Penza, 23 September 2013. PenzaNews. A resident of Penza Anton Koloskov, who was among 12 winners of the contest “On vacation with Andrei Malakhov,” will visit an exotic country together with the well-known TV presenter.

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“The contest began in April 2013. According to the rules, we were to write letters to Andrei Malakhov and justify why each of us should go with him on vacation,” Anton Koloskv told news agency “PenzaNews.”

He said that only 30 finalists were selected out of 35 thousand applications, and those people were invited to Moscow last weekend, September 21-22.

“A tour around Moscow was organized for the project participants. The role of a tour guide was performed by Andrei Malakhov himself,” the agency interlocutor said.

Anton Koloskov added that after the tour each of the participants was interviewed and then invited to a gala dinner.

“The finalists had an opportunity to give their presents to Andrei Malakhov. So, on behalf of mayor Yuri Alpatov I gave him a souvenir made in a limited edition — a gold-plated coat of arms, emblem of the 350th anniversary of Penza and a map with pictures of historical sites of the region. And my personal gift was an album “My Penza Land” and the flag of the city,” the winner said.

“All the time they had been filming. Then Andrei Malakhov and editors left, apparently for discussion, however, results were not announced. Instead, we were invited to the shooting of the show “Minute of Fame.” At some point, all the finalists were invited to the stage, and Andrei Malakhov said that 12 participants of the contest are experiencing that minute of fame right now. He approached me and said that I was the only participant who wrote a letter not about me, but about the city, its history and the people that brought fame to Penza,” Anton Koloskov said.

He admitted that he did not expect to be among the winners, but very glad to have the opportunity to go on vacation.