Information AboutWetten Dass |
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The shows are broadcast live six to seven times a year and can easily attract 50% and more of all German speaking viewers on that evening. Each of the shows, which are not interrupted by commercials, is usually scheduled to last for about 2 hours, but overrunning by up to 45 minutes is not uncommon. HISTORY On February 14 1981 , the German channel ZDF aired the first episode in cooperation with the Austria n broadcaster ORF and the Swiss channel SF DRS . The inventor of the show, Frank Elstner , hosted the show until its 39th episode in 1987 . ''Wetten, dass..?'' has since been hosted by Entertainer Thomas Gottschalk (except during a brief interval from 1992 to 1993 , when the show was hosted by Wolfgang Lippert ). Gottschalk hosted the his 100th episode of the show on March 27 2004 . CONCEPT The core Gimmick of the show are the Bet s: Common people offer to perform some unusual (often bizarre) and very difficult task. Some examples, all of which were performed successfully:
The other major attraction of the show are the top-ranking Celebrity guests, with considerable screen time given to the host greeting and chatting with them. Each of the guests must bet on the outcome of one of the performances and offer a Wager , in recent years usually a Humor ous and/or mildly Humiliating , originally more Charitable , activity to be carried out if they lose. However, until 1987 each of the celebrities bet on all the performances and the most accurate one was selected to be that show's 'bet king' (''Wettkönig'') Ever since, one of the people performing the task is selected by a Telephone vote. Additionally, until 2001, members of the audience could offer bets against the host to find a certain number of unusual persons (e.g. 10 ladies over the age of 65 driving motorbikes). One of these was selected at the beginning of the show and had to be fulfilled by its end. Now, the host bets against the entire city where the show is held. Between the bets and the celebrity smalltalk, there are musical performances by top-ranking artists, sometimes by the celebrity guests themselves. ''Wetten, dass..?'' is broadcast live six or seven times per year from different cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Apart from the bets (between four and seven - currently five, including the city bet), the show includes Music al performances and banter with the national and international celebrity guests. There have also been five open-air summer shows, broadcast from Xanten , Palma De Mallorca , Paris , Berlin and Aspendos . PARTIAL LIST OF GUESTS
It is to be noted that live musical performances on Wetten Dass are not completely live. To comply with their standard of absolute perfection along with entertainment extravaganzas, performing artists are given the choice to lip-sync (which most artists accept). OTHER VERSIONS ''Wetten, dass ...?'' inspired the British series '' You Bet! ''. In October 2004 ''Wetten, dass ...?'' also started in the Chinese television under the title '' Wanna Challenge '' (because you mustn't bet in China). It is aired once a week and reaches 60 million viewers each show. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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