HaMerotz LaMillion

{{Short description|Israeli adventure reality game show}}

{{about||the recently concluded season|HaMerotz LaMillion 9}}

{{Infobox television

| native_name = {{Infobox name module|Hebrew|המירוץ למיליון}}

| image = Ha'Merotz La'Million 1 logo.jpg

| caption = Logo from the first season

| alt_name =

| genre = Reality competition

| creator = Elise Doganieri
Bertram van Munster

| based_on = {{based on|The Amazing Race|Bertram van Munster|Elise Doganieri}}

| developer =

| writer =

| director =

| creative_director =

| presenter = Raz Meirman (2009)
Ron Shahar (2011–2020)
Yehuda Levi (2024–present)

| starring =

| judges =

| voices =

| narrated =

| theme_music_composer =

| opentheme =

| endtheme =

| composer =

| country = Israel

| language = Hebrew

| num_seasons = 9

| num_episodes =

| list_episodes =

| executive_producer = Michael McKay, Ido Baron

| producer = David Gardner

| editor =

| location = See below

| cinematography = Ryan Godard

| camera =

| runtime =

| company = Reshet (2009–2020)
activeTV (2009–2014)
Keshet Media Group (2024–present)

| channel = Channel 2 (Reshet) (2009–2017)
Channel 13 (2017–2020)
Channel 12 (2024–present)

| first_aired = {{start date|2009|2|5|df=y}}

| last_aired = present

| related = International versions

}}

{{Contains special characters|Hebrew}}

HaMerotz LaMillion ({{langx|he|המירוץ למיליון}}, lit. The Race to the Million) is an Israeli reality competition entertainment show, drawing inspiration from the American series The Amazing Race. Following the premise of other versions in the Amazing Race franchise, the show closely follows the competitive journeys of many couples overcoming challenges and making their way into the final stage of the race, as they often navigating their ways worldwide. Each season is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in foreign areas, interact with locals, perform physical and mental challenges, and travel by air, boat, car, taxi, and other modes of transport. Teams are progressively eliminated at the end of most legs for being the last to arrive at designated Pit Stops. The first team to arrive at the Finish Line wins a grand prize of 1,000,000.

On 8 April 2008, Israeli TV network Reshet announced plans to produce a local version of the show. It premiered on 5 February 2009, on Channel 2. The show was produced by Reshet and, during its first four seasons, activeTV, which also produced the first four seasons of The Amazing Race Asia and the first two seasons of The Amazing Race Australia, in association with Disney-ABC and ESPN Television. It was originally hosted by Raz Meirman in the first season.

In April 2009, during the airing of the show, Reshet had begun preparations for a second season. They considered producing a celebrity edition of the show that would have raised the price of producing the show.{{cite news|url=https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3779582,00.html|script-title=he:"המירוץ למיליון Stars" יוצא לדרך|language=he|trans-title="The Race for a Million Stars" is underway.|website=Ynet|date=September 21, 2009|access-date=December 22, 2019}} Reshet had consulted with CBS and agreed it would film two more seasons at the same time to save expenses, a celebrity and non-celebrity editions.{{cite web|url=http://www.mako.co.il/entertainment-tv-media/tv/Article-2c9e1fbcd1cd321006.htm |title=מסתמן: המירוץ למיליון VIP |date=21 September 2009 |publisher=Mako.co.il |access-date=2012-11-27}} Despite this, on 20 December, Reshet announced that due to the overall high costs the show would not continue.{{cite news|url=http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000523724&fid=821 |title=רשת ביטלה את העונה השנייה של "המירוץ למיליון": "אין צידוק כלכלי" – גלובס |newspaper=Globes |publisher=Globes.co.il |date=2009-12-20 |access-date=2012-11-27 |last1=אברבך |first1=לי-אור }} However, on 20 September 2010, Reshet reconsidered and announced a new season.{{cite news|url=http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000589616 |title=רשת מאשרת: תפיק עונה שנייה של "המירוץ למיליון" – גלובס |newspaper=Globes |publisher=Globes.co.il |date=2010-09-20 |access-date=2012-11-27 |last1=אברבך |first1=לי-אור }} On 11 February 2011, Ron Shahar was announced as the new host, replacing Raz Meirman.{{cite news|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4027188,00.html |title=ynet רון שחר ינחה את "המירוץ למיליון" – תרבות ובידור |newspaper=Ynet |publisher=Ynet.co.il |date=1995-06-20 |access-date=2012-11-27 |last1=בר-און |first1=ערן }}

