Blade Runners: The "winners" will show the power of real-life heroes
On November 8, a large-scale "Winners" test will start on REN TV. This project is not about stars and stage brilliance. There's no script or takes, just real fighting, dirt, sweat, and character. More than 100 participants from Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan — firefighters, doctors, police officers, teachers and rescuers - will gather at the Patriot Park in the Moscow region. All of them have one thing in common: in life they are used to winning not in words, but in deeds. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Bears, tigers, eagles and lynxes
The heroes of the new REN TV project are representatives of various fields: from special forces personnel to doctors and teachers. 140 people, 120 men and 20 women, underwent medical examinations and psychological tests to try their hand at the most extreme program on Russian television. The youngest candidate is 22 years old, the oldest is 54.
— In my memory, there has never been a project where, in addition to strength and endurance tests, there would be elements of fighting and shooting. Everything existed separately, but never together. Our participants do not compete in a special pavilion, but in nature. It adds to the extreme," Andrey Andreev, the project's production designer, told Izvestia.
The format of the "Winners" is a tactical game. At first, the participants will face a tough selection process. Those who will go further will be chosen by four mentors of the project — recognized masters in their sports. The guys will be led to victory by eight-time Russian weightlifting champion Mikhail Koklyaev (team "Bears"), winner of the first world "Race for Survival" and certified rescuer of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation Eduard Khalilov ("Tigers"), practical shooting and fire training instructor Marat Sutaev ("Eagles") and multiple Russian champion in athletics Svetlana Aplachkina (Lynx).
Sergey Badyuk, a veteran of the special forces, a master of sports in hand-to-hand combat, kettlebell lifting, taekwondo, bench press, armlifting and karate-sekan, became the project leader. According to him, the "Winners" do not have a prepared script, re-shot takes, and even more so, who exactly should win.
— I didn't want to agree for a long time because I was afraid of the dishonesty of the project. But everything is real here. Moreover, these people are true heroes in everyday life. We have a lifeguard among the participants — according to official statistics, he saved the lives of 32 children! And another, in a break between filming, calmly told how they had detained a particularly dangerous criminal the day before. This is their regular job. Every day they risk their health and ensure our safety," Badyuk told Izvestia.
Bad weather and competition without a script
At the initial stage, an exhausting obstacle course awaits the contestants: climbing a three-meter rope, six meters along horizontal pipes, a handwheel, descent into a mud pool, overcoming a moat and a fence with a negative slope. After that, the shooting and the final dash to the finish line. There is only sweat, dirt, and a character that overcomes everything. Filming takes place in difficult weather conditions: rain, mud, cold. Cameras follow every step of the participants — without duplicates and backup.
Marat Sutaev, one of the mentors of the "Winners", is sure that the main thing in this project is not physical strength, but team spirit.
— For a team to win, it's not enough to take the strongest ones. Because at some stage they will all lose at once. The most important thing for me was to choose team people. If someone came last, it does not mean that he lost. Maybe he was helping the girls up. I will definitely take such a person for myself," Sutaev admitted in an interview with Izvestia.
For Svetlana Aplachkina, the project was not only a way out of her comfort zone, but also a struggle against stereotypes.
— I have a normal physical condition, but when we ran, I realized that it's not about endurance, but about strength. And it's very difficult for the girl here," Aplachkina admitted. — The leading guys were not so willing to join my team. Perhaps they thought that it would be much easier to pass the tests with a male mentor.
Eduard Khalilov, coach of the Tigers, added that he was looking for the will to win, fortitude and fighting spirit in the participants.
— My business is tactics. These guys are determined to show what they are made of, compete with other teams and prove that they deserve the title of winner," Khalilov said.
The team prize and the fight for the individual championship
This philosophy distinguishes the project from the usual television formats. There are no scenes with applause and a jury — only real tasks, clear commands and work for the result. The main prize of the show is 3 million rubles, which will be awarded to the best team. But that's not all. According to Mikhail Tukmachev, Deputy General Director of REN TV for production, a "super prize" is also provided — a special award for which participants will have to compete individually in the superfinal.
— To get it, the guys from the same team will have to compete with each other, with their friends, which I am sure they have managed to become during this time, — said Tukmachev.
According to the organizers, the tests are conducted in compliance with all safety measures. At each stage there are new obstacles, water tasks, marches and even shooting at real targets. Part of the strip is designed according to the standards used in the training of Russian special forces.
The main feature of the "Winners" is its participants. These are not TV stars, but people who can be found in every city: a physical education teacher, a lifeguard, a surgeon, a firefighter. Each of them came to test themselves.
So, one of the participants, firefighter Valery Kurach, said that the very first page surprised him, despite the fact that he had been engaged in fire—applied sports for 15 years.
— At first I thought that I would run fast, but these tests turned out to be quite difficult even for trained people. And individually they seem simple, but you get tired quickly," explained Kurach.
For many, the project has become an opportunity not only to show their physical fitness, but also to tell their stories about service, overcoming difficulties, and real exploits. These people perform heroic deeds every day, and now the audience will be able to see them firsthand — in struggle, in action, at the limit of human capabilities.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
