The Weakest Link (Icelandic game show)

The Weakest Link was an Icelandic game show based on the successful UK format, which aired from 2 September 2002 until 28 July 2007 and was broadcast on the RÚV channel. Presented by Cornelia Frances, the hostess of the Australian version, the show featured nine contestants competing for a potential prize of ISK10,000,000. Airing twice weekly in primetime, on Mondays and Fridays (and later Saturdays), it received popular ratings until the final special episode was broadcast in 2007.

The Monday edition indirectly competed against the equally popular Viltu vinna milljón? (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?) peaking high and low over three years until the latter was cancelled in 2005. Later on in the year, The Weakest Link was moved to Saturdays at 6.30pm. In 2007, Cornelia Frances decided to leave Iceland and move on to other projects, but enjoyed being in the country. The final special episode was broadcast on 28 July 2007.

The show was produced in the RÚV's Reykjavík headquarters.

Format
The format of the Icelandic series was identical to that of the British version. The first round lasted for 3 minutes, and each round thereafter was reduced by 10 seconds (meaning a time limit of 90 seconds for the triple stakes round). As with the British version, any money banked in round eight was trebled (e.g. if the contestants bank ISK100,000 then ISK300,000 is added to the final total). The money tree was as follows:

The voice-over was Marcus Irvine, while the adjudicator was Alan Mason, the contestant revealed as The Mole in 2000.

Special versions
The show also featured several special editions throughout its run.
 * On 21 August 2004, a special episode included the cast from children's TV show LazyTown, as part of a celebration to the show's first airing earlier that week. In this episode, Stefán Karl Stefánsson defeated Guðmundur Þór Kárason in the final. The prize money won was ISK1,126,000, the lowest achieved in the celebrity editions. The participants were Magnús Scheving, Stefán Karl Stefánsson,  Guðmundur Þór Kárason, Julianna Rose Mauriello, Linda Ásgeirsdóttir, Magnús Ólafsson, David Matthew Feldman, Sarah Burgess and Julie Westwood. The episode received 250,000 viewers, ranking it top in the most programmes that week.
 * On 14 April 2007, an X Factor special of the show aired. Jógvan Hansen (the winner), Rakel and Hildur Magnúsdóttir, Jude Law, Halla Vilhjalmsdottir, Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh and Dermot O'Leary all participated. In that episode, there was a round where nothing was banked.
 * On 21 July 2007, as part of the final week of the show, the "Worst Loser Special" featured eliminated contestants from previous episodes, normally those who lost in early rounds or who lost in the final round.
 * From 23-27 July 2007, also part of the final week, there were two editions featuring teams made up of winners of previous episodes. In the latter of these, subtitled "The Best of the Best", a record ISK5,834,000 prize money was won. The highest amount won outside of specials was ISK4,490,500, whilst the lowest outside of specials was ISK1,042,500.
 * On 28 July 2007, the final episode was a special edition consisting of Cornelia Frances' favourite contestants in her 6 year run. Broadcast slightly later at 10.45pm, the show received 300,000 viewers overnight and was repeated the following week. The final winner was Julianna Rose Mauriello, who had appeared on the show back in 2004. She had won ISK1,046,500, defeating Dermot O'Leary who had appeared earlier in the year, in the final round. After saying goodbye, all of the lights turned off with Cornelia being the only person left in the studio.

Awards
Edduverðlaunin 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards
 * 2007 Best Television Program (won)
 * 2006 Outstanding Game Show Host (won)
 * 2006 Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Show (lost to Jeopardy!)

Merchandising
Activision and BBC Multimedia released a video game of the Icelandic version on 9 May 2003. It has been released on numerous platforms including:

Nintendo 64 (one of the last games to be released on the platform)

Microsoft Windows

Playstation 2 This 3-D interactive video game pits seven contestants against Cornelia Frances, who specially recorded her lines for the game. They could win a higher prize money of ISK20,000,000 instead of the usual ISK10,000,000 in the TV version. You can play with up to 7 players and in the Playstation 2 game, you can play online with players all over the world. Alongside Single Player and Multiplayer, you can play the Championship mode, which consists of 4 shows and you can win higher prize money each game.

Game 1: ISK20,000,000

Game 2: ISK80,000,000

Game 3: ISK240,000,000

Final Game: ISK1,000,000,000





Gallery
All pictures have been provided courtesy of RÚV.