“Millionaire” Through a Contestant’s Eyes

FINAL UPDATE 12/14/09:

Each group of contestants gave themselves a name upon being placed into isolation with the producers and lawyers on each day of taping. Our group attacked the catered breakfast very hard, so it was obvious that we had all arrived hungry. We were also all there obviously in search of some money. So, with the help of Kevin, one of the producers, we gave ourselves the name “Money Hungry.” I greatly enjoyed getting to know this group of unique individuals. They were all incredibly smart. Some of us were luckier in the help from expert and lifelines, as well as the questions that came up, than others.

Here are the final standings for Money Hungry.

LtCol Todd Phipps, USAF, $25,000

Greg Howard, Headland, AL $15,000

Suzette Arce, Bayside, NY $12,500

Janice Walton, Houston, TX $12,500

Javier Cepeda, New Haven, CT $12,500

Renee Giorgi, Yaphank, NY $7,500

Exenia Rocco, Cincinnati, OH $5,000

Andrea Madho, Brooklyn, NY $5,000

Lisa Lawton, San Diego, CA $5,000

Brandon Adoni, Glen Head, NY $0

Rick Mazza, Reading, PA $0

Kevin Brown, Troy, NY $0

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UPDATE: The show with my appearance in the Hot Seat will air on December 11 and 14, 2009. Be sure to tune in and see how I did.

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As you probably know, I was recently a contestant on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” at ABC Studios in New York City. The whole event was so surreal that I wanted to take some time to collect my thoughts before sharing the experience with others. It will forever rank just behind the births of my kids and my wedding as one of the most memorable and pleasant events of my nearly 50 years.

The Test and Audition

The road to becoming a contestant on “Millionaire” was a long one. It started many years ago with the phone calls, the post cards, and all the other methods used to place one’s name into consideration. Finally, in April, 2008, an opportunity to register online became available, and I did so. To my surprise, I got a testing an audition date of May 5, 2008, in New York. Of course, I had to make arrangements to get there at my own expense, but I was glad to do so.

I arrived in New York for my test and audition in the early afternoon and made my way to the studio. My spirits fell when I saw how many people were already there. The doubts came rushing in, “Am I good enough to make it past all of these people to get a spot on the show?” But the die was cast, and there was no turning back.

We were taken into a cafeteria at ABC studios and given a short period of instructions on what to expect. We were told we would be taking a 30-question multiple choice test with a time limit of ten minutes. At the completion, the tests would be graded, and those passing the test would asked to stay for further evaluation. I don’t recall the test being that difficult, but I do remember having to guess at several answers, especially women’s clothing and pop culture type questions.

Needless to say, when the tests were collected, my nerves were completely on edge. I had no idea if I had given enough right answers to be asked to stay. They came back very quickly with the results. We had all been given a number when we received our tests, and they started calling out the numbers of the passing scores. They announced about five numbers, and my spirits kept sinking each time. Finally, I heard my number, then one or two more, and the producers then asked everyone whose number had not been called to leave the building. To my shock, the group of about 100 people was now only about seven or eight hopeful souls.

We were then individually interviewed, face to face, and on camera. The interviews were brief and were centered around life experiences or skills that were unique to each contestant. After that, we were told that, if we were selected, we would receive a postcard in about 30 days.

Well, 30 days came and went, and I had heard nothing. Again, it seemed that all my hopes and dreams were going to be dashed. I had wanted so badly to appear on the show, and it felt like I had hit the final brick wall. As luck would have it, just as I was giving up hope, my wife, Sandra, came running into the house one day, screaming at the top of her lungs and waving a small postcard in her hand. I had made it into the contestant pool!

Hope Wanes…Again

Of course, Sandra and I immediately told everyone we knew that I had made it into the contestant pool for “Millionaire.” And predictably, everyone we knew asked us each time they saw us, “Have you heard yet? When are you going?” This dragged on for several months. Each time the answer was, “No, nothing yet.” Always in the back of my mind was the fine print on the postcard which provided the final reality check: “Being in the contestant pool does not guarantee that you will appear on the show.”

After about four or five months, the inquiries from our friends and acquaintances became more sporadic, and by about Christmas, no one was asking me anymore about “Millionaire.” It seemed as if the fine print had taken another victim.

I continued to watch the show, study, watch documentaries, try to stay up on pop culture, but the nagging feeling that they were never going to call persisted and started to grow within me. I took comfort in the fact that I had done everything I could do, and that it was a producer’s decision somewhere that I was not likeable or interesting enough to be on the show. By summer of 2009, I continued to be a fan of the show, but had pretty much given up hope again.

The Call

I was at the hospital in late August, 2009, with my mother. Her health had not been good for months. Surgeries led to complications, with the cures for the complications causing even more complications. We had been in and out of the hospital so much all summer long that even the janitors knew my name and were friendly to me. It was a good distraction from my disappointment at not having heard from “Millionaire” in over a year. But somehow it kept nagging at me what had happened.