In October 2021, Shahar stated that a new season would be filmed as soon as it is safely possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite web|url=https://tmi.maariv.co.il/celebs-news/Article-871661|script-title=he:רון שחר מגלה: האם 'הזמר במסכה' מסגיר את סיום דרכו ב'מירוץ למיליון'?|language=he|newspaper=Maariv|date=19 October 2021|access-date=19 October 2021}} The show was later cancelled by Reshet in September 2022 in favour of a local version of Peking Express, a similar travel reality competition show.{{cite web | url=https://www.ice.co.il/tv/news/article/901418 | title=המרוץ למיליון? זה הריאליטי החדש של רשת 13 }} However, in October 2022, it was reported that a new season produced by Keshet Media Group would be filmed in 2023 and aired on Channel 12 in 2024 with Yehuda Levi serving as the new host.{{Cite web |title=המירוץ למיליון חוזרת למסך: קשת 12 במהלך מטורף |url=https://www.ice.co.il/tv/news/article/911215 |access-date=2022-11-27 |website=Ice |language=he}}{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=621085696504763|script-title=he:מנחה ✅️ לוגו ✅️ תכינו דרכונים ותייגו חבר שמתרגש כמעט כמונו|language=he|website=Facebook|date=19 March 2023|access-date=17 April 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://www.ynet.co.il/entertainment/article/rj1dzho13|script-title=he:יהודה לוי ינחה את "המירוץ למיליון"|trans-title=Yehuda Levi will host "Race to a Million"|language=he|website=Ynet|date=12 March 2023|access-date=19 March 2023 |last1=בוקר |first1=רן }} Casting for a tenth season opened on 18 July 2024,{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/story.php/?story_fbid=877090197570977&id=100058100136835|script-title=he:אז אם אתם צמד מנצח ומעל גיל 18, הקישור להרשמה עכשיו בסטורי של המירוץ למיליון|language=he|website=Facebook|date=18 July 2024|access-date=18 July 2024}} and the show was officially renewed on 30 October 2024.{{cite web|url=https://www.mako.co.il/tvbee-tv-news/Article-b9bb2f01fbcd291027.htm|script-title=he:עכשיו זה רשמי: העונה השנייה של "המירוץ למיליון" יוצאת לדרך, הקישור להרשמה עכשיו בסטורי של המירוץ למיליון|language=he|website=Keshet Media Group|date=30 October 2024|access-date=1 November 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.ice.co.il/tv/news/article/1035844|script-title=he:יהודה לוי יישאר? המירוץ למיליון בדרך לעונה חדשה בקשת 12|language=he|website=Ice|date=30 October 2024|access-date=1 November 2024}}

The Race

HaMerotz LaMillion is a reality television competition between two teams, in a race worldwide. Each season is divided into a number of legs wherein teams travel and complete various tasks to obtain clues to help them progress to a Pit Stop, where teams are given a chance to rest and recover before starting the next leg. The last team to arrive is normally eliminated (except in non-elimination legs, where the last team to arrive may be penalized in the following leg). The final leg is run by the last three remaining teams, and the first to arrive at the final destination wins 1,000,000.

=Teams=

{{For|a list of contestants|List of HaMerotz LaMillion contestants}}

Each of the teams is composed of two individuals who have some type of relationship to each other.

=Route Markers=

File:TARRouteMarker.pngRoute Markers are yellow and red flags that mark the places where teams must go. Most Route Markers are attached to the boxes that contain clue envelopes, but some may mark the place where the teams must go in order to complete tasks, or may be used to line a course that the teams must follow. Route markers were, however, colored yellow and white in the third and fourth legs of Season 1, which took place in Vietnam, to avoid confusion with the flag of South Vietnam. During the Vietnamese leg in Season 5, the regular Route Marker was used.

