- Title: RUSSIA: RUSSIAN TV6 HAS LAUNCHED THE NATION'S FIRST REALITY TV SHOW
- Date: 16th November 2001
- Summary: CU TWO TEENAGE GIRLS VOTING FOR THE PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS IN THE INTERNET (2 SHOTS) MCU (Russian) INNA SAYING "I can't say I like it so much that I'm glued to the TV screen but I can't say I dislike it either. It's interesting". SLV/SV SCENES FROM PROGRAMME AND AUDIENCE (4 SHOTS) SLV QUEUE OUTSIDE TENT MCU (Russian) LYUDMILA "I couldn't do it. I would be afraid that I could not take it." MCU (Russian) ALEXEY "No, I don't think I would either. I'm not prepared for this." MCU (Russian) ULYANA "I envy these guys, not because of the flat but because not many people have the guts to go through this" LV QUEUE PAN FROM QUEUE TO RED SQUARE AND KREMLIN CLOCK SV CLOCK
- Embargoed: 1st December 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Entertainment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVAB6DYJ5HMOGGMGVVDMT6VEFPVV
- Story Text: Russian TV6 has launched the nation's first reality TV show, a daily diet of sex talk, live romps, games and quarrels. The show has sent the ratings skywards while drawing accusations from the Russian Orthodox Church.
How does it feel to be exposed to the world and watched round the clock, Not many would know. But the six boys and girls now living opposite Moscow's Red Square decided to take that chance and find out.
The courageous six are participants in the show Za Steklom (Behind the Glass), a Russian version of Britain's Big Brother, launched in late October.
The young people are cut out from the outside world for five weeks under the constant gaze of 30 cameras, some of them infrared for night time vision.
The show has proven so popular that an estimated 3, 000 queue every day to get a glimpse of Margarita, Zhanna, Olga , Denis, Anatoly and Maxim, respectively fitness instructor, model, student, advertising manager, circus performer and musician. In the ex-Soviet Union such queues in Red Square could only be seen near the entrance to the Lenin mausoleum.
Asked if it was ethical to expose people to public in such a way the show's executive producer Ivan Usachyov said the participants knew from the very beginning what they were getting into. He said they knew about the numerous cameras installed in and outside their apartment. What they didn't know was that there would be night time cameras watching too and an audience outside.
"Russian people and not only them I assume like to peep and here you are allowed to peep all day long without any restrictions. The people that are taking part in the show were specially selected for it. The main criteria was that they had to be young, attractive and had to have an individuality".
There are two main distinctions in the show and TV-6 is taking out a patent for that. First is that access to the venue is open and secondly the show' s director can influence the events taking place behind the glass.
The show' s apartment was built inside the Rossiya hotel, just a stone's throw from the Kremlin.
The ultra modern apartment is furnished by the shows sponsor, Swedish retailer Ikea.
Costing about $1 million, Za Steklom is the most expensive show in Russian television history.
TV6, whose controversial owner Boris Berezovsky has fallen foul of the Kremlin, has shot the top of the television ratings despite the noisy opposition to Za Steklom.
Many, including the Russian Orthodox church, have urged the executives to halt the show. They say keeping young people behind the glass in a closed area could have a long-term negative effect on their personal development.
One of the participants has already left the show after one week unable to cope with the rules of the game. The other one was expelled by the audience who voted against her on the Internet.
Those who stayed on are often on the brink of a nervous breakdown too and have to go through regular talks with a phsychologists.
" I don't know what will happen in the future. So far they say they have become one family. That also indicates that it is an extraordinary situation when in two weeks they[ participants] have come to know eachother so well that they are now afraid to loose one another" says psychologist Alina Khain.
Telly addicts get their fix three times daily in 30-minute doses which to date have included shower scenes, sensual massages and no-holds-barred discussions about sex.
Maxim and Margarita gave M&M a whole new meaning when they became lovers on the show-not screened on television although the show goes out on a related Internet website http://zasteklom.tv6.ru.
"They [the participants] are courageous people and are not afraid to show themselves off", said teenager Ulyana as she queued to get a glimpse of the contestants behind the glass." I envy these guys, not because of the flat but because not many people have the guts to go through this"
It can take up to half an hour waiting in sub zero temperatures to secure a meager five minute spell on the other side of the glass.
The two winners to be chosen by the viewers, will be given an apartment in a prestigious Moscow district , a tempting prize for many in Russia where the average salary is about One hundred 100 dollars. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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