CWIPPERMAN
<font color=FF99FF>You don't have to be clever and
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2002
- Messages
- 280
NOTE: I originally posted this on my personal website (www.10-7.com), but since "Millionaire" is a Disney owned entity, and I plan on playing the game at MGM when I'm at WDW next month, I thought I'd share my experience with the disboarders!!!
Yesterday morning (Friday, Aug 9th) I went to audition for a shot on the new 1/2 hour syndicated game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" (It is replacing the hour long show with Regis.... it is different because there's no "fastest finger", you just get right in the "hot seat", and go for the $$$$). They are doing a nationwide "bus tour" of auditions throughout the country, and they stopped in my hometown of Kansas City.
So, as I prepared to go, I did some research on the "bus tour" which is making it's way across the country. I saw that in many of the cities they had already visited, there were lines of thousands of folks waiting to try-out, and the auditions were on a "first come, first serve" basis. Well, I normally work nights (9:30PM-5:30AM), and it was my night off, so I talked a friend into joining me, and we headed down to be towards the front of the line. Well, we arrived at the "Town Pavillion" (where the auditions were held) at 11PM - the auditions didn't start until 7AM. We were excited to see that we were first in line, so we popped open our lawn chairs and settled in for the night. I personally was confident that we would be joined by hundreds of others within hours. As midnight rolled by, and we were still by ourselves, I was beginning to wonder if we should have stayed home and played some Playstation 2 instead of sitting on a sidewalk all night..... but too late now.
The second group finally arrived at 1AM. One of the guys had driven by about 11:15, and told us "I'll be back". He obviously decided to head home and take his time before returning. It was another group of 2 guys, and fortunately they were publicists for "Red Bull" (an energy drink), and happened to have several "samples" iced down in a cooler with them. The four of us chatted and had a great time. I work for the Kansas City Police Department, and the location of the auditions was in the area where I work (Center Zone), so any time any of the officers I know drove by, they'd stop and say hi. We also weren't in the best part of town, so I felt a little better having them cruise by every now and then.
The 5th person (3rd "group") arrived about 3:15 AM. This guy had driven from just outside of St. Louis (about 200 miles). As we started talking, he was teling us about himself. He had been in the contestant pool several times for the original version of "Millionaire", and his son had actually made it on the show - into the "fastest finger" round, but not into the "hot seat".
Around 4:30 that's when more folks started arriving. By 6:00 AM, there were about 50 people, and most were from far away. People from Witchita, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa were all there.
When the doors opened and we moved inside the mall where the auditions were held, the crowd really started pouring in. By the time auditions started at 7:00 AM, there were probably 1500-2000 folks in line. As the crew from the "Millionaire" bus arrived, they stopped and talked to me (since I was first in line). I was pleased to find out that I was not the record holder for being the first in line (some guys in Las Angeles were in line for 2 days).
Well, finally the moment of truth arrived. They ushered the first 75 of us into a room and handed us folders with the "written test", and our "scantron" forms.
--I guess this is where I should give the rundown of how the process works. There was a written test of 30 questions. If you passed the test (and they refued to tell you what a "passing score" is, what the correct answers are, or even what you scored on the test), then you move on to the "interview". You then "interview" with the producers. If they select you, then you're placed in an elligiblilty pool, and if selected from that pool, you're flown to New York. You then get on the show and go for the money.--
Now, I hate to seem modest or stuck-up, but I consider myself a fairly intelligent person (no comments about my decision to sit on a sidewalk all night to try out for a game show). When I've watched the show on TV, I can usually do pretty good. I have always done good at "trivia" shows like jeopardy, weakest link, and millionaire.
My idea of a "test question" is something like this:
Question: Which is not a primary color?
A. Blue B. Green C. Yellow D. Red
So, I'm thinking to myself..... this should be a cakewalk. I'm already thinking about how I'm going to "dazzle" the producers during my interview. And then it happens......
Question 1: Next to which type of architecture would you find an "Inglenook"?
A. Window B. Doorway C. Fireplace D. Staircase
As I read this question, I thought to myself OH (insert colorful metaphor)....I'M IN BIG TROUBLE!! This test consisted of 30 questions that in my opinion would be the equivilant of the $500,000 or $1,000,000 questions on the show. Of the 30 questions, I probably actually knew 7 or 8. I "think" I probably got another 10 right, and the rest I was clueless. I am fairly rounded and knowledgable, but I had never seen some of the words, phrases, or names in the questions.
As the test finished up, they kept everyone in the room while they ran the tests through the scantron machine. They then read the names of the folks that had "made the cut" (remember, they wouldn't tell you anything about the results of the test - not the correct answers, what you scored, or even what the "cut-off" score was). As I sat there, I knew my name wouldn't be called, but I still was very nervous.
And then it was over. Seven people out of the first 75 made the cut... and I wasn't one of them. The guy from St. Louis whose son had been on the show DID make the cut. But, aside from that none of the first 50 or so folks (the ones that got there at least an hour before the start of the testing - and made drives of 3+ hours) made the cut.
All said and done, I must certainly say I am disappointed. It was definately a lesson in humility. But I had fun, and met some neat people, and now I know for future reference that nothing is ever as easy as it looks on TV.
I still plan on playing the "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire - Play It!!" at Walt Disney World, and maybe I can at least get a keychain or something.
Oh yeah.... they did give everyone that showed up a "coin" with the new host's picture. Someone said they're selling on e-bay for $30.00....... but I'll hang on to mine.
So, that's my story......now I'm off to search the net to find out what the hell and "Inglenook" is.....