=Clues=

{{further|topic=the different clues|The Amazing Race#Clues}}

Most clues are directly adopted from the original American version:

  • Route Info (סימן דרך – Siman Derech): A general clue that may include a task to be completed by the team before they can receive their next clue.
  • Detour (צומת – Tzomet ): A choice of two tasks. Teams are free to choose either task and swap tasks if they find one option too difficult.
  • Roadblock (מחסום – Machsom ): A task only one team member can complete. Teams must choose which member will complete the task based on a brief clue about the task before fully revealing the details of the task.
  • Fast Forward (קיצור דרך – Qitzur Derech ): A task that only one team may complete, allowing that team to skip all remaining tasks and head directly for the next Pit Stop. Teams may only claim one Fast Forward.
  • Double Battle (דו–קרב – Du-Qrav ): Introduced in Season 2, it is a task where two teams must compete against each other. In the Double Battle, the first team to arrive must wait for another team to perform a task. The team that wins the Double Battle will receive the next clue while the losing team would have to wait for the next team to redo the task. The cycle repeats until the last remaining team would have to wait out a penalty.

=Obstacles=

{{further|topic=the different obstacles|The Amazing Race#Obstacles}}

In addition to performing tasks, teams may encounter the following that could potentially slow them down:

In Season 1, the Yield and U-Turn rules were similar to the original rules in the American version; The Yield and U-Turn only appeared sporadically and a single team can utilize their power to Yield/U-Turn another team at the Yield/U-Turn board only once.

In Season 2, a new rule regarding the Yield and U-turn was introduced. The Yield and U-Turn now appeared more often (almost every leg) and instead of a single team using their power to affect another team, all teams are now required to vote for the team they wish to Yield or U-turn (depending on the leg). Sometime during the leg, teams will encounter a board with their pictures. Here, they could choose from photographs of the teams and place the one they want to Yield/U-Turn below their pictures faced backwards. Sometime later in the leg, they would encounter another board where they would have to pull down their pictures on the board to reveal if they have been Yielded or U-Turned. The team/s with the most votes will receive the penalty. Teams that pull down their picture and get a red will get the penalty and the pictures of the teams that Yielded/U-Turned them. Those that get a green are free to continue racing.

In Season 3, the Double U-Turn was introduced. In addition to the rules above, the team that gets U-Turned is free to U-Turn another team of their choosing.

=Legs=

At the beginning of each leg, teams receive an allowance of cash to cover expenses during the legs (except for the purchase of airline tickets, which are paid-for by provided credit cards).

Teams then have to follow clues and Route Markers that will lead them to the various destinations and tasks they will face. Modes of travel between these destinations include commercial and chartered airplanes, boats, trains, taxis, buses, and rented vehicles provided by the show, or the teams may simply travel by foot. Each leg ends with a twelve-hour Pit Stop where teams are able to rest and where teams that arrive last are progressively eliminated until only three teams remain..

Differing from most of the other franchises of the series, the season finale is filmed as the program is being broadcast.

  • The Salvage Pass was awarded to the winners of the first leg of Season 3. This allowed that team to either save the last team to arrive on that leg from elimination or gain a lead in the next leg.
  • The Return Ticket was awarded to the team that finished first during a leg that consisted of previously eliminated teams in Season 6. This allowed the team that won it to return to the competition.