And then Sandra called me out of the blue at the hospital and said she had come home and there was voice mail from Amanda at “Millionaire” and that I had until 5:00 pm the next day to return the call. Unfortunately, due to time differences, it was already after 5:00 in New York, and I would have to wait another day to call back.

I called immediately the following morning after 9:00 a.m. New York time and got through to Amanda immediately. Without telling me the purpose of the call, she immediately launched into a series of questions, was I running for office, was I related to people from a number of different companies, etc. After answering each one in the negative, she finally told me, “Congratulations! You have qualified to be a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire!” I had often thought how I would react to such wonderful news, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was a weak “Thank you.” She went on to tell me I would have to be in New York on September 30 and October 1 for taping, that I needed to bring a couple of changes of clothing, that she would be sending me questionaires, rules, contracts, and information forms for my Phone-A-Friend lifelines. I was numb. I really couldn’t form a thought if I had tried.

The following month was a blur. I cracked every almanac, biography, and Cliff’s Notes that I could get my hands on, searched Priceline.com for the best deals, lined up my lifeline buddies, etc. Also, I spent a lot of time watching old episodes of the show on TiVo to familiarize myself with strategy, use of lifelines, and just try to make sure that the game itself would throw me no surprises. In the meantime, I continued to live at the hospital most of the time with mom and kill hours at a time on Twitter to burn nervous energy. During this time, I had a lengthy phone interview with Jordan who told me she was going to be my producer and be with me throughout the whole process in New York when I got there. She really put me through my paces, going over my questionnaire with a fine-toothed comb, looking for all the human angles possible to my life story. There was something very calming about how she handled everything. I had no idea how much I was going to rely on this later.

It Becomes Real

On September 29, 2009, I bid my family farewell at 4:30 in the morning and made my way to the Dothan airport for a trip that turned out to be a truly amazing experience. All the flights and transfers were without incident, and I arrived at my hotel on 45thand Madison in the heart of New York City a little after noon. I checked into my room and immediately checked in withHeather withthe show and got my reminder to be at the studios at 7:30 in the morning the following day. And then I tried desperately to unwind. I got on Twitter to chat with friends, watched a union protest from my 10thfloor window, and spent a lot of time pacing around, wondering, “What if they ask me this? Yes, Meredith, that’s my final answer.” I role-played, I envisioned, positive mental attitude, everything I could think of.

Taping: Day One

I arrived outside ABC Studios about 15 minutes early after a ride from hell in a typical New York cab. I found a small group of about a dozen contestants all standing outside. Immediately, I was struck with how confident, outgoing, and personable they all were. These were truly sharp and likeable people. I felt honored to be in such a group.

At promptly 7:30 a.m., the door opened, and security came out to greet us. Security screening procedures were explained to us, we were instructed to immediately go to the contestants’ locker room and empty everything from our pockets, and to keep with us only our proof of Social Security number and photo ID. From that point on, we were in contestant isolation. No phone calls, no books, no sources of trivia, nothing but the clothes on our backs and proof of identification.

We were met in the green room by Kevin who was assigned to be with us all day in the green room. Kevin is a young, black man, fresh out of college. He’s very athletic looking, sharply dressed, and highly intelligent and entertaining. We immediately were shown where to get some breakfast and to get comfortable for a very long day of waiting in the green room. Kevin helped us pick out a group name, which we settled on as “Money Hungry.” We had all attacked the breakfast tray pretty well and were now on our hunt for the big prize. So, “Money Hungry” seemed a natural fit for all of us.

The rest of the morning was a series of signing contracts, non-disclosure agreements, rules acknowledgements, etc. We were given a briefing by the show’s attorney on the rules and how the questions were safeguarded and not even in the building until just before the show, how each stack of questions was randomly shuffled to the stack of contestants and all the procedures in place to protect the integrity of the show. I won’t say I found it surprising the level of work they do to protect the show’s integrity, but I did find it comforting. I knew my chances were the same as everyone else’s, and that’s all I could ask. We were also given a complete briefing on the rules and some tips on how to effectively use our lifelines. We also received a short briefing on our “ask the expert” lifeline and their strengths and weaknesses.

At one point, each of us was taken to a separate dressing room where we met with our producers to once again go over our personal stories, picking out points of emphasis that had been found to be interesting. I finally got to meet Jordan, one-on-one at this time. I was surprised at how young she and everyone else directly involved with the contestants were. These were obviously sharp and intelligent people, but the youth threw me a bit. I got over it quickly though, as every single one of these young producers was as professional as one could hope to find.

About mid-morning, we were all taken downstairs for our first look at the studio. The trip from the green room to the studio involved navigating a long series of hallways and stairs, and the movie, “The Green Mile” kept jumping through my head.

Upon arriving in the studio with the other contestants and our producers, it finally hit me between the eyes. It IS happening, and it IS happening now! We were shown the “hot seat” and how to get in and out of it without embarrassing or killing ourselves. We were shown where the monitors and cameras would be, and then sample questions were displayed so we could get a feel for what our screen looked like and the information that would be displayed there. After we were given this familiarization, we were taken back up the “Green Mile” to the green room, where a light lunch of sandwiches was prepared and waiting.

