| £1,000,000 Lose Cue | |
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Description |
When a contestant answers the last question wrong. |
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First Country |
Japan |
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First Date |
October 12, 2000 |
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First Contestant |
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Latest Country |
Brazil |
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Latest Date |
December 3, 2023 |
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Latest Contestant |
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Music |
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Millionaire Final Question Wrong Cue - Epic Fail
The most dreadful sound to hear from the WWTBAM soundtrack
The million pound lose cue is among the scariest of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? music cues. It will be played should a particular contestant get the final question wrong, and lose a massive amount of prize money (usually 468,000 units of the local currency). The sound incorporates the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? theme song, yet gives a dramatic and haunting spin on it, and played in C minor. Despite many countries switching to the new formats and replacing the Keith & Matthew Strachan musical scores in favor of the Ramon Covalo scores, the million pound lose cue, along with its polar opposite counterpart, the million pound win cue, has remained.
Since contestants are usually careful enough to not get the last question wrong and risk losing their money, the cue is rarely heard.
The cue is featured on the UK version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: The Album" as the 61st track and has also been included in the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire video games.
Another scary and least popular sound on the show is the klaxon.
Played[]
Japan[]
- October 12, 2000
- April 5, 2001
- October 18, 2001
- November 8, 2001
- November 15, 2001
- November 22, 2002
- May 2, 2002
- July 18, 2002
- October 3, 2002
- November 14, 2002
- December 19, 2002
April 3, 2003 (twice)
- September 4, 2003 (twice)
- December 18, 2003
- January 2, 2004
- May 6, 2004
- May 27, 2004
- July 8, 2004
- August 26, 2004
- September 2, 2004
- September 30, 2004
- January 20, 2005
- October 6, 2005
- November 10, 2005
- November 17, 2005
- January 2, 2006
- January 19, 2006
- March 23, 2006
- July 13, 2006 (twice)
- August 31, 2006
- November 23, 2006
- November 30, 2006
- January 2, 2007
- February 22, 2007
March 8, 2007
- March 29, 2007
- May 3, 2007
- July 5, 2007
- August 29, 2007
- December 23, 2007
- March 27, 2008
- September 18, 2008
Norway[]
- March 2, 2001
India (Hindi)[]
- February 13, 2001
- February 15, 2001
- November 9, 2010 (twice, due to the Double Dip lifeline)
Greece[]
Hong Kong[]
- November 9, 2001 (bad question)
- June 1, 2018
Bulgaria[]
- June 28, 2005
- June 13, 2008
- May 23, 2009
Poland[]
- October 5, 2020
Croatia[]
- May 8, 2003
- January 20, 2005
Netherlands[]
Russia[]
Australia[]
- April 16, 2012 (Hot Seat)
- May 13, 2013 (Hot Seat)
United States[]
Costa Rica[]
Denmark[]
Turkey[]
Germany[]
Philippines[]
- August 23, 2015
Nigeria[]
- March 7, 2016
Sweden[]
Vietnam[]
Brazil[]
- December 3, 2023
Unplayed[]
United Kingdom[]
United States[]
Australia[]
India (Hindi)[]
- October 11, 2022
Brazil[]
Trivia[]
- The first time it was heard worldwide is when LaSalle Ishii answered the ¥10,000,000 question wrong on October 12, 2000, making Japan the first country out of all international versions to play it.
- It is among the most unpopular and frightening of the Millionaire musical themes, along with the klaxon, however, the million pound lose cue is the least heard as the klaxon occurs at the end of most shows.
- Even in countries where they have replaced most of the older Keith & Matthew Strachan cues in favor of the Ramon Covalo cues, both the original million pound lose cue, as well as its polar opposite counterpart, the original million pound win cue, have been retained by all versions other than the U.S. version, which switched to an entirely new soundtrack composed by Jeff Lippencott and Mark T. Williams in 2010, which does contain a million dollar win cue, but not a million dollar lose cue.
- Even though it has heard rarely than the £1,000,000 win cue, it was played first before the winning cue in Costa Rica, Greece, Poland, Croatia, Bulgaria, Australia's Millionaire Hot Seat, Turkey, etc.
- The only time it was heard in the U.S. version was when Ken Basin missed his million dollar question during the 10th Anniversary Primetime Celebration.
- Thankfully, it was not played when Josina Reaves missed her million dollar question because of Jeff Lippencott and Mark T. Williams cues replacing the Keith & Matthew Strachan musics, especially this one. The Jeff Lippencott and Mark T. Williams soundtrack does not contain a million dollar lose cue.
- Despite being part of the sound library submitted by Keith and Matthew Strachan for the original UK series, it has never played on Chris Tarrant's or Jeremy Clarkson's series. When Laurence and Jackie Llewelyn Bowen were originally deemed to have lost the million before it was realised it was (flawed), it was instead replaced by the £500,000 lose cue for reasons known only to a select few. It is, however, included on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: The Album (UK version) and PAL versions of the video games.
- The cue also didn’t play when Craig Anderson missed the $1,000,000 question on the Australian version of Millionaire Hot Seat and when Shashwat Goel missed his Rs. 75,000,000 question on Kaun Banega Crorepati.
- When Kevin Short answered his $1,000,000 question wrong on the Australian version of Millionaire Hot Seat, this music is low pitched, played in B minor instead of C minor.
- In some of the Latin American versions of the show, the million pound lose cue also plays when a contestant wins nothing by losing on one of the first 5 questions, and accompanies the £100-£1,000 lose cue. The £100-£1,000 lose cue is played first, when the right answer is revealed, followed by the million pound lose cue when the screen says, "Total Prize Money: 0 units of the local currency."
- In Chile and Italy, when a contestant walks away from the final question, the million pound lose cue also plays when the correct answer is revealed, even though the contestant walked away and did not lose any prize money.
- The alternative version of the lose cue is played in countries such as Greece and Ukraine. It was first played when Michalis Mavrogenis answered his final question wrong.
- It also played in Ai Là Triệu Phú - Ghế Nóng when the contestant answered the final question in each show incorrectly.