==Non-elimination legs==

Each season has a number of pre-determined non-elimination legs, in which the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop is not eliminated and is allowed to continue. There is no single elimination penalty in this version of the show:

  • Season 1
  • In the first leg, the team was forced to relinquish all of their money and belongings (except for passports and the clothes on their back) for the remainder of the season. In addition, they were not allotted money for the next leg and were not allowed to collect money until the next leg started for them.
  • In the seventh leg, the team was "Marked for Elimination"; if the team did not place first in the next leg, they would receive a 30-minute penalty.
  • Season 2
  • In the fourth and eleventh legs, the team had to perform a Speed Bump (פס האטה – Pas Heatah), a task only they must complete in the next leg.
  • In the sixth and ninth legs, the team was "Marked for Elimination"; if the team did not place first in the next leg, they would receive a 1-hour (leg 6) or 30-minute (leg 9) penalty.
  • Season 3
  • In the fifth leg, the team was required to wear their winter clothing for the duration of the next leg in the heat of Brazil.
  • In the seventh leg, the team that came last would have to wait an extra 30 minutes before departing on the next leg.
  • From Season 4 to Season 6 and in Season 8, no penalty was given to the affected team.
  • Season 7
  • In the first leg, the team would be on a flight that arrived two hours after the other teams landed in their first destination.
  • Season 9
  • The eighth leg featured a non-elimination leg that combined a no-rest leg with a Partner Swap (חילופי זוגות – Halofi Zugut).

=Rules and penalties=

Most of the rules and penalties are adopted directly from the American edition, but in some cases, this version has been seen to have a unique set of additional rules.

Seasons

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
width="05%" rowspan="2" | Season

! width="25%" colspan="2" | Broadcast

! width="25%" rowspan="2" | Winners

! width="10%" rowspan="2" | Teams

! width="10%" rowspan="2" | Host

Premiere Date

! Finale Date

colspan="6" style="background:#F0F8FF" | Channel 2 & 13 Iteration (2009–2020)
1

| {{nowrap|{{start date|2009|2|5|df=yes}}}}

| {{nowrap|{{end date|2009|6|11|df=yes}}}}

| Guy Osadon & Shay Kahana

| 10

| Raz Meirman

2

| {{nowrap|{{start date|2011|10|25|df=yes}}}}

| {{nowrap|{{end date|2012|2|11|df=yes}}}}

| Bar Ben-Vakil & Inna Broder

| rowspan="2"| 11

| rowspan="7"| Ron Shahar

3

|{{nowrap|{{start date|2013|5|11|df=yes}}}}

|{{nowrap|{{end date|2013|8|31|df=yes}}}}

| Talia Gorodess & Koby Windzberg

4

|{{nowrap|{{start date|2014|11|22|df=yes}}}}

|{{nowrap|{{end date|2015|3|28|df=yes}}}}

| Shay Gavriel & Shani Alon

| rowspan="2"| 14

5

|{{nowrap|{{start date|2016|05|17|df=yes}}}}

|{{nowrap|{{end date|2016|9|26|df=yes}}}}

| Amit & Raz Gal

6

|{{nowrap|{{start date|2017|10|21|df=yes}}}}

|{{nowrap|{{end date|2018|3|17|df=yes}}}}

| Evelin & Tohar Haimovich

| rowspan="3"| 12

7

| {{start date|2019|7|15|df=yes}}

| {{end date|2019|9|22|df=yes}}

| Matija "Tia" Galili & Fatima "Fay" Jakite

8

| {{start date|2020|09|06|df=yes}}

| {{end date|2020|12|08|df=yes}}

| Yael Carmon & Yosiel Neeman

colspan="6" style="background:#F0F8FF" | Channel 12 Iteration (2024–present)
9

| {{start date|2024|7|1|df=yes}}

| {{end date|2024|9|25|df=yes}}

| Lee & Anne Avrahami

| 13

| Yehuda Levi

Countries and locales visited

File:HaMerotzLaMillion – countries visited.png

{{As of|2024}}, HaMerotz LaMillion has visited 57 countries and 6 continents.

