Television is a mystery. It is a living and changing medium which, in recent years, has accelerated its transformations to the point of testing even formats that seemed immovable. Programs that were once a phenomenon may disappear through wear and tear, repetition or … simply because the public decides to look away. However, there are exceptions: formats which not only resist the passage of time, but which also mature, refine and improve, like good wine. Is television a mystery? Sometimes yes. But sometimes there is also an explanation. “The wheel of luck has it. Nacho Correa, director and producer of the format for almost twenty years, knows the reason for its success. “The format has been successful in the United States since 1975, which is a testament to the scale of the format. In Spain, since our arrival in 2006, we have evolved it by adding sections, games and panels. This is part of the editor’s job, who is always thinking about how to give this little twist without losing the essence of the program and making it entertaining for the viewers,” confesses the director. As he explains the success of the format, he paces back and forth impatiently. He is in the middle of the recording day: the first program has just ended and there are still two left.
“Pull the spinner now, fun, fun, fun.” It’s the anthem the audience is singing right now, sitting in the seats, wearing Christmas hats, reindeer headbands and festively patterned sweaters. “I come because I am a faithful fan of the format. I watch it with my grandchildren every lunchtime,” admits a woman sitting among those present. The truth is that the format achieves what cell phones and a life marked by a dizzying pace often cannot: bring the whole family together in front of the screen. This also happens on set. While the technical team changes the cameras according to the spinner that spins and spins, a woman, responsible for the cleaning service, looks at the panel trying to answer what the saying says that the competitors are solving..
Finding these words is an art. This requires ingenuity, without being either too obvious or, at the same time, too noble. It takes talent to find these everyday phrases that surround our lives and, at the same time, continue to surprise. “It seems like it’s still about signs and phrases, but nothing could be further from the truth: it’s changed a lot.We started with very simple phrases, sayings, proverbs, shorter panels and, little by little, we elaborated them more and more, making them more representative of what people experience on a daily basis so that it is closer and everyone can identify with what we show,” explains Ruth López, who has participated in “Roulette de la Luck” since the beginning and who is precisely responsible for building these panels.
Your day started by writing and researching information about all the lyrics. Even if his work is not static. “Roulette is not about sitting at a computer and coming up with ideas.; many come from there, although there are more cultural signposts, book expressions, or “did you know what” that require more research. Many ideas arise in your ordinary life, when you watch a movie or travel. The team has a very complete document in which it brings together each of the panels that, until now, it has not had to repeat in any other program.. Once the program is launched, the screenwriter takes control. During this trip, he meets Jorge Fernández, the presenter of the program.
If people remain attached to the format, it is, in part, thanks to him, who decided to stay on the program despite the offers that reached him on numerous occasions. “There is great job stability and I continue to have a great time. This allowed me to combine my work with my personal life, raising my son and living between Bilbao and Madrid. It’s a program that I wouldn’t leave for anything in the world,” he admits with a smile. His temperance in the recordings is surprising: he has been at the helm for many years and he takes into account all the fundamental factors to ensure that everything goes as it should. “The key is rhythm. I’ve always been very obsessed with the pacing of the show, both on and off the recording. Now I set myself small personal challenges to improve every day, like vocalizing better or not getting stuck,” he admits.
It’s a program that I wouldn’t leave for anything.
Over the years, the format has had to adapt to new ways of consuming television, from agility to current sayings. “It has adapted little by little without losing the essence”, says Jorge Fernández, while Correa, the director, declares that this is his great challenge: “I want to keep the program alive with novelties and novelties that we can incorporate so that the viewer at home appreciates it more and more and becomes addicted to watching it and, at the same time, maintain this audience position as a leader, which is not my job, but that of a choir.” However, there are some things that, no matter how much time passes, remain the same, like Laura Moure, the hostess responsible for bringing the panels to life. “When I came in I thought it was going to take a few years and we’ve had incredible audiences for ten years and it looks like it’s not going to stop. “It’s a blessed glory,” he confesses, laughing.
He is responsible for revealing the letters that appear shaded on the panel when a contestant chooses them. As the audience applauds and sings roulette-friendly Christmas carols, Moure also applauds, while watching and cheering on the three contestants.and at the same time he looks at Jorge. “It’s a source of pride; Ultimately, I have to connect with the audience and with the candidates, support them, give them balance, because the panel alone would be very empty. I constantly help them so that they don’t get nervous and everything goes well,” he admits.
This is the control room of the “Wheel of Fortune”.
While the hostess finishes lighting the last consonant and the candidate solves the panel, there is a guitarist who is about to sing a Christmas carol, but in his own style. This man is Joaquín Padilla, the singer of the group La rouletteta de laluck. “We’ve been here for 13 years and it’s outrageous because when they called us we thought it was going to last a few months or a few weeks.. For a band to play live on national television for 13 years is incredible. They went through this because we are a big family, there is a very good atmosphere and everything flows,” he admits.
His way of making music has already become an indispensable part of the program. Sometimes this task can become a weight to bear, but Padilla doesn’t experience it that way. “It involves less responsibility than it seems, although it is very complicated work because the songs arrive with very little notice, they are of very different styles and there are no rehearsals. Everyone learns the songs at home, they are played once, they are recorded and performed live,” he admits. When he arrives at the studios in the morning, he puts on makeup and has ten minutes to review the songs, take minutes with the cameras and record. “You have twenty minutes to have a coffee, change and come back, and so on up to three programs a day. In the afternoon, at home, it’s time to look at the songs for the next day, which can be between six and nine songs a day,” he says.
The five return to their positions: Jorge on stage, Laura on panel, Ruth on scripts, Nacho on stage and Joaquín on guitar. The audience returns to their seats and chants again: “Welcome to roulette where you will get rich. If you manage to avoid “bankruptcy” or “losing your turn”, the wise men are coming…“. This is how ‘La Roulette de la Chance’ sounds today, to the rhythm of ‘The Famous Dolls’, with the enthusiasm of someone who has a great television heritage behind him and the hope of continuing to flood the middays with consonants, vowels and numerous prizes.
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