear, the substitute will automatically become a contestant in the main 10 of the next episode. They are notified of the date and time of the episode's filming.
In the event that a spare contestant fails to appear for filming, they will be removed and must complete the registration process again in order to appear on the show.
Offsite shows[]
On December 21, 2018, at 19:00 local time, the first ever offsite show was held at the improvisational site of the MEGA city mall in Almaty (on the first floor in a large atrium at 263 Rozybakiev Street). Any resident of the city could participate without any selection process. On March 2, 2019, at 15:00 (local time), a second offsite show in the MEGA Silk Way city mall (62a Karanbay Batyr Avenue) in Astana took place.
The offsite version is different from the standard Kazakh format. In this edition, there are simpler questions, and a reduced number of questions in the money tree: 8. It was not money that was being played for, but instead, valuable gifts from the Khabar agency.
The contestants who took part in this game reportedly said that when sitting opposite the presenter, they experience strong feelings of excitement and confusion, compared to when they watch the show on television when it all seems so simple to them.
A total of 5 people appeared, but no one was able to get to the final, and the main prize was an invitation to appear in the television version of the show.
Winners[]
For all winners see: Kto vozmyot million?/Mïllïon kimge buyıradı?/List of Winners
Sponsors[]
- Kazkommertsbank (2001-2004)
Trivia[]
- The youngest contestant to appear was Pavel Shaposhnikov (16-years-old in his first appearance in 2001).
- In 2001–2006, the show was filmed at the "Kazakhfilm" film studio (Al-Farabi Avenue 176, Almaty).
- On June 8, 2002, when the Ask The Audience lifeline was used, the largest proportion of the audience were wrong. During Andrey Shakhmatov's run (the uncle of contestant Yury Kuvshinnikov), 71% of the audience voted for an incorrect answer, and just 23% were right. Later, it was found out that the computer had made an error, and 71% of the audience were actually correct. This is the only known case in the history of the franchise when the computer was wrong. Two days later, the editors phoned Andrey and reported the error and said that he couold continue his game on the 10th question in the first game of the new cycle of episodes. They also said that the host will not say anything about the error on the air. Andrey continued the game as mentioned, and his episode aired two weeks later.
- Serik Akishev is the only contestant on the Kazakh version who answered the 1st question wrong.
- Alibek Begdesenov is a contestant who made three appearances. He appeared in the show each time with a different host (Yevgeny Zhumanov, Serik Akishev and Eskendir Sergebayev) and on both the Russian and Kazakh-language versions.
- Vladimir Maltsev is a contestant who appeared in 2006, during the show's original run, and following the show's reboot in 2017.
- Yury Kuvshinnikov appeared on the show five times, the most of any contestant in the Kazakh version. Yerlan Aliaskarov appeared on the show four times.
- In Yury Kuvshinnikov's fourth run, whilst using the Ask the Audience lifeline, the majority of the audience was wrong. On the 6th question, only 17% of the audience answered correctly, with 57% of the audience voting for one of the wrong answers.
- The biggest winner in the Kazakh version is Nazgul Taimova (October 27, 2018), who won 600,000 tenge.
- On December 23, 2017, whilst using the Ask the Audience lifeline, the answer was split exactly 50-50 between two answers, but both were incorrect. Contestant Marat Aukenov used the lifeline on the 8th question, where the audience voted as follows: A: 0%, B: 50%, C: 0%, D: 50%. The right answer was actually A.
- On October 20, 2018 and January 19, 2019 episodes, all 10 applicants answered correctly to the first Fastest Finger First question.
- Also in the 18th episode, the right order to a Fastest Finger First was A-B-C-D for the first time in the rebooted version of the show.
- Gaysa Kalymbet was notable for becoming the first contestant in the Kazakh-speaking version to win 2,500,000 tenge, repeating Marat Iskendirov's record, who won the same amount in 2002 in the Russian-speaking version.
- Contestant Samat Jalilov was the first contestant in the Kazakh version to reach the final question, worth 10,000,000 tenge. He walked away with 5,000,000 tenge. A second contestant, Aynur Jekebazarova also won this amount.
- The Kazakh version, alongside the Latvian and Estonian versions, uses the 1998 intro with a different scene where we see a woman instead of three people. And at the end of the credits, where the logo of the show appears, people disappear in a cloud at the bottom of the screen.
Gallery[]

Sources[]
- Official website
- About premiere filming (2001, in Russian)
- Some runs, questions and options (2003-2004)
- Show on KTK channel page
- Show on Khabar channel page (2004—2006)
- Show on Khabar channel page (2017)