In January, Sochi, the Russian seaside resort on the Black Sea popular with tourists and spa enthusiasts, usually hosted the gala for KVN, a TV game show in which amateur troupes from all the former Soviet republics participated. Strolling along the waterfront palaces in January 1998, the small troupe from eastern Ukraine led by Volodymyr Zelensky believed that they were on the brink of success.
There was no easy path to reach Sochi. In the giant competition's pyramid system, qualifying from among 300 teams was an obstacle course. First, you had to win at your university, then you had to win the city, the oblast and finally the whole country – before facing the formidable Russian teams from Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
The team from Kryvyi Rih State University, comprised of a dozen people, traveled to Sochi by train – more than 1,000 kilometers, nearly 48 hours of travel. Students of law or economics, they left the big mining city where most of them were born without a penny. When they were there, the young men, who were barely 20 years old (like Zelensky and his friend Denys Manzhosov) or 22 (like the Shefir brothers, one of whom is now an advisor to the Ukrainian president, while the other runs the production company later founded by the group) had to share a room at the Zhemchuzhina ("the pearl") hotel. "We ate mivina, freeze-dried noodles, for every meal," said one of the girls in the group, the now actress and TV presenter Olena Kravets. The stay began with a week of rehearsals, during which the candidates were visited by the KVN "editors," professionals responsible for advising the teams before the final show.
You have 90.59% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.