My Big Moment

Another two-post day.

Today was completely dominated by the "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" tryouts in Fort Worth, Texas.

I got up at 6:30 AM and drove to Fort Worth, arriving at 8:30. The tryouts were being held in the Bass Performance Hall from 9 AM to 4 PM. When I arrived, the line was wrapped around two sides of the building. By 10:00 AM, the line was double wrapped around the entire building. The emcee said that it was the biggest turnout the show had ever had for a tryout.

I'd brought a bunch of reading material to pass the time, but didn't get a chance to read it because the people on line with me were so entertaining. I was right behind two sisters--one a CPA and the other a cop. We had a lot of fun during the four hours we were in line together.

The show's producers did a great job of managing the line. People came by offering refreshments every fifteen minutes or so, warning us that--once we were inside the Hall--we would not be permitted to eat or drink. I turned down cheesecake, donuts and soft drinks. What I didn't turn down was an opportunity to get my picture taken with a celebrity--Travelocity's Traveling Gnome. I got to hold him and have a Polaroid taken.

Turns out the show was testing for two different shows: the regular one and a special Netflix Movie Trivia one. The producers divided the line into smaller groups of 200 people each, and we took our turns sitting in the large performance hall auditorium to take two tests. When the numbers of people outside the building kept growing, realizing the heat index outside was getting dangerous (it was over 100 degrees today), the show began testing two groups at once. I was #30 in the fifth group. That means I was the 830th person on line despite arriving thirty minutes before the tryouts began.

Each test was 30 multiple choice questions. We were given ten minutes. I was more leery of the movie test than I was the regular test. Turned out I *think* I did better on the movie test than I did on the regular one. Here are some of the questions from the regular one:

What is coulrophobia? Fear of cemetaries, fear of feces, fear of clowns, fear of tunnels

What is Laura Bush's maiden name? Welch, Davis, Coltrane, Mercer

Where is the Great Red Spot? Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, the Moon

Out of our group of 200 people, eight were selected for the movie group and ten were selected for the regular group. The winners were overwhelming male; both in our group and in Group #4. The breakdown was pretty consistent over the two groups and the two tests. 70% male; 30% female. The people who had passed the test were then led away. We were told they would each get a 45-second interview to determine whether they would be named a contestant. Of course, no one found out today if they were named (to avoid ugly scenes). The show mails postcards in another three weeks telling you whether you are in the contestant pool or not.

I didn't win a spot. The producers refused to tell us how many questions you were permitted to miss. As the wannabees debriefed together afterward, we decided you had to score a 90% to pass.

Even though I didn't get a spot, I learned that Meredith will be back in the fall despite her new morning gig, that the 50/50 lifeline is really random (yeah, right), that contestants must pay all their own expenses in New York and be prepared to stay for several days and that the show no longer uses the Fastest Finger to select that day's contestant. If you are called to New York, you will definitely be on the show.

I was glad I went. I'd go again, given another chance.

Oh, yeah. Answers to the three questions: fear of clowns, Welch and Jupiter. I got two out of the three. I knew one, guessed one right and missed the third.