''Kymppitonni'' (colloquialism for "kymmenentuhatta" = "ten-thousand") is a Finnish television and radio

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

format, created by

Spede Pasanen Pertti Olavi "Spede" Pasanen (10 April 1930 – 7 September 2001) was a Finnish film director and producer, comedian, and inventor, who has been called an "all-around entertainer". During his career he directed, wrote, produced or acted in ...

which has been featured on Finnish networks since 1985. The show was hosted by beauty queen

Riitta Väisänen Riitta Inkeri Väisänen (born 16 July 1954 in Turku) is a Finnish beauty queen, actress and TV host. In 1976, she became Miss Europe, after being the first runner-up of the Miss Suomi competition earlier the same year. She is best known as the h ...

during its first three runs and by Cristal Snow in its current iteration. Pasanen developed the programme specifically in order to promote Väisänen. Väisänen achieved five consecutive

Telvis Telvis is a Finnish television award presented by the ''Katso'' magazine. The recipient is chosen by a vote by ''Katso'' readers. As of 2006, Telvis has been awarded 44 times (from 1962), making it the oldest television award in Finland. The Telvi ...

Awards for Best Female Performer, for her appearances on the show between 1986 and 1990. The TV format is a panel-style program: five Finnish celebrities appear in sound-proof booths and try to guess a word based on a clue from one contestant. The clue giver and the correct guessers are awarded points. The sum of the awarded points decreases the more correct guesses there are. If all or none of the contestants guess the word, the clue giver receives negative points. The points were supposedly converted into prize money, first in Finnish Marks and, after 2001, in

euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

- with the highest prize for one guessed word being 1000 marks (later €200). However, in reality the contestants only received a standard performance fee, with a bonus fee for the over-all winner. The show even had a charity round, during which the contestants donated their prize money to a children hospital.

Broadcast history

''Kymppitonni'' originally achieved fame on

Kolmoskanava Kolmoskanava (also known as TV3 and informally as Kolmonen) was a Finnish free-to-air television station owned and operated by Oy Kolmostelevisio Ab, a joint venture between MTV Oy, Yle and Nokia. The latter's interest in television operations ...

and later on

MTV3 MTV3 (, ) is a Finnish commercial television channel owned and operated by the media company MTV Oy, originally launched on 13 August 1957 as a programming block, becoming its own channel on 1 January 1993. It had the biggest audience share ...

where it attained huge success (including a

Venla {{Unreferenced, date=December 2020 Venla was a Finnish television award. It was awarded annually between 1982 and 2010, after which it was replaced by the Golden Venla gala and award. The drama and entertainment judges award prizes in eleven cate ...

Award for best "puheohjelma" = "talk show" in 1986). MTV3 planned to cancel the show soon after Spede Pasanen's death in 2001, but this was prevented by public outcry. The show was eventually cancelled in 2005, after a run of 1093 episodes. The programme was relaunched in 2009 on SuomiTV and cancelled again in 2011. The official reason given by SuomiTV was that they wanted to attract a younger audience. On SuomiTV, the programme peaked at 10,000 viewers, with an average 7000 viewers on reruns. ''Kymppitonni'' was featured on

Radio Suomipop Radio Suomipop is a Finnish commercial radio station that is aimed at the 25-44 year old market and which broadcasts both traditionally and via an online presence. It has been in operation since 2001. It is owned by Sanoma, Sanoma Media Finland ...

from 2012 onward, as a simultaneous

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

and internet

video stream Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...

. The show was cancelled in 2016 after Väisänen was let go from the network. Starting in 2018, the Finnish division of the FOX network began airing a new version hosted by Finnish drag queen Cristal Snow.

Other variants

* ''Junnutonni'' – A variant shown in 1991 with child contestants with smaller victory sums handed out. * ''Jokamiehen Kymppitonni'' – Another variant seen in 1991, with contestants being non-celebrities. * ''Nettikymppitonni'' – Shown between 2000 and 2001. Aside a celebrity panel, one contestant was picked through the internet for the programme.

Sources

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 9110764, Kymppitonni (2018–present) Finnish game shows Radio games 1980s Finnish television series debuts 1985 television series debuts MTV3 original programming Radio in Finland Spede Pasanen 1980s game shows 1990s game shows 2000s game shows 2010s game shows