I'll Take "15 Minutes" for $1,200 Alex - Part 3

(Part 1)
(Part 2)

Proving that I was smart was one thing, now I had to impress the contestant coordinators.  There were nine of us who had moved on, and were all now on the hot seat.  We all had our paperwork from the day before which was collected while we each had our pictures taken for the application.  That way when the coordinators go back to L.A., they can actually see who were are when they are choosing the contestants.

We were divided into groups of three.  Each group would go up to play the game and then also go through the interview process.  I would be in the second group to go up, so at least I would have a chance to center myself.  The coordinators told us that by passing the main test that we all were going to be in the "Contestant Pool", which meant that any time over the next year, we might be called to be on the show.  There would be about 1,000 people in the contestant pool at any given time and only about 400 would actually be picked for the upcoming season.

I knew that the game play and interview would be the final "weeding" step.  While there were nine of us, not all of us would make good on-air contestants.  The coordinators weren't just looking for good contestants, they were also looking for red-flags that would signal a not-so-good contestant.  I was determined not to give them a reason to not pick me.

During the game, one thing that home viewers don't realize is that contestants aren't allowed to ring in before Alex finishes reading an answer.  On each side of the game board is a string of white rope lights. When those lights go on, then it's okay to press your signaling device.  If you buzz in even a fraction of a second before that, you are locked out for 0.25 seconds before your device will signal again.  It doesn't seem like a long time, but in "Jeopardy!" time, that's an eternity.  So the trick is to anticipate the lights, but of course those are operated by actual people, so it's not an exact science.

While we were playing the practice game, the coordinators were looking for people who waited for the lights and didn't buzz in too early.  You're able to read the clues a lot faster than Alex can read them, so playing the game is really a question of reaction times.  I knew that buzzing in too early, too often could be a negative, so I really watched it.  I felt my game play went really well.  I answered questions, picked the next category / amount quickly and I used my "teacher" voice (speaking loudly without yelling).

The final part of the audition is the interview.  While we are standing up there for the practice game, the coordinators ask each of us to talk about ourselves.  It was now or never.  I made sure to keep my answers short and sweet (NO RAMBLING!).  I also tried to avoid any ums or uhs while I was talking about myself.  It was then that they asked about my embarrassing moment - when I accidentally shaved my eyebrows off.

When I still had a goatee, I discovered that if I left the trimming guard on that I could groom my eyebrows.  Well one Sunday morning I had finished trimming my goatee and removed the guard so I could take care of the stragglers.  I set the trimmer down and then the thought "Oh, I'll do my eyebrows too" occurred to me.  I picked the trimmer up and BUZZZZZZZZ - suddenly, no right eyebrow.  Now I have pretty thick eyebrows, so there's no penciling them in (I think I'd need to use a Sharpie).  Since the right one was gone, I had to take off the left one.  Thank goodness that this happened over summer vacation.  LOL

The coordinators were cracking up and I really felt like I had connected with them.  The last group went and we were told not wait by the phone.  All of us would be in the contestant pool and could be called at any time.  We were told not to worry, if they wanted us, they would find us. Now in my eyes, there were only 3 of us who would make good contestants. The others either rambled, couldn't pick a category or were just boring.

I left the audition feeling really good and thought there was anything that I would have done differently. Now the hard part - the waiting.