{{col-begin}}

{{Col-2}}

= Asia =

class="wikitable"
Rank

! Country

! Seasons visited

! Pit Stops

style="text-align:center;"|1

| Israel

| style="font-size:95%" | 8 (18)

| 11{{ref|6|6}}

rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|2

| China{{ref|1|1}}

| style="font-size:95%" | 3 (1, 2, 7)

| 5

Vietnam

| style="font-size:95%" | 3 (1, 5, 9)

| 4

rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;"|4

| Philippines

| style="font-size:95%"| 2 (7, 8)

|3

South Korea

| style="font-size:95%" | 2 (5, 9)

| 3

Thailand

| style="font-size:95%" | 2 (2, 6)

| 4

rowspan=14 style="text-align:center;"|7

| Armenia{{ref|2|2}}

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (8)

| 2

Azerbaijan{{ref|2|2}}

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (9)

| 1

Cambodia

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (5)

| 1

Georgia{{ref|2|2}}

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (4)

| 2

India

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (5)

| 1

Japan

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (1)

| 1

Kyrgyzstan

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (6)

| 2

|Mongolia

|style="font-size:95%" | 1 (9)

|1

|Nepal

|style="font-size:95%" | 1 (7)

|2

Singapore

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (2)

| 2{{ref|5|5}}

Sri Lanka

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (2)

| 2

Taiwan

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (3)

| 2{{ref|5|5}}

= North America =

class="wikitable"
Rank

! Country

! Seasons visited

! Pit Stops

style="text-align:center;"|1

| United States

| style="font-size:95%" | 2 (3, 6)

| 5

rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|2

| Costa Rica

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (4)

| 2

Cuba

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (3)

| 2

Jamaica

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (6)

| 1

Mexico

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (6)

| 2

= South America =

class="wikitable"
Rank

! Country

! Seasons visited

! Pit Stops

style="text-align:center;"|1

| Brazil

| style="font-size:95%" | 2 (3, 8)

| 4

rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;"|2

| Argentina

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (4)

| 2{{ref|5|5}}

Bolivia

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (4)

| 2

Chile

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (8)

| 2

Colombia

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (6)

| 1

Ecuador

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (8)

| 2

{{Col-2}}

= Europe =

class="wikitable"
Rank

! Country

! Seasons visited

! Pit Stops

rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|1

| Spain

| style="font-size:95%" | 2 (3, 9)

| 2

United Kingdom{{ref|3|3}}

| style="font-size:95%" | 2 (4, 9)

| 1

rowspan="16" style="text-align:center;"|3

| Austria

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (9)

| 0

Bosnia and Herzegovina

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (2)

| 0

Croatia

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (2)

| 1

Czech Republic

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (2)

| 1

Finland

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (4)

| 2

France

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (3)

| 1

Germany

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (9)

| 1

Greece{{ref|4|4}}

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (6)

| 0

Hungary

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (2)

| 2

Iceland

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (9)

| 1

Italy

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (5)

| 2

Netherlands

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (8)

| 1

Poland

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (2)

| 1

Romania

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (5)

| 1

Russia

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (6)

| 1

Sweden

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (4)

| 1

= Africa =

class="wikitable"
Rank

! Country

! Seasons visited

! Pit Stops

style="text-align:center;"| 1

| South Africa

| style="font-size:95%" | 2 (1, 7)

| 4

rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;"| 2

| Mauritius

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (7)

| 2

Morocco

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (9)

| 2

Namibia

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (5)

| 2

Senegal

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (9)

| 1

Tanzania

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (5)

| 1

Zambia

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (7)

| 1

Zimbabwe

| style="font-size:95%" | 1 (7)

| 1

= Oceania =

class="wikitable"
Rank

! Country

! Seasons visited

! Pit Stops

rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|1

| Australia

| style="font-size:95%" | 2 (1, 5)

| 3{{ref|5|5}}

New Zealand

| style="font-size:95%" | 2 (1, 9)

| 4{{ref|7|7}}

{{col-end}}

Notes

{{Refbegin}}

  1. {{note|1}} Including the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau (1).
  2. {{note|2}} Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are geographically located in both Europe and Asia, but they are officially counted as in Asia.
  3. {{note|3}} Including the constituent country of England (4) and the overseas territory of Gibraltar (9).
  4. {{note|4}} For one episode, 5 of the 8 first eliminated teams of Season 6 took part in a special separate leg of reward competitions taking place in Greece.
  5. {{note|5}} Includes 1 Finish Line.
  6. {{note|6}} Includes 3 Finish Lines.
  7. {{note|7}} Includes 2 Finish Lines.

{{Refend}}

References

{{Reflist}}