PS...... If you're interested in seeing if the bus tour is coming to a city near you, here's the "official website" http://www.millionairetv.com/auditions.html. But, be warned..... it is NOT as easy as it looks
Yesterday morning (Friday, Aug 9th) I went to audition for a shot on the new 1/2 hour syndicated game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" (It is replacing the hour long show with Regis.... it is different because there's no "fastest finger", you just get right in the "hot seat", and go for the $$$$). They are doing a nationwide "bus tour" of auditions throughout the country, and they stopped in my hometown of Kansas City.
So, as I prepared to go, I did some research on the "bus tour" which is making it's way across the country. I saw that in many of the cities they had already visited, there were lines of thousands of folks waiting to try-out, and the auditions were on a "first come, first serve" basis. Well, I normally work nights (9:30PM-5:30AM), and it was my night off, so I talked a friend into joining me, and we headed down to be towards the front of the line. Well, we arrived at the "Town Pavillion" (where the auditions were held) at 11PM - the auditions didn't start until 7AM. We were excited to see that we were first in line, so we popped open our lawn chairs and settled in for the night. I personally was confident that we would be joined by hundreds of others within hours. As midnight rolled by, and we were still by ourselves, I was beginning to wonder if we should have stayed home and played some Playstation 2 instead of sitting on a sidewalk all night..... but too late now.
The second group finally arrived at 1AM. One of the guys had driven by about 11:15, and told us "I'll be back". He obviously decided to head home and take his time before returning. It was another group of 2 guys, and fortunately they were publicists for "Red Bull" (an energy drink), and happened to have several "samples" iced down in a cooler with them. The four of us chatted and had a great time. I work for the Kansas City Police Department, and the location of the auditions was in the area where I work (Center Zone), so any time any of the officers I know drove by, they'd stop and say hi. We also weren't in the best part of town, so I felt a little better having them cruise by every now and then.
The 5th person (3rd "group") arrived about 3:15 AM. This guy had driven from just outside of St. Louis (about 200 miles). As we started talking, he was teling us about himself. He had been in the contestant pool several times for the original version of "Millionaire", and his son had actually made it on the show - into the "fastest finger" round, but not into the "hot seat".
Around 4:30 that's when more folks started arriving. By 6:00 AM, there were about 50 people, and most were from far away. People from Witchita, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa were all there.
When the doors opened and we moved inside the mall where the auditions were held, the crowd really started pouring in. By the time auditions started at 7:00 AM, there were probably 1500-2000 folks in line. As the crew from the "Millionaire" bus arrived, they stopped and talked to me (since I was first in line). I was pleased to find out that I was not the record holder for being the first in line (some guys in Las Angeles were in line for 2 days).
Well, finally the moment of truth arrived. They ushered the first 75 of us into a room and handed us folders with the "written test", and our "scantron" forms.
--I guess this is where I should give the rundown of how the process works. There was a written test of 30 questions. If you passed the test (and they refued to tell you what a "passing score" is, what the correct answers are, or even what you scored on the test), then you move on to the "interview". You then "interview" with the producers. If they select you, then you're placed in an elligiblilty pool, and if selected from that pool, you're flown to New York. You then get on the show and go for the money.--
Now, I hate to seem modest or stuck-up, but I consider myself a fairly intelligent person (no comments about my decision to sit on a sidewalk all night to try out for a game show). When I've watched the show on TV, I can usually do pretty good. I have always done good at "trivia" shows like jeopardy, weakest link, and millionaire.
My idea of a "test question" is something like this:
Question: Which is not a primary color?
A. Blue B. Green C. Yellow D. Red
So, I'm thinking to myself..... this should be a cakewalk. I'm already thinking about how I'm going to "dazzle" the producers during my interview. And then it happens......
Question 1: Next to which type of architecture would you find an "Inglenook"?
A. Window B. Doorway C. Fireplace D. Staircase
As I read this question, I thought to myself OH (insert colorful metaphor)....I'M IN BIG TROUBLE!! This test consisted of 30 questions that in my opinion would be the equivilant of the $500,000 or $1,000,000 questions on the show. Of the 30 questions, I probably actually knew 7 or 8. I "think" I probably got another 10 right, and the rest I was clueless. I am fairly rounded and knowledgable, but I had never seen some of the words, phrases, or names in the questions.
As the test finished up, they kept everyone in the room while they ran the tests through the scantron machine. They then read the names of the folks that had "made the cut" (remember, they wouldn't tell you anything about the results of the test - not the correct answers, what you scored, or even what the "cut-off" score was). As I sat there, I knew my name wouldn't be called, but I still was very nervous.
And then it was over. Seven people out of the first 75 made the cut... and I wasn't one of them. The guy from St. Louis whose son had been on the show DID make the cut. But, aside from that none of the first 50 or so folks (the ones that got there at least an hour before the start of the testing - and made drives of 3+ hours) made the cut.
All said and done, I must certainly say I am disappointed. It was definately a lesson in humility. But I had fun, and met some neat people, and now I know for future reference that nothing is ever as easy as it looks on TV.
I still plan on playing the "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire - Play It!!" at Walt Disney World, and maybe I can at least get a keychain or something.
Oh yeah.... they did give everyone that showed up a "coin" with the new host's picture. Someone said they're selling on e-bay for $30.00....... but I'll hang on to mine.
So, that's my story......now I'm off to search the net to find out what the hell and "Inglenook" is.....
PS...... If you're interested in seeing if the bus tour is coming to a city near you, here's the "official website" http://www.millionairetv.com/auditions.html. But, be warned..... it is NOT as easy as it looks
LOL