I’m not familiar with makeup, other than watching the women in my life put it on. It was a very strange experience, especially when Cheryl, a very interesting and sweet lady, from Pensacola, Florida, originally, started to apply it to the top of my head! And I had spent so much time shining it up just for the show! In any event, she did something magical and took about 10 years off my face.

Then it was back downstairs to the studio to be introduced to the audience. When we got there, a comedian or something like that was warming up the crowd. They were clearly in a great mood, cheering and laughing a great deal. The music was pumping, hands were clapping. And needless to say, adrenaline was flowing quite freely!  We were placed in alphabetical order by first name, and one by one, we were announced to the crowd and walked from the tunnel across the set. I drew a great deal of energy from the audience’s cheers. I needed it at that point.

And then we were taken one more time back to the green room to wait, and wait. One by one, producers came and got someone and took them downstairs for their turn. Each time a contestant returned, the door to the green room was closed, and we were kept from any contact with them. This was all to preserve the integrity of the show and keep game play results from being known. I understand this. The whole purpose of the show is to get people to tune in, right?

The good news is that waiting in the green room with the other contestants was anything but boring. As I said before, these were all very sharp and intelligent people, and the conversation lived up to that in every way. I liken it to the best cocktail party ever, except for the lack of adult beverages. We talked about politics, current events, our families, our jobs, funny things that had happened to us. At some point, as the number in the room dwindled, someone made a sideways reference to Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None,” and everyone got it! It was truly a fantastic group of people.

What were the other contestants? Without giving too much away because you want to watch the show for the week of November 30 through December 7 to see me, but we had an Air Force officer, a Radio City Music Hall Rockette, an attorney, a couple of grad students, marketing consultants, stay at home mom, you name it. It was really a diverse group. I hope you will watch the show and get to know these great folks on at least some level. We were allowed to exchange e-mail addresses, and we will be staying in touch.

The Hot Seat

Finally, when there were only two of us left, we were taken downstairs together. We were mic’ed up, and then we were held in the wings to watch a couple of contestants in front of us as they played the game. Surprisingly, by now either due to a total depletion of adrenaline or the calming influence and guidance of Jordan, I was not really that nervous any more. Yes, there was a slight quickness of pulse and a general super-alertness that I had not felt in a long time, but the jumping up and down inside my skin was finally gone.

As I was waiting, Jordan sat next to me on the ready bench. She calmly told me my lifelines were standing by, that they had been called and were ready to help if needed. She gave a couple of last minute pointers on being relaxed, confident and myself, and reminded me that I was here for a reason: I had proved my smarts and that people would relate to me. Just go out and have fun and do my best.

On cue, I was given a gentle tap on the back and pointed to the hot seat. It was show time! I don’t remember how I got there. All I remember is I was by the bench, and next thing I know, I’m sitting within arm’s reach of the wonderfully attractive Meredith Vieira, and she’s asking me if I’m ready to play the game.

Taping: Day Two

Time for the show ran out while I was playing, and I had to come back the next day. I was allowed the luxury of sleeping late and reporting to the studio by 10:15 a.m. I did not have to go through all the briefings again. I did a little shopping on Madison Ave and scored a gorgeous alpaca sweater. It was pricey as could be, but I could not resist it. I arrived with the other hold over contestant from the previous day.

And I was promptly placed into double secret probation contestant isolation. Unfortunately, since I was in the middle of active game play, I was placed in a separate dressing room away from the others, including the new ones that had come in that morning. It was a bit of a downer to be isolated, but producers kept sticking their heads through the door, supplying my diet soda habit, and from time to time keeping me company.

We repeated the parade of contestants before the live audience again. This group was even livelier than the day before. And this time, I was at the back of my line and announced as a returning contestant with my prize level.

And then a magical five minutes took place. I was taken to the tunnel where Meredith and I taped a lead in to the show. There a couple of mis-takes, and there was some time for a little idle chat between Meredith and me. She loved the name of my kid, asked how we picked it, told me how she had heard the story of my escapades shopping on Madison Ave that morning for the sweater, and even grabbed the sleeve to feel the quality. Is she as real and genuine as she comes across on TV? Without a single solitary doubt in my mind.

Then it was to the hot seat directly. Jordan came up quietly behind me and told me all three Phone-A-Friends were standing by, that I was doing a great job, and to relax and have fun. I will never be able to thank her enough. I know this is her job, but she’s very good at it, and she succeeded in getting me through the whole thing.

How Did I Do?

Without trying to be punny, that’s the million dollar question. I can’t tell you. I really don’t want to. I really want to have you tune in to the show and see for yourself. I had the best time, and I hope it shows through when you see me on the show.

Do You Have What It Takes?

If you think you have what it takes and want to go through this incredible experience like I did, I would encourage you to go for it. Don’t hesitate. It’s a long road, but I would not trade the experience for anything in the world other than life and safety. Please go to http://www.millionairetv.com/ and click on the Auditions tab.

If you go for it, I wish you the best of luck! It’s worth it!